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It's been there for at least a month...the wood framing on the outside is fairly new though. |
Does anybody know what's being built on California Ave not far from Urban Belly in Avondale? Looks like some new apartments/condos are going up...3 or 4 stories and probably 15-20 units? Hope someone has some info..
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Fulton Market - May 1
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Post Office Sham, Latest
So Bill Davies, as reported by Crain's Fri or Sat, wants to get his ridiculous redevelopment 'plan' for the post office and the area around it on the Plan Commission agenda in June. Hopefully fat chance of this happening, however it begs the question - what role, if any, should a project's actual realistic feasibility have in gaining entitlements? Given that anyone with any knowledge of real estate economics and who wasn't born yesterday or perhaps the day before knows that this is all just a ploy to raise the value of Davies' property, what 'weighting' if any does this carry in the calculus of, and political decision-making behind the city approval process??...
Then again, let's remember that ald. Danny Solis is a big part of this equation, he who apparently is prone to impression with the types of people that one surrounds him/herself with.... |
As frustrating as Davies' plan is from an urbanist perspective, I see no reason why the city should shut him down. He owns the property and he has the right to push for whatever rezoning he wants. His proposed rezoning is broadly consistent with the city's vision for the area as well (i.e. he's not looking to build a chemical processing facility).
If the city wants to expedite redevelopment of this parcel, it should have purchased the Post Office when it came up for auction and then run the development process through an RFP. Otherwise, this is just a normal part of real estate development in a capitalist society; the "evil of speculation" that you hear about in all sorts of old-timey architectural histories. |
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The zoning of the site doesn't change with the change of title. Buying property, rezoning it, and selling to a developer isn't too shabby of a business model for some people, I imagine. Regardless, I think it's still worthwhile to go through the process, although I agree with you that this plan is quite far fetched. |
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Lastly, I don't recall seeing anything on the new streetscaping lights on Congress. http://i.imgur.com/GW9yXZY.jpg (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune) They have probably a hundred or so of these EVERYWHERE along Congress, from the CME to Michigan. A bit overkill, but you sure won't miss 'em at night! More here |
Post Office Redux
^^^ ^^ Maybe I'm playing Devil's Advocate a bit (maybe not). I think it's worth asking the question however - Should a proposed development's wild unfeasibility (regardless of who the owner is - Davies is exceptionally unlikely to pull this off - but it's exceptionally unfeasible no matter who the owner is, ie I'm not arguing against the buy, re-zone, sell business model per se) factor in somehow to approval of a Planned Development. As we all know, as the system currently exists in practice, the local alderman (or we can more broadly say 'the city') can oppose and kill (should he/she want) virtually any proposed Planned Development for whatever reason they wish. I'm merely asking: Is it that unreasonable that if a project is so dramatically economically (property market demand) and financially (funding its construction) unfeasible as this post office pipe dream is within the medium-term (4-6 year? horizon), regardless of ownership, why shouldn't that be one factor in the entitlement decision-making process? (that's hardly any sort of anti-capitalist stance)....
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^Well, the short answer is that it would be illegal to take feasibility into account. A PD, after all, is zoning, and zoning is a ministerial approval based in the police power. All relevant considerations must somehow be described as protecting the "public health, safety, and welfare." The landowner has no right to be protected against downzoning, and the public has no right to keep the landowner from making lots of money.
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Actually, I have a redesign idea for the Chicago Sun-Times building that would add Terra Cotta to the outside and would have purple or blue lighting, upwards facing from the ground, illuminating the sides of of the building. |
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Very interesting and not bad IMO. Regarding the building it is replacing - except for the courtyard, I am not a fan of this style. I think some of this style were done well and some are just downright depressive. This is one of those "depressive" ones in my opinion. Now, if this goes up...we'll see how it is and how true to the renderings they keep. I believe this would count as a high rise too since it's over 12 stories/115 feet. |
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Please. Clearly, I'm speaking about PDs in practice. Alderman don't support proposed PDs all the time in this city, and very rarely would an objective analysis find that lack of political support (in Chicago, lack of political support overwhelmingly means the proposed PD does not become entitled.....mainly because it never gets a hearing before the Plan Commission and thus the two subsequent approval bodies) has anything to do with "public health, safety, and welfare". You're speaking of the law, which in every practical sense withers against the power of politics behind the PD approval process in Chicago. Bill Davies and any other landowner have every right to make as much money from a property as they want - under the current zoning. They're not somehow entitled to change the zoning to the PD they have in mind for the property - that's why there's a government entitlement process to change the zoning. And again, in Chicago, in practice, an owner may not receive his/her desired PD for virtually any reason.........the most frequent reason being NIMBYism and its related political pressure on the local alderman, and it would be laughable to suggest that in all but a small minority of such cases there are legitimate "public health, safety, and welfare" issues in play. |
You asked if market demand could "factor in" to PD approval. It cannot be part of the decision record, because the owner could then sue.
As for what the local alderman bases his judgment on, that's a different matter. He can deny a new six-flat merely because it would reduce demand for his nephew's six-flat building next door—but he has to claim the reasons are based on the public health, safety, and welfare. |
Looks like a bit of Westchester NY culture is being transplanted to Chicago. (Maybe this will give whiney clueless easterners fewer reasons to get onto tv to say Chicago is turning into Detroit.) This joins eastern Michigan's Plum Market, opening next month, in a welcome mini invasion of new grocers into the area.
http://lakeview.patch.com/articles/b...-hospital-site 'Boutique' Grocer Coming to Former Hospital Site May 5, 2013 The vacant Lincoln Park Hospital garage site will soon be vacant, no more. Coming to the Lincoln and Webster avenues' space is boutique grocer, Mrs. Green's Natural Market, which is already established in New York and Connecticut, according to a Wednesday announcement made by 43rd Ward Ald. Michele Smith. The Lincoln Park store will be the first for the company to land in Chicago. ... The store aims to be a "one stop shop" for natural and organic food and supplements, according to its website. Wheat-free, dairy-free, low carb, vegan and kosher products will all be available. It's expected to open around Thanksgiving. ... |
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UIC Soccer Stadium by JGMA:
http://i.imgur.com/XYr7FZ4.jpg http://i.imgur.com/yOUTMSx.jpg http://i.imgur.com/Lb4QDNA.jpg http://i.imgur.com/sfCD4XA.jpg More here. |
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Any news on the project on the corner at Broadway? http://o1.aolcdn.com/dims-shared/dim...f453060150b8b1 Another image from that site: http://o4.aolcdn.com/dims-shared/dim...fb868cf9185675 I really like this! Hopefully it gets built. Diversey is really modernizing is a very positive way IMO. |
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