CHICAGO: boom rundown - everything over 12 floors. v4 - Page 87

VA_Gentleman · #**1721** Posted **Mar 22, 2007, 12:20 AM**

Phereck, that is a herculian post you have there. I don't know how you Chicago forumers keep track of all the construction. Being from the Washington DC area I almost cried when I saw all those buildings. It's just amazing.

Chitown · #**1722** Posted **Mar 22, 2007, 12:44 AM**

Amazing work Pharek; talk about dedication! If anyone new to the forum stumbled upon this thread, I think your post would have them pretty well up to speed.

Seeing that post, I'm realizing to an extent I had never fully appreciated that Chicago skyscraper enthusiasts are some lucky S.O.B.'s right about now.

the urban politician · #**1723** Posted **Mar 22, 2007, 3:30 AM**

Thanks for the awesome photo tour, Pherek

SamInTheLoop · #**1724** Posted **Mar 22, 2007, 4:50 AM**

^ Ditto. Thanks Pherek!

Nowhereman1280 · #**1725** Posted **Mar 22, 2007, 5:00 AM**

Yeah that was a ridiculous update!

Speaking of lucky skyscraper enthusiasts, I'm one lucky SOB right now, I just got a corner room on the 19th story of Baumhart Hall at the LUC downtown campus for next year. I'll have a view down Wabash towards Trump and a view to the east towards Hancock! I'm sooo happy!

Steely Dan · #**1726** Posted **Mar 22, 2007, 4:14 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by pherek

The site was quiet on the day I took these pictures (3/17/07). I heard them pile-driving a few weeks back so I think it's officially under construction. Dan, if you can use these pics for Emporis, feel free.

groovy. that certainly looks like bona fide construction, so i've moved this one to U/C on the page 1 suburban list.

chicubs111 · #**1727** Posted **Mar 22, 2007, 7:13 PM**

Chicago Gold Coast Condo Project Bags $96M in Lending
March 22, 2007
By Dees Stribling, Midwest Correspondent

Ten East Delaware Place, a ground-up condo project in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood just north of downtown, has received approval for a $96.2 million construction loan. The funding will be provided by Fremont Investment & Loan, a subsidiary of California-based Fremont General Corp., to an affiliate of the developer, Chicago-based Prime Group.

The project (pictured), which will include 121 units, is one of the few new residential developments under way in the neighborhood. It’s going ahead despite a sluggish local condo market. According to the Illinois Association of Realtors, condo sales in metro Chicago totaled 10,635 units in the fourth quarter of 2006, down 13.4 percent from the fourth quarter 2005 total of 12,287 units.

“Condo developers have to be selective in Chicago, but it’s still possible to excite interest among buyers if you have an attractive product at a good location,” Scott Manlin, vice president and regional manager of Fremont’s Chicago office, told CPN this morning. “Certainly anything new in the Gold Coast is going to attract attention.”

According to Manlin, about 40 percent of the development’s units are reserved or under contract. “Ten East Delaware is also a popular property because it’s a relative bargain for the neighborhood,” he said. “The average price of the residences is well under $1 million, which is very competitive for the Gold Coast. For about $600,000, a buyer can get a nice one-bedroom, maybe $650,000 with parking.”

The 36-story concrete and glass structure, designed by Chicago architect Lucien Lagrange, will be faced with sand-colored limestone and will feature curved balconies. Site clearance for the project has already started, according to Manlin.

http://www.cpnonline.com/cpn/property_type/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003561652

VivaLFuego · #**1728** Posted **Mar 22, 2007, 8:30 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by chicubs111

The 36-story concrete and glass structure, designed by Chicago architect Lucien Lagrange, will be faced with sand-colored limestone and will feature curved balconies. Site clearance for the project has already started, according to Manlin.

Is the limestone only at the base, or the whole facade? If it's the whole facade, I just started liking this building a whole lot more.

aaron38 · #**1729** Posted **Mar 23, 2007, 12:53 AM**

If true that is great news. It's possible that 10 E. Delaware could end up looking like the new 15 Central Park West, (from the limestone standpont) which from the photos I've seen is looking quite good.

From the 15 CPW thread.

Dan in Chicago · #**1730** Posted **Mar 23, 2007, 4:58 AM**

Steely, would it be appropriate to add the Blue Chip Casino Hotel to the suburban section of this thread? Michigan City is in the census-defined Chicago area.

Chitown · #**1731** Posted **Mar 23, 2007, 5:54 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dan in Chicago

Michigan City is in the census-defined Chicago area.

Wow, really? And here I thought Crown Point was pushing the "chicagoland" label. If Michigan City is in the Chicago area, I'm all but downtown.

honte · #**1732** Posted **Mar 23, 2007, 6:59 AM**

^ Now, how come LaGrange can't produce something pleasant like that for the Chicago area? His other stuff lately looks very amateurish by comparison (not that the casino's a great design, but you get my point).

SamInTheLoop · #**1733** Posted **Mar 23, 2007, 12:27 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by honte

^ Now, how come LaGrange can't produce something pleasant like that for the Chicago area? His other stuff lately looks very amateurish by comparison (not that the casino's a great design, but you get my point).

No kidding. I'm very surprised that design is going in Michigan City...

SamInTheLoop · #**1734** Posted **Mar 23, 2007, 12:34 PM**

There was some discussion here earlier about implications of the large amount of retail space included in the 353 N. Clark project. I just reviewed the fact sheet available for download at the development's new website -
www.353nclark.com - and it looks like the retail space is less than I previously had thought - it looks like the 2nd floor (including the lowrise section) will largely contain office tenant amenities - auditorium, cafeteria, gym, etc., and not additional retail space...

trvlr70 · #**1735** Posted **Mar 23, 2007, 12:46 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by aaron38

If true that is great news. It's possible that 10 E. Delaware could end up looking like the new 15 Central Park West, (from the limestone standpont) which from the photos I've seen is looking quite good.

From the 15 CPW thread.

OMG....that would be a dream come true. But get real. Chicago's price points don't come anything close to the kind of money it would cost to construct something of the same quality as 15 CPW, which IMHO is the best quality building going up in the country right now. I imagine maybe only two floors will be the limestone facade at best.

SamInTheLoop · #**1736** Posted **Mar 23, 2007, 12:52 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by BVictor1

http://www.suntimes.com/business/roeder/305612,CST-FIN-roeder21.article

March 21, 2007
BY DAVID ROEDER Sun-Times Columnist

BUCK BEAT: Maybe this will be the last spring to enjoy the plaza next to the American Medical Association building at 515 N. State. Developer John Buck Co. has filed zoning plans for a building of about 40 stories on that plaza at 505 N. State. The proposal calls for 261 boutique hotel rooms and 121 condos, plus parking for 121 cars.

Buck principals declined to comment. But last year, they said they had formed a partnership with Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. to introduce a hotel flag called aloft (yes, all in lower case) at the River North site and elsewhere in the Chicago area.

The zoning application said Buck's State Street venture is a partnership with the landowner, Champaign-based Royal Properties. Royal invests in student housing, but a source said that isn't a part of the State Street project.

Buck wants to change the zoning that allowed a 22-story, 454,000-square-foot office building on the plaza. The new plan involves a taller and thinner building and is just one of many decisions that will land in the lap of downtown's incoming alderman, Brendan Reilly.

I'm wondering if this is yet another redesign of the project. If you remember a couple years ago there was an Arquitectonica-designed tower proposed, and then maybe a year or so ago there was a shorter proposal designed by (I believe a smaller Chicago firm - can't remember the name at the moment). I believe that proposal was in the 30-story range, so it would appear the project has been redesigned yet again. I'm a little surprised Buck is going with a condo component given the market and not just building a hotel tower...

SamInTheLoop · #**1737** Posted **Mar 23, 2007, 12:57 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by trvlr70

OMG....that would be a dream come true. But get real. Chicago's price points don't come anything close to the kind of money it would cost to construct something of the same quality as 15 CPW, which IMHO is the best quality building going up in the country right now. I imagine maybe only two floors will be the limestone facade at best.

I would like to assume you're talking about the quality of finishes, materials used and not the overall quality of architectural design...

trvlr70 · #**1738** Posted **Mar 23, 2007, 1:36 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SamInTheLoop

I would like to assume you're talking about the quality of finishes, materials used and not the overall quality of architectural design...

Bingo! Architecturally, it is just okay. But nobody since the Reagan building in DC has used such quality materials in construction. 15 CPW will be an instant classic when complete.

I'm totally envious we can't afford to do something similar along Grant or Lincoln Park.

honte · #**1739** Posted **Mar 23, 2007, 2:14 PM**

^ You know, cut limestone isn't the world's most expensive material. Limestone is, after all, the principal aggregate in concrete. This building's limestone doesn't seem to have any of the intricate reliefs that would really jack up the price. The main price difference, I think, would be in the weight of the material and the installation.

I'm not criticizing your comments, but rather I am saying that I think this could be possible here if the government officials pressed for it. For instance, that PoMo thing proposed for Lincoln Park could be a good candidate for an all-limestone facade.

dvidler · #**1740** Posted **Mar 23, 2007, 3:43 PM**

March 23, 2007
By Thomas A. Corfman

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Developer gets short-term Allstate loan for 29 & 39 S. LaSalle
Allstate Corp. has issued a $26-million, short-term loan on 29 and 39 S. LaSalle St., where developer Hamilton Partners has proposed building a hotel/office skyscraper.

The proposed 51-story tower would accommodate landmark protection given to 39 S. LaSalle St., which was designed by William LeBaron Jenney, a pioneer of skyscraper design, and built in stages between 1893 and 1903.

The three-year, floating-rate loan doesn’t have “significant prepayment restrictions,” which gives the developer flexibility if the project moves forward, says M. W. “Sam'' Davis, senior managing director of real estate for the Northbrook-based insurer.

Such short-term loans, geared to “transition properties,” are a growing part of Allstate’s commercial real estate lending business, accounting for about 25% of the $2.2 billion in loans Allstate issued last year.

“We are able to put our real estate analytical skills to work and be paid a little bit extra (in interest) for those loans by taking some risk on these deals that have leasing or redevelopment plans.”

While Hamilton waits for the site to be caught up in the development boom, most of the existing tenants in the two buildings have lease that expire over the next couple years. Combined, 29 & 39 S. LaSalle had a 24% vacancy rate in December.

In the most noteworthy lease, Starbucks Corp. last year signed a 10-year lease for a 2,380-square foot storefront at a gross rent of $100 per square foot. Whether Hamilton has cancellation option on the lease could not be determined. Robert Klauseger of Hamilton could not be reached for comment.

The loan is less than 75% of the value of the site, according to the mortgage, which would mean the financing values the property at about $35 million, a 45% increase in value since 2004.

In July of that year, a venture led by Hamilton paid $24.1 for the properties in 2004, buying them from a partnership that included the Pritzker family, property records show.

A portion of the 29-39 S. LaSalle is owned by the University of Chicago, which leases the land to Hamilton under an agreement that expires in 2103.

Under the landmark ordinance, Hamilton would build the on the site of 29 S. LaSalle, a vintage tower that would be demolished. The new tower would cut into 39 S. LaSalle, but preserve the exterior and portions of the lobby.