CHICAGO | Highrise Projects & Construction, v7

[Kumdogmillionaire]

^ Just an fyi, those buildings are Chicago style, not art deco.

Here is some more info on them

https://chicago.curbed.com/2013/2/6/...h-state-street

I agree though, great to see them being revived and put to good use!

[left of center]

Originally Posted by Kumdogmillionaire

^ Just an fyi, those buildings are Chicago style, not art deco.

Here is some more info on them

https://chicago.curbed.com/2013/2/6/...h-state-street

I agree though, great to see them being revived and put to good use!

Yup, you're exactly right. Large, dominating windows, precursors to the glass curtain wall. I just have a (incorrect) tendency to call anything with terra cotta on it art deco (even though deco trends more to limestone cladding).

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by aaron38

The Belden project is notable because it puts significant height for the area on the opposite side of the tracks from Milwaukee. That's a rarity. Bet there will be significant pushback.

If it's on the agenda, then it (probably) already has the alderman's blessing. It was proposed two years ago, and Moreno was engaged.

Somos Logan Square can bitch and moan and cast their hands in concrete all they want, but the zoning change seems headed for approval.

[denizen467]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

I respect the choice to keep that exposed. I love the little pencil building and backing off a bit allows that design to continue to stand on its own.

I doubt they did it out of altruism and aesthetic admiration though. Also, it looks less good in real life than in the render. Keep in mind, a photo of the hotel will show up on expedia.com, and three million other travel websites, and it will look more appealing, if it looks more appealing. Hopefully some mural or some painting might be in the works? Or ivy, seeing as it's the Ivy?

Originally Posted by Mr Downtown

Just think how much more dense this building could be if that panderhack Reilly hadn't forced them to put windows in every single hotel room!

Laying out a window for every key does not mean floorplates have to end up set back on the west side of the building; I have a gum wrapper here and I bet I will be able to sketch up a few alternative schemes on it before I even get through the rigid, sour phase of the gum.

[Randomguy34]

Finally, there's news on this! Will be interesting to see what SOM has in mind for the site

Team tapped for Reese redevelopment

By ALBY GALLUN
City officials have picked a group of firms to redevelop the former site of the Michael Reese hospital into tech and retail space, homes and a hotel, a long-awaited project that could bring billions of investment dollars to Bronzeville.

A development team including Draper & Kramer, Farpoint Development and Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives would manage the massive project south of McCormick Place, according to a deal to be announced this morning.

Skidmore Owings & Merrill would serve as the architect consultant for the development, which would include the 49-acre Michael Reese site, at 2900 S. Ellis Ave., and a 28-acre property to the east owned by the Metropolitan Pier & Exposition Authority, which owns McCormick Place.

The city bought the Michael Reese site in 2009, with plans to build an Olympic village there. But the property has sat fallow since the city lost its bid to host the 2016 Olympic games, and the city, now saddled with about $73 million in debt on the property, has spent the past several years trying to figure out what to do with it.

The new plan is short on specifics. Initially, the project could include a logistics center for McCormick Place truck traffic, potentially with new meeting space, according to a statement from the city. Later phases include "more than 5 million square feet of technology-oriented commercial spaces, retail uses, homes and a hotel, depending on market demand," the statement said.
....
"Over the next 10 years this team will work with the community and the city to deliver a once-in-a-lifetime redevelopment that will generate economic opportunities and growth in Bronzeville and in neighborhoods throughout the city of Chicago," Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in the statement.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/reale...-redevelopment

Renderings from DNAInfo:

https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/2017...nt-partnership

[the urban politician]

^ Sigh... no thanks.

I'm tired of these "Master developers". Nothing anybody ever cared about in Chicago was ever built by them (perhaps LSE as an exception). It will just be a soulless superblock that nobody will ever walk around in.

[BuildThemTaller]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ Sigh... no thanks.

I'm tired of these "Master developers". Nothing anybody ever cared about in Chicago was ever built by them (perhaps LSE as an exception). It will just be a soulless superblock that nobody will ever walk around in.

Wut? LSE is a great example of a successful planned development. Wasn't Central Station also a planned development? And Riverline looks like it will be great. If anything, a large tract of land right near downtown is perfect. Letting a lot like this break into dozens of parcels is like inviting a series of strip malls to the door mat of the central business district. No thank you.

[Chi-Sky21]

Let McCormick put a new hall there then demolish McCormick East.

[MultiModal]

Viceroy Hotel turned out really nice, they plan on opening in September. I am really excited for the outdoor seating for the new restaurant. Should be a very nice pedestrian experience.

"Viceroy Chicago will also be home to the highly anticipated restaurant Somerset, helmed by James Beard Award finalist Lee Wolen of Chicago-based Boka Restaurant Group. The restaurant will be located on the ground floor of the hotel and will have a large landscaped and tree-lined patio."

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-relea...300466307.html


Also, this project gives me a little more confidence in the Union Station development since its the same firm overseeing the apartments over the headhouse.

[KWILLSKYLINE]

^^^Wow that did turn out a beauty. I'd hate know what the price for a one bed is for a night during the summer. $$$.

http://www.viceroyhotelsandresorts.com/en/chicago

[Kumdogmillionaire]

Originally Posted by BuildThemTaller

Wut? LSE is a great example of a successful planned development. Wasn't Central Station also a planned development? And Riverline looks like it will be great. If anything, a large tract of land right near downtown is perfect. Letting a lot like this break into dozens of parcels is like inviting a series of strip malls to the door mat of the central business district. No thank you.

You took the words from my mouth. That guy is crazy, these master plans, and large projects (even ones like Wolf Point and Atrium Village) are great, and over time have proven to be done with greater and greater effectiveness.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ Sigh... no thanks.

I'm tired of these "Master developers". Nothing anybody ever cared about in Chicago was ever built by them (perhaps LSE as an exception). It will just be a soulless superblock that nobody will ever walk around in.

Originally Posted by BuildThemTaller

Wut? LSE is a great example of a successful planned development. Wasn't Central Station also a planned development? And Riverline looks like it will be great. If anything, a large tract of land right near downtown is perfect. Letting a lot like this break into dozens of parcels is like inviting a series of strip malls to the door mat of the central business district. No thank you.

SOM is one of the better master planners, too, imho.

[Via Chicago]

i dont get the love for LSE. it poorly integrates itself into the rest of the urban fabric to the west, and its confusing to navigate. its a skyscraper subdivision, but i guess thats what people like about it?

[prelude91]

Originally Posted by BuildThemTaller

Wut? LSE is a great example of a successful planned development. Wasn't Central Station also a planned development? And Riverline looks like it will be great. If anything, a large tract of land right near downtown is perfect. Letting a lot like this break into dozens of parcels is like inviting a series of strip malls to the door mat of the central business district. No thank you.

I agree with TUP...Also, Do we really need another LSE (ie. souless highrises with little foot traffic/retail)?

I don't understand why the city doesn't divide these massive parcels into 25x125 lots and sell off each lot to individual builders. It would give these new neighborhoods much more character and integrate better into the Chicago Grid.

[Tom In Chicago]

Originally Posted by Via Chicago

i dont get the love for LSE. it poorly integrates itself into the rest of the urban fabric to the west, and its confusing to navigate. its a skyscraper subdivision, but i guess thats what people like about it?

What do you suppose LSE is supposed to integrate into? It's a wholly fabricated high-rise residential neighborhood that sits east of Chicago's Loop on reclaimed land that was once used as an industrial rail terminus. . . it is what it is and and not trying to be anything more than that. . .

People just need to understand that Chicago's Loop was entirely surrounded by heavy industry up until the 1980s. . . that's why you have these opportunities for large scale master-planned developments. . .

. . .

[Tom In Chicago]

Originally Posted by prelude91

I agree with TUP...Also, Do we really need another LSE (ie. souless highrises with little foot traffic/retail)?

I don't understand why the city doesn't divide these massive parcels into 25x125 lots and sell off each lot to individual builders. It would give these new neighborhoods much more character and integrate better into the Chicago Grid.

Not sure how you'd integrate Reese into the "Chicago Grid". . . but perhaps I lack imagination. . .

. . .

[BuildThemTaller]

Originally Posted by prelude91

I agree with TUP...Also, Do we really need another LSE (ie. souless highrises with little foot traffic/retail)?

I don't understand why the city doesn't divide these massive parcels into 25x125 lots and sell off each lot to individual builders. It would give these new neighborhoods much more character and integrate better into the Chicago Grid.

First, what exactly was so great about exposed rail lines and then a 9-hole golf course? Sure, it doesn't have the vibrant city life of River North, but Streeterville was similarly "dead" for years and is just now developing into its own with a more robust city life. LSE is great. It is not for everyone (not that any one neighborhood could be) and it contains some of the most significant architecture in the city and North America.

To your second point, part of the Michael Reese site is the air rights to the open parking lot McCormick Place has been using for truck and car storage. This plan caps that off, integrates McCormick place with the Bronzeville Neighborhood, and provides new park space and connections to the Lakefront. Those are goals the city never could have achieved by subdividing the lot into a million pieces. It takes big investments to accomplish this and only a large, master planned development spearheaded by deep pockets can pull that off. The only way for the city to get this kind of development is to sell it to a good development partnership like this. The potential payoff - and it's possible this does go belly up - could be quite phenomenal for Bronzeville and the city.

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by Tom In Chicago

What do you suppose LSE is supposed to integrate into? It's a wholly fabricated high-rise residential neighborhood that sits east of Chicago's Loop on reclaimed land that was once used as an industrial rail terminus. . . it is what it is and and not trying to be anything more than that. . .

People just need to understand that Chicago's Loop was entirely surrounded by heavy industry up until the 1980s. . . that's why you have these opportunities for large scale master-planned developments. . .

. . .

This. What is LSE supposed to integrate with? Illinois Center and the tower in a plaza base of massive monolithic midcentury office tower? Fact is Mies went overboard with the planning of Illinois Center and it's multi level roadways. LSE integrates with that birdsnest about as well as is humanly possible. Wanda should eliminate any of the remaining confusion caused by the harbor drive dead end.

[ChiHi]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ Sigh... no thanks.

I'm tired of these "Master developers". Nothing anybody ever cared about in Chicago was ever built by them (perhaps LSE as an exception). It will just be a soulless superblock that nobody will ever walk around in.

I'm with you. I'd rather see it split up among several developers. These planned communities typically hire one architect and all the building are essentially the same. Save for some minor detail changes. These things just turn out to be cookie cutter and mundane feeling instead of a more organically developed area. LSE is somewhat of an exception but most others are pretty sterile feeling to me.

[brian_b]

The Michael Reese site should turn out fine. The most important part is that (according to the Crain's article) the city had $73 million in debt on it and sold it for $145 million.