CHICAGO | 108 North State (Block 37) - Page 145

george · #**2881** Posted **Oct 5, 2009, 3:27 PM**

^Thanks, harry. Glad to contribute to the threads.^

Rizzo · #**2882** Posted **Oct 5, 2009, 5:50 PM**

Nice to see spaces finally getting built out. I haven't been by there enough so I appreciate these photo updates.

Tom Servo · #**2883** Posted **Oct 5, 2009, 11:29 PM**

FINALLY!!!!!!!!!

the sidewalk is open!!!!!

did this happen a while ago? i don't normally walk down that part of state, but coming back from lunch on friday i used the sidewalk for the first time since what??? 2004?

spyguy · #**2884** Posted **Oct 6, 2009, 11:51 PM**

http://interactive.chicagobusiness.com/closer/constructionpipeline/private/

2009/10/05 Sephora 5,000-square-foot retail fit-out, $350,000 108 N State St, Chicago, IL 60602-1610, US Cook

Not sure why Freed hasn't mentioned any of these deals. It's been over half a year since they issued a press release with any new tenants.

the urban politician · #**2885** Posted **Oct 7, 2009, 1:29 AM**

^ So much for a unique retail scene at Block 37.

But oh well, whatever

ardecila · #**2886** Posted **Oct 7, 2009, 4:32 AM**

The retail scene is fairly unique. It contains quite a few stores that don't exist in the Chicago area yet (although they might be mall mainstays elsewhere). It also contains quite a few stores that have yet to open city locations, forcing city residents to travel to suburban shopping areas for those goods.

Block 37 might be uncomfortably close to a suburban mall for your tastes, but it only broadens the spectrum of retail available to infrequent or non-driving city residents and makes that lifestyle more feasible and attractive. Unlike Manhattan, Chicago can't base its urban growth on super-wealthy residents, for whom boutique shopping is the only option...

the urban politician · #**2887** Posted **Oct 7, 2009, 3:05 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardecila

The retail scene is fairly unique. It contains quite a few stores that don't exist in the Chicago area yet (although they might be mall mainstays elsewhere). It also contains quite a few stores that have yet to open city locations, forcing city residents to travel to suburban shopping areas for those goods.

Block 37 might be uncomfortably close to a suburban mall for your tastes, but it only broadens the spectrum of retail available to infrequent or non-driving city residents and makes that lifestyle more feasible and attractive. Unlike Manhattan, Chicago can't base its urban growth on super-wealthy residents, for whom boutique shopping is the only option...

^ I couldn't agree more on that point. That's why I'm so in favor of the development going on at Block 37 as well as elsewhere near transit, such as North/Clybourn (ie New City, Apple store) and the supposed Target at Wilson Yard. But I guess the expectation that Block 37 will be a "unique shopping experience" is falling by the wayside. People from out of town probably won't be going out of their way to visit it, it's more likely going to be a retail center for locals.

killaviews · #**2888** Posted **Oct 7, 2009, 3:47 PM**

Unique is a tall order. Independent retailers probably can't afford the rents on State St. Boutiques that have yet to open in Chicago will prefer Michigan Ave and Oak St. So the only hope is national and international chains, and most of those already have a presence in Chicago. If Block 37 could snag some international retailers that are new to America that would Amazing. Retailers like Uniqlo, Topshop, and Muji, but those stores seem to be just testing the U.S. market, and it will probably be a while before they expand outside of NYC.

VivaLFuego · #**2889** Posted **Oct 7, 2009, 6:41 PM**

Maybe if we're lucky they've held some retail spots vacant until they can showcase a nearly-completed vibrant project to entice those retailers of which you speak.

Given the curse of this site, we will all be blessed when it is open and functioning. Or at least it'll be nice to reconnect the pedway system.

ardecila · #**2890** Posted **Oct 8, 2009, 3:46 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by the urban politician

It's more likely going to be a retail center for locals.

I never expected tourists to go. State Street is Michigan Avenue for locals. It's got excellent L access so we can all get to it (one line underneath and parallel lines on either side), and it has stores that we can afford to shop at, for the most part. It has hotels, but not an overwhelming number of them like the Mag Mile.

Tourists will go to State Street for theater and that's about it. Then it's off to Millennium Park, Navy Pier, or the Mag Mile. With Marshall Field's no longer providing a unique Chicago experience on State Street, the stores simply don't appeal to tourists the way they do north of the river - which is fine by me. Chicago is big enough and centralized enough that we can support an entire downtown shopping district without relying on tourism to drive sales there, unlike in many other cities where downtown retail is exclusively tourist-oriented (New Orleans).

george · #**2891** Posted **Oct 8, 2009, 3:47 AM**

10-1

Haworthia · #**2892** Posted **Oct 8, 2009, 5:42 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardecila

I never expected tourists to go. State Street is Michigan Avenue for locals. It's got excellent L access so we can all get to it (one line underneath and parallel lines on either side), and it has stores that we can afford to shop at, for the most part. It has hotels, but not an overwhelming number of them like the Mag Mile.

Tourists will go to State Street for theater and that's about it. Then it's off to Millennium Park, Navy Pier, or the Mag Mile. With Marshall Field's no longer providing a unique Chicago experience on State Street, the stores simply don't appeal to tourists the way they do north of the river - which is fine by me. Chicago is big enough and centralized enough that we can support an entire downtown shopping district without relying on tourism to drive sales there, unlike in many other cities where downtown retail is exclusively tourist-oriented (New Orleans).

I would be rather happy to have a vibrant non-tourist shopping area downtown. Tourism is an important part of the economy, but ultimately, I don't want the entire city or downtown area to be an amusement park. I want a beautiful city with good amenities not for some ambling tourists, but for the citizens of the Chicagoland area.

Busy Bee · #**2893** Posted **Oct 8, 2009, 5:55 PM**

Muji!?! Bahhh! That place is like IKEA with Crate and Barrel prices. And probably still IKEA quality. Want a acrylic desktop pencil jar? Pay about 4 bucks at IKEA. Expect to pay about 12-15 at Muji for the exact same thing. Your paying for an enigmatic Japanese brand coolness factor.

the urban politician · #**2894** Posted **Oct 8, 2009, 6:03 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

Muji!?! Bahhh! That place is like IKEA with Crate and Barrel prices. And probably still IKEA quality. Want a acrylic desktop pencil jar? Pay about 4 bucks at IKEA. Expect to pay about 12-15 at Muji for the exact same thing. Your paying for an enigmatic Japanese brand coolness factor.

^ Where did anyone mention anything about Muji?

Wheelingman04 · #**2895** Posted **Oct 8, 2009, 7:44 PM**

Well at least it isn't a vacant lot anymore!! I can live with that.

Busy Bee · #**2896** Posted **Oct 9, 2009, 2:42 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ Where did anyone mention anything about Muji?

Post #2888

spyguy · #**2897** Posted **Oct 10, 2009, 7:14 PM**

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/article.pl?articleId=32492

Trapeze act swings into Block 37
By: Eddie Baeb October 12, 2009

Block 37 is close to a deal with two new tenants, one of them a dinner theater troupe that combines burlesque and R-rated acrobatics.

Teatro ZinZanni, which has run for most of the decade in Seattle and San Francisco, is in advanced talks to take part of a top-floor space in the new four-story shopping mall on State Street in the Loop, sources tell Crain's.

...Signing Sephora and Teatro would backfill two of the project's most high-profile defections. Teatro would take most of the roughly 37,000 square feet on the fourth level that David Barton Gym pulled out of last fall. Sephora would lease 5,300 square feet in a prime, mid-block location that Apple had been in talks to take, sources say.

spyguy · #**2898** Posted **Oct 10, 2009, 7:24 PM**

I agree with Ty Tabing's comments and that's why I was sort of relieved when David Barton left the project. An upscale membership gym isn't going to be an attraction for visitors or bring the kind of vibrancy to State Street (esp at night) that an entertainment venue would.

ardecila · #**2899** Posted **Oct 10, 2009, 7:31 PM**

Fantastic; Freed managed to turn a negative into a positive with this one, and bolster the energy of State Street in the process.

Has Freed or Crain's mentioned anything about the leasing at Sullivan Center? Freed's website shows DSW, FlatTop, Childrens' Place, and JAZZIZ, but that leaves quite a bit of vacancy. I guess they haven't been successful in landing another grocery?

J_M_Tungsten · #**2900** Posted **Oct 10, 2009, 7:59 PM**

Wait I'm confused now. In that picture it says "foot print for future hotel and residential tower". Does that mean its going the route of a Blue Cross Blue Shield style build once they are ready for it?