CHICAGO | Aqua | 858 FT / 262 M | 87 FLOORS

[SolarWind]

The base is a few black diagonal stripes away from relaunching the Venture retail chain.

[harryc]

[SolarWind]

Originally Posted by wrabbit

2/15

An incredible picture, wrabbit! The detail is amazing. Nice job!

[jjk1103]

.....unless they bump the crane again..I'd say they are close to topping out........

[cityofblindinglights]

the core appears to be topped out in harryc's last picture...

[Ch.G, Ch.G]

Originally Posted by Nowhereman1280

I just walked over to Aqua today and looked at it for a while and I don't know what you guys find wrong with it. I think its very nice and the white panels despite the horrors of not being a perfect plane (those terrible masons and their human inability to create a horizontal and perfectly flat surface, oh the horror!), has a great texture to it.

Good God, man! Let it go! No one (except for you) has even mentioned the shoddy stucco job since discussion of the base began three pages ago.

Originally Posted by Nowhereman1280

Also, I never noticed it before, but the bottom edge of the Columbus face of the base gradually slopes upward towards that large overhang (which really nicely opens up what otherwise would be a very tight space between the base and the fire station next door) on the North side. You may have missed that feature and they are only adding the ceiling under the upsloping overhang just now. I actually am really starting to love this base.

Originally Posted by ardecila

I like the base. There are lots of subtle little things to notice... like how the loggia along the sidewalk of Upper Columbus has a twisting ceiling. It starts flat and curves upward so that it becomes sloped.

[dropdeaded209]

Quick question for anybody who might know: Are they still planning on having a lit "crown" like in the original renderings? I hope so...

[Tom In Chicago]

Originally Posted by jjk1103

.....unless they bump the crane again..I'd say they are close to topping out........

I think it migh already be topped out as they were removing large floor forms last night. . .

. . .

[cbotnyse]

Originally Posted by dropdeaded209

Quick question for anybody who might know: Are they still planning on having a lit "crown" like in the original renderings? I hope so...

good question. Its certainly looks like a major aspect of the building.

[JACKinBeantown]

It's a great building, but why didn't they just fake the balcony on the mechanical floor? It's such an obvious gap. There must be some reason other than just not making the balcony landings because nobody lives on that floor.

[EarlyBuyer]

News update today from Magellan:

"...Roundy's Supermarkets, Inc. has just signed-on as the full service grocer for the Village Market Center. Roundy's Supermarkets, Inc. is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and is one of the Midwest's oldest and largest grocers operating 152 retail grocery stores in Wisconsin and Minnesota. This 56,000 square foot store anchoring the Village Market Center will be Roundy's first in Chicago.

More information on The Village Market including an estimated ground breaking date will be (forthcoming)..."

[Nowhereman1280]

^^^ Read about the history of Chicago architecture and the answer will become quickly apparent. Remember "form follows function" yeah, that applies here as it does in almost all designs that come out of this city.

[10023]

Originally Posted by EarlyBuyer

"...Roundy's Supermarkets, Inc. has just signed-on as the full service grocer for the Village Market Center. Roundy's Supermarkets, Inc. is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and is one of the Midwest's oldest and largest grocers operating 152 retail grocery stores in Wisconsin and Minnesota. This 56,000 square foot store anchoring the Village Market Center will be Roundy's first in Chicago.

This makes no sense... what are they thinking?

[Taft]

Originally Posted by 10023

This makes no sense... what are they thinking?

??? This makes a lot of sense to me: an established grocer looking to get into a new market picks a high-profile location in said market with a (likely) built-in customer base (LSE residents). Or is this because it isn't a high-end grocery like Whole Foods?

Personally, I like this move. If people want to spend more on groceries, there is always the Fox and Obel across the river or the Whole Foods in River North.

[Aqua Plumber]

81 east was poured monday, west will be poured friday.......82 then 83 is the roof.......

[jjk1103]

Originally Posted by SolarWind

The base is a few black diagonal stripes away from relaunching the Venture retail chain.

....lol lol lol lol

[10023]

Originally Posted by Taft

??? This makes a lot of sense to me: an established grocer looking to get into a new market picks a high-profile location in said market with a (likely) built-in customer base (LSE residents). Or is this because it isn't a high-end grocery like Whole Foods?

Grocery retail is a scale business. Maybe Chicago is close enough its Southeast Wisconsin market to ship from distribution centers outside Milwaukee every day, but generally you don't open a single location in a market. You need enough locations to justify the local ad spending and distribution. That's why grocery chains typically expand into new markets by acquiring established local chains (in Chicago, Dominick's was bought by Safeway and Jewel was bought by Albertson's).

Maybe they plan to open a few dozen stores around Chicago in the next couple years, and take on the much larger Safeway and Albertson's, or they think they can profitably run a mid-market grocer without local scale, but it doesn't make as much sense as you'd think given the particulars of grocery retail.

[spyguy]

Originally Posted by EarlyBuyer

Additionally, once the signage is in place (Aqua Condo's, Aqua Rentals, CVS, restaurant, any additional retail unknown at this time, replacement hotel, ballroom entrance, public parking, etc.) it should help break up those vast expanses of stucco.

All good reasons why I'm not making up my mind on the base yet. There's also going to be a small memorial at the north end of the building, so that might soften it up a bit.

Originally Posted by SolarWind

The base is a few black diagonal stripes away from relaunching the Venture retail chain.

Nice. Almost forgot about that store.

[EarlyBuyer]

Originally Posted by Aqua Plumber

81 east was poured monday, west will be poured friday.......82 then 83 is the roof.......

Thanks for the "inside" update AP!

Roundy's concept store in Milwaukee is "Metro Market" and is located in downtown in a neighborhood that has several (demographic) similarities to LSE.

Here's Roundy's description of Metro Market (which opened there in 2004):

"...The Metro Market is designed to focus on fresh food, specialty products and a customized urban shopping experience. The store features state-of-the-art technology to offer customers greater convenience, including "Pay by Touch" finger scan payment and mobile checkouts. In addition, the Metro Market welcomes customers with a cafe serving Door County Coffee and equipped with a fireplace, a plasma-screen television and WI-FI Internet access. Like many stores, the Metro Market offers Party Planning, but expands its service to include a wide selection of specialty and gourmet party platters that cannot be found elsewhere.

The Metro Market has much to offer shoppers seeking new and exciting items. Customers can find 650 varieties of fresh produce, 40 kinds of artisan breads, European pastries, such as fruit tarts and mousse cakes, and a juice bar with freshly squeezed vegetable and fruit juices..."

[EarlyBuyer]

Originally Posted by spyguy

All good reasons why I'm not making up my mind on the base yet. There's also going to be a small memorial at the north end of the building, so that might soften it up a bit.

spyguy, this is likely the memorial that you're referring to: