CHICAGO | General Developments

[Vlajos]

A McDonalds ground floor in the Corporate HQ building will not ruin anything. Will it even have a drive through?

[spyguy]

South Side Masonic Temple
6400 S. Green

South Side Masonic Temple by Stephanie Barto, on Flickr

[LouisVanDerWright]

If the McDonalds is as high quality as the HQ building and has a full international menu, I'm sure it will be a delight and, if anything, another notch in the belt of Restaurant Row. I mean come on, I might not want to eat at the golden arches every day, but being able to select from a worldwide menu? I might actually go there a couple times a year if only to slowly work through their international menu. There will only be one place on earth where you have that full selection and that's in the West Loop, the hottest neighborhood in Chicago, probably the greatest concentration of "foodie" oriented restaurants on earth. It will only add fuel to the West Loop fire, sure you might see a few more prom-limos rolling up on weekends in spring like you see in River North, but who cares? That's just even more streetlife for the area and a huge foot traffic draw pulling people further South and West from the current center of activity at Morgan Pink/Green Line.

PS, the McDonalds HQ move might be the most brilliant corporate decision in decades. I mean you are talking about the titan of global fast food, the company that started the prevailing dining trend of the last century, colliding with an incubator of the prevailing dining trends of this century. Just think of the great ideas that might result. This is why cities exist people, so individuals can specialize their skills and still exchange ideas and trade. For something as tangible as the food industry, being physically present and actually touching, smelling, eating, etc is key. You aren't going to get any new ideas in your compound in Oakbrook. Just imagine the ways in which McDonalds might benefit as a company by having all of their employees within blocks of some of the most cutting edge or premier restaurants in the US and world. I'm basically hoping McDonalds vacuums up tidbits of Au Cheval or Publican into their corporate machine and spits out an even more competitive, tasty, product as a result.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by Mr Downtown

Um, office workers sometimes just want a $6 lunch.
...

Yes. When I first started working in the Loop, back in 1995, there were many, many options for a solid $5-6 lunch. Now there are very few options - you almost have to dumb down the meaning of lunch to have options at that price point. Even at McDonalds you have to stick to the basics to stay under $6.

Originally Posted by denizen467

It's not like we have any right to complain about this one ... but it kinda ruins the West Loop a little, no?
...

Ruins? LOL

Originally Posted by harryc

Dec 5

Any chance this stays yellow?

Originally Posted by marothisu

...
According to what I calculated.. Near West, Near South, Near North, and the Loop have grown by a combined 43,225 people since 2010 (versus the ACS, not versus the actual Census). At this time last year, I would have put this number at +39,444. It looks like the Census has updated their estimates so it's increased nearly 4000 people in the last year.

* Lakeview: 99,876 people | +2686 people compared to 2010 ACS
* Near North Side: 86,343 people | +10,124 people
...

Looks like a good chance of Lakeview clearing 100k in 2020. Not impossible for Near North to, too, although 2030 should see Near North north of 100k even if it doesn't quite make it there in 2020. I kind of think Near North will be very close to 100k in the actual Census, seeing as in 2010 they grew by about 10,000 overall despite losing almost 10,000 public housing residents. Having far fewer public housing residents to lose after 2010, all this new growth in housing stock since 2010 should go straight to the final tally instead of having to stare down depopulating public housing. By 2030 the Cabrini area will hopefully be fully built out, too. And who knows, maybe there will even somehow be a Larrabee-Clinton Street subway at least started by then.

[marothisu]

I told a few coworkers of mine here in NYC who are originally from India that this thing could be an international menu. They said they would fly to Chicago if there were a few items from the India menu there. LOL

[the urban politician]

I've been to the McD in India. There is some yummy stuff there you will not get outside of their Indian restaurants.

[ChiHi]

Originally Posted by spyguy

South Side Masonic Temple
6400 S. Green

South Side Masonic Temple by Stephanie Barto, on Flickr

Demolishing that building is the most Chicago thing they could do. Pretty sure we'd rather be more like a Dallas type city with a bland pallet of glass buildings than a city with anything historical or any texture in our neighborhoods.

[Near North Resident]

Originally Posted by ChiHi

Demolishing that building is the most Chicago thing they could do. Pretty sure we'd rather be more like a Dallas type city with a bland pallet of glass buildings than a city with anything historical or any texture in our neighborhoods.

sadly thats right in the heart of the bombed out Englewood neighborhood, it doesn't make financial sense to renovate It must be in absolutely horrible shape, looking at street view of it pretty much confirms it

[wchicity]

Originally Posted by spyguy

South Side Masonic Temple
6400 S. Green

South Side Masonic Temple by Stephanie Barto, on Flickr

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe I heard that this is being demolished because it isn't structurally sound anymore, and I assume there isn't the money to correct its issues.

[Via Chicago]

Originally Posted by denizen467

^ Well it would ruin Fulton Market, and it would ruin the first few blocks of Randolph. It may be tolerable way out by Aberdeen.

The whole thesis of Fulton Market is that it's host to best-of-breed dining, food, and other services. Everyone working there (look at the face photo collage on Halsted at Fulton) is an artist striving at the top of the game; it's kind of an artist colony where the ideal is the pursuit of quality and innovation, over flashiness and repetition and efficiency. Are people going to flock to a Soho House or a Nobu Hotel if there are KFCs littered across the neighborhood?

McDonald's, in contrast, is a dinner-of-last-resort type of place, the pinnacle of profitmaking and the culinary equivalent of VE'ing.

And the last thing we need is suburbanites GPSing themselves off the Kennedy or out of the Loop to the nearest McDonald's for a bite. I think it would be fine if the McDonald's over by Ogden continued to serve that purpose.

get over yourself. this pearl clutching at the thought of suburbanites having the audacity to drive down Randolph street is something else.

frankly, as someone who works in the area, im pretty sick of not being able to snag a quick no-frills lunch for under $10 (aside from all the italian sub joints that are great but get old pretty quick). i dont really care about McD one way or the other, but the neighborhood is going to have to evolve very quickly as more offices relocate from the Loop, and the expectation that 9-5'ers are going to be dining at Avec and Girl and the Goat every day is obviously unrealistic.

also LOL at SoHo house somehow being perceived as some hallowed artist community. place is a country club for "marketing professionals".

[Stunnies23]

Originally Posted by Via Chicago

get over yourself. this pearl clutching at the thought of suburbanites having the audacity to drive down Randolph street is something else.

frankly, as someone who works in the area, im pretty sick of not being able to snag a quick no-frills lunch for under $10 (aside from all the italian sub joints that are great but get old pretty quick). i dont really care about McD one way or the other, but the neighborhood is going to have to evolve very quickly as more offices relocate from the Loop, and the expectation that 9-5'ers are going to be dining at Avec and Girl and the Goat every day is obviously unrealistic.

also LOL at SoHo house somehow being perceived as some hallowed artist community. place is a country club for "marketing professionals".

This is the best comment of the month.

[Handro]

Originally Posted by Via Chicago

get over yourself. this pearl clutching at the thought of suburbanites having the audacity to drive down Randolph street is something else.

frankly, as someone who works in the area, im pretty sick of not being able to snag a quick no-frills lunch for under $10 (aside from all the italian sub joints that are great but get old pretty quick). i dont really care about McD one way or the other, but the neighborhood is going to have to evolve very quickly as more offices relocate from the Loop, and the expectation that 9-5'ers are going to be dining at Avec and Girl and the Goat every day is obviously unrealistic.

also LOL at SoHo house somehow being perceived as some hallowed artist community. place is a country club for "marketing professionals".

Yes, not sure that Fulton really has the whole "artist community" cache... it's a yuppie neighborhood through and through. I don't mean that in a derivative way at all, but any "artist" that lived in a loft in Fulton Market left about 5 years ago.

I think the McDonald's is going to be fine. A) I think the fact that the global HQ of an international fast food chain is located here is proof enough this isn't some artistic enclave and B) of course they were going to have a mcdonalds there, and you can bet they are going to try to make it very trendy and state-of-the-art.

I thought the universal hope for Fulton is that it becomes be a full fledged, thriving neighborhood. In order for it to attract lots of activity, it needs to have a diverse offering for lots of city residents, not just the ones who are looking to Instagram their $14 cocktails after a day shopping at Lululemon.

[Via Chicago]

i dated someone who had a place on fulton maybe 5-6 years ago, and she still lived in one of those raw loft spaces. poor heating, original windows, rickety staircases, paint stained hardwood floors, half finished canvases strewn all over the place, cheap partitions thrown up, incredible natural light...and cheap. its luxury condos now. do the math. those folks arent there anymore. theres still some high end galleries selling high end stuff for high end homes, but thats hardly the same as being a neighborhood working artists can afford to live in. i dont know why this myth continues to persist, other than the fact that it really has changed so incredibly rapidly. SoHo and Nobu and Ace have nothing to do with the arts, other than they are effective at co-opting and culturally appropriating the arts for branding purposes. theyre quite savvy at it and clearly its effective on some level, but lets not kid ourselves that this is anything but comfortable upper middle class consumerism (and really, at the prices condos are selling for over there now, its beyond middle class).

[emathias]

Originally Posted by wchicity

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe I heard that this is being demolished because it isn't structurally sounds anymore, and I assume there isn't the money to correct its issues.

I would believe that. That 4-story stone/brick building on the NE corner of Wells and Huron has some foundation issues and it's going to cost in the neighborhood of $165,000 to have them addressed. That's for one standard-width, 4-story building. I can hardly imagine what it would cost to address a whole litany of issues in a building on the scale of that Masonic lodge.

[Busy Bee]

Originally Posted by denizen467

^ Well it would ruin Fulton Market, and it would ruin the first few blocks of Randolph. It may be tolerable way out by Aberdeen.

The whole thesis of Fulton Market is that it's host to best-of-breed dining, food, and other services. Everyone working there (look at the face photo collage on Halsted at Fulton) is an artist striving at the top of the game; it's kind of an artist colony where the ideal is the pursuit of quality and innovation, over flashiness and repetition and efficiency. Are people going to flock to a Soho House or a Nobu Hotel if there are KFCs littered across the neighborhood?

McDonald's, in contrast, is a dinner-of-last-resort type of place, the pinnacle of profitmaking and the culinary equivalent of VE'ing.

And the last thing we need is suburbanites GPSing themselves off the Kennedy or out of the Loop to the nearest McDonald's for a bite. I think it would be fine if the McDonald's over by Ogden continued to serve that purpose.

Holy Shit

[Halsted & Villagio]

[QUOTE=Near North Resident;8012858]sadly thats right in the heart of the bombed out Englewood neighborhood, it doesn't make financial sense to renovate It must be in absolutely horrible shape, looking at street view of it pretty much confirms it.


Oddly enough there is an article in the Trib today which talks about the turnaround and optimism that is taking place in Englewood. Apparently crime is down and Englewood is on a bit of rise. There is a good probability that in about 10/15 years the Englewood as we know it will be a thing of the past and as such we will look back on a structure like the Masonic Temple and wish we had saved it.

.

[Randomguy34]

Nobu Hotel in Fulton Market selling before it's built

By Ryan Ori
Chicago’s Nobu Hotel is still in the early stages of construction on West Randolph Street, but the Robert De Niro-backed hotel and restaurant is already getting a new landlord.

Mexico’s RCD Resorts has struck an almost $20 million deal to buy and take over the Fulton Market district development at 854 W. Randolph St., according to sources. The 11-story building with a 119-room boutique hotel and a restaurant from chef Nobu Matsuhisa is expected to open at Randolph and Peoria streets sometime in 2018.

The seller is M Development, led by longtime Chicago developer Mark Hunt.

RCD Resorts knows the Nobu brand well, having helped redevelop the historic Eden Roc Miami Beach Resort & Spa. Part of the historic Eden Roc was converted into a Nobu Hotel and Restaurant that opened in 2016. It was the third luxury hotel location for Nobu, which opened at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas in 2013 and in Manila in 2015.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...208-story.html

[left of center]

^ Hopefully that means construction will resume soon

[Cheap_Shot]

Originally Posted by Via Chicago

i dated someone who had a place on fulton maybe 5-6 years ago, and she still lived in one of those raw loft spaces. poor heating, original windows, rickety staircases, paint stained hardwood floors, half finished canvases strewn all over the place, cheap partitions thrown up, incredible natural light...and cheap. its luxury condos now. do the math. those folks arent there anymore. theres still some high end galleries selling high end stuff for high end homes, but thats hardly the same as being a neighborhood working artists can afford to live in. i dont know why this myth continues to persist, other than the fact that it really has changed so incredibly rapidly. SoHo and Nobu and Ace have nothing to do with the arts, other than they are effective at co-opting and culturally appropriating the arts for branding purposes. theyre quite savvy at it and clearly its effective on some level, but lets not kid ourselves that this is anything but comfortable upper middle class consumerism (and really, at the prices condos are selling for over there now, its beyond middle class).

Pretty much this. I have lived in Fulton Market for 6 years and continue to do so. I have watched my building's garage transform from Accords and Camrys to BMW M3s and 911 Turbos. Artists left long before the meat packers as their leases came due annually and they saw rent increases right away, while merchants typically had longer agreements (if they leased).

Agree with SoHo and Ace comments as well. Though for anyone interested, Ace's upstairs and easily accessible bar provides a unique view of the city.

[harryc]

Originally Posted by Cheap_Shot

,,,

Agree with SoHo and Ace comments as well. Though for anyone interested, Ace's upstairs and easily accessible bar provides a unique view of the city.

Are the shots cheap ?