CHICAGO | Boom rundown - everything over 12 floors. v5 - Page 386

VivaLFuego · #**7701** Posted **Jun 25, 2008, 4:17 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by harryc

I really like this shot. It's so.... urban.

10023 · #**7702** Posted **Jun 25, 2008, 4:21 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by harryc

From Lake/Ashland

Just a random somewhat OT comment - how much faster could these trains go if they were capable of laying track in a straight line? This is why the U.S. can't build high speed rail...

To pull it back on topic - looks like another skyline "peak" from the west. Colors in those photos look interesting, did you do any editing?

harryc · #**7703** Posted **Jun 25, 2008, 4:54 PM**

The Zig Zag
1

2

3

and now for something completely plain
4

harryc · #**7704** Posted **Jun 25, 2008, 5:01 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by 10023

Just a random somewhat OT comment - how much faster could these trains go if they were capable of laying track in a straight line? This is why the U.S. can't build high speed rail...

To pull it back on topic - looks like another skyline "peak" from the west. Colors in those photos look interesting, did you do any editing?

Yes I tweak the color saturation and "temperature" using Picassa, This photo as well as the others with the PHOTOMATIX watermark are HDR sets using ... Photomatix, this allows for even more tweaking, I am still learning on this one.

trvlr70 · #**7705** Posted **Jun 25, 2008, 5:17 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by spyguy

http://sev.prnewswire.com/real-estate/20080624/NYTU04024062008-1.html

Chicago High Rise Moves Ahead With $8.36 Million Kennedy Funding Loan

A spectacular high rise residential condominium -- Catalyst -- will be taking shape in Chicago's West Loop, thanks to an $8.36 million loan from Kennedy Funding, Inc. The Hackensack-based company recently closed that deal with Catalyst 123, LLC's Gary A. Rosenberg, a well-known Chicago developer who founded Urban R2, the site purchaser.

... Urban R2 already has sold a third of the condominiums, which start in the low $200s and go to over $1 million for penthouses. Walgreen's already has committed to lease a street-level space and other retailers have spoken for almost all of the remaining retail space on a pre-lease basis.

I find the comparison of the West Loop to SoHo to be laughable.

VivaLFuego · #**7706** Posted **Jun 25, 2008, 7:58 PM**

Crain's reporting a few changes at 2520 Lakeview:

Reduction in the number of units from 325 to 250. Both the number of condos and townhomes will be reduced. The total square footage will actually increase somewhat, so it means bigger units. 639-space parking garage, though at these price points 2.5 cars per household seems plausible; gotta have that backup Bimmer.

Also, Invsco was dumped in favor of Rubloff. Given Invsco's shenanigans screwing up the Chicago highrise market (condo and rental) the past 10 years, I'm fine with anything that befalls them.

10023 · #**7707** Posted **Jun 25, 2008, 9:53 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by trvlr70

I find the comparison of the West Loop to SoHo to be laughable.

Agreed, although SoHo is pretty close to jumping the shark in some ways. The retail is nice but less and less unique (Apple store, Bloomingdales, every luxury chain, etc), there's lots of good places to eat but not many that have made a huge splash recently, and the galleries are starting to get priced out. You can't buy an apartment for less than like $5 million either. There's a newish club called Upstairs that I really like, but before 1am it's like Thompson Hotel (and Kittichai), SoHo Grand (practically TriBeCa) or Mercer Kitchen.

If the West Loop can develop into a Chicago version of TriBeCa, you folks would be in business. That's the restaurant scene d'jour, and is certainly trendy and urban. Doesn't have that nice cast iron architecture but neither does the West Loop.

Dr. Taco · #**7708** Posted **Jun 25, 2008, 10:08 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by 10023

Just a random somewhat OT comment - how much faster could these trains go if they were capable of laying track in a straight line? This is why the U.S. can't build high speed rail...

To pull it back on topic - looks like another skyline "peak" from the west. Colors in those photos look interesting, did you do any editing?

agreed with the tracks, even though we might be looking down a couple miles of track there

HarryC, awesome shots there. Very clear day, eh

also, nice catch with the Wit zigzag. such a strange building. I cant help but think it might look pretty cool from that angle when its done

spyguy · #**7709** Posted **Jun 25, 2008, 10:26 PM**

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chicago-tribune-tower-zell-jun25,0,3211701.story

Tribune Tower could be put up for sale
By Phil Rosenthal
12:13 PM CDT, June 25, 2008

Tribune Co. Chairman Sam Zell told staff today the company is in discussions with "a number of real estate firms" to determine how to generate the most value from the neo-Gothic Michigan Avenue home of the flagship Chicago Tribune, an iconic bookend of the city's Magnificent Mile.

...The building has 940,000 square feet of usable space and an adjacent parcel of land, approximately one acre in size, currently being used as a surface parking lot.

spyguy · #**7710** Posted **Jun 25, 2008, 10:42 PM**

http://www.chicagorealestatedaily.com/cgi-bin/page.pl?id=2166

Chicago: Cedar Hotel Redevelopment, 1118 N. State St., 200-room boutique hotel, September 2008, $20 million.

Hyde Park: Marriott Hotel and Fairfield Inn, 5800 S. Stony Island Ave., 380-room hotel complex, April 2009, $18 million.

VivaLFuego · #**7711** Posted **Jun 25, 2008, 11:11 PM**

^
1. Is there confirmation that the Cedar Hotel redevelopment will save the facade and front plaza/dining space of the old building? The building is a total pit but the terra cotta on the facade is pretty great.

2. So U of C is plowing ahead with the hotels... that makes me so happy, even if they are architecturally poor that area needs a) more density, b) hotels, and above all c) NIMBY smackdown.

Dr. Hospital is not a particularly useful structure in my opinion, especially in light of the disastrous and unsalvageable interior. It would be cool if the main driveway/entryway could be reused as an entrance for a highrise in back, but then the Harper Ave. NIMBYs would go even more insane.

SkokieSwift · #**7712** Posted **Jun 26, 2008, 12:45 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chicago Shawn

Damn, I was hopping the market would kill this one. This project took one big step backwords with the redesign. Especially with this being the same developer that gave us 600 North Fairbanks.

Skoketown swift, hilarious captions on those photos!

Thanks for the compliment...

Nowhereman1280 · #**7713** Posted **Jun 26, 2008, 2:07 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by emathias

What renovations are you thinking the Sears Tower needs, exactly? It has 13 feet, floor-to-floor, a few spaces that have never even been built out, A/C out the wazoo, some of the best electrical, telecommunications and network wiring in the U.S., beautiful lobbies, beautiful modern elevators.

What, exactly, do you think needs to be modernized there since the 1990s renovations?

Couldn't be more inaccurate. Yes, it does need to be modernized since 93 when they last renovated. 93 was only 20 years after Sears was finished and they hadn't gone through the information revolution yet. 2008 is 15 years after 93 and we have gone through much more significant technology changes than in the period 73-93. Sears is nowhere near Class A office space and that is why everyone is moving out. Maybe 5 years ago people were leaving due to terrorism, but I think most firms have gotten over that irrational behavior by now, most are going elsewhere where they can pay a little bit more and get a much nicer space.

Also, if I am so wrong about it needing a rennovation, then why did the new owners announce plans to do major renovations on the Sears just a few months ago?

http://www.jetsongreen.com/2007/11/iconic-sears-to.html

i_am_hydrogen · #**7714** Posted **Jun 26, 2008, 2:21 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nowhereman1280

Sears is nowhere near Class A office space and that is why everyone is moving out.

I have to agree. When I visited Sonnenschein last year, I found the floor plans confusing and out-dated. Getting to the library involved a circumlocutionary journey through random hallways and incoherently laid out offices.

JMO_0121 · #**7715** Posted **Jun 26, 2008, 2:21 AM**

What exactly has to be done to Big Sears to make it go Green?

SkokieSwift · #**7716** Posted **Jun 26, 2008, 6:22 AM**

SkokieSwift · #**7717** Posted **Jun 26, 2008, 6:24 AM**

honte · #**7718** Posted **Jun 26, 2008, 1:18 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by JMO_0121

What exactly has to be done to Big Sears to make it go Green?

Green roof and possibly wind turbines. I hope I am forgetting something, because that sounds like very little considering the size and shape of the building.

BVictor1 · #**7719** Posted **Jun 26, 2008, 1:44 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by honte

Green roof and possibly wind turbines. I hope I am forgetting something, because that sounds like very little considering the size and shape of the building.

Don't see a green roof up tere with all the window washing equipment and anteannas

honte · #**7720** Posted **Jun 26, 2008, 2:00 PM**

^ Yeah, it sounded crazy to me too, but that's what was claimed. Perhaps they mean at the setbacks?