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Old Posted Jul 30, 2009, 5:15 AM
rkrause rkrause is offline
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Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 18
I personally dislike this entire design -- although not necessarily the concept. The hotel as its envisioned simply does not fit aesthetically within the South Wacker Drive corridor given the existing architecture in these two blocks.

The current rendering looks remarkably out of place framed between Sears Tower and 311 S Wacker. It doesn't even attempt to complement either building -- almost suggesting that it was designed in a vacuum -- with no regard for the neighboring architecture. And crammed so tightly into a corner of the existing lot beneath the very shadow of its nearby cousins, visually suggests that the proposal is nothing more than a developer's desperate band-aid solution for revitalization.

I think there are far better ways to incorporate a marketable green hotel into the existing Sears Tower property while similarly redeveloping the infamously tacky street-level plaza. There is a parking garage on Franklin St that is just begging to be razed. It is the perfect location for a hotel tower with an integrated parking deck. Simply construct a graceful skybridge across Franklin St to the mezzanine of Sears Tower.

That makes the most efficient use of the valuable real estate in the Chicago Loop. And it adds the convenience of direct, on-site parking for occupants of the new hotel which could be an additional selling point (not to mention being one block closer to the nearest "L" stop, since it is important to encourage use of public transit).

--Randall
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