CHICAGO | General Developments

[gallo]

Originally Posted by marothisu

There was a building permit issued nearly a month ago for the interior demolition of that building. Sports Authority closed - owner on the permit is Advocate Health Care. This is very, very close to their Illinois Masonic Medical Center. Looks like they are expanding their little campus in Lakeview.

Yeah, they are making it into an additional parking structure, unfortunately

[LouisVanDerWright]

Funny how there has been so much conversation about the Elston corridor lately isn't it? With PMD out of the way we could see this entire scar between the N and NW sides heal up pretty quickly over the next cycle or two.

On a side, the CH Robinson HQ is already mostly framed out (one more floor to go I think). Going to make a total transformation of this area.

Originally Posted by bcp

All that is shitty - but all that aside...how will a downzoning to a radically low level fix THAT problem? Seem like it is punitive, and also creates serious problems in the future (not to mention a bad precedent)...why not let the market do it's job? Any buyer would discover this as part of due diligence - and if they don't, well they are foolish...and regulators should step up and do their job

That's all well and great, but the current zoning allows for surface lots, strip malls, and drive thrus none of which the community or alderman think are appropriate for this site. He was already told no curb cuts would be allowed for this site, but I guess he took that as "we approve 8 story building". A downzoning is the only way to ensure he doesn't build some shitty one story retail building or strip mall (he does have one curb cut already) as of right that we are stuck with for 30 years. We are hoping to avoid the Belmont/Elston area turning into what exists down at Diversey through Fullerton along Elston. We don't need North/Clyborn V 2.0 in our area. If you drive around East Avondale you will see that it is very much densifying and turning into a more uniform neighborhood fabric. That's a process that should continue and we don't want to see great residential density with random patches of big box retail along Elston. The Ace Building will set a nice precedent for larger 4 story mixed use buildings in the area. I think that's what should be lining the arterials around here, not TOD built a mile from a train station or North/Clyborn retail bullshit.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by bcp

i am in violent agreement with the vision you describe...but not the method. but this guy sounds like a real turd.

if an area is changing, then the corridor / radius should be evaluated for a blanket re-zone .... one-off, punitive rezones are bad for business because it removes use by right - important for predictability in biz

i'm not super familiar with chicago's process - but denver nails it.... areas of change are designated along transportation corridors / where the city wants investment, vision is developed, community meetings, upzoning entire corridors, capital flows.

Agree. The Chicago system is just plain awful. In every way

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by bcp

i am in violent agreement with the vision you describe...but not the method. but this guy sounds like a real turd.

if an area is changing, then the corridor / radius should be evaluated for a blanket re-zone .... one-off, punitive rezones are bad for business because it removes use by right - important for predictability in biz

i'm not super familiar with chicago's process - but denver nails it.... areas of change are designated along transportation corridors / where the city wants investment, vision is developed, community meetings, upzoning entire corridors, capital flows.

I don't disagree and I am actually trying to advocate for some small scale upzonings along commercial corridors on the NW side. But given the way the system works NOW, that's not possible. Until we get to the point where the process is totally reformed, the only way to prevent "as of right" development that is detrimental is to change the zoning.

[harryc]

June 21

[KWILLSKYLINE]

Harry this thing looks alot bigger than the early drawings. I havnt been in west loop in awhile, whats the total office sq. footage?

[emathias]

Work seems to have slowed considerably on this. I mean there is work being done, but much slower than before. Do they have to wait for the footings to cure to a certain level or something?


Construction 676 N Lasalle by me, on Flickr

[harryc]

Originally Posted by KWILLSKYLINE

Harry this thing looks alot bigger than the early drawings. I havnt been in west loop in awhile, whats the total office sq. footage?

at lest one more floor - it's a solid block, a LOT of floor space.

[harryc]

June 21

From Morgan sta - the gray elevator on the right is the station.

[Randomguy34]

^ I don't know about anyone else, but I think this project is starting to look pretty fugly

Also, full building permits issued for 3833 N Broadway. Seems that the unit count is now 134, instead of the initial 93 units proposed.

[bgsrand]

Originally Posted by harryc

at lest one more floor - it's a solid block, a LOT of floor space.

I live a block west on Washington, and this project looms large over the surrounding area. Building will stand 9 stories, at almost 600k sqf.

[Ned.B]

Originally Posted by Randomguy34

^ I don't know about anyone else, but I think this project is starting to look pretty fugly

It looks like the base (first 5 floors) is pretty much being built to the original design and will be all brick with factory type windows and probably will look pretty decent.

But the upper 5 floors have been changed significantly. The original design was just the gray metal panel portion with large spans of glass and very few mullions in between. The areas with the balconies were floor to ceiling and wall to wall glass. With the random patterns of spandrel glass and tighter grid of mullions there is almost too much going on.

[r18tdi]

Originally Posted by ned.b

with the random patterns of spandrel glass and tighter grid of mullions there is almost too much going on.

+1

[Skyguy_7]

http://interestingengineering.com/th...giant-macbook/

Can you guys imagine if the roof on this thing is "retractable" and folds out like a MacBook? ......It's already destined to be a tourist attraction!

[Mr Downtown]

A view I thought made the point more clearly:

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by Ned.B

With the random patterns of spandrel glass and tighter grid of mullions there is almost too much going on.

It's hard to tell without a closeup, but are you sure that's actually spandrel glass and not some sort of foam insulation? The Centrum/ALDI project on Milwaukee had similar pieces of insulation up for awhile before the glass eventually went in. This is a storefront system and not a unitized curtain wall, so the glass order probably arrives later than the mullions.

Spandrel glass is usually used to conceal mechanical spaces and systems, but if that's the case then you don't get a randomized pattern, you get horizontal bands.

I mean, we might end up with some kind of spandrel glass or tinted glass in those openings purely for an aesthetic effect, but I do NOT think we've seen the final appearance.

https://buildingupchicagodotcom.file...pg?w=584&h=438

[The Pimp]

Originally Posted by harryc

June 21

From Morgan sta - the gray elevator on the right is the station.

Very Euro. Amsterdamish.

[denizen467]

The Sinclair project's s.e. corner, including the sidewalk, is basically done, and it looks pretty good. The s.w. corner still is closed off.

In fact, Da Jool there is having its grand opening on Wednesday. (To celebrate, they're doubling down on their insultingly stupid and lazy longtime logo -- "hmm, bold, underline, italic, wow, lets keep this for a century" -- with a klutzy and inane new mascot named Jojo that looks like a committee kept flipping coins and couldn't decide whether to knock off Minions or Sesame Street. If ever there was a company that should move its HQ downtown and ditch its rusting suburban employees it's this one.)

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by Mr Downtown

A view I thought made the point more clearly:

Wow, looks horrible

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by The Pimp

Very Euro. Amsterdamish.

Yep, I like it. Have no idea what all the complaining is about.