CHICAGO: boom rundown - everything over 12 floors. v4

[honte]

^ Wow, I hope he gets financing before those all come down... really don't want another Mercantile Exchange-type of vacant lot sitting around on Wacker for decades.

[VivaLFuego]

Originally Posted by honte

^ Wow, I hope he gets financing before those all come down... really don't want another Mercantile Exchange-type of vacant lot sitting around on Wacker for decades.

Ugh, I don't even want to think about that...

[aaron38]

How old is that 10 story building there? I didn't realize something that big and modern was being torn down.

[spyguy]

^It's about 50 years old. The other stuff is much older as I recall.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by honte

^ Wow, I hope he gets financing before those all come down... really don't want another Mercantile Exchange-type of vacant lot sitting around on Wacker for decades.

^ wasn't it already announced that he's obtained financing? Perhaps I'm mixing this up with something else, but I thought something about that was posted recently

[honte]

Originally Posted by spyguy

^It's about 50 years old. The other stuff is much older as I recall.

Yeah, I think it's actually a much older loft building that was reclad. I might be wrong - haven't been inside. I forget where I came across this, but I believe it was praised somewhat when it was completed.

It reminds me of the now-demolished Fair Store on State Street (Wm. LeBaron Jenney), which was reclad by Perkins and Will in the 1950s to much acclaim (imagine that!).

[SolarWind]

Originally Posted by aaron38

How old is that 10 story building there?

Yeah, it's at least 50 years old. You can see the building on the right side of this picture. This is from a book of Chicago Sun-Times photos. I recall seeing the color photo and building still looked yellow.


Stacker of words. Photo by Dave Mann, August 19, 1957.

Carl Sandburg strolls along Wacker Drive in search of material for a new poem about Chicago.

[SolarWind]

February 21, 2007 - Kingsbury Plaza

[Mr Downtown]

155 N. Wacker Drive Building, originally the Sinclair (Oil Co.) Building, was built in 1954. Holabird & Root were the architects.

[SolarWind]

February 21, 2007 - MoMo

[honte]

Originally Posted by Mr Downtown

155 N. Wacker Drive Building, originally the Sinclair (Oil Co.) Building, was built in 1954. Holabird & Root were the architects.

Wow, great data. Thanks! Do your records indicate if it was ground-up construction, or a major renovation?

Do you have a reference of modern works in the downtown area? That was very quick - much quicker than my research usually takes.

[SamInTheLoop]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ wasn't it already announced that he's obtained financing? Perhaps I'm mixing this up with something else, but I thought something about that was posted recently

Yes - the article was in Crain's a couple weeks ago - $290 million in loans from 2 or 3 major lenders plus $80 million in equity. I don't think we need to worry about this one going forward - the demand for the newest class a office space is very strong and I think the lending community has great confidence in Buck's ability to deliver this type of building (this is especially evidenced by the fact that only about 20% of the space is pre-leased - assuming the deal with Skadden Arps has been signed - I haven't heard definitively yet)...

[honte]

^ Yeah, that was my concern. I can't find the article, but I didn't hear anything about the lease being signed, and I do believe financing was contingent on that deal happening.

[aaron38]

Nice shots Solarwind. I haven't seen that angle fromt the west before. Momo really has a solid, impresive presence there.
When you see it edge on from State it's bulk is minimized, but it's a big sucker.

[Mr Downtown]

Do you have a reference of modern works in the downtown area?

I just looked it up in
Randall, Frank A. History of the Development of Building Construction in Chicago. 2nd edition, revised and expanded by John D. Randall. Urbana: University of Illinois, 1999.

Sinclair Bldg was new construction. That part of Wacker was still small industrial and warehouse buildings in 1954. The Market Street terminal of the Lake Street L had just been torn down and the north-south part of Wacker Drive was being built to connect with the Congress Super-Highway.

[Chicago3rd]

Originally Posted by Mr Downtown

155 N. Wacker Drive Building, originally the Sinclair (Oil Co.) Building, was built in 1954. Holabird & Root were the architects.

Edit....damn I thought I had a scoop!

[Mr Roboto]

Yeah I work right across the river and eat at the pot bellys pretty often. Theres two big ass surface lots across the street, one of them not even being used. But here we are about to see some older, probably perfectly functional, buildings get destroyed to make way for this new office tower.

I realize the developer doesnt own the other property, but it just seems so wrong. I would rather keep the smaller older buildings as filler, and see them develop those open spaces, but I know it doesnt work that way.

[honte]

Well, the Crowns seem unbelievably stubborn. I doubt they'd ever sell that land to Buck or anyone else. When the Merc was trying to be saved, people were saying, "Why tear that thing down when it's fully leased, when you don't even have an anchor tenant or financing for the new building?" They wouldn't listen to that. Now, they seem so intent to prove they made the right decision, they haven't even improved that land with a surface parking lot!

Mr Downtown, thanks very much for the tip on the newer version of Randall. I still own the 1949 version!

[brian_b]

Hey wait a second! That's the Potbelly's I eat at too!

Construction better be quick and Potbelly's better be on the ground floor again!

[Chicago Shawn]

PICS...

More MoMo...




Stukel Towers


Parkview West



The Fairbanks


Bonus

Top of the Cobb East from Top of the Cobb West. Thanks agian for the access Steely.