CHICAGO | Post Office Redevelopment

[Steely Dan]

the city of chicago just grew a pair!

Alderman to developer: Get serious about deals for old post office
John Byrne and Kim JanssenContact Reporters

Despite bold talk and a lot of wishful thinking, Chicago's old main post office has stood vacant for nearly two decades.

Now the city's patience may finally be wearing thin.

If the eccentric owner of the hulking 2.7 million-square-foot art deco behemoth, British developer Bill Davies, doesn't agree to a deal with a buyer soon, he'll lose the valuable zoning rights he won three years ago, Zoning Committee Chairman Ald. Daniel Solis, 25th, is threatening.

Solis introduced an ordinance Thursday that would strip the 12.6-acre site straddling West Congress Parkway of the mixed-use residential and business zoning Davies secured after buying the property for $24 million in 2009 and return it to a downtown service district.

full article: http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...924-story.html

[Skyguy_7]

^

There are new signs (1,000,000+ sq ft for lease..) posted on it as you cruise under on the Ike

[wierdaaron]

Usually when I decide to acquire a million square foot lease it's because I saw a sign from the highway.

[Randomguy34]

Originally Posted by Skyguy_7

^

There are new signs (1,000,000+ sq ft for lease..) posted on it as you cruise under on the Ike

I'd be impressed if someone managed to get the sign's phone number down that fast while driving on the Ike

[Skyguy_7]

Originally Posted by wierdaaron

Usually when I decide to acquire a million square foot lease it's because I saw a sign from the highway.

One would think Sterling Bay makes their west loop acquisitions that way. They own more properties than they can count. But I regards to the PO, something is better than nothing!

[LouisVanDerWright]

It's really about time the city start turning the screws. This is almost better news than all the big projects announced recently for the South Loop.

[wierdaaron]

Was this in the 2nd ward before the redo or was this always Solis's?

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by wierdaaron

Was this in the 2nd ward before the redo or was this always Solis's?

I believe this site and large parts of the south loop were given to Solis as part of Operation Gerrymander Fioretti Out of Office.

[brian_b]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

the city of chicago just grew a pair!

...Threatened Downzoning...

What's the legality of that? Didn't the city do that with SoNo and lose in court, wasting millions of taxpayer dollars?

[SamInTheLoop]

Not sure when exactly Solis got this corner of the Loop (it was in his ward - or at least he had the zoning decision-making over it - a few years ago when the ridiculous pie-in-the-sky fantasy project got its PD approved.....which Solis got conned (or perhaps took a sizey contribution for??) into believing was necessary for something to happen with the post office itself (digress, but Solis is a demonstrably gullible type of fellow - he also let McCaffery blow a huge plume of smoke right up his clown hole with respect to the British School and contrapark). Of course though Davies is not a developer at all - it was never his intention to develop anything - it was his intention rather to - if he could - flip at an enormous profit. But the preposterousness of the PD gave Davies the severely misguided notion that he could receive (who really knows how high this multipe goes?) 2x, 3x, 5x etc the $ for the post office than what reasonable offers by competent capable developers with track record would actually offer. I was rightly critical of Solis 3-4 years ago when he backed this goofy PD (development that was never - and will never - in its current form - actually going to happen), and I'm steadfast in it today - Solis shares culpability in this post office saga. Well, at least it's he as well that has to try to clean up his own mess here.

[SamInTheLoop]

This is the key - Davies never put a sign up on the building!! Now national and global developers will know it's for sale.............why didn't anybody think of this before?! Davies is now a genius in my book!!!

[Baronvonellis]

Well Davies bought the Post office for $24 million and Sterling Bay offered him a legitimate offer for $150 million in 2014 but he rejected it. That's 6x what he payed for it! So yea, hes probably holding out for something ridiculous like $1 billion for it.

[Jim in Chicago]

Originally Posted by Randomguy34

I'd be impressed if someone managed to get the sign's phone number down that fast while driving on the Ike

If there was a giant QR code they could zap it with their camera as they pass.

[wierdaaron]

Do any cities have a "use it or lose it" law for situations like this? I know sometimes real estate involves patience, but it sucks that a nitwit can just sit on a property like this.

[Near North Resident]

Originally Posted by Randomguy34

I'd be impressed if someone managed to get the sign's phone number down that fast while driving on the Ike

yeah the Ike is definitely known for its congestion free travel

[Chicago Shawn]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

I believe this site and large parts of the south loop were given to Solis as part of Operation Gerrymander Fioretti Out of Office.

This was in Solis's ward before the remapping. After the new boundaries took effect, 26 jumped the river and took in parts of the South Loop.

[k1052]

Originally Posted by wierdaaron

Do any cities have a "use it or lose it" law for situations like this? I know sometimes real estate involves patience, but it sucks that a nitwit can just sit on a property like this.

Yea, strip the unbuilt PD then threaten eminent domain unless you move ass…just like Rahm did to General Mediterranean. This is a very clear shot across the bow to do something or suffer the consequences.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by brian_b

What's the legality of that? Didn't the city do that with SoNo and lose in court, wasting millions of taxpayer dollars?

The city giveth, the city taketh away.

SoNo was allowed under the site's pre-existing zoning, the city can't downzone a parcel just because it doesn't like what the developer has planned.

The Post Office is different... the city already granted zoning relief to Davies in the form of a PD. They are on firm legal ground to take that away again and let the PD sunset to its original DX zoning, especially because it is clear that Davies has no intention of actually building the development he got the city to approve.

[brian_b]

Originally Posted by ardecila

The city giveth, the city taketh away.

SoNo was allowed under the site's pre-existing zoning, the city can't downzone a parcel just because it doesn't like what the developer has planned.

The Post Office is different... the city already granted zoning relief to Davies in the form of a PD. They are on firm legal ground to take that away again and let the PD sunset to its original DX zoning, especially because it is clear that Davies has no intention of actually building the development he got the city to approve.

Cool, thanks for explaining the difference.

[Rizzo]

Ugh, I had this thread. Enter with hope, leave terribly disappointed. I want the city to take this building back and sell it to someone with a real plan. It can't be an impossible building to renovate.