CHICAGO | Boom rundown - everything over 12 floors. v5

[Chicago Shawn]

Mondial 07-20-2008



CMU podium:




























Future Lobby:


Well, if your going to use a cheap facade material, at least try to make it interesting:




Ugly building, but still I am happy to see a comeback of brutalism in this design. I like the raw concrete finish and the boost in density.

[Abner]

Originally Posted by harryc

(a bunch of scary pictures of the Harlem/Ontario project)

Can that thing win some kind of award for worst job all-around? Not only is the design as nonexistent as you could possibly ask for, the construction appears to be abysmal as well. I have no idea what Oak Park did to deserve something that horrible. I would rather sit on the old parking lot for another decade if it meant eventually getting something less disastrous than that thing.

[Chicago Shawn]

From Chicago and Halsted...


From North Avenue Bridge....








Taking down the crane:


trailers awaiting sections of the crane:

[harryc]

July 22


Thank you Chicago Shawn for the great sets, I was wondering what the Mondial was - I can see it from the Green Line going down Lake street.

[the urban politician]

625 apartments planned for West Side
By Alby Gallun, July 23, 2008

(Crain’s) — South Loop condominium developer Keith Giles plans two large apartment developments totaling about 625 units on Chicago’s West Side.

Kargil Development LLC, a firm run by Mr. Giles and partner Jerry Karlik, plans to break ground early next year on the smaller project, a 12-story, 225-unit building on the northeast corner of 15th Street and Blue Island Avenue, according to a person familiar with Kargil’s plans.

[neverdone]

Originally Posted by harryc

July 19
Exterior

Are there any parts of this building that are not precast?

[trvlr70]

^^^^^^
An abomination.

It has a scary, post-apocolyptic feel to it in this image.

[Chicago Shawn]

^Thanks for the comments Harry.

Originally Posted by the urban politician

625 apartments planned for West Side
By Alby Gallun, July 23, 2008

(Crain’s) — South Loop condominium developer Keith Giles plans two large apartment developments totaling about 625 units on Chicago’s West Side.

Kargil Development LLC, a firm run by Mr. Giles and partner Jerry Karlik, plans to break ground early next year on the smaller project, a 12-story, 225-unit building on the northeast corner of 15th Street and Blue Island Avenue, according to a person familiar with Kargil’s plans.

Awesome! Nice boost in density where none currently exists; and right now that site is 1950's era warehouse and truckyard. This was planned as a 11 story condo building with a free-standing TCF bank (yes, with a drivethrough; but hey pretty good trade off). Should be a go with the change in programing. I added it to emporis, bu>336850 for anyone keeping the list updated. What is really encouraging to read is that the second phase will contain roughly 400 apartments. That could be a really sizeable building on this site; so expect NIMBYs to bitch. They moaned about the height of the origianl 11 story proposal. However, this is in Danny Solis's ward (25), where as University Station which contained the NIMBYs is in Fiorretti's ward (2), so they won't put political pressure on him, and Solis has in the past been in favor of higher desnity.

Whats also cool is that Testa produce who owns the property is moving to the stockyards industrial park, is doubeling thier size and will build a LEED Platinum building complete with solar panels and wind turbines.

[honte]

^ Yeah, that's good stuff there.

Originally Posted by neverdone

Are there any parts of this building that are not precast?

The windows...

Otherwise, I believe not.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by Chicago Shawn

Should be a go with the change in programing. I added it to emporis, bu>336850 for anyone keeping the list updated. What is really encouraging to read is that the second phase will contain roughly 400 apartments. That could be a really sizeable building on this site; so expect NIMBYs to bitch. They moaned about the height of the origianl 11 story proposal. However, this is in Danny Solis's ward (25), where as University Station which contained the NIMBYs is in Fiorretti's ward (2), so they won't put political pressure on him, and Solis has in the past been in favor of higher desnity.

^ Isn't Giles the developer of X/O Condominiums? If so, I'm kind of wondering whether he purposely sought a site outside of Fioretti's ward to build a project of this density, considering the history of their relationship..

[Mr Downtown]

Kargil is the X|O Developer, yes, but I think you're placing way too much importance on the Second Ward stuff. Developers look for profitable opportunites, no matter where they're located.

[ardecila]

^^ Fioretti's tenure as 2nd Ward Alderman makes the approval of tall projects unlikely in many 2nd Ward locations, and therefore greatly increases the risk of such projects.

X/O was already approved when Fioretti took office, so Kargil decided to simply fight him when he opposed it. But he does have the power to stop new developments, and the prospect for many remaining 2nd Ward proposals looks bleak, between the economy and Fioretti.

Speaking of X/O, the Yo reports that it is "almost half" sold. Back in February, they gave a 40% figure, so sales must have really crawled since then. They're still projecting a 2010 occupancy, though.

[Mr Downtown]

I don't know why you say that. Every tall building proposed in his ward has been quickly approved. AvalonBay got two 43 story towers across the street from Dearborn Park. GP3 and 4 sailed right through. What (other than the X|O weirdness) has Fioretti ever said or done that signals any reluctance to approve tall buildings?

[VivaLFuego]

Originally Posted by Mr Downtown

I don't know why you say that. Every tall building proposed in his ward has been quickly approved. AvalonBay got two 43 story towers across the street from Dearborn Park. GP3 and 4 sailed right through. What (other than the X|O weirdness) has Fioretti ever said or done that signals any reluctance to approve tall buildings?

These were already approved, he simply approved amendments that increased height but disallowed any additional unit density. Unit density will -generally- impact the developer's bottom line a bit more (with a nod to the price premium that high floor units can command, obviously), and the density is what is remarkable about these west side proposals moreso than the height.

[Breezyfingers]

Clare and Elysian


353 N. Clark w/the poor Museum of Broadcast Communications


The Wit

[Abner]

Well, the Harlem/Ontario building in Oak Park is a disaster. In other Oak Park news, AvalonBay is the only developer left standing in the competition for the mega-project downtown. Mid-America dropped out due to the economy. AvalonBay's renderings got panned so they submitted another brilliant idea:


That's looking from the southwest to the northeast, from roughly where the Harlem Green Line platform is. And that parking lot is an already-existing one that was never on the table as part of the development (but definitely should have been). As it stands, 196 apartments, 496 parking spaces, and between 12 and 14 stories.

The story is here:
http://www.wjinc.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=11875&TM=64821.22

[Haworthia]

Originally Posted by Abner

Well, the Harlem/Ontario building in Oak Park is a disaster. In other Oak Park news, AvalonBay is the only developer left standing in the competition for the mega-project downtown. Mid-America dropped out due to the economy. AvalonBay's renderings got panned so they submitted another brilliant idea:


That's looking from the southwest to the northeast, from roughly where the Harlem Green Line platform is. And that parking lot is an already-existing one that was never on the table as part of the development (but definitely should have been). As it stands, 196 apartments, 496 parking spaces, and between 12 and 14 stories.

The story is here:
http://www.wjinc.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=11875&TM=64821.22

They really should hire an architect.

[the urban politician]

In an article in today's Sun Times in which Eric Sedler & his compadres compare the West Loop with SoHo ( ), they incidentally mention that ground is being broken on the Sundance Cinemas project.

Just thought I'd mention that

[BVictor1]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

In an article in today's Sun Times in which Eric Sedler & his compadres compare the West Loop with SoHo ( ), they incidentally mention that ground is being broken on the Sundance Cinemas project.

Just thought I'd mention that

Can you link that?

comment time

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by Mr Downtown

What (other than the X|O weirdness) has Fioretti ever said or done that signals any reluctance to approve tall buildings?

^ To me, the jury is still out on Fioretti. Even though he was a total pudwacker (wow, I haven't used that one since high school..) when it came to X/O, I'm looking to see how he responds to the Greektown Museum hotel tower, esp since it has faced some NIMBY opposition from the Sedler stupidity machine. His position on this development should give us all an idea what to expect from him regarding highrise development in his ward over the years..