CHICAGO | Hyde Park Development

[spyguy]

I thought it was about time to finally start a separate thread for all of the projects going in Hyde Park. It's hard to really understand the changes in this area without looking at the whole picture.

So this thread is focused primarily on the transformation of 53rd Street. Feel free to add anything you think is relevant. I will definitely be adding construction photos, new retail tenants, and projects/ renderings in the near future.



Harper Court
Mixed-use development with office, retail, residential

Phase 1:
Retail podium with structured parking - LA Fitness, Chipotle

Office tower - 150,000 square feet leased to the University of Chicago, retail on first two floors

Hyatt Place Hotel - 130 rooms, winebar/restaurant

Future phases: residential tower and mid-rises

City Hyde Park
179 units
Retail tenants: Whole Foods, Chase bank, Original Pancake House

Harper Theater - renovation
Retail tenants: Five Guys, 5-screen New 400 Theaters with Metropolis Coffee cafe

Former Borders Building -exterior facade changes
Retail tenants: Akira flagship, possible restaurant/entertainment concept

Clarke's Diner - open 24/7
1447 East 53rd

Jamie Manley/The Chicago Maroon

Kilwin's chocolate and fudge shop
5226 South Harper

53rd Street Bicycle Station

Future Developments:
McMobil redevelopment - graduate student housing and retail
53rd and Cornell - residential and retail building likely (possibly a tower)

[BraveNewWorld]

Awesome stuff there.

[the urban politician]

Spyguy, I vote you MVP among Chicago forumers

[untitledreality]

Mods, can we get a Chicago tag on this thread please?

[markh9]

Just found this thread. Copy-pasting my Harper Court update I had posted in the Gen Dev thread.

---

(from their Facebook page)

April 24th - The site viewed from the McDonald's (Southwest):


April 24th - The Harper Court site viewed from the Hyde Park Bank (North):


April 24th - The office tower viewed from the Hyde Park Bank (Northeast):


May 15th


Also, Curbed did an update a few days ago.

[untitledreality]

Have there been any updates regarding Solstice*? I thought I remember reading a blurb mentioning they were going ahead with the work for the school/access drive/park but that there was still no timetable for the building to get underway.

*I know its not 53rd, sorry

[spyguy]

^Nice photo updates.

Originally Posted by untitledreality

Have there been any updates regarding Solstice*? I thought I remember reading a blurb mentioning they were going ahead with the work for the school/access drive/park but that there was still no timetable for the building to get underway.

*I know its not 53rd, sorry

I wouldn't take the thread title too literally. I actually also wondered whether or not to include all of the University campus stuff or the renovations going on at the Shoreland, etc.

As for your question, everything I've read indicates that Antheus hasn't completely killed Solstice but that it's on the back burner. Unless they switch to apartments, it's going to be a while. The downtown condo market is still pretty dead so what chance does Hyde Park have? On the other hand, if everything above happens (Whole Foods, new restaurants, etc.) a lot more people might consider living in Hyde Park.

[rgolch]

Any way we can tag this thread so it pops up in the Chicago P & C subsection of the forum?

[spyguy]

Some additional unannounced national retail tenants for Harper Court:

Noodles & Company
Ulta beauty
Starbucks in the office tower (I'm not sure if this means that the current Starbucks will close or not)

[ardecila]

It might be just a kiosk. Some kind of in-building coffee shop is pretty much de rigeur for new office buildings. Meanwhile, an office-lobby Starbucks would attract far fewer walk-ins.

[spyguy]

Originally Posted by ardecila

It might be just a kiosk. Some kind of in-building coffee shop is pretty much de rigeur for new office buildings. Meanwhile, an office-lobby Starbucks would attract far fewer walk-ins.

It's actually a full-size Starbucks store, accessible both by 53rd and inside the office tower lobby. I'm guessing it'll also have ample outdoor seating since it's on the corner of Lake Park.

Harper Court construction update: you can see part of the facade already on the first floor. The bike station is in the background.

Harper Court/ Facebook

53rd Street Bicycle Center - opened this week
Hours and Services:
SUMMER: M-F 7am-7pm, S-S: 9am-7pm
SPRING/FALL: M-F: 7am-7pm, S-S: 10am-6pm
WINTER: M-F: 9am-5pm, S-S: Closed
Bike rental, parking, repairs, showers & lockers, segway tours, and merchandise


Bike and Park/ Facebook

[Dan in Chicago]

Last week I checked out the new Logan Center for the Arts at the University of Chicago. The building features an 11-story tower with great views overlooking the Midway. No two floors are exactly alike. There are several double-story rooms, and it's very colorful inside with a lot of soft walls. The building is open for public viewing until September.

Here are some photos, also viewable here:
http://en.phorio.com/logan_center_fo..._united_states

[Ch.G, Ch.G]

Wow, those photos are great. This is a building for the ages.

[Dan in Chicago]

Thanks a lot! To me this is one of the best buildings in recent years in Chicago. The building has a lot of the future-leaning feel of mid-century modernism without actually replicating that style.

I used to think the facade was wood, but someone here corrected me - it's actually limestone, just with a color and layout similar to wood.

[ChiPhi]

Dan, your pics are amazing. But the more I look at this building, the less I like it. Williams and Tsien are known for their materiality and the swaths of limestone come off one dimensional and bland to me. Maybe I'm a philistine who "doesn't get it," but this building really bores me. I love Williams and Tsien, but this building is increasingly feeling like it isn't their best. I do like the scale changes between the tower and base, but the louvered roof seems a hackneyed choice and the storefront windows feel clinical instead of feeling like the warm-modernity that the pair is known for.

[ardecila]

Give the limestone some time to weather. Right now it looks like it could be precast, but as it weathers it will develop a great texture.

The idea for the limestone-as-brick comes from Mario Ridolfi, and his building's been around for 80 years; the limestone looks fantastic after all that time.

Post Office at Piazza Bologna, Rome (1933)

[Dan in Chicago]

A lot of the walls are a soft rubbery material, which looks nice and creates a comfortable feeling, but I wonder how that will age. The whole place feels super-new right now.

One thing I like is the way it forms almost a cloister together with the Midway Studios. Also it's rare to have an 11-story tower with this level of intimacy (each floor is small & also unique) but combined with an openness thanks to generous proportions and floor-to-ceiling glass. It's almost literally a modern interpretation of an ivory tower. (Both limestone & ivory are mostly calcium I believe.)

The scale changes from the tower to base are definitely one of the best features - even more so on the interior.

[untitledreality]

Originally Posted by ChiPhi

But the more I look at this building, the less I like it.

Architecture is experiential... try to get down to Woodlawn and check it out first hand. The proportions of the building, the material scale and texture are fantastic in person.

[ChiPhi]

^^^
That is so true. I do need to get down there. I saw this and the Mansuetta library when they were U/C last year, but I need to see them now that they are finished. But because of the way I am situated on public transit, I've either got to drive or take nearly 2 hours to get down.

[Ch.G, Ch.G]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Give the limestone some time to weather. Right now it looks like it could be precast, but as it weathers it will develop a great texture.

You think so? IMO, it already looks like what it is. There's texture and variation both up close and afar, evidenced by Dan's photos. You don't find those qualities in precast—at least, not to that extent.