I know part of that $500 million goes for entirely new elevator equipment along with upgrades to safety/fire infrastructure, and something tells me these alone are probably damn near $50 million! :eek:

Aaron (Glowrock)

I used to work in the building as construction was getting started. There is much more to this project than the addition, as others have noted. There are at least 3 lower levels being remodeled and there was a rumor going around that a major grocery chain was leasing at least part of the lower levels, but I'm not sure if that's still true.

I also thought they were redoing the lobbies so when you entered on Wacker, you walked up to the main desk and not down. I'm not sure if that's started or even still in the works, but I believe something big like that was planned.

Yep, tons of rehab and overhauling of older stuff within. They really want to compete with the incoming generation of office towers

Common partnering with developers to revitalize South Works site

I would rather see the Park District buy this land if it only costs $71 million. I guess there are remediation costs on top of that.

And I'm pretty sure a big chunk of that budget went towards the mid-tier fitness center, lounge, and cafés, and bars that opened back in 2017.

agreed, this could be such an incredible park if done right

Yeah, the expensive part of buildings is not the structure, it's the mechanicals. The mechanicals in Sears were like 40+ years old, time for an upgrade...

Film studios sound exciting, but they are just large blank industrial looking buildings with no windows. A film studio doesn't need to be on the lake front. The lake front should be for residential, parkland or some other more active use. They could buy up tons of vacant land or abandoned industrial buildings anywhere on the south or west side for a film studio. It would probably help revitalize another neighborhood more than putting it in the south works site.

If he wants to build some music venue or entertainment stuff that's fine at south works.

It's funny George Lucas wanted his lake front museum so bad, he should have put it at south works. No one would have complained then.

Looks like the Wells St boom is gonna continue

10 acres of prime downtown land for sale
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/comm...town-land-sale

https://s3-prod.chicagobusiness.com/...47.19%20PM.png

I have similar concerns as you but without knowing just the environmental degradation that has scared off at least two other parties perhaps it will be a hard, if not impossible sell, to clean up the site and build loads of residential on the site?

And while a huge park would be great I don't see it spurring too much economic activity or tax coffers in the future.

A glorified office/industrial park that this sounds like it would be doesn't sound very appealing either. Hard to know what to do with this site at this point.

This is so exciting- not only for the future development, but to get this land back on the property tax rolls!

It's a real hole in the urban fabric between Gold Coast, River North, Old Town, and former Cabrini.

Agreed. The Gold Coast is vibrant and unique and the Chicago red line stop is steps away from these 10 acres and you walk by it and are like, "Is... is this a water treatment facility?" When this develops, it will also put some positive development pressure on the former public housing sites to the north and west.

And it doesn't have to. Nothing has in the 27 years since the plant closed. Make it a 400-acre adventure park with a newly planted forest. Connect it to Big Marsh, add biking and hiking trails. Make it a summer jobs program and get financial support from places like CRED.

Pros: Trees are the best weapon against climate change. It helps clean the air in a particularly industrial part of town. It keeps the lakefront "free and clear" of development. When grown it can provide wilderness for people to explore (fish, hike, snow-mobile, off-road, cc ski, etc.), something our city (and especially this part of the city) could use more of.

Cons: Doesn't generate hard financial returns. Government costs to remediate and re-build.

so walter payton high school is playing soccer on moody property? Didn't know that


and that easternmost parking lot should develop in ten seconds

people who think modern parks arent capable of spurring economic development are conveniently forgetting Millennium/606/The High Line etc.

the thing is, by virtue of leaving the land alone, the passage of time has transformed it into the kind of contemplative reclaimed prairie that would suit this site well

Utterly different kind of potential parks and programming obviously. This would be more forest preserve/athletic compound I would imagine.

Which would be perfectly good and fine but it is not likely to bring an influx of activity and new residents scrambling to live near it in an area that is already not in high demand. Which again is fine, not every new space needs to have the goal of spurring maximum economic activity and hopefully whoever lives in the area in future generations will appreciate a real sizable lakeside forest preserve/park if that is the direction that Southworks eventually takes.

https://chicago.curbed.com/2019/7/30...dalbert-church

sure, i agree with all that. i far prefer spaces like Palmisano Park which respect native prairie ecosystems while still nodding to former industrial uses. i think southworks would have the potential to be something like that on steroids.

less is more

https://assets.chicagoparkdistrict.c...?itok=U6ierRUl

https://www.landscapeperformance.org...?itok=F0C0aaO-

https://www.landscapeperformance.org...?itok=p-fnJuIL


Chicago has far too few places to truly escape. there are plenty of other vacant lots that could suit film studios. hell, even on the other side of the street. no need for this type of use to go on the waters edge and further restrict access for decades more.

Well thank you ! An uncle is coming to visit next month and specifically asked to see some Prairie. He is in his late 80s so long hikes are not in the cards. Had never heard of this will be checking it out.

Obviously no. Sigcho thinks he can force the Archdiocese to keep St Adalbert open by taking away the resale value of the land. It's utterly, utterly boneheaded, he's in denial. There's no viable path to keep the church open. If he wanted to preserve the building, there are much better tools available - he could simply push to repeal the ban on landmarking churches, or at least to make an exception, and extend historic protection to the building.

The problem is, the Archdiocese can't afford to keep the lights on for a tiny handful of people who actually bother to show up for services on Sunday, many of whom don't even live in Sigcho's ward. And if they can't afford the basic operation of the church, they certainly can't afford a supremely costly historic restoration project for a dying congregation. Heck, they're selling the family jewels (like the Holy Name parking lot) to pay for almost a billion dollars in sexual-abuse settlements.

Mark my words, this is going to result in the destruction of that beautiful church, not by a developer's wrecking ball but by sheer neglect, and it will be entirely Sigcho's fault.