Cool, thanks! I would think something like this would be a minor selling point to someone looking to develop in that semi immediate area too.

This gross sedgwick park needs this!
 

PLEASE LET THIS BE LEGIT.

This gross park has so much potential and with this addition it could be on the right track!!!

Between this and the LaSalle/Chicago project I am feeling a bit more optimistic about CHICAGO ave.

Isn't there supposed to be an apartment building getting built right across from this park on CHICAGO ave?

A few thoughts on population.

Growing by 10,000 a year may not seem like very rapid growth, but in the last decade, Chicago was shrinking at 20,000 per year. This is a net improvement in growth by 30,000 per year. I doubt that any other city has had that magnitude improvement in the last decade. Houston is growing at 30,000 per year, but they've been doing that for a while. Unambiguous good news for Chicago.

And it's already been mentioned, but this 10,000 net is distributed unevenly demographically. Chicago is losing the disadvantaged and gaining "creative class" types in a way that's good for the tax base and employment, overlooking the obvious social costs to the disadvantaged themselves. Purely from a development and bottom line point of view, losing no one and gaining 10,000 people is not nearly as attractive as losing 20,000 low-skilled, low-payed citizens and gaining 30,000 highly-educated, highly paid workers. Maybe this news isn't worth cheering, but there's more than a silver lining.

Regarding the weather and population, this is an issue, but it's over-emphasized. The high in NYC is 3-degrees warmer on average in January and it's still growing fast. Toronto is attracting tons of immigrants. Meanwhile, Southern "rust belt" towns like Birmingham and Memphis have the same demographic issues as their peers in the North despite having the same weather as Houston. Population in some ways conforms to laws of fluid dynamics. When an area is empty (the Southwest until 1980) it can accept migrants from populated areas, but can not send them in return. Chicago probably won't grow rapidly again until an equilibrium has been reached with our arid peer cities. It's likely that most America cities will never grow rapidily again at all. World population is going to level off in the 2040-2050 time frame and after that, cities will only grow as fast insofar as there is rural-to-urban or suburban-to-urban densification. (or an unexpected open-door immigration policy. It's estimated that 600-million people would move to the U.S. if it were permitted.)

Regarding Texas cities, folks in Texas always talk about how people from the North are moving there and their growth is due to winning an aspritational demographic battle with cities like Chicago and Philly. This contributes approximately zero to Texas' population growth in the last few decades. See Texas Population Chart here:

http://www.window.state.tx.us/specia...s/exhibit8.gif

In reality, the doubling of Texas population between 1980 and now is explained almost entirely by mexican immigration and their high birth rates after establishing residency. White migration from other states to Texas is measurable, but essentially a rounding error.

I love this building, i would move there if it wasnt for the gross Wendys right next door to it.

i cleared out all of the climate change discussion from this thread. i try to be lenient in this thread, but that particular discussion was going WAY off the tracks, as climate change "debates" almost always do. all subsequent posts about climate change in this thread will be promptly deleted, so don't bother posting them.

now back to our regularly scheduled chicago development program.

self-censor

^ This looks like a pretty nice development, and it's good to see a lot developed.

One has to wonder if this is intended to create a buffer between the uber luxury mansions and condos to the south and the Cabrini Green rowhomes just north. I don't know of another place in the city where there is such a close juxtaposition of wealth and poverty as this one.

Not sure if this has been discussed yet...

8 stories, 216 units at Madison/Racine
just broke ground

http://assets.dnainfo.com/generated/...extralarge.jpg

^ Before the shitstorm of hate for this design begins to fly (and I don't blame anyone, it's a very mediocre and stale design, who could argue against that?), I'd like to say that I am thrilled nonetheless to see this project happening. At 9 stories tall and 216 apartments, it is pretty dense, and it fills in a damn vacant lot.

It also helps fulfill what I consider to be a necessity for the West Loop's ongoing vitalization--a continuous urban mixed-use corridor along Madison. We need to fill in those gaps on this street with more buildings of this scale which have ground level commercial and a human scale yet are still large enough to give this street good enclosure.

i actually like the design.

no, it won't be gracing the cover of architectural record anytime soon, but good cities are filled with thousands upon thousands of somewhat anonymous background masonry buildings like this. as along as the materials are real, it'l' be fine infill.

The last picture is funny - 1601 Tower is still pretty dwarfed by Noble Square Cooperative. But I guess everyone would rather pretend that's not there, anyway.

Maybe I'm off base on this, but any developer in the area planning to building a condo building, mid rise, or Townhomes in the area is probably catering to an average unit price of 500k or more. I can't imagine many condo buyers (think 30+ with no kids or grown adult kids if they are baby boomers) being thrilled about having a bunch of city teenagers just a block away from their real estate purchase. Exactly how would these condo buyers be able to use or offered use of this building. If anything this will lower the desirability of buying in the immediate area. This reminds me of the youth center on Halsted up in Lakeview that people are complaining about on sites like crib chatter.

It's a fieldhouse and community center for the immediate neighborhood, not a social services center that attracts kids with behavioral issues or homeless kids from around the city.

It will be a Park District facility and therefore totally open to the public; area residents can use the gym and locker rooms during open hours, and the meeting rooms for community events, parties, or whatever.

This thing bears Jesse White's name and gives the impression of a place meant for African-Americans, but after the Cabrini Rowhouses are demolished, there won't be any concentrated public housing in the area, just a bunch of mixed income developments that will probably be racially integrated as well.

Here is the new Argo Tea Greenhouse in Connors Park in the Gold Coast. This is at the intersection of Chestnut, Wabash, and Rush. This is minutes away from opening, although I bet it's open as I'm typing this. I love this idea as it should increase the vibrancy in that immediate area as the park is still a public park. With the 35 story rental coming to State & Chestnut to be completed by 2015 and a semi high tourist foot traffic area, it'll be interesting to see what this could become.

It's not as celebrity as the Viagra Triangle about 2 blocks to the north but I think it'll work out. Goddess & Grocer is right near there as is McCormick & Schmicks, as well as the Sofitel Hotel which has Cafe de Architectes and Le Bar. Now, if someone would only get the commercial/retail space at 50 E Chestnut...

I took a picture of just some of the outdoor seating areas. I will get the whole structure later.

http://imageshack.us/a/img692/6047/argo1y.jpg


http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/4034/argo2e.jpg

^ Seriously, I'm not sure what gives, but that retail space has probably been vacant for 5 or 6 years now, basically for as long as it has existed.

The developers must be REALLY holding out for a high rent or something...

I'm pretty sure it's high rent. There are a few in the area that are the exact same. If you go to State and Delaware...the Walton on the Park commercial/retail has been vacant for as long as it's existed (3-4 years) although there are signs that one of the spaces will be a Chase Bank branch "soon." Across the street in Ten East Delaware it's the same deal on the State Street side (Little Market is around the corner).

I'm kind of concerned that the retail/commercial space in the future State/Chestnut Tower will have the same exact fate. Sucks but you know..there's no commercial/retail there now anyway and the tower adds actual functionality (residential) that isn't even there now. I wish these places would be snatched up..

It's sad because these areas all get a fairly decent amount of foot traffic but the rents are too high for businesses it seems.

^ The rents are too high for anything but national chains or extremely exclusive international luxury retailers (ie Barney's or some designer boutique from Paris that sells shoes for $500 a pair).

Those are fine and dandy, but nothing is more lame than a bank branch..

Interesting graphic from this week's Crains that just came out showing that the city of Chicago's population growth rate since 2010 has rebounded and is now higher than most, although not all, of the metropolitan area. This is a dramatic improvement from 2000-2010, when the city was shrinking faster than the rest of the region.

State Street is not all that pleasant around there (mainly because of narrow sidewalks), and acts a barrier to getting to the storefronts on its west side (Walton on the Park). The foot traffic there is probably mostly commuting foot traffic, not so much people in a strolling/shopping mindset, at least compared to the areas east of there. If only some kind of street or sidewalk redesign could help this.

50 E Chestnut seems a mystery. I guess commercial landlords don't offer lease-up incentives like residential landlords do?

I disagree about the narrow sidewalks. If that's what we're worried about then I think we're spoiled. I have been in European cities 4 times denser than Chicago where the sidewalks in areas are no more than 5 feet wide and yet they're pleasant to walk on still.

It's not pleasant because there's not much landscaping of any degree minus a few areas. The sidewalk around Elysian and Ten East Delaware is nice and even has lights on the sidewalk at night.

Most people are in a commuting mindset because most people who are there are locals and know there's not a ton there for shopping. The sidewalks are only narrow for a little bit but that doesn't have an impact on it. Once they see there's nothing, then yeah. There are still some stores there (i.e. Perchance on Walton & State).

Once the 35 story rental and the business building are built, the area will go through a little bit of a beautification. I think replacing the existing one where Sally's used to be will go a long ways. That building is extremely abrupt and cold and absolutely detracts from the area.

It would be interesting too to see what happens to the lot north of Walton on the Park that was supposed to be another 37 story building that was canceled. Still a great spot and I'm sure the developer is either holding onto it to do something later or holding onto it for sale of land.


No idea, but I know the building is Jameson (Sotheby's International) and also the building is like 35 floors and there's 34 units. Every unit is a penthouse in that building, so I can't imagine the rent even for business being a normal price.