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  #35501  
Old Posted Nov 28, 2016, 5:53 AM
denizen467 denizen467 is offline
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Does the City own this land? If so, is the City the owner of the new structure or is it a ground lease?

If not, is the land owned by the owner of the Equitable building?
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  #35502  
Old Posted Nov 28, 2016, 6:24 AM
LouisVanDerWright LouisVanDerWright is offline
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Originally Posted by ithakas View Post
Wondering if any of our developer or zoning expert forum members have any thoughts here – how come live/work zoning isn't more prevalent in Chicago? Can it be used for new construction or is it typically only grandfathered in from older buildings?

I stayed in a live/work building in downtown LA this past week (though it was a loft conversion), so curious about this...
Funny you ask, I'm actually looking at doing it in a multi story retail building on the SW side. The zoning laws are really particular for live work and I think most people that are going to go through the trouble of adding a full bath and kitchen to a space just go all the way and make it full on residential. I think there is a humungous market out there for it, but Chicago's code is so damn picky about these things that you may as well just go residential if you are going to spend all that money anyhow.

Two other factors: live-work still trigger's Chicago's retarded parking minimums which screws most older commercial buildings. Also, live work is allowed in almost all commercial zones, but only above the ground floor. Only B2 permits ground floor live-work. The problem with this being that there are very few multi-story retail buildings around and most of the loft style multi-floor buildings are industrial relics and zoned M or PMD which don't allow residential. This basically leaves buildings like the one I am going after which is a 3 floor 1920's department store close enough to the train to trigger the TOD exception for parking. I will still have a retail tenant on the ground floor.
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  #35503  
Old Posted Nov 28, 2016, 2:16 PM
Ned.B Ned.B is offline
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Originally Posted by denizen467 View Post
Does the City own this land? If so, is the City the owner of the new structure or is it a ground lease?

If not, is the land owned by the owner of the Equitable building?
I believe that the Apple store is built entirely on land owned by 401 N Michigan. If you look at an aerial photo you can see the expansion joints cutting across the plaza that denote where the property lines are. The stairs/plaza to the west of the store (where the winding concrete stair was before) are on city land.
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  #35504  
Old Posted Nov 28, 2016, 2:32 PM
Chi-Sky21 Chi-Sky21 is offline
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[QUOTE=harryc;7634753]Nov 11


It will be fun trying to guess if it is a bearded hipster waiting in line for his latest and greatest phone or a bum on lower michigan.....
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  #35505  
Old Posted Nov 28, 2016, 3:56 PM
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ithakas ithakas is offline
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Thanks PK and LVDW! Lots of great knowledge here in these forums...

I wonder if the Spice Barrel District industrial (Cermak and Jefferson, roughly) could be repurposed for large-scale artist live/work, with the breaking of a PMD setting a precedent. It would also be interesting if some institution opened a large-scale gallery complex somewhere in these parts – MoMA PS1 comes to mind, or the recently opened Hauser Wirth & Schimmel (one of the most impressive things I saw in LA).
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  #35506  
Old Posted Nov 28, 2016, 4:20 PM
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You could likely find something in Albany Park, Ravenswood, Rogers Park, Jeff Park, Edison Park, Avondale, and many more. Will it be updated and pristine? No, but $1,000 isn't nearly as much as it used to be.
A friend of mine just found a 1 BR apartment on Edgewater 2 blocks from the lakefront for $800. Not fancy but livable. Deals are still out there if you look for them
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  #35507  
Old Posted Nov 28, 2016, 4:27 PM
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This just feels so unnecessary lol
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  #35508  
Old Posted Nov 28, 2016, 5:47 PM
LouisVanDerWright LouisVanDerWright is offline
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Originally Posted by migueltorres View Post
A friend of mine just found a 1 BR apartment on Edgewater 2 blocks from the lakefront for $800. Not fancy but livable. Deals are still out there if you look for them
I have an entire building that is half outdated 2bd/1ba apartments leased at 475/mo and half updated 2bd/1ba apartments leased at $825/mo two blocks from a Pink Line Station in Little Village. Anyone who tells you there is no affordable housing in Chicago either has no idea what they are talking about or is just lying through their teeth. I am acquiring another six unit on the freaking boulevard that is all leased out at between $450 and $550/unit for 2 and 3 bd apartments. Again in Little Village only a couple of blocks from the train. Of course I'm planning on doubling the rents there and renovating, but even then, $1000 for a newly renovated 2 BD apartment with large bedrooms looking out onto the bolevard? Even your destitute $1000/mo fixed income case can afford that if they find a roommate.

Speaking of roommates, I own a bunch of buildings in Avondale and Logan Square where the tenants are almost exclusively on a fixed income or illegal Polish immigrants and they pay $500 to $700 a month for two bedroom apartments. The living conditions aren't the greatest so I'm going to have to renovate and, oh no!, gentrify the buildings. But at some point someone is going to have to do it or the buildings are going to fall into such a state of disrepair that it won't be healthy or safe to live there. But that's how you get affordable housing, it's a temporary state buildings fall into between the improvements becoming functionally obsolete to the luxury or upper middle class segment and the improvements falling into unsafe or unhealthy disrepair. This is inherently a temporary condition that can only exist for so long. No one is going to renovate a building into a functionally obsolete state, but all buildings eventually mature into that condition and are either renovated or the rents are lowered. There is nothing wrong with that. There is nothing wrong with older apartments that rely on space heaters and still have clawfoot tubs that were built into the wall as if it were a new tub at some point in the 1960's, but eventually those kinds of conditions become untenable and the tenants must move on and the building must be gutted, for everyone's sake.

There is plenty of affordable housing in this city, it's just not located next to the latest hip cocktail bar so the hipsters are convinced it doesn't exist. The fact of the matter is that I have a 2 bed 1 bath apartment located at 25th and Western in a building a manage for rent at $800 RIGHT NOW. It's in Good condition too, new laminate floors, newer cabinets and kitchen, decently updated bathroom, forced air heat. Like literally, anyone here who is lamenting the lack of affordable housing, just PM me and I will get you into a decent place within a month or two.
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  #35509  
Old Posted Nov 28, 2016, 6:13 PM
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Originally Posted by ithakas View Post
Thanks PK and LVDW! Lots of great knowledge here in these forums...

I wonder if the Spice Barrel District industrial (Cermak and Jefferson, roughly) could be repurposed for large-scale artist live/work, with the breaking of a PMD setting a precedent.
It could, in theory. Live/work spaces on upper floors are allowed in all B and C districts, and allowed on the ground floor in a B2, so there is a way to do it assuming the PMD was broken. Probably zone everything a B2-5. It's all landmarked, so you wouldn't have to worry about developers using the generous zoning to build a highrise. If no ground floor units, then C1-5 would allow a greater range of commercial uses that might be a good fit for an artist district, like tattoo parlors, flea markets, etc.

I think planners are very leery of doing live/work in industrial areas, since they don't want the concerns and complaints of residents to hinder the operations of industrial businesses. So far, all the live work spaces have been either commercial buildings, or weird isolated industrial buildings like the Switching Station in East Garfield Park where the neighbors are all mixed-use or residential.

Quote:
It would also be interesting if some institution opened a large-scale gallery complex somewhere in these parts – MoMA PS1 comes to mind, or the recently opened Hauser Wirth & Schimmel (one of the most impressive things I saw in LA).
Isn't this exactly what MANA Contemporary is on Cermak?
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  #35510  
Old Posted Nov 28, 2016, 6:27 PM
Via Chicago Via Chicago is offline
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i will say, the thing i hate about remodeled buildings is the forced air heat. its not a step up IMO. radiators are still the gold standard and its why i still choose to be in older buildings. A) it saves me a buttload on heating costs as a renter, and B) dosent dry everything out. plus theyre more efficient and require less maintenance anyway.

my girlfriend bought a house in Little Village for 50k (speaking of affordable housing) and is actively looking to rip out the duct work and put radiators back in.
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  #35511  
Old Posted Nov 28, 2016, 6:45 PM
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Steely Dan Steely Dan is online now
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i will say, the thing i hate about remodeled buildings is the forced air heat. its not a step up IMO. radiators are still the gold standard and its why i still choose to be in older buildings. A) it saves me a buttload on heating costs as a renter, and B) dosent dry everything out. plus theyre more efficient and require less maintenance anyway.
i too find forced air heating to be vastly inferior to radiant heating, but the ability to have central A/C in the summer months MORE than makes up for it in my opinion.

i can do cold all day long, but heat & humidity destroy my spirit.
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  #35512  
Old Posted Nov 28, 2016, 6:50 PM
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^ I know a contractor who has HVAC in his home as well as radiant heating installed under his floorboards. Best of both worlds!
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  #35513  
Old Posted Nov 28, 2016, 7:31 PM
the urban politician the urban politician is online now
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I have a fear that the Mega Mall redevelopment is going to turn out awful. Just horrible. The renderings are a scam, it will be cheap and tacky. Sorry, just my gut feeling.
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  #35514  
Old Posted Nov 28, 2016, 8:20 PM
Via Chicago Via Chicago is offline
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im skeptical of any rendering that uses watercolors, for starters

i truly want to believe they'll put the craftsmanship into making it look like an old Ravenswood warehouse...but Ill eat my hat if they actually execute anywhere near the level of detail and subtle variation they're suggesting
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  #35515  
Old Posted Nov 28, 2016, 8:36 PM
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Originally Posted by ardecila View Post
Isn't this exactly what MANA Contemporary is on Cermak?
Interesting and I hadn't thought of MANA, but it's not exactly the same. MoMA PS1 and Hauser Wirth & Schimmel are both almost entirely public-facing institutions focused on exhibitions, programming, etc. Hauser Wirth & Schimmel in particular integrates a lot of nice uses into their complex to bring people in from beyond the art world (a bookstore, a restaurant facing sculpture terrace with 20' tall Isa Genzken rose).

MANA's got the exhibition spaces but it's more about the artist studios and collections storage. It also feels very isolated from the surrounding neighborhood set back south of Cermak.
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  #35516  
Old Posted Nov 29, 2016, 1:07 AM
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I have a fear that the Mega Mall redevelopment is going to turn out awful. Just horrible. The renderings are a scam, it will be cheap and tacky. Sorry, just my gut feeling.
The PD filing shows the materials will be actual brick.

Probably they will be veneer brick on precast panels, but that can look good too if executed properly (see the Hillshire Brands HQ in West Loop). Honestly the biggest thing they could do to make the building appear historic is to skip the balconies, and it looks like they've done that.

This image appears to show some nice, somewhat authentic detailing:
https://cdn1.vox-cdn.com/uploads/cho...mall-new-2.jpg
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Last edited by ardecila; Nov 29, 2016 at 1:19 AM.
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  #35517  
Old Posted Nov 29, 2016, 1:18 AM
LouisVanDerWright LouisVanDerWright is offline
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Originally Posted by Via Chicago View Post
i will say, the thing i hate about remodeled buildings is the forced air heat. its not a step up IMO. radiators are still the gold standard and its why i still choose to be in older buildings. A) it saves me a buttload on heating costs as a renter, and B) dosent dry everything out. plus theyre more efficient and require less maintenance anyway.

my girlfriend bought a house in Little Village for 50k (speaking of affordable housing) and is actively looking to rip out the duct work and put radiators back in.
Don't do it, it's a terrible idea. As a renter radiators only save you money because you aren't paying for gas. What you don't see is the cracked pipes in the basement that cost $3000 to fix, the blown pumps that cost $5k, or the huge heating bill you get just for having it turned on in Septembers like this year when it's 60 degrees all month and you are burning gas like it's -10 degrees in january.

The absolutely do not require less maintenance, I'm not sure where you are getting that from. Any time you are talking about water it's a maintenance nightmere and a liability just waiting to totally trash your asset. Water is the enemy of property owners and can do a tremendous amount of damage in a matter of hours. With radiators you are talking about hot water under preassure that sits idle for 6 months a year. Ugh, gives me the creeps just thinking about it.

Anyhow, I've never even owned a building with radiators. Every single property I've bought up until the one I just mentioned, I mean every single one (and I've bought and sold double digit numbers of properties) has had space heaters when I've purchased them. Now these are the best thing ever, like modular radiators that can be easily turned on and off and sip gas. They also have zero maintenance other than occassionally sucking all the dust bunnies out of them so they don't catch fire. The only problem with them is that they are single point sources of heat and massive fire hazards which is why I always end up eventually tearing them out and putting in ductwork.

The best option in Chicago is spiral duct forced air with AC. No soffits needed, easy to adjust if you are getting uneven heating after install, just add another vent and point it at the cold spot. AC, easily accessible to clean out in the future. I'm not sure how having to swap out a filter every few months is more maintenance than having to totally drain the system of water once a year.
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  #35518  
Old Posted Nov 29, 2016, 1:19 AM
LouisVanDerWright LouisVanDerWright is offline
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PS construction fencing went up today around the Mega Mall, see you later you ugly b*tch!
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  #35519  
Old Posted Nov 29, 2016, 1:27 AM
Via Chicago Via Chicago is offline
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my parents have owned an old Victorian with original radiators for 35 years and aside from bleeding them once a year, i dont think theyve had any issues with heating whatsoever (aside from setting up some different zones in the house so they can tailor it a bit more). maybe its nostalgia but theres something inherently cozy and comforting about cast iron pinging to life on a cold winter night. obviously any system that isnt well maintained will present problems though.

Last edited by Via Chicago; Nov 29, 2016 at 1:40 AM.
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  #35520  
Old Posted Nov 29, 2016, 2:25 AM
the urban politician the urban politician is online now
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^ One of the reasons landlords use HVAC is so that tenants pay their own heat. It's easier to have separate GFA units in each apartment with their own gas meters, as opposed to boilers where there is usually 1 for the entire building
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