I'll certainly take that over banality.

FWIW (probably not much), I like the Gang (not a box) design alot and hope it gets built. Let's see if it does.

Who will buy or rent? The job market in Chicago is making progress, but the Midwest still lags behind other US areas in creating new jobs. http://www.globest.com/news/12_897/n...ts-348000.html

It's mostly been suburban employers heading Downtown or Downtown employers engaging in a game of musical chairs (Blair, MWE and DLK Piper). That's not really job growth (yet) that drives office construction.

^This is not an office building

. . .

i made a sloppy render of the tower on sketchup and i would like to show it but i don't know how to post a image saved to my computer, instead of the internet. any help?

Just post it on Flikr or a file sharing website, and post the link here from that site using the [IMG] on the left and [/IMG] on the right of the link.

the same old news, this time from the tribune:

full article: http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...,6735022.story

As Tom said it's not an office tower, but lackluster job growth really hasn't slowed down demand for downtown living in Chicago. Hotel occupancies and tourism are at all time highs, as are rents/sf. However, there has been talk about a glut of construction for a long time.

It would be nice to add a few ft to this to knock trump out of the 2 spot....and yes i know its more than "a few" ft

Still nobody has confirmed that this actually is the Gang tower. I mean, all of us here know it but there's not enough to report it as fact in a newspaper.

Yeah, people have been hinting at it, but frankly we are still nowhere near the breakneck pace we were at in the mid 2000's. We are going to see about 6,500 units delivered over the next 2 years, about a 3,250 annual rate which is pretty consistent with the average annual absorption since the 1990's. Once we start seeing 6,000+ units a year being delivered then I'll be concerned.

There is no relationship between job creation, office building demand and luxury residential building demand? Really? What drives construction if not demand based on a healthy and expanding jobs market? If you build luxury residential, jobs will come?

Anyway, I still like the (non-box) Gang design and hope it gets built.

So, along with LVDW, I'll accept some credit for accurately describing Jeanne's design. :D

The design has not really changed that much over the space of at least a year... which, I find a little troubling. I don't know if she is still giving the same "green-washing" justification for the frustums, (ridiculous), but if the plans are not executed skillfully for the apartments and hotel rooms, I think I will label this tower a total failure. (I have never seen any plans) For example, I can't wait to see how the extra SF get's configured in the hotel rooms.

Not unlike Aqua, it still appears to be a 'one-liner' without much justification except in this case, the result is not nearly as seductive.

Finally, a year ago, I thought the resolution from the relentless frustum massing to the adjacent buildings (bKL's phase II Gems and the adj condo) and the street/ground condition would have resolved itself better by now... I guess I was wrong.

Not necessarily. . .

Really. . .

Lots of things. . .

My point was not related to jobs, rather that this project is not an office building as your original post read. . .

. . .

^ Aqua is a "one liner"?

This will benefit Chicago greatly. at least the tower isnt in the loop, with all those traditional boxes, this tower would look like a a bear among rabbits

well, undulating balconies = 1 line

and, the other lines?

structural? entry sequence? public/private? materials? detailing? environmental? (granted, she does use reflective glass in the less shaded area, so, OK, 1 1/2 liner)

Not even Crain's can call it Gang. http://www.chicagobusiness.com/reale...-chicago-river

Seems like a really botched media rollout, which can be an issue with foreign investors. They tell their local media first and when the story hits here nobody is available for comment.

If this thing is built, LSE will be full of some massive buildings.

Seems strange because LSE is such an expensive place to live with the views and new condos, you would think they would have a good amount of nimbys. Maybe the neighborhood is too new and the HOA is too unorganized. Regardless, its become a very good looking area, quiet and dead but good looking nonetheless.

I'm jumping on the Paint It Black bandwagon, but adding some super dark green window columns too.

I'd say the LSE area itself attracts a kind of anti-nimby mindset, a type willing to adventure the prospect of living in an underdeveloped but very expensive section of the heart of downtown in exchange for the location and views and (in the case of Aqua) the emotional allure of living in or near a famous building. Those types are probably excited by the prospect of new development in their area, and can deal with a bit of their view altering.

A colleague lives in Aqua, and when I shared this building with him he seemed excited at the prospect of another Gang building so close by. But his view is to the north, and so is probably safe.