CHICAGO | Highrise Projects & Construction, v7

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by Just-In-Cali

Just had my first trip to the second city. Very impressed. You guys have a lovely, vibrant city. Lovely architecture and bustling streets. Italian food is where its at! Could not have had a better time. Vista Tower is looking lovely. Stayed at the Radisson Blu at Aqua...stunning tower. Signature Room was amazing at JHT. And everyone was soooo friggan nice. My friend who has been to NY even commented on it. Cant wait to return.

I live in NYC now, but I do still miss actually living in Chicago. For me, it's still the city that afforded me the best quality of life so far. It is a special city and your reaction is common amongst visitors. People love to give it crap until they actually visit, and then they can't believe how nice some parts of it are (not just downtown).


If you think the streets were bustling now, go during the dead of the summer. The summer in Chicago is absolutely amazing and way more people are out. The rooftops and patios are in full swing, as well as the lakefront with the beaches (they're closed now for the season). A lot of people also out on the lake with their boats and yachts (https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BtrdwdVCAAEUMvy.jpg). The city truly comes alive, so you'll probably be much more impressed than right now..

Anyway, Vista is an awesome tower. Really excited to see who the hotel operator will be LOL. I'm not a fan of that area versus other parts of downtown, but I stayed for the first time at Shangri-La recently and am willing to stay for something like that LOL. Really curious to know who bought some of the very expensive units too like the ~$20M 2-story penthouse.

One thing...its COLD....HAHA. Im not used to that, but it was fun.

Just an FYI on this. Yeah it's cold some times of the year (obviously winter), but it looks like it's been a good 10-20 degrees under average in Chicago recently. On an average year versus historical temperatures, the high for you would have been at least 10 if not 20 degrees warmer.

Realize that 5 months of the year, Chicago averages 70+ degrees (May through September), and July and August average highs in the 80s. It actually blows my mind that people think Chicago is like 60s in the summer when it averages in the mid 80s for a few months.

[sox102]

Originally Posted by PittsburghPA

Good call, sox. This is from their website. It's a bummer that this will be manufactured in China but Ventana does good work so thats a bonus. Also I just saw on their website they'll have One Chicago too.


https://ventana.vc/project/167-n-green-street/

Yeah, they have part of One Chicago also. Chicago Heights/Entekk/Talon Wall is on the tall tower at One Chicago.

Bidding against these guys is pretty much a waste of time.

[Mr Downtown]

Originally Posted by Fvn

Repositioned into a Hilton within 10 years of opening?

Very unlikely.

Such businessmen's hotels typically have single rooms so narrow that you can touch both walls, just a twin bed, and a very compact prefab ensuite bathroom unit.

OTOH, there's commonly an entire floor devoted to a traditional communal Japanese bath with very very hot soaking tubs, or one for men and one for women.

[maru2501]

so apparently there are caissons?

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by Mr Downtown

Very unlikely.

Such businessmen's hotels typically have single rooms so narrow that you can touch both walls, just a twin bed, and a very compact prefab ensuite bathroom unit.

OTOH, there's commonly an entire floor devoted to a traditional communal Japanese bath with very very hot soaking tubs, or one for men and one for women.

Personally I'm excited about the idea of a high-density, barebones hotel right next to Union Station. The guests at that hotel will likely spend a lot of time patronizing businesses out in the surrounding neighborhood, which could use a big infusion of vitality outside of the usual 9-5 hours. I just stayed at such a hotel in Hong Kong, and apart from hanging out at the rooftop pool, we spent every waking hour out doing stuff.

Think of it as built-in customers for the Union Station Food Hall, Ruin Daily, Dark Matter Coffee, Old Post Office Food Hall, etc.

The design is pretty basic, but the building will be mid-block, so it won't be too prominent. And it will use up an oddly-shaped piece of land!

TBH, I'd love more of these Asian-style developments. Great, dense filler.

[harryc]

Originally Posted by maru2501

so apparently there are caissons?

Technically the caissons are long gone - only the piers remain.

Caissons are the steel tubes used when installing piers in our viscous clay, they are removed and re-used.

[Hourstrooper]

Originally Posted by harryc

Technically the caissons are long gone - only the piers remain.

Caissons are the steel tubes used when installing piers in our viscous clay, they are removed and re-used.

Right and I think the excavators on site now are revealing those and probably digging the core.

[SolarWind]

November 5, 2019

[MorganChi]

Man know one wants this piece of shit downtown , Alderman should be kicked out of office for approving for this basic and tasteless building.

[MorganChi]

Mean while here some other good news


https://www.chicagotribune.com/colum...outputType=amp

[Hourstrooper]

Originally Posted by MorganChi

Man know one wants this piece of shit downtown , Alderman should be kicked out of office for approving for this basic and tasteless building.

Apparently the design was altered per alderman Reilly's request a few months ago, so it shouldn't be all that bad but for sure expect cheap materials.

[Handro]

Originally Posted by MorganChi

Mean while here some other good news


https://www.chicagotribune.com/colum...outputType=amp

Wow that's great news! I really like that Carroll project.

[Ned.B]

Originally Posted by Handro

Wow that's great news! I really like that Carroll project.

Can someone be so kind as to copy the headline here or summarize the article in a sentence so that those of us without Tribune subscriptions can decide whether we want to use one of our free reads on this article. Thanks!

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by Ned.B

Can someone be so kind as to copy the headline here or summarize the article in a sentence so that those of us without Tribune subscriptions can decide whether we want to use one of our free reads on this article. Thanks!

Unnamed sources are saying that Google has committed to leasing both of Sterling Bay's proposed buildings behind the existing Google building around Morgan/Carroll. Huge jobs news for the West Loop and great news for Sterling Bay if true.

Of course, this is still an unofficial report.

I assume these buildings would take precedence over SB's plans for the Coyne College site or their other Fulton Market sites...

[marothisu]

^ I called this in March

Originally Posted by marothisu

2 new buildings from Sterling Bay in the West Loop. Actually, Wanxiang is the majority owner in this (over 70% ownership) while SB is minority owner, but Sterling Bay is developing it. Wanxiang is a Chinese automotive company whose North American HQ is in the Chicago area and they have a real estate arm. Actually, they own 1K Fulton where Google is HQ, as well as Ace Hotel across the street. I'm curious if part of this has anything to do with the Google expansion?


1000 W Carroll (Carroll & between Morgan and Carpenter). Across from Google. Office use - 18 stories, 288 feet tall. 144 parking spaces, with retail.


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345 N Morgan Street (Morgan & Carroll). Across the street from building above and diaganol from Google building. Office uses. 11 stories, 178 feet with 37 parking spaces. With retail.

[RedCorsair87]

Both of those buildings look great!

"If the agreements are completed as expected, Google’s office space in Chicago would increase to about 1.3 million square feet over the next few years..."

Can we finally agree that Chicago could support a supertall office tower east of the Kennedy if a major company consolidated their offices and expanded?

[k1052]

Originally Posted by RedCorsair87

Both of those buildings look great!

"If the agreements are completed as expected, Google’s office space in Chicago would increase to about 1.3 million square feet over the next few years..."

Can we finally agree that Chicago could support a supertall office tower east of the Kennedy if a major company consolidated their offices and expanded?

The only way Chicago gets a new office supertall is if it's a corporate vanity project and there is nothing like that looking likely. The closest we've come lately is the Salesforce project at Wolf Point. The rents required are just not supportable in this market.

[k1052]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Unnamed sources are saying that Google has committed to leasing both of Sterling Bay's proposed buildings behind the existing Google building around Morgan/Carroll. Huge jobs news for the West Loop and great news for Sterling Bay if true.

Of course, this is still an unofficial report.

I assume these buildings would take precedence over SB's plans for the Coyne College site or their other Fulton Market sites...

With Trammel Crow and Shapack both going up ahead of SB's other Green St sites I'd not be surprised to see them push those plans back for now. They've got a lot to do elsewhere in Fulton and across the city.

[Skyguy_7]

Originally Posted by Ned.B

Can someone be so kind as to copy the headline here or summarize the article in a sentence so that those of us without Tribune subscriptions can decide whether we want to use one of our free reads on this article. Thanks!

Google plans to more than double its space in Chicago’s Fulton Market district, creating enough room to have thousands of new workers in the city.

Mountain View, California-based Google is finalizing deals to occupy all of the space, or about 800,000 square feet combined, in two buildings planned by Chicago developer Sterling Bay, according to people familiar with the plans.

If the agreements are completed as expected, Google’s office space in Chicago would increase to about 1.3 million square feet over the next few years, creating an urban campus in the neighborhood once known for meatpackers and food wholesalers.

That would make Google one of the largest tenants in the downtown office market.

Link to the complete Trib story above. Here's a link showing the Carroll proposal: https://www.rejournals.com/chicago-p...g-bay-20190924

With regard to a west-loop supertall, this just goes to show, it is more feasible to take two plots of land for two midrises, than one plot for a substantially taller building. Maybe it's because the land is still relatively cheap, or maybe it's because Google doesn't want to deal with those WL Nimbys.

Such great news. 800,000 sq foot for a single company. That's the largest announcement I can recall here in Chicago. What a time to be alive.

[harryc]

Originally Posted by Skyguy_7

...snip...

Such great news. 800,000 sq foot for a single company. That's the largest announcement I can recall here in Chicago. What a time to be alive.

What a great time to own property on the Green Line ;-)