CHICAGO | Boom rundown - everything over 12 floors. v5

[VivaLFuego]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

^ i don't even think calling the building a POS to begin with is warranted. no, it's not a top 10 building, but it's got an interesting form, the rooftop mechanical penthouse screen looks pretty damn cool, and yes, with the new windows it looks even sharper. it's not that bad of a building folks. let's save the POS comments for the grand plaza monstrocities of our city.

Some people just think any concrete residential highrise from the 60s and 70s (other than Marina City) looks like crap.

I'm with you on this one, I actually rather like the building, though I do wonder what was on the site before. Was it just part of the Central Station complex?

[Nowhereman1280]

^^^ I agree, I think its actually rather interesting. I mean its these buildings with odd shapes and dated styles that add to a skyline in the long run...

[honte]

I'm down with 1130 and I'll one-up you all: I liked the old windows with the thin steel mullions (I believe they were) better too.

[budman]

Does anyone know what they are doing with the old Days Inn at Clark/Wells/Lincoln?

[ChiPsy]

Originally Posted by budman

Does anyone know what they are doing with the old Days Inn at Clark/Wells/Lincoln?

I'm pretty sure it's undergoing a straight-up renovation and will reopen soon under a different name. (At least that's what the signage states.) At one time, I saw a more ambitious redev plan posted on this or another site, but I think that faded away.

I'm personally glad since I often put up visiting family members there and moderately priced hotels in Chicago are getting hard to come by!

[spyguy]

Hyde Park Herald


Also, it mentions that the Windermere West tower is 26 floors, not 25 like on Emporis.

[ChiPsy]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

^ i don't even think calling the building a POS to begin with is warranted. no, it's not a top 10 building, but it's got an interesting form, the rooftop mechanical penthouse screen looks pretty damn cool, and yes, with the new windows it looks even sharper. it's not that bad of a building folks. let's save the POS comments for the grand plaza monstrocities of our city.

I'm with you, Steely. It's ugly, but it's getting better with the new windows -- and if you closed your eyes and imagined a Grand Plaza there you'd be very glad when you opened them

Meanwhile, speaking of Grand Plaza, what's with the perpetual "condos for sale" signage on that POS? I remember somewhere hearing about a city agency you could call to nail violators of sign time-limitations, but I've since forgotten it.

Plus I'm not sure I don't prefer Grand Plaza with for-sale signs obscuring it

[spyguy]

Also worth mentioning is that the tower at 53rd and Cornell has been changed to 17 floors for a while now.

[SamInTheLoop]

Originally Posted by BVictor1

Aristocrat Tower which is now HOM hasn't redesgined the tower.

This is unbelievably lame. I'm sorry - this is a very lame-ass developer (Provence). So all this work to basically just re-do the marketing campaign? They forgot to re-think the one thing that most desparately needed a rethinking - the design! I hope 2100 blows this one out of the water as far as sales success. Maybe Provence could break some sort of a Chicago high-rise development record by failing with the same exact project TWICE!!

[spyguy]

http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/index.php3?ca=302&si=1822787&issue_id=15575

Conlon sets up Irish venture

KILDARE-born real estate entrepreneur and multi-million dollar American success story Sean Conlon has established his first Irish joint venture.

Mr Conlon has teamed up with Dublin based property investment and development company Investor First to form Conlon & Co (Ireland). This new enterprise which will focus exclusively on servicing the growing Irish investor demand for US real estate.

...

Speaking from Chicago, Mr Conlon revealed that a number of projects were in the pipeline offering syndicated investor opportunities from €250,000 upwards. The initial project may be a 30 storey hotel project just three minutes from Sears Tower on arguably one of the most high profile sites in Illinois

--------

Another article mentions that it will have 300 hotel rooms.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by spyguy

Speaking from Chicago, Mr Conlon revealed that a number of projects were in the pipeline offering syndicated investor opportunities from €250,000 upwards. The initial project may be a 30 storey hotel project just three minutes from Sears Tower on arguably one of the most high profile sites in Illinois.

3 minutes? I hope they mean on foot....

I also hope this is planned on the site of the horrible little 2-story garage at Wells and Adams.

Other sites near Sears:
Old Merc site on Franklin
NE corner of Randolph/Franklin
Parking lot at 311 South Wacker
Wacker Plaza proposal site
Countless sites west of river

[VivaLFuego]

Originally Posted by honte

I'm down with 1130 and I'll one-up you all: I liked the old windows with the thin steel mullions (I believe they were) better too.

You're not alone....lots of that vintage building are ripping out the old windows with steel mullions. I've still got 'em, for better (looks) or worse (massive heat/cool loss).

[honte]

^ Indeed. I don't blame anyone for wanting to replace these, given the fact that they essentially have no insulating value.

Hope's thermally-broken steel windows are the answer, but you'd better have some serious cash! I would like to save up for some myself.

[Chicago3rd]

Originally Posted by Lukecuj

Sell the Daley Center building, but retain the Plaza and name. Take the proceeds and convert the Post Office into an office center for City offices and the County courts.

To hell with the orange, brown, purple, green, blue, and red lines that let people off all around the government center.... Why should the government buildings all be in the same area and accessible by almost all the main modes of public transportation?

[SlatsGrobnik]

Originally Posted by ardecila

3 minutes? I hope they mean on foot....

Would it make any difference if they meant driving time?

[Mr Downtown]

Originally Posted by VivaLFuego

I do wonder what was on the [1130 South Michigan] site before. Was it just part of the Central Station complex?

No, Central Station was on the east side of Michigan. I think there were several small buildings, none apparently of much note, occupied by various Motor Row-type users in the 20s and office equipment companies by the 1950s.

I had some friends who lived in 1130 in the late 80s, and the elevator lobbies still had zebra-striped wallpaper. Groovy, huh?

[Loopy]

Here is a shot of South Michigan Ave, looking North about 1919. The buildings on the left are where 1130 stands today.

[Eventually...Chicago]

Originally Posted by ChiPsy

Meanwhile, speaking of Grand Plaza, what's with the perpetual "condos for sale" signage on that POS? I remember somewhere hearing about a city agency you could call to nail violators of sign time-limitations, but I've since forgotten it.

If you call 311 you can report this and any other city violations.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by SlatsGrobnik

Would it make any difference if they meant driving time?

It would make a huge difference. You can't fudge walking times, but you can fudge driving times.

3 minutes of walking is the same everywhere, pretty much. 3 minutes of driving by suburban standards, though, is a much bigger distance than by urban standards. When they say 3 minutes, they could be referring to something up in River North or something, not necessarily in the Loop. Either way, I guess, it IS a 30-story building downtown.

[Dan in Chicago]

Thanks for the tips, Spyguy. I updated the floor counts of Windermere West and Cornell/53rd on Emporis. Also changed Aristocrat Tower to HOM, and deleted the stand-in buildings on the Arquitectonica site.