CHICAGO | Economic & Business Development

[NiHao]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

This is just another reason why we ultimately need a high speed transit connection to Milwaukee. One wonders if there might not be a change of heart on Scott Walker's part if Foxconn wants a connection between it's campus and HQ?

Ideally we can just continue the HyperLoop all the way from O'Hare to Milwaukee with stops every 20 miles or so along the route. Can you imagine what a wet dream that would be? Chicago Loop to Milwaukee in 30 minutes. Milwaukee to O'Hare in 25 minutes. Loop to Mitchell Airport in 25 minutes.

That would truly be a connection to make even the fanciest Asian megacities feel inadequate.

Every 20 miles? The next stop should be mil airport, and then downtown Milwaukee. Small towns shouldn’t be subsidized.

[chiphile]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

I love this idea, but the problem is how you separate TSA “sterile” from “non-sterile” passengers who may both be going to OHare?

Easy, the blue line.

I think any downtown-to-gate terminal should be for TSA-cleared passengers (or sterile air-side employees) only. Regular commuters wouldn't cough up the $25 one-way anyway, and shaving 10 minutes off the blue line is good enough for most people (which I believe the latest blue line track work is supposed to do).

Doubling down on my previous post, such a development would make downtown literally the same travel-time as Rosemont--making Rosemont moot and redundant. Every downtown hotel then becomes an airport hotel (imagine the travel websites reflecting that too), every top restaurant a nearby airport restaurant, and the mag mile puts the Rosemont fashion outlet mall out of business as THE airport-accessible premier shopping destination in the U.S. (way better than the airport tram that goes to Mall of America). A whole new industry of mini one-hour tours and "Chicago experiences" would be born, catering to connecting passengers who have a 2+ hour connection at O'Hare.

The cherry on top would be connectivity to the overall baggage system. Someone flying into Chicago with checked luggage could have their bags tagged with "CHI," designating the downtown terminal.

If this happens, we ain't seen nothing yet in terms of companies moving downtown.

Make no little plans, Chicago.

[left of center]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Wow, with the Walgreens news, Elon Musk news, and other construction updates I need to go on vacation more often. I love coming back and hearing these kinds of uplifting updates.

Another uplifting update:

http://fox6now.com/2018/06/15/we-are...own-milwaukee/

Foxconn will base it’s North American HQ, which will grow to 500 jobs, in downtown Milwaukee. Lots of jobs, lots of engineers, lots of recruitment from local universities. This is separate from the huge plant they are building in Racine.

This isn’t really Chicago news, but this will indirectly benefit the Chicago area as well. Executives buying north suburban homes, recruitment from local schools as I mentioned, and of course many of these well paid professionals will naturally come to Chicago for culture, dining, O’hare access, etc etc. Perhaps even some condos will be sold

That's excellent news! Whatever is good for our little brother city 90 minutes to the north is definitely good for Chicago, and vice versa.

The more vibrant the CHI-MKE region becomes, the faster it will grow in tandem, and the more possibilities for connecting the two metros, such as potential HSR/Hyperloop as LVDW mentioned.

[bnk]

This Foxconn plant is pretty much on the boarder of Kenosha County which is in the Chicago MSA.

I was told we Froetdert Hospitals was going to build a hospital next to Foxconn

Now Advocate/Aurora is planning too.





http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...build-up-north


New Advocate Aurora hospital combo looks to build up north



By H. Lee Murphy
The new Advocate Aurora Health is laying plans to invest north of the border.



With the ink barely dry on the merger of Illinois-based Advocate Health Care and Wisconsin-based Aurora Health Care, finalized on April 1, the new Advocate Aurora Health is laying plans to invest in new facilities north of the border.

The nonprofit Advocate announced plans to build a $250 million, 60-bed hospital and medical office complex on a 96-acre site in Mount Pleasant, just 12 miles from an existing Aurora medical center in Kenosha. Construction is slated to begin later this year and finish up by 2021, hospital officials said.


That comes on top of recent plans hatched pre-merger by Aurora to build a $130 million ambulatory surgery center and doctors offices in Pleasant Prairie as well as a $300 million hospital and surgery center in ...Both of these projects will follow a construction timeline similar to that of the Mount Pleasant facility. Wisconsin does not require a certificate of need for new healthcare capacity, and thus Advocate expects to encounter few roadblocks as it acquires zoning and other approvals.


The Wisconsin investment amounts to a bet on new growth in the future in southeast Wisconsin. The Mount Pleasant Hospital will be within a couple of miles of the planned $10 billion electronics plant being built by FoxConn Technology Group in rural Racine County, which will create 13,000 new jobs. Other healthcare providers are making similar bets, with ProHealth Care of Wisconsin recently announcing plans for a $55 million, 24-bed hospital in Mukwonago.

“Other corporations like Amazon and Uline are also expanding in southeastern Wisconsin. We think it's going to be a very interesting growth area,” said Nick Turkal, Advocate Aurora's president and co-CEO. “This is a logical place for our merged organization to be building.”


...

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by left of center

That's excellent news! Whatever is good for our little brother city 90 minutes to the north is definitely good for Chicago, and vice versa.

The more vibrant the CHI-MKE region becomes, the faster it will grow in tandem, and the more possibilities for connecting the two metros, such as potential HSR/Hyperloop as LVDW mentioned.

Yes, though Foxconn is a terrible employer. They're the ones who set up nets outside of their buildings to catch people trying to commit suicide who were working there, after a bunch did. So hopefully.....that type of thing isn't the case in the US.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Yes, though Foxconn is a terrible employer. They're the ones who set up nets outside of their buildings to catch people trying to commit suicide who were working there, after a bunch did. So hopefully.....that type of thing isn't the case in the US.

Wait, what? They really did that?

Seriously, though, what’s to stop these people from committing suicide once they left work?

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Wait, what? They really did that?

Seriously, though, what’s to stop these people from committing suicide once they left work?

Yes....some employees actually live in dormatories on site. So you can see the dilemma there...
https://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/...-hebei-plants/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/timwors.../#1f420eb72e93

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxconn_suicides



Seriously, they are not a good employer. Hopefully that type of thing won't happen in the US.

[left of center]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Yes, though Foxconn is a terrible employer. They're the ones who set up nets outside of their buildings to catch people trying to commit suicide who were working there, after a bunch did. So hopefully.....that type of thing isn't the case in the US.

That will be more a problem for their manufacturing facility than their office building.

But I jest, I very much doubt conditions will be as bad in their WI plant as they used to be in mainland China. (Things have drastically improved since news of the anti-suicide nets went viral years back. Still not exactly a great employer, but at least the urge to kill oneself isn't nearly as strong as it used to be?).

[glowrock]

Originally Posted by left of center

That will be more a problem for their manufacturing facility than their office building.

But I jest, I very much doubt conditions will be as bad in their WI plant as they used to be in mainland China. (Things have drastically improved since news of the anti-suicide nets went viral years back. Still not exactly a great employer, but at least the urge to kill oneself isn't nearly as strong as it used to be?).

Without question, Foxconn has a historically terrible reputation for worker conditions. I really do wonder what the situation will be like in the outskirts of Racine/Kenosha when this plant actually gets built and comes online. Wonder if they'll find enough people to pay low wages to to staff up? Of course I'm not so sure the mega warehouses that Amazon owns and operates are really much better based upon what I've heard/read, so who knows...

Aaron (Glowrock)

[the urban politician]

^ Interesting. The competition with Ascension is growing.

If the scumbags in Congress are going to insist on regulating medicine to death so that doctors can’t run small practices that are WAY cheaper for the public, then the next best thing is for these evil hospital-corporate entities in Wisconsin to be forced to compete with each other.

That’s way better than the criminally corrupt Illinois system that requires the approval of the IHFSRB to build any new facilities. God forbid we disrupt any monopolies

[Chi-Sky21]

Slightly more concerned that they will be taking 7 million gallons of water a day from lake Michigan with only slightly more than 4 million of that going back into the lake. All because they skirted the rules by having Racine file for the exemption and having it listed under public use so it does not have to be reviewed by the Great Lakes Compact.

[marothisu]

Yes, I think it's pretty obvious if they implemented the gate system it would only be for ticketed passengers. I also don't think it would render Rosemont moot. People usually stay there because they get cheaper rates or they have a conference out there. I think it would increase the occupancy rates downtown though and probably lead to more hotels though..

[the urban politician]

It would also turn Block 37 and environs into a damn madhouse of development. Office development would once again be appealing in the eastern Loop

[left of center]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

It would also turn Block 37 and environs into a damn madhouse of development. Office development would once again be appealing in the eastern Loop

This is probably the most overlooked point. Office development has been trending west due to the proximity to the two big suburban commuter rail stations in the West Loop. The wholesale abandonment of the East Loop by commercial interests for residential will be halted (if not partially reserved), since the Block 37 station would be insanely appealing to companies that do a lot of business across the country and abroad.

This really will be a game changer in many ways.

[Via Chicago]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

It would also turn Block 37 and environs into a damn madhouse of development. Office development would once again be appealing in the eastern Loop

where exactly are you proposing additional development in that area? its more or less built out.

[Freefall]

Originally Posted by Via Chicago

where exactly are you proposing additional development in that area? its more or less built out.

The GAP building

[jpIllInoIs]

Originally Posted by Via Chicago

where exactly are you proposing additional development in that area? its more or less built out.

The Chicago Title & Trust 2 building never got built, only the parking base.
The Conservatory on Lake/Clark.
150 N Franklin
The redevelopment or addition to Thompson Center
Teardown and redevelopment of Harold Washington College
The niche hotel on Clark and Hubbard
Rehab of the Federal properties on S. State street.
Also the Macys building and Sullivan center are going to need to fill office space.

[LouisVanDerWright]

Chicago gains a Dow Jones Industrial Average component today as GE is booted from the indicator in favor of Walgreens:

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/19/walg...n-the-dow.html

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

Chicago gains a Dow Jones Industrial Average component today as GE is booted from the indicator in favor of Walgreens:

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/19/walg...n-the-dow.html

That is interesting. So in a week, Chicago area will have 4 total companies in the DJIA out of 30 total companies.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by jpIllInoIs

The Chicago Title & Trust 2 building never got built, only the parking base.
The Conservatory on Lake/Clark.
150 N Franklin
The redevelopment or addition to Thompson Center
Teardown and redevelopment of Harold Washington College
The niche hotel on Clark and Hubbard
Rehab of the Federal properties on S. State street.
Also the Macys building and Sullivan center are going to need to fill office space.

Dare I say... 55 W Wacker?

Also Michigan/Lake, the parking garage at Wabash/Randolph, etc. Could put a mid-sized office building where the Walgreen's is on Washington also next to the Reliance Building.

If the O'Hare Express retrenches the development value of this area for high-paying corporations, then we might see government shift around their land holdings. Cook County might try to cash out the Brunswick Building, for example.