CHICAGO | General Developments

[untitledreality]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ It looks like at least one brick 2 flat is being demo'd for this project.

I've seen worse, but it's kind of irritating given that there is a friggin vacant triangle shaped parcel just across the street

Originally Posted by Nowhereman1280

I'm saying its on that huge vacant lot on the corner, I don't think the two flat is included.

There was a brick two flat and a beat up frame structure on the corner at one point. http://g.co/maps/84fcz

However, who knows how long ago those both came down... they could very well have been city owned and demo'd 2-3 years ago... or demo'd by a previous developer considering that there is literally no trace of them on the site anymore and the grass has fully grown over.

[Nowhereman1280]

^^^ Ah, didn't realize streetview was still out of date. Yeah, those buildings have been gone for a long time. I think they went down summer of 2010? All in all not a big loss when he'll be cramming more units onto the same size lot.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by ChiPhi

This kind of might go in transportation, but I think it is much more appropriate here. The Make Way For The People initiative was posted on Curbed today. Who knows how much teeth this "initiative" will have, but its nice to see we have some urban planners who understand what they are doing... Now if anything gets done, I will believe it.

This seems promising. It's great to see the Department of Transportation re-focusing on public space instead of moving traffic. The city's network of streets constitutes the vast majority of public space in the city. Much of it should be used for transportation, but there's a huge portion that's just going to waste because of bloated intersections and bloated streets. What should really be a series of open public spaces are just huge swarms of fast-moving metal.

For example, the intersection of Belmont/Ashland/Lincoln is such a dynamic place, but there's no there there. You can't be in the space, you can only skirt the edges. Removing auto traffic entirely is drastic and unnecessary (plus, it's already been tried at 63rd/Halsted) but recapturing much of that pavement for pedestrians is a noble goal.

[spyguy]

Originally Posted by ChiPhi

Also, the Sullivan Center / Former Carson Pirie Scott building will be slightly less empty in anticipation for the City Target that will open there soon (does anyone know when that will happen). Crain's reports that DSW will open its store this week.

The DSW store is supposed to open May 10 according to the sign. Also, a Carhartt store is planned for the Wabash side of Sullivan Center, I guess to fulfill the needs of Loop college-age hipsters. Meanwhile, I've heard that the old Borders store has been leased but that the New York & Co. store might soon be available, which is kinda strange considering they just finished sprucing up the first two floors.

Another piece of news in Crain's that caught my attention:

http://www.chicagorealestatedaily.co...its-the-market

Empty River North building hits the market
May 08, 2012

The owner of an empty seven-story River North office building that was hit with a foreclosure suit last year has put the property up for sale with an asking price of $10 million. A venture controlled by Joseph Lagoa, owner of the River North Spanish restaurant Café Iberico, has hired CBRE Inc. to sell the 65,100-square-foot property at 540 N. LaSalle St., a big increase over the $2.4 million the venture paid for it in February 2005. John Slivka, a vice president in the Chicago office of CBRE, says he is positioning the building for an office use or for a new hotel. “It's a premier River North location,” he says...

I don't think it was ever mentioned on this site, but the owners were considering converting this building to a boutique hotel by adding a few floors and completely changing the exterior to resemble a castle.

[the urban politician]

^ That sold for only $2.4 million a few years ago?

Unbelievably good deal..

[ChiPhi]

^^^
That rendering is of what it could have been had it been made into a hotel if I'm not mstaken (and it is atrocious imo). This is the building right now. It appears that when the building was last for sale (the bottom says it was created in 2006 so maybe the owner tried to sell it before), it had a number of tenants. Who knows if those tenants were acquired after the current buyer acquired the building. Regardless, after a crash in the market, the seller wants to see a 400% increase. He must have gotten one hell of a deal...

[aic4ever]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ That sold for only $2.4 million a few years ago?

Unbelievably good deal..

I'd think the land would be worth more than that.

[tyler1]

Originally Posted by spyguy

Meanwhile, I've heard that the old Borders store has been leased but that the New York & Co. store might soon be available, which is kinda strange considering they just finished sprucing up the first two floors.

Oh, that is strange. Perhaps they're looking at a space in Block 37?

[sentinel]

The new Goodman Center @ Congress & Wabash, Sun 5/6.

(sorry for the s**tty quality)

[ChiPhi]

All pics are great. Thanks a million. That is so short though; kind of a dower if that is the full height (and it looks like it). Well, at least it beats an empty parking lot...

[denizen467]

^ The towers in the background are wrong; I wonder what was going on in that render in the first place. Anyhow there's something in Chicago's DNA that prevents us from catching a Vegas Virus like that -- some things just will not get built here -- and I am proud of that.

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I hope I didn't do anything leading to anyone getting in trouble - I just wanted to understand something that probably wasn't meant the way it seemed and I didn't mean to call attention to anything in a bad way. Anyway, now let the photo updates roll, especially with the summer season coming.

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Like many others here I find myself at a doctor/dentist in Streeterville occasionally, and in addition to the NMH Outpatient building caissons being drilled (as somebody posted), the parking garage next to 600 N LSD is also making big progress. Matter of fact, it looks practically ready to open. It's surprisingly good looking actually, especially with the arcade and plantings.

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The Halsted Street viaduct by K Station is now undergoing work. Looks like they will be keeping open a lane in each direction during construction. Much of the Halsted corridor from Van Buren to North Ave is being transformed this decade, from the Hellenic Museum and Gateway/Mariano's and K2 to the British School and Apple Store and Red Line station, to the repavings and bridge and viaduct reconstructions, to the rising superstar status of Randolph/Fulton and, hopefully soon, to New City.

[the urban politician]

^ I gotta agree that the new garage next to 600 N LSD isn't half bad. It looks a lot less parking garag-y. I'd love for more free standing garages to look like this

[Mikemak27]

Blommer Chocolate Co wants to expand on its current Fulton District property at Kinzie and Des Plaines. I'm assuming they want to expand to the east of their property which is currently a surface lot across from K Station. They want to go from 1.3 acres to 5.5 acres. What other land could they be thinking about developing? They seem land locked with the railroads, the Jewell, and K station.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...,6393538.story

[ChiPhi]

^^^
Given that they are a huge player in the chocolate game, I wish they would make their factory more of a tourist attraction. I'm not saying it should be Hershey Park, but it'd be cool if they built a giant store (who wouldn't want to visit such a chocolate Mecca) and offered tours. They'd either have to go all out or not even try in that location though...

[Baronvonellis]

Yeah, thats awesome. A Willy Wonka style chocolate factory tour would be really cool. But Chicago is really missing out on this type of food tourism stuff. I'm mean the world of Coke in Atlanta is a huge tourist draw there. Why don't we have the World of Mcdonalds and the World of Kraft here?

[orulz]

Originally Posted by Mikemak27

Blommer Chocolate Co wants to expand on its current Fulton District property at Kinzie and Des Plaines. I'm assuming they want to expand to the east of their property which is currently a surface lot across from K Station. They want to go from 1.3 acres to 5.5 acres. What other land could they be thinking about developing? They seem land locked with the railroads, the Jewell, and K station.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...,6393538.story

According to this, the properties they want are 578 W. Kinzie, and 441, 460, and 468 N Jefferson. This means they want to expand to the other side of the CNW railroad viaduct. They want all the property that borders Jefferson Street between Kinzie and Grand. Perhaps they would want to de-map Jefferson Street as well but I don't know.

I agree that this could be a great tourist attraction. Hell, I'd go. And it's right in line with Chicago's history (and present!) as a hub for trading, distributing, and manufacturing agricultural/food products.

[ChiPhi]

Originally Posted by Baronvonellis

Yeah, thats awesome. A Willy Wonka style chocolate factory tour would be really cool. But Chicago is really missing out on this type of food tourism stuff. I'm mean the world of Coke in Atlanta is a huge tourist draw there. Why don't we have the World of Mcdonalds and the World of Kraft here?

There was talk a while back in the thread from some people about the opportunity McDonald's had with their 50th anniversary restaurant. Someone mentioned a place with counters serving every menu McDonald's carries internationally. That would have been amazing. Heck, I would have even taken a decent design that wasn't stranded in an ocean of parking lot. Not to mention that there are bigger McDonalds' in New York. It was such a missed opportunity. And I'm not really sure what Kraft would have as a tourist attraction, but I wish they would have moved their spin off into the loop.

[Mr Downtown]

I take it none of you have ever eaten anything purchased from the Blommer factory store. They make utility grade chocolate good for coating bananas, nothing that Vosges has to worry about. Well, maybe a tourist place that doesn't rely on repeat business would be their niche.

[VivaLFuego]

Originally Posted by Mr Downtown

I take it none of you have ever eaten anything purchased from the Blommer factory store. They make utility grade chocolate good for coating bananas, nothing that Vosges has to worry about. Well, maybe a tourist place that doesn't rely on repeat business would be their niche.

It's pretty neat to walk out of there with a 10lb solid brick of chocolate.

[pilsenarch]

Originally Posted by Mr Downtown

I take it none of you have ever eaten anything purchased from the Blommer factory store. They make utility grade chocolate good for coating bananas, nothing that Vosges has to worry about. Well, maybe a tourist place that doesn't rely on repeat business would be their niche.

Not true... they make a line of VERY refined solid chocolate bars....

I know quite a few people in the industry and have been given gift sets in the past