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  #381  
Old Posted Feb 26, 2009, 11:22 PM
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My hats off to the developer for backing off the resoration and putting money into other surrounding projects other than this one, the city really screwed this developer over big time with this damn height cap and this appears to be the developers way of firing back.
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  #382  
Old Posted Feb 27, 2009, 4:37 PM
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^ i don't think the height limit is as offensive as some on this thread are suggesting. one of the biggest complaints the NIMBYs were using against this project (whether real or smoke-screen) was that downtown evanston didn't have comprehensive enough zoning that clearly spelled out building heights. now that the council has done that, there is a clear legal document that sets forth what can be expected to be developed and to what height. sure, many of us skyscraper nerds want nothing but the tallest possible buildings to be built everywhere, but i'm much more concerned about this project from the perspective of giving evanston's skyline a nice peak in the middle to give it more character and definition, and at 385', this project would still do that. and i don't see how the developer is getting screwed over as the unit count and sq. footage remain unchanged.

the original 523' tall and slender tower would have been really cool to see, but at the end of the day height is just a number, what's more significant is how a skyscraper relates itself to the other buildings in its skyline, and at the height currently proposed, this building would still be tall enough to bust through evanston's current ~275' plateau. and the design is quite nice; from an architectural perspective, if built, this would become the best skyscraper ever constructed in evanston, or perhaps second only to the chase building.
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  #383  
Old Posted Feb 27, 2009, 6:04 PM
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I do agree that 385 feet is still nice height for the area, but it still annoys me that people made as big of a deal of it as they did.
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  #384  
Old Posted Feb 27, 2009, 6:07 PM
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^ Steely, I highly doubt it will top Optima's projects. We'll see...
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  #385  
Old Posted Feb 27, 2009, 6:12 PM
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Originally Posted by honte View Post
^ Steely, I highly doubt it will top Optima's projects.
i believe it will, but i'm a sucker for clean, taut glass curtain walls. not that the optima buildings are bad, i love them, but i'm a wee bit annoyed at hovey for doing his best highrise work to date out in the boondock forest preserves of skokie. well, to be fair, i guess he did try to bring some of that to evanston with his chicago/davis project, but the NIMBYs killed that one outright.

as you said, we shall see........ or perhaps hopefully we shall see.

<fingers-crossed>
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Last edited by Steely Dan; Feb 27, 2009 at 6:22 PM.
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  #386  
Old Posted Mar 4, 2009, 5:17 AM
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Good news, the revised tower plan won a key vote tonight. It was approved by a 6-3 vote by the city council's planning and development committee. This means the plan can proceed to a final vote by the full council at their next meeting.
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  #387  
Old Posted Mar 4, 2009, 5:51 AM
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Good news, the revised tower plan won a key vote tonight. It was approved by a 6-3 vote by the city council's planning and development committee. This means the plan can proceed to a final vote by the full council at their next meeting.
Great to hear it finally passed!!!
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  #388  
Old Posted Mar 4, 2009, 5:55 AM
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it has not finally passed, it still needs final approval from the city council.
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  #389  
Old Posted Mar 4, 2009, 5:59 AM
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Originally Posted by Steely Dan View Post
it has not finally passed, it still needs final approval from the city council.
I just remember how much scrutiny the original design went though and am grateful how far this has come.

At least Evenston will hopefully still be getting its new tallest.
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  #390  
Old Posted Mar 4, 2009, 6:34 PM
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FYI, if this project goes through at its proposed height, here's how the 10 tallest chicagoland skyscrapers would stack up:

  1. 418'/31 floors - Oak Brook Terrace Tower, Oak Brook Terrace
  2. 409'/35 floors - 708 Church Street, Evanston - APPROVED
  3. 395'/26 floors - The Gallagher Center, Itasca
  4. 277'/22 floors - Chase Building, Evanston
  5. 276'/25 floors - Sherman Plaza, Evanston
  6. 270'/20 floors - Zurich Towers 1, Schaumburg
  7. 270'/20 floors - Zurich Towers 2, Schaumburg
  8. 266'/19 floors - Esplanade 1, Downers Grove
  9. 265'/28 floors - Optima Views, Evanston
  10. 263'/21 floors - 425 Woodfield Corp. Center, Schaumburg


only 10 measly feet short of taking the title from oak brook terrace. son of a...............
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Last edited by Steely Dan; Mar 24, 2009 at 4:42 PM.
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  #391  
Old Posted Mar 5, 2009, 3:43 PM
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some interesting height figures.

so i took the elevation from Booth Hansen that listed the roof height at 385' and took some scaled measurements off of it. granted, these are all approximate, but if BH's elevation was correctly drawn to scale, then these figures below are probably within inches of being accurate.


- height of parking podium: 59'-6"

- height of 1st setback: 178'-6

- height of 2nd setback: 278'-6" (which lines up very nicely with the 277' Chase Building and the 276' Sherman Plaza)

- roof height: 385'-0"

- total height to top of parapet mechanical screen: 409'-6"
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Last edited by Steely Dan; Mar 5, 2009 at 10:37 PM.
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  #392  
Old Posted Mar 9, 2009, 10:34 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Steely Dan View Post
some interesting height figures.

so i took the elevation from Booth Hansen that listed the roof height at 385' and took some scaled measurements off of it. granted, these are all approximate, but if BH's elevation was correctly drawn to scale, then these figures below are probably within inches of being accurate.


- height of parking podium: 59'-6"

- height of 1st setback: 178'-6

- height of 2nd setback: 278'-6" (which lines up very nicely with the 277' Chase Building and the 276' Sherman Plaza)

- roof height: 385'-0"

- total height to top of parapet mechanical screen: 409'-6"
If this is true, shouldn't the thread read 410'?
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  #393  
Old Posted Mar 9, 2009, 10:52 PM
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^ the 409'-6" height was just a figure i scaled off of the drawing, so i thought it would be wise to err on the side of caution by rounding down instead of up.


here's a quick photoshop i did with the tower put into the evanston skyline. the perspective is whacked, but i'm not very good with photoshop and i didn't feel like spending any more time on it.

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Last edited by Steely Dan; Mar 9, 2009 at 11:17 PM.
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  #394  
Old Posted Mar 10, 2009, 12:02 AM
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^Nice job, Steely; it gives a great feel for the scale.

You know, I would be thrilled to see the design move forward as-is. I actually enjoy it better than the taller, non-setback design. The single-slab tower was too one-note for me, and the setbacks of this one really help it settle into the city better. This isn't some optimistic rationalization in the wake of disappointment, either--I really think the revised design will look great (and better).
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  #395  
Old Posted Mar 10, 2009, 12:46 AM
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Steely do I see the Zion reactors on the horizon ?
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Last edited by harryc; Mar 10, 2009 at 1:45 AM.
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  #396  
Old Posted Mar 10, 2009, 3:39 AM
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^^^ Yes you do! I have a north view room and have long pondered the visible outline of the state boundary as visible from my window. I long ago determined that the furthest north power plant I could see was in Zion.

I for one love being able to see a Nuclear Power Station from my window, reminds me of the power and achievement of mankind.
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  #397  
Old Posted Mar 10, 2009, 6:28 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Steely Dan View Post
FYI, if this project goes through at its proposed height, here's how the 10 tallest chicagoland skyscrapers would stack up:

  1. 418'/31 floors - Oak Brook Terrace Tower, Oak Brook Terrace
  2. 409'/35 floors - 708 Church Street, Evanston
  3. 395'/26 floors - The Gallagher Center, Itasca
  4. 277'/22 floors - Chase Building, Evanston
  5. 276'/25 floors - Sherman Plaza, Evanston
  6. 270'/20 floors - Zurich Towers 1, Schaumburg
  7. 270'/20 floors - Zurich Towers 2, Schaumburg
  8. 266'/19 floors - Esplanade 1, Downers Grove
  9. 265'/33 floors - Optima Views, Evanston
  10. 263'/21 floors - 425 Woodfield Corp. Center, Schaumburg


only 10 measly feet short of taking the title from oak brook terrace. son of a...............
And you said that height is just a number.

Good news on the first approval. I predict that final approval will take a few months. Evanston's meetings are very slapstick, seem to have no standard order, and usually are unproductive, just leading to a night of discussions without a vote. And people complain about Chicago city government....


Nowhereman, on cold, clear days you can see the steam plume from the coal plant in Pleasant Prairie, Wis; so that would be the northernmost power plant visible from a high-rise in Chicago.
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  #398  
Old Posted Mar 10, 2009, 2:22 PM
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And you said that height is just a number
well, it is. in the grand scheme of things, the fact that this tower, if built, would fall 9 feet short of oak brook terrace tower is pretty meaningless, but because evanston is superior to oak brook terrace in almost every way, it'd still be kinda cool if evanston could steal the title.

oh well................. i NEVER thought i'd live to see the day that a tower this tall would be approved in evanston, so that alone is a pretty mind-boggling feat taken on its own.
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  #399  
Old Posted Mar 10, 2009, 4:41 PM
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Good news on the first approval. I predict that final approval will take a few months.
you might not have to wait that long. preliminary approval was granted by the full council last night with finalization expected at the next city council meeting on march 23. all 6 alderman who voted in support at the P&D meeting, again voted in favor this time, even with the 5 year extension that the developer asked for, so the NIMBYs are really out of ammunition at this point, unless some big unknown game changing aspect about this project comes out.



from evanstonnow.com

No minds changed on tower
Tuesday, Mar. 10, 2009, at 9:54 am
Bill Smith

Plans for the 35-story Fountain Square tower project received preliminary approval from the full Evanston City Council Monday -- with the extension of time developers requested to begin construction.

full article: http://www.evanstonnow.com/story/new...anged-on-tower
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  #400  
Old Posted Mar 24, 2009, 2:07 PM
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