CHICAGO | Boom rundown - everything over 12 floors. v5

[denizen467]

Say good bye to tower cranes at Parkview East and 550 St Clair. Hopefully they're on their way to new nearby projects.

[Busy Bee]

*Just crapped pants.

[SevenSevenThree]

^ I was just about to post this. Exciting news. One more piece of the puzzle...

Who mentioned the potential supertall awhile back that would be hard to figure out? I wonder if this could be it.

[DePaul Bunyan]

Originally Posted by SevenSevenThree

^ I was just about to post this. Exciting news. One more piece of the puzzle...

Who mentioned the potential supertall awhile back that would be hard to figure out? I wonder if this could be it.

I think Pandemonious was the one who mentioned a 1,000-footer in an unexpected location. This seems like an awfully small site for 8 skyscrapers to be built on, and it would be nice if they could keep as many of the trees that line the river from the woodchipper as they can. This would be a pretty good spot for the downtown casino that the state and city government are pushing for. It could be on a boat or they could make a hotel-casino.

[Chicago2020]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

*Just crapped pants.

Im glad to see im not the only one

I hope there will be a park next to the river

[honte]

Man, this is fantastic. I doubt the city will give them too much trouble about the upzoning. And hopefully it's too far from NIMBY-land to create much fuss?

One fear (admittedly premature) from the article above is the selling of parcels in the development to outside developers. This would obviously get the deal done more quickly, but I fear a repeat of Lakeshore East: Smith creates a great master plan with a coherent intention (hopefully more modern this time), but instead of a coherent execution, we get a piecemeal project with a variety of firms, some great architecture, and numerous duds.

One more thing: $25 Million sounds pretty minor, considering the number of units and the fact that City Hall just dumped $58.8 Mil into Union Station.

[Chitown]

Originally Posted by SevenSevenThree

^ I was just about to post this. Exciting news. One more piece of the puzzle...

Who mentioned the potential supertall awhile back that would be hard to figure out? I wonder if this could be it.

Hehe, that was my exact thought. I almost brought that up a week ago; I think this must be it.

[bart3]

Originally Posted by Lukecuj

Awesome news. I hope this, the Wacker Drive reconstruction, Post Office redevelopment, and Union Station development can tie this part of DT closer together.

What does the Wacker Drive reconstruction entail at the southern portion?

[bart3]

Originally Posted by Lukecuj

Last I remember there was a more formal terminus at the river by the old post office, with an esplande to it.

Thanks
I remember the rendering of the post office with the esplande on that side of the river. It would be great if they would do away with the on ramps to the highway—those really divide that part of the loop with the south loop.

[SamInTheLoop]

I love the density the developers are going for! This site screams for more density than the other South Loop master developments, given its location very near Wacker Drive and the financial district. I can not wait to see the first renderings. I hope the tallest building is one of the first to be launched.
As Honte mentioned, this seems (by the Daley administration's standards) like a reasonable TIF request amount (and imo use as well)...

[BVictor1]

Originally Posted by SamInTheLoop

Isn't 600 Fairbanks a JV between Brixton and UR2? Perhaps it's really Ruttenburg at Brixton (he's the son of the top Belgravia guy I believe) who has the eye for design - maybe the UR2 people are a little slow on the uptake regarding aesthetics???

So I take it there were no additional renderings revealed at the meeting that show Catalyst in a better light?

It's still piss yellow skyblue painted crap. Its shorther than the original and wider as well.

[BVictor1]

Originally Posted by denizen467

Say good bye to tower cranes at Parkview East and 550 St Clair. Hopefully they're on their way to new nearby projects.

Actually it was just the tower crane for the parking structure. The tower is still rising.

[BVictor1]

Originally Posted by honte

Man, this is fantastic. I doubt the city will give them too much trouble about the upzoning. And hopefully it's too far from NIMBY-land to create much fuss?

One fear (admittedly premature) from the article above is the selling of parcels in the development to outside developers. This would obviously get the deal done more quickly, but I fear a repeat of Lakeshore East: Smith creates a great master plan with a coherent intention (hopefully more modern this time), but instead of a coherent execution, we get a piecemeal project with a variety of firms, some great architecture, and numerous duds.

One more thing: $25 Million sounds pretty minor, considering the number of units and the fact that City Hall just dumped $58.8 Mil into Union Station.

Far from NIMBY-land. It's right across the street. I think prople in Printer Row are goung to bitch like you won't believe, River City, even though that's a part of their never built complex, and they just went condo... Wells Street Tower folk, Vetro, Printer Corner. There need to get moving on it now.

I think only 1 parcel was sold, and that was for 340 On the Park. Originally the parcel directly north of BCBS was sold, but they got it back.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by honte

I fear a repeat of Lakeshore East: Smith creates a great master plan with a coherent intention (hopefully more modern this time), but instead of a coherent execution, we get a piecemeal project with a variety of firms, some great architecture, and numerous duds.

That's how cities get built. The Loop's streets were laid out by the early Chicago government and got filled in piecemeal over 184 years, including some great architecture and numerous duds, and they're STILL not done.

Seriously, I wouldn't want a large site like this all being designed by one firm. It would feel far too formal, rather than the spontaneous urban symphony created by time and seperate ownership.

[HK Chicago]

^ Couldn't agree more

[Pandemonious]

Originally Posted by SevenSevenThree

^ I was just about to post this. Exciting news. One more piece of the puzzle...

Who mentioned the potential supertall awhile back that would be hard to figure out? I wonder if this could be it.

^This is different. MANY pages back I mentioned this project as being different.

The prospect of the Smith-Gill development being this dense and tall at that area is awesome to say the least! I think it would be cool if they have some smaller scale buildings along the river to create a more intimate river walk there, similar to parts of Milwaukee's, especially down near the ale house there. It would give that area of the city a little different feel. That is, if they didn't continue wacker drive down and throw some office towers in the mix... which also would have some great potential?

[honte]

Originally Posted by BVictor1

I think only 1 parcel was sold, and that was for 340 On the Park. Originally the parcel directly north of BCBS was sold, but they got it back.

You're not following my logic. I realize that Magellan has developed all of those buildings, but they have not followed the vision of having something coherent. They have butchered the master plan and introduced a bunch of uninspired buildings, with some exceptions and hopefully more to come.

Ardecila, I realize that one-firm doing things can backfire. But someone with Smith's ability should be able to pull it off. Also, this site isn't so big. I would imagine something similar to the Federal Center as a comparison to illustrate the power of allowing one vision to prevail. It could end up being much more spectacular than just a hodge-podge. And it need not be formal: Smith already mentioned Goldberg as an inspiration for what he's doing at the site, and I think a larger version of Marina City-style planning could be quite excellent.

Obviously, huge parts of Chicago - some successful, many less so - were indeed executed by one firm. If Smith doesn't get to do the whole thing, at least the developers should hold the other executors more firmly to the master plan. The first Dearborn Park, while hated here for its NIMBYism and low density, is a good example of a master-planned community that had several architects but managed to hold together as an ensemble. Rockefeller Center would be another.

[denizen467]

Originally Posted by BVictor1

Actually it was just the tower crane for the parking structure. The tower is still rising.

I didn't say Parkview West; that project is obviously only two-thirds finished, and its tower crane is going nowhere.
I said Parkview East, referring to the eastern half of the site (although the eastern tower is not under construction, the tower crane we're talking about worked on part of its site, as well as, as you mention, the parking garage).

[denizen467]

If Wacker were extended past Harrison (maybe even under it?) and then say merged into Wells somewhere south of Harrison, it would really help tie this new development right into into the business district. Could increase its appeal as a site for a major hotel as well.

[chicubs111]

Originally Posted by Pandemonious

^This is different. MANY pages back I mentioned this project as being different.

The prospect of the Smith-Gill development being this dense and tall at that area is awesome to say the least! I think it would be cool if they have some smaller scale buildings along the river to create a more intimate river walk there, similar to parts of Milwaukee's, especially down near the ale house there. It would give that area of the city a little different feel. That is, if they didn't continue wacker drive down and throw some office towers in the mix... which also would have some great potential?

OK pandemoinous are you telling us that there is still a potential 1000ft building out there that we have not publicly heard about?