CHICAGO | Boom rundown - everything over 12 floors. v5

[Tom Servo]

Originally Posted by Mr Downtown

Yet none of you ever post your alternative site plans.

well i know that i'd like to see something a little more representative of THIS decade, and maybe a little less SUBurban...

it's a dream however to expect something along the lines of this from a BRAND NEW development on a river:





*KoolKeatz @ SSC

but as always... we'll be graced by some WORLD-CLASS architecture, this time from antunovich


if we want to keep pretending like we're a world-class city and have this olympic DREAM, well we need to start developing like a world-class city and leave the 1980's suburban dreamscape in oak park! the roosevelt collection, central station, dearborn park, the canal/roosevelt area, and so on... do we really want ANOTHER south loop disaster?
like i said, i'll reserve my opinion of the riverside park or whatever it's called till i see some more concrete drawings, but i can't image seeing anything other than what i expect. and expect to see a whole lot of this, over and over:


*i_am_hydrogen


and so on and so on and...

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by Mr Downtown

Yet none of you ever post your alternative site plans.

You know damn well that I've posted at least one or two alternative site plans (just not on this website).

My solution to the Metra problem is to shift the tracks westward just enough to allow for two underpasses to be fit in at 14th and 15th. Mr. Downtown keeps assuring me that such a thing is legally impossible, but I seriously doubt that it is if proper coordination between Metra, CDOT, and the developer takes place.

[Dan in Chicago]

I talked to Ralph Johnson about his design work on The Clare when Emporis interviewed him a few years ago. If someone else in the office took over, I'm sure it's nothing more than gruntwork on top of an already conceptualized design.

Riverside Park needs a wider public park space along the river. That would hook up nicely with Ping Tom Park, and if there's a bicycle trail it would connect nicely to the Lakefront Trail via the Airline rail viaduct if that's converted to an elevated parkway. A wider park should mean higher density on the developed portion.

Adrian - I like your example images. Shawn - Oak Park doesn't deserve that fake architecture either !

[chicubs111]

Rezko allegations stall Riverside Park
River fronts and minority fronts don’t mix in the South Loop



http://chicagojournal.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=618&TM=60744.03

[honte]

Originally Posted by Dan in Chicago

I talked to Ralph Johnson about his design work on The Clare when Emporis interviewed him a few years ago. If someone else in the office took over, I'm sure it's nothing more than gruntwork on top of an already conceptualized design.

Hmm, thanks Dan. Shawn and I both have heard about this other office, it seems. I also read it in one of the journals. Maybe the massing etc. came from the Chicago office, but the plans and interior features came from elsewhere.

[Marcu]

^ Postmodern design that resembles 1890s architecture is a natural reaction to all that modern minimalist architecture from the 70s that aged horribly. It may not be good for the city long term but it's certainly not irrational. We're now seeing a blend of the two styles in areas like Central Station. Riverside will likely turn out as some sort of blend as well with glassy high-rises and brick street level townhomes. Once people get accustomed to seeing well designed modern residential construction that doesn't look like cost efficient 🞵🞵🞵🞵, we'll likely get a new wave of modern residential design. Until then, some sort of blend that gets people accustomed to modernism again is all we can hope for. Modernism can only blame itself.

[spyguy]

Originally Posted by AdrianXSands

well i know that i'd like to see something a little more representative of THIS decade, and maybe a little less SUBurban...

it's a dream however to expect something along the lines of this from a BRAND NEW development on a river:

HafenCity? I was actually thinking of the same thing for this site, at least for the midrise portions.

[skobabe8]

Originally Posted by emathias

That's pretty far outside the scope of the discussion (Riverside Park, and what it would take to allow it to be high-density in a good way). There is a great Chicago Transit thread on here too, under the Transportation section. :-)

Scope of discussion? Its a Chicago thread. I'm not talking about Riverside Park.

[Steely Dan]

this thread is exclusively for discussion of chicago's many highrise projects.

if you want to talk transit, go to the transit thread.

if you want to talk riverside park and its site plan, go to the general development thread.

all subsequent posts on those topics will be deleted from this thread.

[BVictor1]

Just a reminder for anyone who wants to attend, there will be a meeting tonight on the redevelopment of Lake Meadows.

Date: February 19, 2008
Time: 7:00PM
Location: 600 E. 35th Street (northeast corner of 35th & Cottage Grove
Place: 6th Presbyterian Church

[BVictor1]

Notes on Lake Meadows Redevelopment

-This development could span several decades

-Nothing will be demolished for between 3 - 5 years

-New residential units will be built before any are removed

-It was stated that the building have outlived their life expentency

-Later phases will be highrises

-There will be 4 new parks within the development

-There will be a 15 acre park developed between LSD and the Metra Tracks

-Lake Park Avenue will be reconstructed thru the development

-There will be 4-5 story homes along King Drive to extend the context of the streetscape from the south.

-Several different architects will be used (no specific ones chosen)

-It was mentioned that there would be 4-sale rentals, senior units, market rate units and affordable housing.

-There are about 1,870 rental units currently, and the total number of units would be increased to about 7,850 units

-The parking will be surrounded by retail and residential so that it won't be seen.

-34th Street will be extended into the site

-Redevelopment will begin on the southern end with the retail component and move north. They want to begin mid to late 2009 and possibly be done by 2029. It will be done in phases, and there could be up to 500,000 sq ft of retail space

I will post images soon, and others that attended, please fill in the blanks that I left empty.

[Abner]

Originally Posted by BVictor1

Notes on Lake Meadows Redevelopment
-It was stated that the building have outlived their life expentency

What kind of crummy housing is only expected to last 50 years? Was this how they thought about everything in the 50s?

[honte]

Originally Posted by Abner

What kind of crummy housing is only expected to last 50 years? Was this how they thought about everything in the 50s?

No, quite frankly, that's a line of developer BS. They also stated, direct quote, that there "isn't enough money in the world" to rehab the existing buildings.

One small correction to add to BVictor's good synopsis, the 15-acre park is already in existence east of the IC and west of LSD. It's just inaccessible. A grassy ramp would lead eastward from 33rd to the park.

For the record, I thought the site plan was lame and lacked any coherence or vision. I have already stated that I think this plan of completely uprooting and overturning a stable, established community (that came at quite a cost) is an injustice to the people who live there and Bronzeville neighborhood. I could go on, but since everyone is probably tired of my complaints, I will leave it at that.

[BVictor1]

Images from the Lake Meadows meeting

[BVictor1]

^^Remember that these are just massing structures. Architects for the buildings haven't been chosen yet and the individual structures haven't been designed.

[the urban politician]

^ I've been looking forward to this update, BVictor. Thanks so much for your time and efforts on this one. One thing that caught my attention was this statement by you:

-The parking will be surrounded by retail and residential so that it won't be seen.

^ Can you clarify this? What will become of the current shopping center in the area? Is that the same parking that we see in those renderings above, or are those some sort of new parking lots? Those seem like some rather large swaths of surface parking as seen in those renderings, and I find that concerning.

[the urban politician]

One other thing BVictor said:

Later phases will be highrises

I worry about the NIMBY's on this one. Then again, if this entire project gets approved as a massive PD, that shouldn't be a problem, I guess.

How did the community respond to the project?

[BVictor1]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ I've been looking forward to this update, BVictor. Thanks so much for your time and efforts on this one. One thing that caught my attention was this statement by you:

-The parking will be surrounded by retail and residential so that it won't be seen.

^ Can you clarify this? What will become of the current shopping center in the area? Is that the same parking that we see in those renderings above, or are those some sort of new parking lots? Those seem like some rather large swaths of surface parking as seen in those renderings, and I find that concerning.

The main retail center will be redeveloped in it's current quadrant. Look at section G in the above image. Also, there will be retail along a new street, Burnham Park West I believe it's called.

How did the community respond to the project?

Pissed, but what did you expect?

[killaviews]

^^^ Very nice, I'm all for it. Brings some life and development down there. It could reach IIT campus, and if it spreads there it could spread to the area around SOX field.

[Chicago2020]

Originally Posted by BVictor1

^^Remember that these are just massing structures. Architects for the buildings haven't been chosen yet and the individual structures haven't been designed.

Remember the first rendering for Central Station????

Looked almost exactly like that