CHICAGO: boom rundown - everything over 12 floors. v4

[SamInTheLoop]

[QUOTE=Chicago Shawn;2634059]Thanks for the tip, and I concur the chicken was great!

Not that I would throw a tantrum if Buck put up on office tower there too, but honestly I would rather see residential on that block as a large apartment tower there could really cement that part of the loop as truly mixed-use. With probably tens of millions of sf of office space within a 3 or 4 block radius, filling new apartment towers in this area will not be difficult, as even if just a minute percentage of these office workers opt for the walk-to-work life...and also, I definitely need to try that chicken! (I forgot they serve chinese there as well as shakes!!)

[i_am_hydrogen]

Parkview West, taken today:

[Nowhereman1280]

Here's a little more on the Midwest Express Center, its really dwarfed by McC Place, but the span is smaller than that of LSD.

Its actually technically 3 floors if you count the Mezzanine.

Check out the floor plans here: http://www.midwestairlinescenter.com/floor.asp

Notice how even though the road only takes up so much space, about half of the main exhibit hall is elevated two stories off the ground for quite a ways.

The public parking lot in the diagrams is a surface lot and is slated for future expansion, if Milwaukee's convention business ever picks up that much...





^^^This is the part where it is suspended over the road (note the sweet blue lights), they hold the auto show here and all of the exhibit space directly above this picture (as well as the ballrooms on the first floor and the little rooms on the mezzanine) is full of cars, so I don't think it would be too much of a challenge to build like this over LSD. I suppose for a building that needs to support this much weight you basically just build a really big highway overpass...

I guess this is a mini version of what McCormick Place would look like if they added a second floor that went across LSD.

[SolarWind]

Originally Posted by spyguy

Just finished viewing that massive update (thanks!).

I'm still waiting to see 600 N Fairbanks' facade

February 15, 2007





The glass is very transparent. I think this will turn out well. Unfortunately my camera's battery gave out just as I was about to take a closer picture. It drained quickly in the cold. The second photo posted is a magnified view of the first.

[SolarWind]

I noticed scaffolding over the sidewalk at 155 North Wacker today. I’m not sure how long this has been there or if it’s been mentioned before. An amendment notice was posted in a window on the west side stating that an office tower will be constructed on site. Although it did appear that the Potbelly restaurant on the corner was still open.

[DANTHEDISCOMAN]

edit

[SolarWind]

Originally Posted by DANTHEDISCOMAN

No thread for OMP?

I see the OMP thread in the Highrise Construction section. i_am_hydrogen posted a picture at 07:37 PM today. Perhaps you were looking in Highrise Proposals section instead.

[spyguy]

Originally Posted by SolarWind

Unfortunately my camera's battery gave out just as I was about to take a closer picture.

That's alright- thanks for the heads up anyway. The building will look sweet right before completion (and window treatments).

[DANTHEDISCOMAN]

Originally Posted by SolarWind

I see the OMP thread in the Highrise Construction section. i_am_hydrogen posted a picture at 07:37 PM today. Perhaps you were looking in Highrise Proposals section instead.

[SolarWind]

February 15, 2007

River North Marriott Suites




353 North Clark


^ Looks like more soil testing is taking place. They’ve been doing this on and off for at least six months. Must have found something interesting.

[honte]

Originally Posted by SolarWind

February 15, 2007

Wow, this is great. It's so transparent, I didn't even notice it in the photo until you zoomed in to point it out!

Solarwind, thanks so much for braving the cold and taking such great shots today. I love the one in the Trump thread with the very linear bridge in the foreground.

Originally Posted by Chicago Shawn

I would love to see a cool structual innovation used to span the Stevenson, and build the next phase over the expressway. The new truck ramp could service the air-rights structure. Extending it westward, over Michigan and take it to the Green Line, where it could tie into a new station.

Sorry to keep talking about the convention center, but Shawn, that's by far the best idea I've heard so far: Save the historic architecture and knit two neighborhoods back together. Let's push this if they ever try to tear down the historic parts of McCormick. By the way, Denver's awesome new convention center also has a busy road running underneath it.

[Chi_Coruscant]

River North Marriott is sprouting up fast! I hope it looks better, once completed, than in the rendering.

BTW, Solarwind: thanks so much for the pix.

[VivaLFuego]

^ I love that stretch of Clark st visible in the read of that last pic of Solar's.

I imagine this is a complicated site, it has had many, many different uses over the last 150 years (wasn't the Kinzie cabin right around here or something?), not to mention its current ground level is probably filled higher than natural since all the streets are sloping up at this point to cross the river. Who knows what goodies have been buried under there by the sands of time...

[SolarWind]

February 15, 2007

MoMo


The Fairbanks at Cityfront Plaza


Avenue East


550 St. Clair


Parkview West


600 North LSD

[hi123]

The glass on all of these projects is loking fantastic!

[denizen467]

Actually, my skepticism about expanding McC to straddle LSD was from a terrorism, not engineering or cost, standpoint. It's a bit hard to see Milwaukee or Denver as terrorism targets; in contrast some of the nation's and world's marquee events take place at McC, not to mention the huge numbers of visitors there at any given time (and perhaps more than the number of people 'at risk' above the Water Tower Place / Ritz driveway that has been closed since 2001). If they want to go for it, more power to them; just slather on a few extra feet of concrete casing. The Stevenson-Michigan idea is great too.

[Nowhereman1280]

Originally Posted by denizen467

Actually, my skepticism about expanding McC to straddle LSD was from a terrorism, not engineering or cost, standpoint. It's a bit hard to see Milwaukee or Denver as terrorism targets; in contrast some of the nation's and world's marquee events take place at McC, not to mention the huge numbers of visitors there at any given time (and perhaps more than the number of people 'at risk' above the Water Tower Place / Ritz driveway that has been closed since 2001). If they want to go for it, more power to them; just slather on a few extra feet of concrete casing. The Stevenson-Michigan idea is great too.

You know, if terrorists really wanted to get us again, they could, I mean its not like there is that much security. Seriously, if someone wanted to, they could easily pull a series of suicide stunts like we see in Israel and Iraq, but coordinated in a crowded place like McCormick place. I think the reason that hasn't happended is only because the terrorists don't think it would be spectacular enough to warrant our attention, like 9-11. To tell you the truth, I would be a hell of alot more scared if something like a suidide bomber in a public place happend than if another 9-11 happened. The point is, there are plenty of targets that are just a big and juicy as McCormick place being over the highway would be and adding one more (i.e. expanding McCormick place over the highway) is not going to increase the odds of being attacked any more. If anything, it would make it ever so slightly more diffucult for terrorists since they would have one more soft target to try and choose from...

[denizen467]

Agreed; this is not an area where there are any definite right or wrong answers. Although I do think that politically, and economically, it might be difficult to initiate a project where one knowingly adds to 'terrorism risk', and does so to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. It just seems that the likely course of development would follow a path of lesser resistance, i.e. away from these kinds of perceived risks. But again, our mantra is to make no little plans, and maybe the risk here is indeed not that great compared with stadiums, tall buildings, etc. so in the final analysis it possibly could be regarded as a realistic option.

[nomarandlee]

More on the 15 story pagoda hotel in Chinatown

http://www.suntimes.com/business/259600,CST-FIN-china16.article

More China for Chinatown?
Entrepreneurs hope to build 15-story Grand Imperial hotel

February 16, 2007
BY DAVID ROEDER AND FRAN SPIELMAN Staff Reporters

Boldly promising a new landmark for Chinatown, two entrepreneurs want to construct a hotel that appeals to ethnic pride and the neighborhood's proximity to McCormick Place.
See Wong, a Chinatown home builder, and business partner Peter Siu have proposed a 175-room hotel at the southwest corner of Clark and Archer. At 15 stories, it will be prominent in the area, particularly with its ornate, pagoda-style roof.

Wong said the Asian influence will be apparent throughout the operation. He said the floors will be dedicated to one of three ancient Chinese dynasties, with custom furniture dedicated to those periods and the principles of feng shui honored.

The hotel would be called Grand Imperial and occupy a narrow slice of land that once was a junkyard.

Wong, whose architectural firm is Gurnee-based Haylock Design, hopes to start the project later this year, and deliver the hotel in 2009.

The $50 million hotel will be run independently, not part of a national chain. Wong said he will sell the rooms to investors for about $250,000 each. The so-called condo-hotel option has enjoyed only limited acceptance in the Chicago market, and has done better in warm-weather vacation destinations.

But Wong said his project will succeed because it is near McCormick Place and should draw conventioneers who don't want to pay downtown prices. Many of those visitors are from China, and "they are often repeat visitors" when they find a hotel they like, he said.

"The Chinese economy is booming, and most of the businessmen do a lot of overseas travel for conventions. Chicago is one of the most popular destinations," he said.
He and Siu, who runs an accounting firm, have filed a zoning request with the city to build the hotel. The application will lead to hearings and a vote in the City Council, a process that usually takes several months.


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[Eventually...Chicago]

I don't know if this is a coincidence, but with Daley opening up the development office in Shanghai, a lot of what these guys say makes sense. Does anyone else feel like Chinatown is set for a bit of a rebirth? I don't know, is it naive to think that this area could become a huge center Asia-centric development and tourists? Do Chinese tourist like going to Chinatown?

Regardless, Chinatown is certainly in the near south side category of prime development area and will probably see some more density. Especially if some of those massive bridgeport mixed-use projects gain traction.