CHICAGO: boom rundown - everything over 12 floors. v4

[SamInTheLoop]

Originally Posted by Belacqua

Funny that this came up yesterday--I heard yesterday, from what seems to be a reliable source, that the building/conversion may not continue in its planned form. I assume the physical renovation will go on as planned (it's pretty far underway) but its no longer clear that it will ultimately be an office condo, as they don't seem to have found enough buyers. So it may just end up being regular rental space.

Wouldn't surprise me at all - office condos are not taking off in Chicago. There have been some deals of course (Erikson Institute being a very recent high profile example), but this will probably remain a very small market...

[Steely Dan]

^ agreed. i'm certainly not well versed in the world of commercial office real estate, but it seems to me that in the business world flexibility is often more valuable than owning real estate that you lock yourself into. perhaps it's a concept that can work well for very small, stable businesses, but for a large company, being nibble enough to upsize and downsize your space requirements as your success (or lack thereof) dictates seems like a big advantage.

[Chi_Coruscant]

http://www.globest.com/news/825_825/chicago/152228-1.html

Russland Gets $66M Loan for Condo Tower
By Robert Carr
(To read more on the multifamily market, click here.)
CHICAGO-Russland Capital Group Inc. has closed on its loan for $66.5 million for its new Michigan Avenue Tower II Condominiums, a 267-unit property going up at 1400 South Michigan Ave. Russland, a partnership of developers Jacob Bletnitsky and Alex Vaisman, says the tower is 83% sold.

The tower is modeled on its predecessor, Michigan Avenue Tower Condominiums, which is one block north and was also developed by Russland. The new Tower II will contain 28 floors of condos, with between seven and 12 units per floor, with four penthouse units. Amenities will include a landscaped deck area with an outdoor swimming pool and a garden that will cover the south portion of the parking garage, with an included dog run.

The loan was arranged by Fremont Investment and Loan, which also handled the loan for the first tower. Scott Manlin, vice president and regional manager of Fairmont’s Chicago office, says the development should do fine, though some say high-end condos are struggling in a slight slump.

“It’s all still about location,” Manlin tells GlobeSt.com. “If a project is well conceived and is in a good location, it will do fine. The markets differ, but Michigan Avenue, the Gold Coast and Streeterville still remain strong, and demand exists.”

[Cbautz]

^ this area is sooo hot right now. I walked down there the other day and evert lot was either for sale, under construction/rehab, or newly built/rehabbed.

[LA21st]

Originally Posted by budman

^Sorry, that 22 floor number was a misprint What I know is this - I work in the AMA building on the top (28th) floor, and one of my co-workers, who is in charge of our lease, told me that Buck's people told him that the hotel that is being built on the adjoining property will not affect our view. If this information is correct (and I had this conversation about 6 - 9 months ago), then that 34 floor number would be wrong. I will try and get more details.

Not happy with that site being developed. Its a nice pocket park in a very urban area that is lacking them.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by LA21st

Not happy with that site being developed. Its a nice pocket park in a very urban area that is lacking them.

completely agreed, but it's private property, so whaddaya gonna do? the city can't force private property owners to keep their land as public park space. if the city wanted to buy the property and turn it over to the park district or something like that, then it could remain a park, but i don't see that happening here as the land is extremely valuable. too bad.

[Norsider]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

^ agreed. i'm certainly not well versed in the world of commercial office real estate, but it seems to me that in the business world flexibility is often more valuable than owning real estate that you lock yourself into. perhaps it's a concept that can work well for very small, stable businesses, but for a large company, being nibble enough to upsize and downsize your space requirements as your success (or lack thereof) dictates seems like a big advantage.

You're right about flexibility being important, but it's not important enough to tie a lot of capital in a real estate condo that might not even end up being that flexible. What if someone moves into the floors right above and below? Or if you're on half a floor, someone takes the other half? If you need more space, then what? There's no one even to complain to. And if you need less space, now you're really in for it. Because you've got to find a buyer who exactly fits with the space you're giving up. Plus, this very dilemma can be used to great effect when negotiating a lease. The tenant has a lot of leverage when it's clear a landlord can't meet its space needs exactly. Often a tenant can pry a better deal out of the building or just hit the market. Other than a whole building (and half the time that ends up to a be a stinker decision), someone will have to explain why it is ever a good deal for a company to purchase office space.

[Steely Dan]

^ i can't tell, were you agreeing or disagreeing with me? it seems like we're saying the same thing, that office condos don't provide the flexibility most businesses need to adjust their space requirements in an efficient manner.

[SevenSevenThree]

Chicagotom posted this over on SSC a couple hours ago. Its interesting. At least for me it is.

Originally Posted by Chicagotom

Went into the MP sales center today and talked to my sales guy and heres what he told me.

1. The 34 story building that was to sit south of OMPW is being scraped. The city would only approve a 10 story building so enterprise is looking to build all townhomes where the existing sales center is. Look for large 3000 sqft units starting at 1.3 million range. Very High End. The townhomes are likely to be the next thing on the market in 08.

2. They are going to propose an 80 story building at the corner of Indiana and Roosevelt that Enterprise is going to develop. No time on this one being release anytime soon.

3. He didn't have anything on the 2nd tower at Michigan and Roosevelt except that it was going to be much taller than is now proposed.

4. Central Station did the engineering study looking at building towers over the tracks south of 15th street and the cost is prohibative and they are not moving forward with Phase 3.

[the urban politician]

^ It seems counter-intuitive to have a 600+ footer immediately step down to townhomes. What's the city thinking on that one?

And are they actually going to build a 10 story building or is the whole site slated for townhomes now?

That sucks--I can just smell the NIMBY seeds being sewn by that shitty planning decision. Lets just hope that these townhomes will have nice concrete stairs leading up to their entrance--a much more elegant look than the ones where the entrance is level with the sidewalk, IMO.

Besides that, the rest is good news except for the Phase 3 thing--but I'm sure somebody will cover those tracks in the next half-century or so...

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Chicagotom

2. They are going to propose an 80 story building at the corner of Indiana and Roosevelt that Enterprise is going to develop. No time on this one being release anytime soon.

sounds like the long-rumored ~850 footer victor has been dropping hints about for a while now.

[SamInTheLoop]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ It seems counter-intuitive to have a 600+ footer immediately step down to townhomes. What's the city thinking on that one?

And are they actually going to build a 10 story building or is the whole site slated for townhomes now?

That sucks--I can just smell the NIMBY seeds being sewn by that shitty planning decision. Lets just hope that these townhomes will have nice concrete stairs leading up to their entrance--a much more elegant look than the ones where the entrance is level with the sidewalk, IMO.

Besides that, the rest is good news except for the Phase 3 thing--but I'm sure somebody will cover those tracks in the next half-century or so...

I definitely agree - I really liked the idea of the huge, high wall of skyscrapers on Roosevelt stepping down to the south - I thought a 34 story tower directly south of OMPW was actually about the ideal height. Townhomes here don't make sense for a number of reasons, not the least of which are just purely economic...

[SamInTheLoop]

Originally Posted by Chi_Coruscant

http://www.globest.com/news/825_825/chicago/152228-1.html

Russland Gets $66M Loan for Condo Tower
By Robert Carr
(To read more on the multifamily market, click here.)
CHICAGO-Russland Capital Group Inc. has closed on its loan for $66.5 million for its new Michigan Avenue Tower II Condominiums, a 267-unit property going up at 1400 South Michigan Ave. Russland, a partnership of developers Jacob Bletnitsky and Alex Vaisman, says the tower is 83% sold.

The tower is modeled on its predecessor, Michigan Avenue Tower Condominiums, which is one block north and was also developed by Russland. The new Tower II will contain 28 floors of condos, with between seven and 12 units per floor, with four penthouse units. Amenities will include a landscaped deck area with an outdoor swimming pool and a garden that will cover the south portion of the parking garage, with an included dog run.

The loan was arranged by Fremont Investment and Loan, which also handled the loan for the first tower. Scott Manlin, vice president and regional manager of Fairmont’s Chicago office, says the development should do fine, though some say high-end condos are struggling in a slight slump.

“It’s all still about location,” Manlin tells GlobeSt.com. “If a project is well conceived and is in a good location, it will do fine. The markets differ, but Michigan Avenue, the Gold Coast and Streeterville still remain strong, and demand exists.”

Should be starting any week now. Certainly no fan of the design, but at least it's bringing nice density...

[honte]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ It seems counter-intuitive to have a 600+ footer immediately step down to townhomes. What's the city thinking on that one?

My guess is that the city is going to hold to them some kind of density requirements, as set forth in the PUD, or close to that threshold. Reading between the lines: "Units in an 80-story will have better views and sell better, so let's put the density over there."

If this kind of thing helps allow much taller buildings along the park, I am 100% for it. Pappageorge-Haymes's latest designs are a lot better than the old, and the skyline would benefit from that balance. Overall, I think this is great news.

Plus, having shorter buildings next to very tall ones is a charming aspect of Chicago. I prefer it to the complete Hong-Kong effect overall (although I'm glad we have some places that are solid high-rise). For instance, at the Chicago Spire, I am very glad the townhouses are to the west. They will reinforce how giant CS is and will allow it some breathing room.

[i_am_hydrogen]

A shot of Central Station from the Sears Tower I took a couple of weeks ago:

[BorisMolotov]

well i think that overall, there will be a nice stepdown from the supertalls and OMP with the "filler" buildings, like Sky55 and whatnot, that are already there now or U/C, (Columbian).
The townhomes crisis wont be as bad as it sounds.

[SolarWind]

Originally Posted by i_am_hydrogen

A shot of Central Station from the Sears Tower I took a couple of weeks ago:

Nice picture i_am_hydrogen! With all the development planned, it will be good to use this one as a comparison shot a few years from now.

[Dan in Chicago]

A few updates from a long walk around the city today:

1. Pure is under construction. Caissons started last week.

2. Emerald North Tower is under construction; several caissons are drilled already. The South Tower may or may not be underway, but it will be worth checking in a few days. Caissons have reached about the middle of the site (from the north) so it is hard to tell. The sales staff say the South Tower will rise 4 months ahead of the North, so we can expect both foundations to be done together.

3. Avenue East is topped out.

4. For anyone who follows the total high-rise count of Chicago, two of the Abbott Homes were demolished last year, and the only one left standing is the one in the NE corner of the complex (Abbott Homes 1 on Emporis).

5. In a huge surprise, an additional 12-story building has been discovered in Chicago!!! ...and, it qualifies for the current boom! University Station (1550 S. Blue Island Ave., Emporis ID 291299) added a penthouse floor to the original 11-story building. According to the sales staff, completion was last month (Dec 2006).


There are now 51 buildings underway in Chicago with 12 or more floors -- possibly a record. And the number will probably go up before it goes down, as the next crop is taking forever to finish up. Next in line are The Streeter, The Regatta, Prentice Women's Hospital, 30 West Oak, Museum Park Place, and Park View East. Only the first one or two of these might finish in January (I'll check the Regatta tomorrow).

[sentinel]

Originally Posted by i_am_hydrogen

A shot of Central Station from the Sears Tower I took a couple of weeks ago:

Amazing and just imagine after OMP gets topped off! This collection of buildings would be the complete downtown of any other city yet in Chicago, this is a small fraction of our skyline LOL!

[spyguy]

Originally Posted by SolarWind

Nice picture i_am_hydrogen! With all the development planned, it will be good to use this one as a comparison shot a few years from now.

I used a pic from a few years ago, but the images didn't quite line up