CHICAGO | General Developments

[george]

7/13

Maggie Daley Park

[wierdaaron]

Cook county has a map viewer now to see all the areas with TIF money and how much they've raised.

http://cookviewer1.cookcountyil.gov/tifViewer/

Too bad they don't have how the money is being spent.

[streetline]

The city has a TIF map with projects and expenses:
http://webapps.cityofchicago.org/ChicagoTif/

[UPChicago]

Originally Posted by wierdaaron

Cook county has a map viewer now to see all the areas with TIF money and how much they've raised.

http://cookviewer1.cookcountyil.gov/tifViewer/

Too bad they don't have how the money is being spent.

It won't show you how the money is spent because the county doesn't have any of it's own TIF districts that it administors. You have to find that out on a muni by muni bases. Only land that the county has complete jurisdiction over it unincorporated Cook County represented in white in Cook Viewer.

[BVictor1]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Looks like Navy Pier just got a huge private donation.

Wow, it's unbelievable how much money is going into transforming/updating Chicago's premier public spaces right now.

It's unbelievable how much money isn't going into urban neighborhoods outside of the CBD.

[the urban politician]

^ Yep, I'm not surprised, but that seems to be Chicago's age old formula: invest most heavily in the core.

And perhaps the neighborhoods will just have to accept this in exchange for keeping density relatively low outside the core?

[Kenmore]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ Yep, I'm not surprised, but that seems to be Chicago's age old formula: invest most heavily in the core.

And perhaps the neighborhoods will just have to accept this in exchange for keeping density relatively low outside the core?

IDK, density is my census tract is much higher than the core and we continue to be ignored but hey, whatever. I've pretty much given up no this front....it's just the way it is.

[wierdaaron]

At their presentation last week, Navy Pier Inc said they have all the cash they need for phase 1 on-hand, but they'll be open for philanthropic donation for phase 2. I didn't know they meant right away, phase 2 won't be for a while.

[marothisu]

The Old Colony Building (407 S Dearborn - Dearborn & Van Buren) received another building permit the other day to convert to residential. $25M. If you remember, it was news last February that they were going to convert this to 204 apartments. Somehow this place gets forgotten in the Loop's little conversion.


Image via Curbed

[i_am_hydrogen]

^Great news. They cleaned the exterior a couple years ago, and since then it's just lied fallow. Glad to see things are moving forward.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by i_am_hydrogen

^Great news. They cleaned the exterior a couple years ago, and since then it's just lied fallow. Glad to see things are moving forward.

They actually received a permit in like February, but nobody responded to my posts about whether it had begun or not

[wierdaaron]

I've seen lots of outside work going on, but maybe they didn't have permits yet to start knocking down walls. I hope they can secure a solid retail tenant for the ground floor. That corner has been pretty blighty for a while, but Dollop moving into the Fisher building across the street will probably help. Plus the CLA claims they're going to spruce up Pritzker park now.

[Link N. Parker]

DNAInfo is reporting that a developer wants to move forward with plans for townhouses on Milwaukke Ave in Bucktown:

http://dnainfo.com/chicago/20140716/...mingdale-trail

There was a proposal earlier for apartments there, but the g*d-damm NIMBYs stopped it.

Hopefully this development will at least have good street appeal, unlike the townhouses further up Milwaukee ave in Avondale.

[the urban politician]

^. Well of course the Nimbys stopped it. This goes back to my earlier point about the neighborhoods and investment. Where does the lions share of revenues come from? The central area. That's then where the lions share of investment will go.

I guess that's my point. Great urban spaces are created in great urban places, not in quasi-private town home communities.

[joeg1985]

^ There is plenty of investment being spread out to the hoods. The Bloomingdale trail, L revamps and new stations. All the money they are throwing into the new entertainment districts. Bike lanes going up all over town.

Could there be more? Sure. Most of the money isn't going into glamorous things but it is still flowing to the hoods as well.

[the urban politician]

^ Sure, I don't disagree. You have the 35th St pedestrian bridge getting started, the Steel Works project on the far south side, etc. But the really big ticket items are in the city's core. When all is said and done, I don't know why anybody takes issue with this?

That's what you get in Chicago. At least for the past 50 years (perhaps longer--the Loop's hegemony over the rest of the city is even mentioned in City of the Century) that's been the way things have been. The neighborhoods were "neighborly" and relatively less dense, while all of the "big city stuff" was concentrated downtown.

People aren't supposed to have a problem with this, that's the arrangement. If you want to change that arrangement then be my guest, but you're opening up a can of worms. You'll start having nosy city inspectors banging on your door asking why you are doing work in your basement without a permit. More developers proposing denser projects, etc etc. Do Chicagoans outside of the core want the city "at their doorstep" or do they not? Investment always comes with strings attached.

[lu9]

Originally Posted by Link N. Parker

DNAInfo is reporting that a developer wants to move forward with plans for townhouses on Milwaukke Ave in Bucktown:

http://dnainfo.com/chicago/20140716/...mingdale-trail

There was a proposal earlier for apartments there, but the g*d-damm NIMBYs stopped it.

Hopefully this development will at least have good street appeal, unlike the townhouses further up Milwaukee ave in Avondale.

Quick correction. This development will front Winnebago, not Milwaukee. The L tracks separate another parcel (also vacant and available) which fronts Milwaukee.

[Buckman821]

Originally Posted by marothisu

They actually received a permit in like February, but nobody responded to my posts about whether it had begun or not

My GF works for an advertising firm that has the developer as a client and she got to tour the building. Work is definitely underway, and the fact that they have engaged an ad firm to market the building obviously makes it very real as well.

I even got to see some photos from her tour.

[Link N. Parker]

Originally Posted by lu9

Quick correction. This development will front Winnebago, not Milwaukee. The L tracks separate another parcel (also vacant and available) which fronts Milwaukee.

Ah ok - thank you for pointing that out! I mis-interpreted the location.

[J_M_Tungsten]

Today
Lakestreet and the highway