CHICAGO | General Developments

[spyguy]

^Not necessarily for everyone. The University's stated objective is to attract and retain top students/faculty who have complained about the lack of basic amenities in the past. That's why the University and/or City are heavily involved in pretty much every project I posted above.

[aic4ever]

Originally Posted by Buckman821

By: Ryan Ori January 11, 2012



Read more: http://www.chicagorealestatedaily.co...#ixzz1jAU0HyqR

This sounds like a cool unique project and would likely be a very important catalyst for the area.

I did a ton of work on the project back when M was trying to put Soho House into the Three Arts Club building. This looks like it would be a pretty similar concept, except 50% bigger.

[ardecila]

Re: the Hyde Park bike station...

Is that planned to be a large depot for the city bike sharing program or a private rental business? Hopefully it will be like the Union Station Bike Center in DC, with secure bike parking, basic repairs and merchandise, and a "human" interface for the city bikeshare (one could pay cash, for example, or ask questions).

[harryc]

Jan 9


Jan 3


Jan 9

[i_am_hydrogen]

^Nice updates, harry

DePaul theater building:

[the urban politician]

^ Funny, just yesterday I was wondering about the status of that project.

Thanks for updating, Hydro

[Mr Downtown]

A few more details on the Amli South Loop project:

Amli Lofts SWC Polk & Clark
Two 11-story buildings, containing a total of 398 units and 9000 sq ft retail. Rental loft-style units, though “loft-style” seems to be mostly a marketing phrase. The exterior is metal panels with no masonry and no real depth at the windows, though some articulation for balconies and other places. The buildings are set back an additional 7 feet from both Polk and Clark for potential sidewalk dining, but the retail will hold the corner. Two two-level parking decks with 280 spaces back next to the Metra tracks. The Avalon Bay PD would be vacated, although the street vacations/dedications would not be rescinded, and this project would be as-of-right under DX-7 zoning. Here’s a rough site plan as I remember it:

[the urban politician]

^ CRAP, CRAP, CRAP, CRAP

Hate everything being done in the south loop. What a horrible site plan. Hate the cul-de-sacs, hate the parking garages, hate Dearborn park, hate Roosevelt Ave, hate Target, I hate it all! I'm sure I will hate that new Mariano's as well.

What a worthless part of the city that is becoming. Level it all and start over

[Nowhereman1280]

I just heard that Loyola is building a pretty cool building on Kenmore just south of the nunnery they just bought. Apparently its going to be some kind of vertical greenhouse for their life sciences and urban ecology programs and resembles a multi story glass bubble. Haven't seen pics yet but it sounded really cool.

[ardecila]

Can they at least adjust the buildings so they front on Clark and the dropoff circle is in the back? Ugh. They should also adjust the service drives so they connect through from Polk to Clark.

AMLI just needs to die. Now.

[denizen467]

Also, why mass it in a way that obliterates like 1/3 of its own units' views from the outset.

[denizen467]

The (supposed) UP North viaduct project's work at Sunnyside and southbound Ravenswood (can we call it "West Ravenswood Ave" please?) has some gi-normous steel tubes maybe 50 feet long with highrise-caliber caisson-sleeve diameters and edge serrations. But there can't be any purpose to sinking highrise caissons there, so I wonder if these are just sewer pipes? Although they kind of seem outsized, and maybe of too thin a gauge, for ordinary neighborhood sewer piping. Maybe this is how storm sewer arterials look? I assume Deep Tunnel is too far away for these to be drop shafts. Or maybe there's something about rr viaducts or the earth-filled berms UP North runs upon that I'm unaware of. If anybody knows, or is in the neighborhood.

[BWChicago]

http://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2012/...d-rf-bleachers - Cubs to add 70ft LED board and patio to far right bleachers

At least it's in the most inconspicuous spot, and somewhere that I don't think even had seats prior to the 80s.

[untitledreality]

Originally Posted by BWChicago

http://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2012/...d-rf-bleachers - Cubs to add 70ft LED board and patio to far right bleachers

At least it's in the most inconspicuous spot, and somewhere that I don't think even had seats prior to the 80s.

Someone needs to be beaten. We get it, you really want to model the Cubs organization after the Red Sox, but for the love of God, this is Wrigley, it has its own unique set of circumstances and context... YOU CANT JUST COPY FENWAY.

Although, isnt the sweep of the bleachers protected with a city designation? This obviously destroys the foul pole to foul pole sweep, so does this even have a shot at getting built?

[BWChicago]

I think their response would be that this is in the former 'catwalk' section that's slightly offset from the rest of the bleachers, so it's not part of the sweep

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by denizen467

The (supposed) UP North viaduct project's work at Sunnyside and southbound Ravenswood (can we call it "West Ravenswood Ave" please?) has some gi-normous steel tubes maybe 50 feet long with highrise-caliber caisson-sleeve diameters and edge serrations. But there can't be any purpose to sinking highrise caissons there, so I wonder if these are just sewer pipes? Although they kind of seem outsized, and maybe of too thin a gauge, for ordinary neighborhood sewer piping. Maybe this is how storm sewer arterials look? I assume Deep Tunnel is too far away for these to be drop shafts. Or maybe there's something about rr viaducts or the earth-filled berms UP North runs upon that I'm unaware of. If anybody knows, or is in the neighborhood.

If they look like caisson tubes, they probably are. It's common to use caissons to support bridge abutments in congested urban areas where they can't easily dig a pit due to utilities, and where pile driving would be unacceptable for noise/vibration reasons. This is part of the reason for the high cost of the project; digging a foundation pit with a backhoe is a pretty simple task, and pile driving is a little more complex but manageable. Drilling caissons requires a lot of specialized equipment and lots of highly skilled, experienced workers.

Sewers are usually built with precast concrete segments. A thin-walled tube would be too prone to corrosion. Whenever metal pipes are used underground, they are super-chunky and thick so they can tolerate a constant state of rust for many years before failure.

Plus, part of the rationale for the bridge replacement project is to gain clearance on the underpasses in one fell swoop without having to depress each roadway and rebuild all the utility lines that are currently close to the surface.

[denizen467]

^ So maybe two monster caissons for each viaduct, to eventually hold up the spanning of 2-to-3 tracks? They still seem awfully large for that ... if something lesser would be inadequate, then why is the rest of the UP North's railbed (where it's elevated on earth/rock in between retaining walls) adequate without continuous hardcore supports like that?

I didn't realize that the viaduct project was going to result in a higher railbed --- if they're elevating several miles of UP North by even a foot or so, jeez, that is a huge undertaking.

[Tom Servo]

Originally Posted by Mr Downtown

A few more details on the Amli South Loop project:

Amli Lofts SWC Polk & Clark
Two 11-story buildings, containing a total of 398 units and 9000 sq ft retail. Rental loft-style units, though “loft-style” seems to be mostly a marketing phrase. The exterior is metal panels with no masonry and no real depth at the windows, though some articulation for balconies and other places. The buildings are set back an additional 7 feet from both Polk and Clark for potential sidewalk dining, but the retail will hold the corner. Two two-level parking decks with 280 spaces back next to the Metra tracks. The Avalon Bay PD would be vacated, although the street vacations/dedications would not be rescinded, and this project would be as-of-right under DX-7 zoning. Here’s a rough site plan as I remember it:

Wow... that's just pathetic.

...and right across the street from Burnham Point, which is one of the most successful recent buildings when it comes to urban integration.

AMLI is just pure trash.

...wow

[XIII]

Originally Posted by Tom Servo

Wow... that's just pathetic.

...and right across the street from Burnham Point, which is one of the most successful recent buildings when it comes to urban integration.

AMLI is just pure trash.

...wow

This is Bob Fioretti's ward. He's usually pretty responsive to community input. Drop him a line about this.

http://chicago2ndward.com/

[Rizzo]

Just wanted to say the former location of Geneva Seal on Rush, soon to be Starbucks has now actually begun demolition. It sat for awhile with scaffolding but I woke up to the sound of sledge hammers this morning.

I'm crossing my fingers that once Starbucks moves, the old location may be redeveloped into something larger.