As a LSE resident who will have his view impacted, all I have to say is LETS GET THE CASE RIGS DRILLING!!!!:tup:

Well it's pretty clear that the lack of NIMBY's is due to the fact that this area has been planned from the onset to be this huge. No one can claim they didn't know a building was planned for this lot because it has been explicitly designated for a large, view terminating, building since the area was laid out. In the same vein, the area already has all the basic developer entitlements in place. These buildings are more or less pre-approved from a zoning perspective and, as such, there really isn't any venue in which any NIMBY contingency could make their obnoxious voices heard. Finally, being planned from the onset ended up resulting in an ideal layout from a views perspective where no ones toes are really getting stepped on when the next tower goes up. The buildings are all linked together like a jigsaw puzzle where there are no "loose ends" from a planning perspective.

The towers are placed in rows with ideal spacing between them and the low rise portions create a sense of human scale and provide a seamless streetwall to the development. Another example; even though others were fretting about this before, the views of Aqua from (and therefore to) the river will still be quite substantial. Enough space is given between all buildings that there are always a few ways to appreciate these buildings from a distance. As a result there are also always a few corridor views from each building which, to me, is far more exciting that pure height without much to look at. The views from the Trump Hotel, for example, are much more intriguing than the views from the condo units because you are looking at the lake down the river canyon and not from above the canyon.

LSE is really one of the bigger planning successes in the United States for a long time. There are very few places in this country where such a large project was so successful over such a long time. Obviously there are other megaprojects now getting under way, but this was really the first massive downtown section redevelopment since WWII. It really is on or beyond the scale of historical mega projects like Rockafeller Center. Once it is fully built out it will be an even more impressive spectacle to behold.

i made some rough renderings of how the tower will look in the skyline, and what Chicago will look like if a number of large developments are constructed. the shapes arent completely accurate but the heights are! the models are just to show the impact it would have in the skyline. check it here! vvv
https://www.flickr.com/photos/125258335@N02/

Quite an impact. Gives a peak to the area viewed from within the lake.

Love the height the design isn't my favorite but it will look good on the skyline. I look forward to watching this rise since I'm moving to Chicago this summer.

we need a diagram update

Judging from the photos of what the skyline will potentially look like, it seems that the John Hancock will be blocked by the new tower. The John Hancock will probably still be visible as long as you go to the far side of Adler Planetarium, but that fact alone really won't sit well with some people. NIMBYs will (not necessarily the ones in LSE, just in general) probably use it as cannon fuel to protest against the construction of the building.

New luxury apartments and condos continue to be built in Chicago. While job growth or whatever is not as big as other areas, it's obvious that there is a class of people moving into the city with more money or the same people making more money. The fact that a lot of the apartment buildings that are being built actually do lease at least 50% before they even open should say something.

I have a friend who works in sales and told me she notices something in the "air" in Chicago that was not there even 2 or 3 years ago. She said that many of her clients that were afraid to spend on anything just a few years ago are fine again. It's all very interesting, though larger swaths of lower and lower middle class moving out is not necessarily a very great thing either.

Just like how Hugh Hefner so passionately tried to stop JHC from blocking his southward views from the Palmolive Building back in '65. ;)

If the developer has its financial act together, this tower will be built.

at first the design looked so ugly to me, but now its growing to me. it would be cool to have such an advanced modern supertall to diversify Chicago's highrise architecture selection .

The 350-meter-high building, located near Chicago’s Millennium Park, will start being built this year and is expected to open to visitors in 2018 and will become the third-highest building in the city, according to the report.

Is this true? construction to start this year?

"The plan for the Lakeshore East tower, with completion foreseen in 2018, was announced by Beijing-based Wanda Group, controlled by mainland China’s richest man, Wang Jainlin. Wanda would take a 90 percent stake in the building."



…so I'm assuming that means 90% of the equity portion, not 90% of the total cost, right? An American developer would never front 90% of the cost, but I'm not sure how things work in China!

Not only that, but if 350 m is exact (which it probably isn't), this will miss by only 4 and a half meters becoming the world's tallest building designed by a woman (currently Emirates Office Tower in Dubai).

I expect the drool factor to increase exponentially once we have official renderings from Studio/Gang. The current rendering looks like PR - splash & color, but not much detail.

I think continuing to keep track of that record rather tarnishes the trophy, and I believe I've read that Jeanne Gang feels the same way.

Agreed. Irresistible copy, but reductive.

And so we see the first fruit of Hu Jintao's 2011 post-White-House-State-Dinner visit to Chicago. That was a big deal, an official blessing of sorts for Chinese investors to set up shop here.

Its because humans have notoriously short memories. The peak of the last bubble felt no different.

^We may be due for a correction, but this is far from a "bubble." Things are picking up. The America train is just leaving the station!

At any rate, with a 90% stake, should we expect WANDA spelled out in 20 foot letters along the side facing the river? haaa

I don't think we're in a bubble, but it seems like things are picking up. Regardless, it's harder for a regular person to actually buy a property now versus back then. So while to you it may feel no different, this time it may actually be backed by more real money than last time.