CHICAGO | Boom rundown - everything over 12 floors. v5

[honte]

^ What a tragedy. What a wonderful man....

His legacy graces many Chicagoans and others across the world.

[Loopy]

Yes, truly.

Hopefully he will get the job of re-working the Gates of Heaven into orthoganal towers of Flemish bond hard-fired brick.

[Mr Downtown]

What if he applies his Field Theory and turns heaven into one big BSB? None of the cherubim will ever be able to find their way back from the restrooms . . .

[Eventually...Chicago]

Originally Posted by SamInTheLoop

However, the above is contradicted by reality (again, it all depends on the exact terms of financing, and perhaps some developers quite frankly aren't in a hurry to have many dozens of unsold units in their building just sit finished at this juncture (hopefully we're at or near the trough of this cycle) - maybe they do have some time before loan maturity??

A developer would much rather have dozens of unsold units than dozens of half-built units. A built unit is a liquid asset. You can't sell a unit that doesn't exist. You can only sell letters of intent and request deposits be held in escrow.

Construction loans require you to make interest payments on what you've withdrawn at a usually high rate. Construction loans are fairly high risk ventures (threat of liens, changing material costs, the uncertainty that comes with construction). It seems much more logical to finish the building as quickly as possible, put your permanent financing in place and just wait for the market to improve.

[Chicago Shawn]

Originally Posted by Mr Downtown

What if he applies his Field Theory and turns heaven into one big BSB? None of the cherubim will ever be able to find their way back from the restrooms . . .

I never had any trouble finding my way around that building. IMO BSB's design was a brilliant way to organize all the ciaos stuffed into it.


155 N. Wacker, 06-12-2008












215 W Washington, 06-12-2008

[Tom Servo]

Originally Posted by Mr Downtown

What if he applies his Field Theory and turns heaven into one big BSB? None of the cherubim will ever be able to find their way back from the restrooms . . .

hahaha

[TheBigHurt]

I'm not sure if this is the appropriate thread, but there are some nice shots of Chicago in Kanye West's recent Homecoming video:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=-hotjeKvovg

You can see a much shorter Trump Tower, lots of shots from Millenium Park, the Sears Tower, Soldier Field, and a few other landmarks.

[TheBigHurt]

Originally Posted by Norsider

We're only in the midst of an unprecedented crisis in housing and the credit markets. Yeah, I guess you could say the condo market is a bit tough these days.

Thanks for your patronizing response

[i_am_hydrogen]

Garrett Popcorn location closes after 25 years
Monday, June 16, 2008 | 9:00 AM

A favorite stop for many Chicagoans and visitors to the Magnificent Mile has sold its last tin of popcorn.

The Garrett Popcorn Shop at 670 North Michigan closed over the weekend after 25 years at that location.

The building will be torn down to make way for a new high rise condo complex.

The company is trying to find a new location near Michigan Avenue, but in the mean time, there are four other locations in the city of Chicago.

(Copyright ©2008 WLS-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=6207474

[Abner]

There are new renderings from the two developers competing for the Colt Superblock site in Downtown Oak Park. Both developers submitted two alternatives. One of Mid-America's looks like this:


That's looking south from Lake Street between Harlem and Marion, with the tower up against the Green Line. There is a slideshow with all the alternatives here, and the article is here. (Only some of the proposals have buildings greater than 12 stories.) AvalonBay's proposals are lifestyle center schlock, and Mid-America's are just weird--though their other alternative might actually be all right.

[Haworthia]

I absolutely hate Mid-America's proposal. Looking at the renderings, I don't think the area will have a pedestrian friendly feel. It doesn't fit the area either. I can't seem to find the images to grab, but for Mid-America's proposal there would be a curvy wall facing lake street. This would kill the downtown feel. I don't trust the developer either.

[Abner]

Originally Posted by Haworthia

I absolutely hate Mid-America's proposal. Looking at the renderings, I don't think the area will have a pedestrian friendly feel. It doesn't fit the area either. I can't seem to find the images to grab, but for Mid-America's proposal there would be a curvy wall facing lake street. This would kill the downtown feel. I don't trust the developer either.

I'm with you on that. The Lake frontage looks like trash in both their proposals. Mid-America is apparently based in Oak Brook, and it shows. These developers are both in major "suburb mode" on this project. I'm not sure which I dislike more, Avalon Bay's suburban flim-flam or Mid-America's hoky attempt at edginess.

[honte]

Heaven forbid, a curvy wall! The destroyer of cities around the world!!! People just don't know what to do when they encounter those... stop dead in their tracks or head for home.

It's the Avalon proposals that suck royally. While I don't think the Mid-America stuff is top-notch, I personally think they should be applauded for not doing some retro trash that will only cheapen Oak Park further.

Concerning the Mid-America proposal, I think there is a lot of potential in what I see - both for something different (uh oh, different) and also for interesting spaces that Oak Park lacks in its commercial zone. It actually feels highly urban, nothing like Oak Brook, in my opinion (unless "urban" means "repetitive street wall with no distinguishing features"). Further, they grow the interest in a direction beyond Lake Street, helping to solidify a trend that already exists but is currently weak.

[VivaLFuego]

The Avalon Bay proposal looks like the sort of faux-olde-tyme design-by-committee lifestyle-center maine-streete-retail-concept crapola that I'd expect out of a years-long RFP process being guided by "concerned neighbors," and probably an unfortunate harbinger of what we can expect for the Harper Court redevelopment. Mid-America has the potential to be pretty interesting and engaging, but the execution could be oppressive and sucky, much like, say, Harlem-Ontario. There's nothing inherently wrong with the curvy wall if there are adequate activity generators to fill the sidewalks.

I suppose either are a major improvement over an empty lot.

[Abner]

Honte, it's not the curviness, although that strikes me as being tacked-on. I think the weird little mini-plaza it creates on Lake Street would be dead space, seeing as how it's not big enough for any real use and it abuts the embarrassingly ugly "Shops of Oak Park" development and a parking lot. That knocks out what looks like about three storefronts compared to what's currently on the site and replaces it with that peculiar egg-shaped building. Also, it looks like those buildings are designed to be occupied by one large retailer, and I'd prefer a more flexible design. Their other proposal looks potentially more promising and avoids the silly "nobody will notice the height if we put it up against the train tracks" idea.

The whole process is basically poisoned, though. I don't know what use the new "Station Street" plowed through the block is going to be except to make it even more difficult to drive on Lake Street, and if they really wanted to make downtown something special, they should have included the Shops immediately to the west in the redevelopment. That would have allowed a public space to replace the Marion mall. And the Village is still being expected to kick in millions of dollars for this, remember.

Viva, only the rear part of the Colt site is a parking lot--the rest is one dilapidated building and one innocent victim, a nice quaint thing on Westgate.

[honte]

^ I agree about the placement of the tower. Also agree about the sad "Shops" development.

The curvy wall reminds me of the old zig-zag walls you'd often find in 1950s streetwall developments. Those were eminently comfortable for several small shops and many still function very nicely. Rhythm on the sidewalk isn't such a bad thing at all.

Not with you on the egg building: I think the potential is there for something different and interesting, and I think Oak Park could embrace it. The space isn't huge, but intimate spaces are one of the ingredients that make cities nice. It's refreshing to see something that's not just a lot-filling box, even if some of its moves appear contrived. I think downtown Chicago could use more unique spaces like this (Yoo-hoo, Block 37?).

[APPRAISER]

Originally Posted by i_am_hydrogen

Garrett Popcorn location closes after 25 years
Monday, June 16, 2008 | 9:00 AM

A favorite stop for many Chicagoans and visitors to the Magnificent Mile has sold its last tin of popcorn.

The Garrett Popcorn Shop at 670 North Michigan closed over the weekend after 25 years at that location.

The building will be torn down to make way for a new high rise condo complex.

The company is trying to find a new location near Michigan Avenue, but in the mean time, there are four other locations in the city of Chicago.

(Copyright ©2008 WLS-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=6207474

Is that were the Ritz is going?

Thanks

[the urban politician]

..

[harryc]

I have learned more about the Lake st stuff tonight than in the last 12 years ( as resident of OP ).

[harryc]

Friday the 13th a good day to install glass.
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