CHICAGO | Boom rundown - everything over 12 floors. v5

[BVictor1]

Nevermind

[SolarWind]

July 3, 2008

[SolarWind]

July 3, 2008

[honte]

Originally Posted by AdrianXSands

come on guys... yeah it looks like it'll be pretty bad, but there are SO many worse things than this awful rehab. how about the AMLI tower in the south loop? or for a more skyline effecting tower, the heritage? and who knows, it might turn out not that bad, goettsch does great work.

Sorry, I think this is totally wrong. Nothing is as bad as this, because - quite literally - it looks half-assed.

The AMLI tower in the South Loop actually turned out quite nicely for a painted concrete building, in my opinion. I was surprised. It has some interest and doesn't look like a blob from afar. The colors are fine and varied, and there is a legitimate attempt to explore the complex possibilities when mixing concrete and glass. All I ask for in an exposed concrete building (at minimum) is that the designer understand and acknowledge that he is working with concrete.

Concerning the part on top of "Park Monroe" that looks like a hand planer, I am pretty sure that has been eliminated from the scheme. Now it's 99.99% junk instead of 100%.

I am also fairly certain that the conversion includes a floor or two of "loft units" near the bottom of Park Monroe as well - at least it did around the time the garage was being rehabbed. So, it looks pretty fair to say that the owners do not see any value in the East Loop as an office location and eventually want to remake the whole building in this manner.

[spyguy]

Originally Posted by SolarWind

July 3, 2008

Ugh. More depressing photos, SolarWind

[pyropius]

They should reclad the bottom third of Park Monroe in the Chicago Style, so the facade will read as a fossil record of architecture in Chicago.

[ardecila]

Ah, yes. Not a unique idea - Cesar Pelli did this at the WFC in New York, and I'm sure there are others like it, but I don't think there are any in Chicago. It's an extremely Postmodern idea.

Not that that makes it bad, of course... except that it's sort of dismissive and irrespectful of all the styles involved.

As far as Park Monroe goes - it's not very attractive, I'll give it that, but I've seen no close-up pictures of the new facade. Mies described his architecture with the phrase "God is in the details", and since this recladding is taking place on an International-style building, that phrase applies more than ever.

On a more troubling note, I read an article recently about how recladdings are becoming more and more common in NY as the green movement and market forces conspire to make building owners consider recladdings over outright demolition in undesirable buildings. I think this will be a growing phenomenon in the future - it's already exploding in America's biggest skyscraper city, so why shouldn't it also take place in the second-biggest?

[honte]

^ Otis Elevator building.

[SolarWind]

July 2, 2008

[i_am_hydrogen]

Excellent shots of the hospital site, SW.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by honte

^ Otis Elevator building.

Ah, true - I guess I considered that a facadectomy on par with Heritage or Legacy, since the 4 Classical floors actuallt are vintage instead of being a modern replication.

[the urban politician]

See Wong news:

60% of 1349 S Wabash is sold
80% of Canal Crossings units are sold, and it's u/c
60% of hotel condo units at the Grand Imperial Hotel are sold

All according to this article

[harryc]

July 3rd

[Crazy Ivan]

I'm confused. Is this UC? Page 1 shows it as proposed.

Originally Posted by SolarWind

July 3, 2008

[harryc]

Originally Posted by Crazy Ivan

I'm confused. Is this UC? Page 1 shows it as proposed.

De-construction of the old building.

[MrLakepoint]

From the Goettsch Partners website..........

Looks like they are proposing a tower next to the NBC tower on the river. I wonder if this has been posted before. I have gone back about 15 pages and I havent seen it yet.

http://www.gpchicago.com/users/folder.asp?FolderID=798&SubCat=a%2Dg

[Chicago Shawn]

Originally Posted by ardecila

On a more troubling note, I read an article recently about how recladdings are becoming more and more common in NY as the green movement and market forces conspire to make building owners consider recladdings over outright demolition in undesirable buildings. I think this will be a growing phenomenon in the future - it's already exploding in America's biggest skyscraper city, so why shouldn't it also take place in the second-biggest?

There was also a narrow art-deco building on Adams, across from Sears that was also just reclad, and raped in the process.


TUP, thanks for that article link. It notes that both 1349 S. Wabash and the Grand Imperial Hotel have financing in place, looks like those will be a go. Hopefully, this gives See Y. Wong enough capital to get rolling on that Archer Avenue high-rise near the Dan Ryan. He seems to be tapping into the Asian market moreso than any other big-time developer. Asian Americans culturally
tend to save money and have fewer outstanding debts, and thus are less effected by the credit crunch. And of course, there are the foreign connections with China which has an exploding population of middle and wealthy class folks with money to burn.

[Kngkyle]

Originally Posted by MrLakepoint

From the Goettsch Partners website..........

Looks like they are proposing a tower next to the NBC tower on the river. I wonder if this has been posted before. I have gone back about 15 pages and I havent seen it yet.

http://www.gpchicago.com/users/folder.asp?FolderID=798&SubCat=a%2Dg

That's an old proposal. Notice the date, 2001.

[Chicago Shawn]

Originally Posted by MrLakepoint

From the Goettsch Partners website..........

Looks like they are proposing a tower next to the NBC tower on the river. I wonder if this has been posted before. I have gone back about 15 pages and I havent seen it yet.

http://www.gpchicago.com/users/folder.asp?FolderID=798&SubCat=a%2Dg

That tower is old news, and is in the never built pile. I don't belive it was ever a formal proposal.

[harryc]

As seen from Congress