CHICAGO | Boom rundown - everything over 12 floors. v5

[nomarandlee]

Maybe the Kennedy clan should be written to and be notified that they need not be concerned with the Apparel Center from a local perspective other then the need to obstruct the view of it as much as possible.

I am trying to determaine in my head how much of a footprint they have to play with there.

[Rocket1]

This mention of an "Apparel Mart" has got me a bit confused.

Are you all referring to that ugly building the SunTimes is in?

And not to the Merchandise Mart? -- which, to me, adds a lot of character to the River.

[trvlr70]

Originally Posted by Rocket1

This mention of an "Apparel Mart" has got me a bit confused.

Are you all referring to that ugly building the SunTimes is in?

And not to the Merchandise Mart? -- which, to me, adds a lot of character to the River.

You got it. Sun Times is the former Apparel Mart.

[Sir Isaac Newton]

I looked out my window this morning and noticed that they have begun demolishing the 2-story building that is part of the 600 South Clark project (the building where Pat's Pizza used to be).

[headcase]

For those that are interested....

CAF Lunchtime Lecture, 224 S. Michigan @ 12:15

May 16
The Benefits of Density
Samuel Assefa, Assoc. AIA, LEED, Deputy Commissioner, Policy, Department of Planning and Development

Should be good, wish I realized it earlier, I can think of a couple of neighborhoods that should have been peppered with flyers for this one...

SSDD

[X-fib]

Wolf Point

Maybe my recent perdiction of a 1500+' supertower will come true afterall! If it does it will have to be multi-use. Maybe this could be a reserected "Dearborn" tower. If I remember my 4th grade Chicago History wasn't Fort Dearborn somewhere near Wolf Point????

[2PRUROCKS!]

I believe Ft. Dearborn was located near the Michigan Av. bridge (you can see boundary markers of it on the sidewalks).

I think TUP may be right when they talk about Wolf Point complimenting the Mart and Apparel center. I don't think they mean in architecture but in use and how it fits into the overall area and the Kennedy family portfolio (they own all three I believe).


I like Honte's idea of a Y shaped footprint. I have thought of this before to symbolize the Y in the river at that point. I thought of a tower that looks a little like LPT and JHC combined with a three lobbed footprint like LPT, that tapers as it rises like JHC.

I want something really tall here with great design and I would be willing to wait decades for it. I wouldn't mind if it was left undeveloped until 30 or so years after CS is built and then something even taller than CS is built there!

[pilsenarch]

Originally Posted by SamInTheLoop

Did anyone attend the meeting last week held by South Loop Nimbys...ahh I mean Neighbors? They at first had built it up to be solely about Park Michigan but then sort of advertised it to be more broadly about future South Loop high-rise development. I'd be very curious to know how it went....hopefully the city is attending these alarmist nimby-fests to educate the masses on smart planning and design...

Please check out the following link - the group is also soliciting feedback on the Park Michigan proposal:

http://66.146.208.98/SouthLoopNeighbors/Development.asp

The Greater South Loop Association is hosting an important meeting that I think many of you would be (and should be) interested in attending this Saturday morning (the nimby Priarie Ave group will be well represented):

Meeting
Saturday, May 19th
9:15 - 11:30 a.m.
Weather Mark Tavern,
1503 S. Michigan Ave.


PRELIMINARY AGENDA:
9:15-9:30-Meet and Greet
-New Business Spotlight - Weather Mark Tavern
-Bash on Wabash Update
-Meet Aldermen-elect Dowell and Fioretti
-Hear about the new McCormick Place Expansion
-New Development Panel Discussion - Topics will include planned developments vs. build by right, zoning, near south community plan and aldermanic powers. Presenters will include Benet Haller, Director of Urban Planning from the City of Chicago's Department of Planning, and other experts in the fields of zoning, urban planning and government.
-Rokas International will introduce their proposed 37 story development on 20th and Prairie.
Refreshments will be served.

[VivaLFuego]

I too like the 3-pronged idea for each branch of the river, with of course each prong of the building being transverse to each branch to maximize the view corridors.

That said, it is a fairly small site; how does it compare to the Waterview site (just thinking in terms of height/footprint ratio)? The site may be too small for any sort of signicant deviation from a footprint maximizing the site; as we found out with the Spire, the economics of a slender supertall are very delicate indeed.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by VivaLFuego

That said, it is a fairly small site; how does it compare to the Waterview site (just thinking in terms of height/footprint ratio)?

actually, wolf point really ain't that small of a site. i can see both wolf point and the waterview site from my balcony, and going by a rough visual estimate, wolf point is at least 5 times larger in footprint than the miniscule waterview footprint, maybe even 10 times larger. it's friggin HUGE compared to waterview.


EDIT: the article posted this morning stated that the wolf point property in question is 4 acres, and we know that the waterview site is roughly half an acre, so that means wolf point is roughly 8 times larger than the waterview site.

[schwerve]

Re: wolf point

with the new development across the river (200 n. riverside) I hope they put a pedestrian bridge across the north branch from the point to west side as in the Burnham Plan

[Alliance]

one of my proposals would look great at Wolf point...I'd have to amke a 3 side version though.

The building needs to have height. New tallest for Chicago would be nice (since its so recessed from the lake)

[Nowhereman1280]

Wolf Point would be a great spot to honor Frank Lloyd Wright and build the Illinois. It would finally not look too disgustingly out of place if the CS gets built because there would at least be a building almost half as tall as it.

This would really be a great spot for an iconic Foster tower between 1000 and 1500 feet in height.

I trust that Daley won't let this one slip by with anything less than impressive. I'm sure that it'll be at least 800 feet when it happens. Besides with a three sided or winged building, there could be enormous view corridors down all three river branches which would make this Chicago's premier address. Can you imagine the prestige of having your company's headquarters looking straight down the river in all three directions about 1000' up in the air?

That should be enough to command prices that force this building into the supertall range. Here's hoping...

[VivaLFuego]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

actually, wolf point really ain't that small of a site. i can see both wolf point and the waterview site from my balcony, and going by a rough visual estimate, wolf point is at least 5 times larger in footprint than the miniscule waterview footprint, maybe even 10 times larger. it's friggin HUGE compared to waterview.


EDIT: the article posted this morning stated that the wolf point property in question is 4 acres, and we know that the waterview site is roughly half an acre, so that means wolf point is roughly 8 times larger than the waterview site.

http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp...dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=11385669&encType=1

Yeah the buildable area looks to be 6-9 times bigger than Waterview. Looks somewhat comparable in size to the 200 N Riverside site. Interesting. I would hope that whatever is developed includes a decent riverwalk, in lieu of taking up the entire buildable space.

[X-fib]

Originally Posted by Nowhereman1280

...there could be enormous view corridors down all three river branches which would make this Chicago's premier address. Can you imagine the prestige of having your company's headquarters looking straight down the river in all three directions about 1000' up in the air?

That should be enough to command prices that force this building into the supertall range. Here's hoping...

This is Chicago's premier location in my opinion. I am just supprised that the Kennedy family has waited this long! At least maybe something will happen while the boom is still on. Another iconic supertall would be the perfect compliment to the river bordered with CS, Trump, Waterview and Sears. Possibly the most visible location in the city. Excellent location for either a commercial and resdiential development, or both.

[nomarandlee]

Originally Posted by trvlr70

How about something like London's Tower Bridge/The Shard?.

For some reason I have most imagined a kind of 900-1200 ft glassy (though not very reflective) akin to a Sofitel Water Tower type shape.

Due to its odd placement and footprint I don't expect not do i think it would be all that conducive to a strict rectangle. Some curves or triangle shape that maximizes its orientation down the main brach of the river would be where I start.

[wrab]

Mixed use for Wolf Point. Whatever the Kennedys build there, the views should be staggering. I get goosebumps just thinking about them.

Actually, I'm kinda glad that the clan has held out on development for this long, because the design bar is higher (again) than it was 10 years ago, and the downtown residential market is in something of a froth these days.

It'd be awfully nice to have a competition for this project - such a prominent site! - and I for one would love to see Richard Rogers get a project here, or one of Chicago's own.

[DHamp]

I spend a good amount of time imagining what could and should be at wolf point. It's amazing that many others here have fairly similar ideas. I've been thinking of a three winged tower, but I never even thought of that shape representing the confluence of the rivers. It should be dark, maybe not black, but a darker blue would work. This would make for a good contrast to CS and throw back to the bad ass dark towers of the past, Sears, JHC, Lake Point, etc. It should be no less than 1500ft, although I'd like it to be even taller than CS. It should be mixed use: hotel, residential, and maybe office. Its location really suits all three of those. It'd also be cool if there could be some convention/exhibition space in the base with a rooftop park like the West McCormick building, and river views. A definite must for this site is an observation deck. This will get all of those whiners about no deck in CS to finally shut up. Wolf Point Tower would be a much better location.

The only thing I haven't worked out is the form. It should have a simple silhouette. It could have setbacks to create a taper, but It shouldn't look like Burj Dubai. Or, it could have a smooth taper like JHC. Or it could have a combination.

I know all of this is asking a lot, but the site deserves a lot.

[Rocket1]

Originally Posted by DHamp

I spend a good amount of time imagining what could and should be at wolf point. It's amazing that many others here have fairly similar ideas. I've been thinking of a three winged tower, but I never even thought of that shape representing the confluence of the rivers. It should be dark, maybe not black, but a darker blue would work. This would make for a good contrast to CS and throw back to the bad ass dark towers of the past, Sears, JHC, Lake Point, etc. It should be no less than 1500ft, although I'd like it to be even taller than CS. It should be mixed use: hotel, residential, and maybe office. Its location really suits all three of those. It'd also be cool if there could be some convention/exhibition space in the base with a rooftop park like the West McCormick building, and river views. A definite must for this site is an observation deck. This will get all of those whiners about no deck in CS to finally shut up. Wolf Point Tower would be a much better location.

The only thing I haven't worked out is the form. It should have a simple silhouette. It could have setbacks to create a taper, but It shouldn't look like Burj Dubai. Or, it could have a smooth taper like JHC. Or it could have a combination.

I know all of this is asking a lot, but the site deserves a lot.

Love your ideas.

But I'm not sure if a supertall mixed-use building would work well for that site.

I just don't think the roads around there could comfortably handle the amount of traffic created by such a building.

To me, a mixed-use building from 600' to 800' tall would fit in best with the surrounding buildings, and infrastructure.

[jcchii]

^agree, it is kind of tucked out of the way when it comes to vehicle traffic, with no direct road access from most directions.

that said, mixed use to me makes the most sense, because of its neighbors, then residence on top to maximize the views.
maybe this will be the site to resurrect that formula in chicago.