CHICAGO | Highrise Projects & Construction, v7

[BVictor1]

Originally Posted by Rocket49

You seem to be missing the facade of the 3 story building with the Radio Shack.

If you want to maintain the character of the streetscape, you may as well incorporate that facade as well.

He's saying it's dishonest because the brick doesn't come all the way to the ground. A transparent ground level then brick?

[Rizzo]

Always thought the Hearst tower approach was more appropriate for the MiLa building. And the results of the MiLa base were kind of disappointing and cheap compared to the higher quality and energized appearance of the renderings. With this new proposal, I suppose a facadectomy is worth considering as a reasonable substitute since I'm skeptical we'll get the actual proposed product.

[Via Chicago]

i think the most interesting part of a lot of old buildings is the interiors, so its naturally a bit of a stage set when you see one thing and then enter into a fully modern space.

[BrandonJXN]

I think Legacy does facadism correctly. You could walk right past the entrance and never know that you were walking past Legacy.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by Hayward

Always thought the Hearst tower approach was more appropriate for the MiLa building. And the results of the MiLa base were kind of disappointing and cheap compared to the higher quality and energized appearance of the renderings. With this new proposal, I suppose a facadectomy is worth considering as a reasonable substitute since I'm skeptical we'll get the actual proposed product.

I know your opinions on this issue, but I don't see any preservation value in the existing building.

It's a solid, masculine little warehouse building that would be welcome in Logan Square or wherever, but it no longer fits the character of Michigan Avenue and doesn't have any specific history or unique architecture that makes it worth saving. Not like Hearst Tower's base, which was built as the first phase of a much grander (unbuilt) building and had tons of unique stonecarving, etc...

Legacy and Heritage were a special case, as Wabash Avenue had a consistent and intact character of 19th Century cast iron midrises that were worth saving.

[KWILLSKYLINE]

Aren't many of those buildings exterior on wabash under the train tracks in some sort of historical/landmark status anyway? Especially Jewelers Row. So they would have to keep the facade or restore it wouldnt they? I hope they end up doing that all the way down that stretch in between michigan and wabash. Build a bunch of Legacy's all the way down, especially in the Hilton area. But at the same time keep the old exterior facade along michigan and wabash.

[Ned.B]

Originally Posted by KWILLSKYLINE

Aren't many of those buildings exterior on wabash under the train tracks in some sort of historical/landmark status anyway? Especially Jewelers Row. So they would have to keep the facade or restore it wouldnt they? I hope they end up doing that all the way down that stretch in between michigan and wabash. Build a bunch of Legacy's all the way down, especially in the Hilton area. But at the same time keep the old exterior facade along michigan and wabash.

The buildings at the base of Legacy were landmarked. Those at the Heritage were not and it was the developers choice (or alderman's prerogative) to save them.

I do agree that the building to save on Michigan would have been the Holabird and Roche designed 200 N Michigan, though it would have taken a fair amount of restoration work. This one is not as much an architectural loss, as a loss of texture and variety in the streetscape that these two buildings provide.

[ChiHi]

Originally Posted by Mr Downtown

That it's utterly dishonest. This is a town where the architecture is about showing what's holding the building up. Having three stories of brick piers floating in midair is just a silly parlor trick.

Yeah! A city that is about showing what's holding the building up... How dare someone think of something that doesn't follow the standard Chicago architectural form of a 5 story parking podium. And please use lots of concrete and paint it grey!

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by BrandonJXN

I think Legacy does facadism correctly. You could walk right past the entrance and never know that you were walking past Legacy.

I completely agree. The Legacy did it really well.

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by ChiHi

Yeah! A city that is about showing what's holding the building up... How dare someone think of something that doesn't follow the standard Chicago architectural form of a 5 story parking podium. And please use lots of concrete and paint it grey!

So disingenuous, the design in question has no podium to speak of.

[ChiHi]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

So disingenuous, the design in question has no podium to speak of.

Was more in reference to his comment of "This is a town where the architecture is about showing what's holding the building up." Not sure where that comes from aside from maybe a handful of buidlings. If that is true I guess it's a bunch of huge monolithic parking podiums that hold our buildings up.

This building is at least one of the very few that actually made an attempt at street level appearance and did it well.

[DizzyEdge]

Originally Posted by Mr Downtown

That it's utterly dishonest. This is a town where the architecture is about showing what's holding the building up. Having three stories of brick piers floating in midair is just a silly parlor trick.

I think you could argue it's more honest than regular facadism, where you're tricked into thinking the historical building is still there in front of you.

I do agree though what I posted is one of the bottom tiers of 'historical preservation', some elements of the previous structure to maintain a physical public reminder of what came before rather than just relying on photos on a website or in a book somewhere.

[Randomguy34]

North Branch development blueprint passes city panel

By Alby Gallun
A Chicago panel today endorsed a plan to overhaul zoning along a stretch of Chicago River's North Branch, a change that's expected to bring new office, residential and retail buildings to a largely industrial zone.

The Chicago Plan Commission unanimously approved a draft plan for the North Branch Industrial Corridor, a 3.7-mile stretch along the river running roughly from Kinzie Street up to Fullerton Avenue. The proposal would relax zoning restrictions set up nearly three decades ago to protect industrial companies and jobs there.

The change would open up much of the 760-acre corridor to residential and retail development, banned uses now. Sandwiched by prosperous neighborhoods like Lincoln Park and Bucktown, the North Branch corridor offers a tantalizing opportunity for developers, which have been buying up land there, anticipating the zoning change.

At the same time, the area has lost some of its industrial strength. About 15,000 people work in the corridor, but about 10 percent of those, or 1,500, work in manufacturing, down from about 2,500 in 2002, according to the city.
The city believes that the new plan will more than triple the area's employment base over 20 years as technology and other businesses move to new office buildings in the area. It would also generate increased property taxes and millions of dollars in fees from developers that can be invested in other parts of the city, according to the city.

"In addition to building a new future for the north branch area, this framework will also generate revenue from this thriving area to support industrial businesses throughout Chicago," Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a statement. "Now we move forward to the next step in the process, which will bring together the north branch stakeholders to turn this plan into concrete progress for the community."

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/reale...go-river-north

[ithakas]

I noticed the Gap building on State Street that Georgetown Cos. purchased with plans to replace with a highrise is now vacant, but with a 'for lease' sign...

[BVictor1]

Jefferson Park 16-story building was just APPROVED.

Fucking meeting lasted from 10-5.....

Had a lady storm out saying bullshit... bullshit...
And when the project was approved, one guy asked if there was a point in coming to the commission again, someone said no (I don't know who) and then he told the alderman to go to hell... and stormed out.

[Busy Bee]

^Awesome... All of it.

[Mr Downtown]

Well, there is no point in coming to Plan Commission. No one can remember the last time they failed to approve every last item on their agenda.

Democracy in action!

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by ithakas

I noticed the Gap building on State Street that Georgetown Cos. purchased with plans to replace with a highrise is now vacant, but with a 'for lease' sign...

Damn!

Why'd they bother getting rid of The Gap, then? Grade A tenant!

[The North One]

Why would that project upset anyone? The lot is directly against a railroad and a highway.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by Mr Downtown

Well, there is no point in coming to Plan Commission. No one can remember the last time they failed to approve every last item on their agenda.

Democracy in action!

I bet you that if we got rid of Aldermanic prerogative, there would be a bigger variety of results and more independence displayed by the Plan Commission. The Commission seems to be set up today as merely a rubber stamp, with the barrier of entry being whether or not Aldermen allow a proposal to be reviewed by the Commission.

How do I know this? Because every damn day in the city of Chicago, non-elected officials in City Hall known as Zoning reviewers and Zoning Supervisors look at hundreds of proposals, do their due diligence, and approve and reject proposals. And they reject a lot of them.

I sometimes don't agree with their conclusions, but damn it at least they try to be fair. They don't ask for campaign contributions or favors and they don't seek retribution or revenge. They don't thump their chests like gorillas. I would have them making all zoning decisions in a heartbeat over the current status quo of it being in the hands of our Aldermanic Thugocracy