CHICAGO | 111 West Wacker (former Waterview site) | 630 FT | 59 floors - Page 4

ardecila · #61 Posted: **Jan 31, 2011, 4:07 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by 10023

There's quite a bit of space for that in older buildings, I would think.

Yeah - this building doesn't have nearly the cachet that boutique firms are looking for. It doesn't have historic character, and it doesn't have a big-name architect.

I think that was one of the problems that ultimately doomed Shangri-La, actually. The design is serviceable, with pretty elegant massing, but the skin is very generic. I mean, the thing was designed by an engineering firm masquerading as an architect and as a developer.

What might make more sense is to put the hotel in the tower and the office space in the base. The hotel rooms would have great views, and the offices would have the large floorplates they're looking for.

Hayward · #62 Posted: **Jan 31, 2011, 5:42 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by emathias

Maybe. I would think he could also target them toward small, boutique firms looking for unique space.

There's unfortunately plenty of boutique office space available with suitable floorplates, ceiling heights, and whiteboxed conditions. Many with desirable addresses and extremely competitive rent. All waterview would have going for it is that tenants would be moving into fresh brand new space (if that's really even benefit considering Boutique firms love doing build-outs. I could imagine Waterview shooting for small office tenants would prove disastrous. How low would they be willing to drop their rents?

SamInTheLoop · #63 Posted: **Jan 31, 2011, 3:56 PM**

I hope this planned deal doesn't work out for Reschke so he can focus on another adaptive re-use (of a finished building!) - his planned more boutiquey conversion to hotel of another LaSalle street building. History leaves us to expect poor - or even cartoonishly bad - design in a new construction Reschke project. I still don't see this succeeding as partial office......to be competitive, the floor plates probably need to be 20%+ larger.......still think rental or hotel/rental is the way to go..........whatever the case, the original design will not be used, so forget about the old Waterview design.....something more economical will take its place - it won't be a very tall, very thin tower being built on top of a bulker base (that only worked in the bubble-era condo market!), or ultimately didn't work, I guess.......it helps to have a financing plan before you start to construct a building (boy, was that a signature bubble-era move!)...

J_M_Tungsten · #64 Posted: **Jan 31, 2011, 6:45 PM**

Didn't Donald trump say that his buildIng would be the only successful supertall to work in Chicago? Looks like he has been right thus far..

chicubs111 · #65 Posted: **Feb 1, 2011, 10:15 PM**

I really wish they would build this tower up to the height or near it was intended for...but figure if there gonna building minimum 30 stories of office space on top of whats currently there we will be near the 700ft range im thinking?..but 30 stories of officespace at this site with such a small floor plate is not that much space,..it might force reschke to build possible 40 or 50 stories of space on top of whats there now...we shall see

harryc · #66 Posted: **Feb 5, 2011, 11:05 PM**

texcolo · #67 Posted: **Feb 6, 2011, 12:34 AM**

Two words:

Paint ball

jcchii · #68 Posted: **Feb 6, 2011, 4:31 PM**

any significant height would be nice, but at this point it just needs to be recovered into a working building.

way too high-profile a site to have that thing sitting there

BVictor1 · #69 Posted: **Mar 17, 2011, 3:16 AM**

I had the opportunity to attend a Crain's Chicago Business event featuring Michael Reschke.

There was discussion about the Waterview Tower site. If they get the property, they're looking to add about 40 floors to whats already been built.

The architect: Ricardo Bofill. Sorry Steely...

When I asked him how tall the building would be, he said in the 650' - 700' range. I also happened to be sitting next to his partner, J. Paul Beitler. I'd asked him the same question earlier and he said 700'+.

There was no timetable given or anything else of real value regarding the project.

migueltorres · #70 Posted: **Mar 17, 2011, 2:09 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by BVictor1

I had the opportunity to attend a Crain's Chicago Business event featuring Michael Reschke.

There was discussion about the Waterview Tower site. If they get the property, they're looking to add about 40 floors to whats already been built.

The architect: Ricardo Bofill. Sorry Steely...

When I asked him how tall the building would be, he said in the 650' - 700' range. I also happened to be sitting next to his partner, J. Paul Beitler. I'd asked him the same question earlier and he said 700'+.

There was no timetable given or anything else of real value regarding the project.

Funny, I heard a couple of days back from someone from Gensler that they were starting to work out plans for this site as well

Steely Dan · #71 Posted: **Mar 17, 2011, 3:48 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by BVictor1

The architect: Ricardo Bofill. Sorry Steely...

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

talk about pouring salt in the wound. i hope that plan goes nowhere.

ChiTownCity · #72 Posted: **Mar 17, 2011, 4:03 PM**

^what's wrong with him? If the designs on his website says anything, I don't think it would be something less than boring...

headcase · #73 Posted: **Mar 17, 2011, 7:02 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChiTownCity

^what's wrong with him? If the designs on his website says anything, I don't think it would be something less than boring...

I'm only familiar with this two building in Chicago, but I tend to think they are glass, over-stylized, PoMo crap .... and if I remember correctly Steely has a big issue with the tower across the river from his condo (Even if the lobby is pretty good)...

SSDD

trvlr70 · #74 Posted: **Mar 17, 2011, 7:08 PM**

I've always been a fan on the United building. I just don't like that the two towers will be so close in height when completed.

towerpower123 · #75 Posted: **Apr 5, 2011, 5:02 AM**

Look at Ricardo Bofill's Walden 7 building. Although you can't really blame him for the color scheme since the tiles kept falling off so they were removed and the building was painted.

Both images are from Wikimedia Commons.
Hopefully Waterview won't look anything like that.

Beta_Magellan · #76 Posted: **Apr 6, 2011, 4:32 AM**

That was also very, very early in Bofill’s career. More likely it would be something with lots of mirror glass with some classical hints, like the Dearborn Center.

I think the days of neoclassicism in precast concrete are behind him—though I have to admit that of all the postmodern buildings in the Loop 77 West Wacker’s probably my favorite—it has a sort of misplaced earnestness that sets it apart from all the tacky winks and gaudy serlianas of Chicago’s other postmodern “monuments.”

ardecila · #77 Posted: **Apr 6, 2011, 4:59 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beta_Magellan

That was also very, very early in Bofill’s career. More likely it would be something with lots of mirror glass with some classical hints, like the Dearborn Center.

I think the days of neoclassicism in precast concrete are behind him—though I have to admit that of all the postmodern buildings in the Loop 77 West Wacker’s probably my favorite—it has a sort of misplaced earnestness that sets it apart from all the tacky winks and gaudy serlianas of Chicago’s other postmodern “monuments.”

'Tacky winks and gaudy serlianas'. Love it.

If we're gonna consider Dearborn Center as postmodern, then that's my favorite. I think it's a beautiful building.

Ricardo Bofill just designed the new airport terminal in Barcelona, and that looks like it could be a Richard Rogers project or something. Bofill I think is not attached to classical decoration so much as classical patterns at a more basic level - building layout, circulation, structure, and so forth. So I'm not too worried about Bofill... he's come a long way from the days of this:

speedy1979 · #78 Posted: **Apr 7, 2011, 12:49 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardecila

'Tacky winks and gaudy serlianas'. Love it.

If we're gonna consider Dearborn Center as postmodern, then that's my favorite. I think it's a beautiful building.

Ricardo Bofill just designed the new airport terminal in Barcelona, and that looks like it could be a Richard Rogers project or something. Bofill I think is not attached to classical decoration so much as classical patterns at a more basic level - building layout, circulation, structure, and so forth. So I'm not too worried about Bofill... he's come a long way from the days of this:

The above picture makes me think of the movie inception for some reason.

Beta_Magellan · #79 Posted: **Apr 7, 2011, 1:21 AM**

It was featured in Terry Gilliam’s Brazil as the protagonist’s apartment.

ardecila · #80 Posted: **Apr 7, 2011, 1:22 AM**

Yeah... I dunno what Bofill was smoking when he designed Les Espaces d'Abraxas.

I actually like the one in Barcelona, though.

The last two projects Bofill designed for Chicago (both unbuilt). Neither is terrible, and both are far better than the painted-concrete crap cluttering our fair city.