CHICAGO | General Developments

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by r18tdi

Nope, not a chance.

Not a chance of what?

[Chicago Shawn]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

The Chinese are taking over the entire SW side. At the zoning committee meeting on Monday there were at least half a dozen different projects in the Bridgeport and McKinnley Park area that were being done by Chinese developers. Alderman Reilly actually asked one of the developers specifically about the recent boom of Chinese SFH's down there and then congratulated them on their success. I guess he's happy to see SFH's instead of skyscrapers...

No kidding. I went with a friend of mine through a 4 flat for sale near 38th/Kedzie and it was Chinese owned and occupied. Not only that, the entire basement was carved up into a "Chinese Hotel" tenament with multiple small rooms and mattresses placed anywhere possible (including under the gas meters). I've heard of these places still existing before, but I hadn't seen one until this property visit last week. The building needed alot of work, so my friend declined to make an offer. He was suprised that a building in that area of Brighton Park would be Chinese, I was less suprised but it does show how far west the Chinese investment has gone.

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by Chicago Shawn

No kidding. I went with a friend of mine through a 4 flat for sale near 38th/Kedzie and it was Chinese owned and occupied. Not only that, the entire basement was carved up into a "Chinese Hotel" tenament with multiple small rooms and mattresses placed anywhere possible (including under the gas meters). I've heard of these places still existing before, but I hadn't seen one until this property visit last week. The building needed alot of work, so my friend declined to make an offer. He was suprised that a building in that area of Brighton Park would be Chinese, I was less suprised but it does show how far west the Chinese investment has gone.

They are really starting to immigrate en masse. Same goes with SE Asians in general. I just leased a warehouse to an importer from Myanmar and also ended up helping them find several apartments in Pilsen (!!!) that they could house their workers in. They have like 3 or 4 more company "executives" that they are trying to get visa's for right now in addition to the half dozen immigrants they already have working for them. What a weird multi-cultural mash the SW side is going to be in short order...

These clients are great though, they give me samples of all the odd foods they import, last time I stopped by I left with a bag of roasted butter beans and something called "dried dragonhead fish" which looks like minnows dried whole and chopped up and mixed with the super spicy red pepper sauce from a Thai restaurant. It's apparently the spiciest thing they carry. Can't wait to try that.

[marothisu]

Yep, it's really great. More and more Asians - Chinese or of that descent are moving to Chicago lately. It's really noticeable in some areas now like downtown from my perspective and SW side is expanding. In 2010, some areas of Brighton Park were 8% Asian. I'm sure that has increased now. My last serious girlfriend was from SE Asia, though she didn't stay because of VISA stuff. I have another friend here from the same country who won some VISA lottery for like 4 years. His dad, currently in SE Asia, was looking to buy or build a house in Chicago. When he came to visit for the first time, he was literally looking at open houses and stuff. My ex girlfriend's parents are wealthy and they were looking to not only buy a house but to open a business here. Unfortunately because of the VISA stuff, it never happened. And that sucks, because some of her friends and parents wanted to do the same stuff in Chicago.

The companies here have no idea how they're fucking the city over sometimes by not offering VISA extensions only because "Well, we don't know what to do with VISA stuff." I know of at least 5 people where their parents in Asia were going to buy stuff here, but they couldn't find more work in Chicago so they moved back. I met one of her friends from Indonesia whose dad owns like 50 factories all over the country and a few of the neighboring ones. Very wealthy and wanted to open up something in Chicago only if his son could stay. No dice..so never happened for Chicago. Some companies haven't a clue that this is true and how they're indirectly messing up some economic growth from international investors only because they don't want to spend $2000 for VISA extension stuff.

[PKDickman]

Originally Posted by wierdaaron

Trib says a second Shake Shack location will be in the Chicago Athletic Association hotel coming soon to Michigan and Madison. That building doesn't currently have any ground level retail. I hope they don't have to blast too many holes in the facade to create some. It's very pretty as-is.


(images from Curbed)

Don't worry too much.
Neither Landmarks nor the IHPA (who oversees the class L incentives) will allow them to make any changes to the masonry.

The Class L savings amount to about $6,000,000. I doubt that Shake Shack's lease is worth that much.

[wierdaaron]

Originally Posted by PKDickman

Don't worry too much.
Neither Landmarks nor the IHPA (who oversees the class L incentives) will allow them to make any changes to the masonry.

The Class L savings amount to about $6,000,000. I doubt that Shake Shack's lease is worth that much.

I guess they could have the restaurant be inside the lobby, so the existing door would serve both purposes, but it seems like they'd want some signage or branding outside at least, if not bigger windows and their own door.

[r18tdi]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Not a chance of what?

Not a chance of passing City Council today.
Lincoln Center redev is a long, long way off.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by PKDickman

Don't worry too much.
Neither Landmarks nor the IHPA (who oversees the class L incentives) will allow them to make any changes to the masonry.

The Class L savings amount to about $6,000,000. I doubt that Shake Shack's lease is worth that much.

How would those existing doors possibly meet fire code for a hotel?

[PKDickman]

Originally Posted by wierdaaron

I guess they could have the restaurant be inside the lobby, so the existing door would serve both purposes, but it seems like they'd want some signage or branding outside at least, if not bigger windows and their own door.

The building has an annex on the Madison side that I think has a retail front.
Perhaps it is that spot the restaurant is going for.

[Rizzo]

Originally Posted by emathias

How would those existing doors possibly meet fire code for a hotel?

They'll knock in a swing door somewhere.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by OrdoSeclorum

FYI, Mildblend in Wicker Park does the same thing while you check out. Won't buy my jeans anywhere else.

Thanks for the tip!

Originally Posted by emathias

More than that, they usually use fabric that is spun better and will wear better and feel more comfortable and, incidentally, often wrinkle less simply because of the quality of the thread used and the better weaving process. I like inexpensive shirts as much as the next guy, but I have high end (not their discount lines) Hugo Boss and Ted Baker shirts that have lasted me over a decade even though I wear them frequently and they still look like new. I bought them at steep discounts during seasonal sales, but they retailed for around $150-200+ each during their season. Shirts that retail for $50 or less usually don't last me more than 2-3 years until they look frayed enough that I either donate them or repurpose them into work shirts. Ben Sherman has pretty good shirts that are commonly findable for $50 discounted that are a good value for quality, performance, price and style, in my opinion.

True - that is a good point. They are usually put together better. Not always, but usually. I do have a few designers whose stitching and spinning is a little off, but nothing major and the stuff wasn't that expensive even without a sale. When I first started getting into this, I would read some labels I had about the materials used and think "how the hell do you combine silk and cashmere together" so I downloaded a book about it. Man, I can't believe how much calculus was in that textile book. The whole thing was full of it - big eye opener for me on how complicated some textile stuff actually is.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by Mr Roboto

This latest 5 story chinatown hotel at the NW corner of Clark and Archer is not the same location as See Wong's previous 15 story proposal is it? I think that was at the SW corner. I wonder if he still owns the property.

I liked that proposal, so Im hoping that it is still a possibility, even though its been about 5 years since it was last mentioned here.


(image from chicagoismynewblog)

I love that proposal - too bad it didn't happen. I would love to see more Asian and Chinese style architecture in and around Chinatown. Very cool - maybe this new 5 story one can do that.

[aphedox]

The Van Buren building certainly looks nice; and, I love the push west. However, I have a serious problem with developers like this disrupting the street grid. There may not be an Aberdeen bridge over 290 today, but what about when this neighborhood is filled with 20 story+ buildings? Are we really going to be okay with forcing pedestrians to walk to either Racine or Morgan then? I don't think the city should be giving up property for established public ways to private developers at all.

[J_M_Tungsten]

^that looks like a six flags mock building for an Asian-themed ride

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by aphedox

The Van Buren building certainly looks nice; and, I love the push west. However, I have a serious problem with developers like this disrupting the street grid. There may not be an Aberdeen bridge over 290 today, but what about when this neighborhood is filled with 20 story+ buildings? Are we really going to be okay with forcing pedestrians to walk to either Racine or Morgan then? I don't think the city should be giving up property for established public ways to private developers at all.

In what way is building a building disrupting the street grid?

[streetline]

Originally Posted by marothisu

In what way is building a building disrupting the street grid?

It's being built over a vacated chunk of Aberdeen street. There's currently a little stub of Aberdeen that Connects to Tilden there, and if the city ever wanted to build a bridge over the Eisenhower at Aberdeen it would have to go right through this tower's podium.

Given the current investment levels in infrastructure in the city and the nation as a whole, I think expecting a bridge any time soon may be a bit optimistic. But aphedox makes a good point about this basically ruling out ever building a bridge there.

[PKDickman]

Originally Posted by emathias

How would those existing doors possibly meet fire code for a hotel?

A, If they lose the non-contributing revolving door, the opening is about 7 feet.
B, The building isn't landlocked. It has about 100 feet of alley wall and the exits via the Madison frontage.
C, If it is impossible by any other means, they might let them cut the apron under the wide windows at the north and south ends of the facade where they are devoid of decoration.
But this is only a last resort.

[Chi-Sky21]

Originally Posted by streetline

It's being built over a vacated chunk of Aberdeen street. There's currently a little stub of Aberdeen that Connects to Tilden there, and if the city ever wanted to build a bridge over the Eisenhower at Aberdeen it would have to go right through this tower's podium.

Given the current investment levels in infrastructure in the city and the nation as a whole, I think expecting a bridge any time soon may be a bit optimistic. But aphedox makes a good point about this basically ruling out ever building a bridge there.

A bridge to the ultra desirable destination of the UIC Pavilion parking lot? Aberdeen doesn't even continue on the south side of the IKE for a few blocks. DEAD END.

[untitledreality]

Originally Posted by aphedox

However, I have a serious problem with developers like this disrupting the street grid. There may not be an Aberdeen bridge over 290 today, but what about when this neighborhood is filled with 20 story+ buildings? Are we really going to be okay with forcing pedestrians to walk to either Racine or Morgan then?

Forcing? Its 500' from Aberdeen to Racine, maybe 600 from Aberdeen to Morgan. Besides the Blue Line and the Pavilion, what would people be walking to South of the site? Besides that, where would a Aberdeen extension go to? $10mm just to terminate at Harrison?

Under certain circumstances I would agree with you, the city should never give up public ROW (ahem, Costco), but there is no use to the Aberdeen stub.

[aphedox]

Originally Posted by Chi-Sky21

A bridge to the ultra desirable destination of the UIC Pavilion parking lot? Aberdeen doesn't even continue on the south side of the IKE for a few blocks. DEAD END.

The probability of this remaining the case 20 or 30 years from now seems extremely unlikely.