CHICAGO | Highrise Projects & Construction, v7

[harryc]

[harryc]

Originally Posted by Randomguy34

I've saving this image so that I can show my kids what River North used to look like back in my day

Oct 2007


Aug 2008

[Randomguy34]

Wow, those are really beautiful shots you took, Harry. Now I'm more interested in having kids in the future just so I can show them "Old Chicago"

[the urban politician]

I probably tell this story once a year. But standing at Harry Carey's on Kinzie in 2002, I remember observing a sea of parking. I could never have imagined just how completely the area around it would transform, and how quickly.

That same story is repeating itself at so many intersections.

I really think that perceptions about Chicago for people who don't live here are false not just due to ignorance, but because the central area truly is changing so rapidly.

That old adage about Chicago changing so quickly that it's not the same city you visited last time, perhaps to a less insane degree than the 19th century, is still kind of true.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

I probably tell this story once a year. But standing at Harry Carey's on Kinzie in 2002, I remember observing a sea of parking. I could never have imagined just how completely the area around it would transform, and how quickly.

That same story is repeating itself at so many intersections.

I really think that perceptions about Chicago for people who don't live here are false not just due to ignorance, but because the central area truly is changing so rapidly.

That old adage about Chicago changing so quickly that it's not the same city you visited last time, perhaps to a less insane degree than the 19th century, is still kind of true.

I remember when I first moved to the Gold Coast it was just before a bunch of buildings went up on Dearborn and State Streets in River North and there was so much construction there and over near Kingsbury by the river. And then the south part of River North got all built out and now there's the Wells Corridor getting all built up, with additional stuff along Chicago. It's just been nearly non-stop construction in River North for nearly 20 years, with no real sign of abating.

[woodrow]

"It is hopeless for the occasional visitor to try to keep up with Chicago — she outgrows his prophecies faster than he can make them. She is always a novelty; for she is never the Chicago you saw when you passed through the last time." ~ Mark Twain in "Life On The Mississippi," 1883

[Skyguy_7]

^That quote has always made me proud. According to an architecture tour guide; she was, at one time, the fastest-growing city on planet Earth.

[BrandonJXN]

Originally Posted by woodrow

"It is hopeless for the occasional visitor to try to keep up with Chicago — she outgrows his prophecies faster than he can make them. She is always a novelty; for she is never the Chicago you saw when you passed through the last time." ~ Mark Twain in "Life On The Mississippi," 1883

The same could be said for Vegas. But I see his point.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

That old adage about Chicago changing so quickly that it's not the same city you visited last time, perhaps to a less insane degree than the 19th century, is still kind of true.

I moved to Chicago in 2009 - liked it back then, and I think it's different today (I like it more - seems like more, real types of restaurants and bars open instead of a bunch of bro/sports bars nowadays).

[chuckrim]

Originally Posted by woodrow

"It is hopeless for the occasional visitor to try to keep up with Chicago — she outgrows his prophecies faster than he can make them. She is always a novelty; for she is never the Chicago you saw when you passed through the last time." ~ Mark Twain in "Life On The Mississippi," 1883

This is a great quote - thanks for sharing. I moved to SF from Chicago in March and try to keep up on here, but it's difficult! I used to office at 150 N Wacker and can only imagine how the view has changed with 150 Riverside, Wolf Point, River Point, etc...

[XIII]

Originally Posted by woodrow

"It is hopeless for the occasional visitor to try to keep up with Chicago — she outgrows his prophecies faster than he can make them. She is always a novelty; for she is never the Chicago you saw when you passed through the last time." ~ Mark Twain in "Life On The Mississippi," 1883

Remember when Lakeshore East was a golf course?
Or when Millennium Park was a rail yard?
Or when the south loop was a down-on-its-luck sort of area?
Or when Logan Square was a quiet, predominantly latino neighborhood?
Or when there wasn't any reason you'd want to be down by the river?
Or when the sun times building still looked over the river?
Or when the west loop was just meat packers supplying downtown restaurants?

And that's all in the last decade or so. Its hard to keep up with the city even when you live here.

[BrandonJXN]

I've lived in Chicago for 3 years now. I live in Portage Park. Even though nothing really happens on my side of town (aside from a 4 or 5 story apartment building near Cicero and Diversey), seeing Milwaukee Ave being transformed in a short time is pretty cool. Chicago moves quickly when it comes to building things.

Wish I could say the same for those who repair the streets. Is it common practice to tear holes in the street for months on end, fix the holes, have a nice street for a week then Com-Ed comes and tears up the same street for 3 more months?

[HowardL]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

I probably tell this story once a year. But standing at Harry Carey's on Kinzie in 2002, I remember observing a sea of parking. I could never have imagined just how completely the area around it would transform, and how quickly.

I love all of the healthy reflection that this quote has sparked.

My recollection is from about 1988 walking out of the Brudno art supply store in the Tree Studios Building at State and Ohio. You could see uninterrupted across block after block of parking lots all of the way to Marina City and the IBM Building.

River North was emaciated back then.

[MayorOfChicago]

Originally Posted by XIII

Remember when Lakeshore East was a golf course?
Or when Millennium Park was a rail yard?
Or when the south loop was a down-on-its-luck sort of area?
Or when Logan Square was a quiet, predominantly latino neighborhood?
Or when there wasn't any reason you'd want to be down by the river?
Or when the sun times building still looked over the river?
Or when the west loop was just meat packers supplying downtown restaurants?

And that's all in the last decade or so. Its hard to keep up with the city even when you live here.

I moved from Iowa to Logan Square in 2001 - not that long ago - and I actually remember most of that except Millennium Park was under construction and the rail had been covered.

[wwchi]

Originally Posted by VKChaz

Well, if Old Town should actually be an 'old town,' community groups have a point. Though that ship may already have sailed.

Please sign the petition if you oppose!

https://www.change.org/p/wml-save-th...proposed-hotel

[jpIllInoIs]

I remember when Presidential towers was ground breaking 'West Loop" rez.
Leo Burnett Building, 200 N. LaSalle, 200 W. Madison, 181 W. Madison. 2 Pru, 190 S. LaSalle, The Merc duo Towers. Basically all the way back to when 333 W. Wacker was just completed.

[Randomguy34]

Wanna know why the Children's Memorial Hospital Development hasn't started yet? You guessed it, it's because of lawsuits:
http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20151...l-site-but-why

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by Randomguy34

Wanna know why the Children's Memorial Hospital Development hasn't started yet? You guessed it, it's because of lawsuits:
http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20151...l-site-but-why

Yeah, evil Lincoln Park NIMBY scum

[BVictor1]

Happy New Year (2016) to the forum and its posters. May we have a number of significant construction starts over the next 365 days and a healthy dose of new proposals

[the urban politician]

I'd like to commemorate the new year by reposting this article from 2008. There was actually a thread created to discuss this (a thread I commented in but I can't even remember). Boy, we sure made a sweeping comeback from the moment when this article was written.

I'm glad that the building boom is back in full swing, and I'd like to thank the job creators, the banks, the risk-taking developers, the architects & engineers, the construction workers, and the thousands and thousands of renters and millions of out of town visitors for making it happen. Long live the boom, and may 2016 bring us even more:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...,4607073.story

Tribune staff report

November 3, 2008

Our skyline on pause

A big chill is about to hit the city of big shoulders.

In the wake of the global credit crisis, Chicago's once-superheated skyline—radically transformed during the last 10 years by one of the greatest building booms in the city's history—is on the verge of being frozen in place.

With future projects on hold, the construction cranes that symbolize the city's vitality gradually will disappear. There will be less outlandish architecture for the city's boosters to crow about. Chicago, which prides itself on skyscrapers that combine the soaring artistry of the architect and the cunning ambition of the developer, will lose some of its swagger.

How long the freeze will last is hard to predict. But it's clear that a chill has set in. And the trend reaches beyond the halt in construction on two supertall skyscrapers, including the twisting Chicago Spire that promised to soar 2,000 feet above the city's lakefront.

The credit crunch has staggered the city's condominium market. Although developers are expected to deliver a record-smashing 4,900 units this year, fewer than 500 units may be finished in 2010.

"We have ground to a halt," said Gail Lissner, vice president of Appraisal Research Counselors of Chicago.

For a decade now, Chicago has been on an astonishing building binge. Since 1998, developers here have completed or started construction on more than 195 high-rise buildings, according to the Emporis building database. (A high-rise is defined as a building at least 12 stories tall.) That's more high-rises than there are in all of Detroit (132), St. Louis (106) or Milwaukee (83).

The boom will reach a symbolic climax when a helicopter lifts sections of a bright-gray spire atop the Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago, probably in mid-November. City officials postponed the installation, which had been planned for Saturday and Sunday, because of unresolved safety concerns. At a total height of 1,361 feet, the Trump skyscraper will be the tallest built in the United States since the 1974 completion of the 1,450-foot Sears Tower.

But now, a drought in major construction projects looms, not just in Chicago, but in New York and cities nationwide. And that may take some getting used to, especially for recent arrivals used to the sight of multiple construction cranes dotting the skyline and the sound of whirring cement-mixers. During the surge, Chicago's skyline morphed significantly.

New skyscrapers, mostly residential buildings, filled in the blanks between downtown high-rises or expanded the central area's reach to River North or the stretch of Lake Shore Drive across from Soldier Field. Towers popped up like beanstalks behind the cliff of skyscrapers along Michigan Avenue across from Millennium Park. And they wrapped like arms around the north and south sides of Grant Park.

To be sure, the city has weathered building busts before, most notably during the Great Depression and World War II. Some rental high-rises remain in the pipeline. And work stoppages on iconic skyscrapers are not unprecedented, though the delays were caused by faulty construction rather than financing woes. In 1966, construction halted for months on the X-braced, 100-story John Hancock Center to repair defective caissons.

Architecture fans also can take comfort in the fact that work on a handful of eye-popping towers is still steaming ahead. This week, in the 200 block of North Columbus Drive, construction crews reached the 59th floor of the 82-story Aqua residential tower, whose curving white balconies lend the skyscraper a voluptuous profile. Aqua's first residents are expected to move in next April.

But Aqua's developers have put on hold a nearby, 76-story mixed-use tower designed by Miami architects Arquitectonica. A dramatic, 20-story hole was to be sliced into the tower's midsection, recalling the Arquitectonica-designed high-rises seen on "Miami Vice."

"The banks essentially are gun-shy about any large project," said the project's developer, Jim Loewenberg, the co-chief executive officer of the Magellan Development Group.

At the Spire site, 400 N. Lake Shore, the grandly conceived tower is nothing more than a hole in the ground surrounded by a ring of caissons. Construction cranes are gone. It is unclear when, if ever, they will return.

Developer Garrett Kelleher has spent at least $50 million on construction, according to project spokeswoman Kim Metcalfe. She cites that investment as evidence that work on the project will resume and that it will open in 2012, even though the skyscraper's star architect, Santiago Calatrava, recently filed a lien seeking more than $11.3 million in payment from Kelleher.

"When you've invested this much time, effort and tangible money in the project, it is not not going to happen," Metcalfe said.

Work also is frozen at 111 W. Wacker Drive, home to Chicago's other stalled supertall skyscraper, the Waterview Tower and Shangri-La Hotel. (To be considered "supertall," a skyscraper needs to be at least 1,000 feet high.)

The firm that developed and designed Waterview, Chicago-based Teng, planned for it to reach an impressive 1,047 feet, a foot taller than New York's celebrated Chrysler Building. Instead, the project is stuck on the 26th floor, its exposed concrete frame looming over Wacker.

Teng announced in April that the Beijing Construction Engineering Group Co. Ltd. and its American subsidiary would arrange for more than $300 million in construction financing to finish the job. Yet construction remains on hold. Sean McMahon, a spokesman for Teng, did not return telephone calls.

There are other signs of a skyline on hold. Since July, there has been no construction on the 16-story Staybridge Suites hotel at 127 W. Huron St., where the developer is Duke Miglin, son of cosmetics entrepreneur Marilyn Miglin and the late developer Lee Miglin. Although the building's innovative structural frame is complete, the frame is not covered. And winter is coming, with its destructive snow and ice.

"You can't let building materials sit exposed that weren't intended to be exposed for a long time," said the building's architect, Joe Valerio of Chicago. Miglin did not respond when asked to discuss the project.

In Trump's camp, the fate of the competing supertalls is hardly reason to gloat. For two years, the developer has been stuck at 75 percent in his quest to sell off all the units in the 92-story tower. A developer typically makes profit by selling off the final 10 percent to 20 percent.

"He's only going to barely make it financially because of the market hitting this crisis point," said architect Adrian Smith, who designed the tower while at the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and is now at his own firm. "Luckily, it's done. It's a matter of timing."