CHICAGO | General Developments

[harryc]

shots from the last few weeks.

Nov 28


Nov 30


Dec 2


not a very deep mat


simple


Dec 5 - pouring the mat

[george]

Thanks, harry. ^ Update from 12-12, the slab is in place.

[Tom Servo]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

^ that's excellent friggin news. that stupid-ass mcdonalds and it's god-awful surface lot are LONG overdue for more intensive, urban development.

think how much different the clark/addison intersection will feel with a redeveloped mcdonalds property and the long anticipated triangle building on the other side of clark.

now let's turn attention to that stupid-ass taco hell on addison.

that reminds me... McDonalds has so REALLY awful and horribly anti-urban spots all over town:

Wrigley (hopefully not for long), Rock and Roll, Chicago and State, N. Clark across from Wiener's Circle, Sheridan and Wilson, and so on...

it really doesn't make sense that in a city as urban as Chicago, the only well integrated McDs i can think of is North and Wells... strange...

anyway, here's to hoping that horrible Wrigley parcel is raze and re-developed...

[lawfin]

^^^^I always kind of hope one day McD's would see the light and move their HQ / Univ to a River North tower at the parcel along lasalle. The first 2-3 floors or perhaps more would remain a showcase / tourist trap Mcd's .....pretty pathetic when you think about it.....perhaps they could showcase their "food" choices from all over the world in a Mcd's that would span seveal floors and the tower above could be some 700-800 foot building off which Mcd could replace their 150K sq ft office park with a signature tower.....

...taking rendering starting now

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

now let's turn attention to that stupid-ass taco hell on addison.

^ Are you kidding?

That's some great grub after a night of drinking at the local bars

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by Tom Servo

that reminds me... McDonalds has so REALLY awful and horribly anti-urban spots all over town:

Wrigley (hopefully not for long), Rock and Roll, Chicago and State, N. Clark across from Wiener's Circle, Sheridan and Wilson, and so on...

it really doesn't make sense that in a city as urban as Chicago, the only well integrated McDs i can think of is North and Wells... strange...

anyway, here's to hoping that horrible Wrigley parcel is raze and re-developed...

I hate the McD's at Chicago and Damen. What a great intersection that would be if only McD's didn't ruin it.

On another note, McD's has a pretty good store near the 95th St stop on the Red Line, with an urban, sidewalk entrance. I was surprised when I saw it.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ Are you kidding?

That's some great grub after a night of drinking at the local bars

it's not the concept of a taco hell that's a problem, or the tortilla-wrapped diarrhea they serve up to the wrigleyville drunks at 2:00am. it's the physical form of the restaurant and it's god-awful suburban style surface parking lot that are the problem

[harryc]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ Are you kidding?

That's some great grub after a night of drinking at the local bars

Grow a pair and wander 1/2 mile to the Taco And Burrito House (3939 N Broadway). I have fond memories of watching the drunks stagger in at 3am, some from boystown, some from the clubs on Clark, and some from Uptown. Quite a mix.

[lawfin]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

it's not the concept of a taco hell that's a problem, or the tortilla-wrapped diarrhea they serve up to the wrigleyville drunks at 2:00am. it's the physical form of the restaurant and it's god-awful suburban style surface parking lot that are the problem

Gotta disagree. Taco bell is CRAP CRAP CRAP. Go sell it ti the rubes in lake-in-the-hills. The built form at that parcel has earned the owner a deserved trip to being tarred and feathered

[untitledreality]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

^ that's excellent friggin news. that stupid-ass mcdonalds and it's god-awful surface lot are LONG overdue for more intensive, urban development.

think how much different the clark/addison intersection will feel with a redeveloped mcdonalds property and the long anticipated triangle building on the other side of clark.

With this news I really hope that Addison Park on Clark never gets off the ground. Better to develop empty parcels than to sterilize Clark street.



Edit: Anyone else find it strange that even after paying out the nose for the McDs parcel that any development on the site must include space for a McDs?

[BWChicago]

It's one of their most profitable locations and they usually have complex leases. I'm not surprised they'd be unwilling to give it up.

[the urban politician]

Does anybody have an update on the Webster Square project (former Lincoln Park Hospital site that was hounded by NIMBYism)? I'm just curious if they have moved on the the residential portion of the project, as well as the grocery store which I believe had already started construction.

[Tom Servo]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

I hate the McD's at Chicago and Damen. What a great intersection that would be if only McD's didn't ruin it.

Ooooh yeah... that's another good one. I sometimes forget about the Chicago that exists outside my little 6 square mile bubble... terrible, I know.

[Tom Servo]

Side note observation I had when I first got back to town:

That new restaurant next to Rockbottom... WTF? It's a beautiful building, with flawless details... but WTF is it doing at that location?! Terrible development of that site, shame something so nice has to confuse my opinion too.

[Chicagoguy]

Originally Posted by Tom Servo

Ooooh yeah... that's another good one. I sometimes forget about the Chicago that exists outside my little 6 square mile bubble... terrible, I know.

Another prime example is the McDonald's at Foster and Sheridan. A prime piece of land a block off of the lakefront and it is blighted by a large parking lot. The good news is (or rumor had it around the time the Admiral on the Lake broke ground) that this land was planned to be developed in the next few years.

[THE BIG APPLE]

Looks like McDonald's doesn't respect Chicago. In NYC the MCD's are on the first floor of the buildings, even in BROOKLYN (most of the time). Come to think of it, why are there so many suburban type MCD's in prime Chicago land. To me the most surprising one is the one next to Trump and Wrigley.

[Rizzo]

^ Chicago for unknown reasons has always been permissive of them building their suburban style restaurants. I don't know if it's because they are from the area? New York would never put up with the kind of bs they build here. There's a couple multi-story Subway sandwhich stores that are nice, but MCD must build that drive through I guess.

[untitledreality]

Originally Posted by THE BIG APPLE

Looks like McDonald's doesn't respect Chicago. In NYC the MCD's are on the first floor of the buildings, even in BROOKLYN (most of the time). Come to think of it, why are there so many suburban type MCD's in prime Chicago land. To me the most surprising one is the one next to Trump and Wrigley.

It all comes down to the cost of land, annual property tax, zoning and the decade in which the specific restaurant was established.

Land in Chicago has been historically, and still is, cheap. Combine that with piss poor zoning and the blight incurred post white flight and you're left with drive thru fast food and strip malls even decades after areas return to prosperity.

[Mr Downtown]

Yeah, they'd never allow something like that in a real city, like London:

[Rizzo]

Well then I guess London is just like us. Hold your head high Manhattan!