O god, "Plenty of parking"...I'm preparing for the worst. Good thing the Nimby's destroyed that legit proposal from a few years back!

^ My guess is that parking is vertical if it's a 4 or 5 story development. Perhaps retail/grocer on the first level with parking above? It still sucks, but vertical parking is still better than surface parking..

Calumet Photo Shuts Down All US Operations
 

According to Crain's Chicago Business, Calumet Photo filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on Thursday, shuttering all of its US stores as well as its website. Employees learned of the closures when they showed up yesterday for work. Link

With Helix shuttered as well, that leaves Central Camera as Chicago's only "serious" photography store?

(Edit: Calumet's European stores will remain open)

My take though, is that the area is already well-served by grocers at this point...lets see, Trader Joes, Walmart Market, Market on diversey, a jewel up on broadway, and a whole foods on halsted...

I disagree. The Jewel and Whole Foods up near Addison are a bit of a hike for people without cars. The area full of highrises along Sheridan just to the east of here is full of people that don't drive. Market Place on Diversey will be dead by the end of the year (turns out you can't charge $7 for a box of Cheerios). Trader Joe's is alright but is still lacking on perishable goods and it can get overwhelmingly packed. And Walmart... well it just sucks. What would be great here would be a Mariano's or a big-ass Gene's.

What I think the neighborhood desperately needs is a decent butcher. If I had any experience in that, I'd open one up myself.

Also, wasn't this section of Broadway recommended for being shut off for exclusively pedestrian use by that report that came out a few weeks back? I figured it would be a long shot with the two surface lots and parking garage all on this strip but it would be nice.

Today
Various Michigan Ave. Renovations and Demolitions.
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/t...04780BE0_1.jpg

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/t...6D8AF97E_1.jpg

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/t...5341C44D_1.jpg

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/t...0659BB66_1.jpg

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/t...21CD2CBB_1.jpg

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/t...B66F828D_1.jpg

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/t...917BAB44_1.jpg

Grand, milwaukee, halsted??????
 

So what reuse do you think is blindingly obvious? Hell, what reuse do you think is financially feasible in that location?

Amen!!! It always amazed me at how fast people wanted to tear this building down without thought. Atleast the facade should be saved.

Apartments. There is a glaring shortage of decent housing in the immediate vincinty of the IMD. I actually researched it looking for comps for another project I was working on and in october of last year Medical District Apartments and that other complex were both 100% occupied and leased solid for 3 to 4 months into the future.

Maybe it has a ghost problem, but doctors and nurses probably are the last people who would be afraid of ghosts being in an old hospital since they are in a hospital with people dying around them all day every day anyhow.

Why are you asking me?

My issue is with the criminal $2.4 million figure. What planet are visiting us from to not be bewildered by that cost?

I know exactly what should be done with it. I have a perfect plan for what to do with it that will save jobs, improve the community, and decrease the school dropout rate. And I'll tell you all exactly what it is. For 2.3 million dollars.

Massive Wave of Exciting Infill
 

Did anyone else see this trio of hotness on Curbed today?

560 N Western

http://www.panopticgroup.com/assets/...l/2/2bs84n.jpg
panopticgroup.com


2424 W Grand

http://www.panopticgroup.com/assets/...l/d/dzewqi.jpg
panopticgroup.com

http://www.panopticgroup.com/assets/...l/v/vonkwy.jpg
panopticgroup.com

http://www.panopticgroup.com/assets/...l/r/ra40vr.jpg
panopticgroup.com

701 N Western

http://panopticgroup.com/assets/dire...l/c/cmvhqc.jpg
panopticgroup.com

These are by Panoptic Group and will all be LEED certified or better. This is the same company behind this development which recently broke ground at Damen and Augusta:

http://media.cdn-redfin.com/photo/68...08530719_1.jpg
redfin.com

Also ripped from Curbed, Northwestern is about to break ground on this Perkins and Will beauty in Evanston:

http://cdn.cstatic.net/images/gridfs...c-facility.png
chicago.curbed.com

Apparently it is their new athletic facility. Why can't they stop building turd city downtown when they keep churning out good designs up North? Apparently this one comes with a private beach for students judging by the rendering.

Another Curbed post from today. Plans for renovating the Fullerton State Bank which has sat empty for years. They are converting it to apartments:

http://chicago.curbed.com/uploads/fu...ate-bank-2.png
chicago.curbed.com

Lots of good stuff coming out of the woodwork today.

Did no one see my post on Curbed today?

Hey there, I figured I'd address this on here instead of on Curbed... So yeah, it's certainly a bit... odd, that these images/renderings would surface from other projects/developments in other cities (and countries for that matter). However, I've asked the developer for some clarification about where the designs came from, and whether they were purchased or perhaps lifted. After all, the green glass/spacey looking building appears to have come from a design competition so you never know what arrangement was made. I agree something seems a bit off, but I can't start pointing fingers and making claims of architectural plagiarism without getting the complete story (and we're working on getting the whole story here)

Anywho, this is my first post on SSP, so hello everyone! I hope to post more and lurk less.

AJ

^Welcome

^^^ Believe it or not, the Portland building is actually offices......it gained some national recognition.....written up in Architectural Record a few years back....

Agreed on the cost......a study for maybe $300,000-$500,000 might make sense here.....and certainly not 'anybody in real estate can figure this one out, it's so obvious, etc' - that's just silly....