CHICAGO | Highrise Projects & Construction

[SamInTheLoop]

Originally Posted by i_am_hydrogen

Has a developer and/or architect ever been surfaced for this proposed tower?
Haven't been able to find anything.....Separately, on the same block I believe there is a smallish active retail proposal....

[Jibba]

Originally Posted by Mikemak27

Ugggghhhhh, now it's just another glass gray box.

It's much improved, though. But that striated material that screens the parking has got to go. That is a design cliche that needs to die.

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by Chi-Sky21

I always wondered if Loyola owns that property and McDs is just a placeholder for now....anybody know?

I think McDonald's owns it, but I'm sure Loyola would be all over it if McDonalds ever wants to sell. I would love for them to get a hold of that parcel if only because it would bring about the hilarious situation where Loyola owns the entire block except that one little three flat on Pearson. They could vacate that alley, but will never be able to because of one measly little holdout. Similar situation to the historic early modernist building directly across the street that has been blocking their attempts to tie all the buildings on that block together as well. I say great for these holdouts! They are prevent Loyola from linking all their buildings together off street and thereby forcing the students out onto the street which really livens the area up.

Originally Posted by marothisu

Yeah. The only thing I've ever seen was when I first moved here in 2009, I saw some guy choking some woman for about 5 seconds. That was it though. I've never even been asked for money there too and I am there at least twice a day. Though I did see a guy getting arrested on the corner of Chicago and Rush on Tuesday night, but yeah.

I think law enforcement on that corner has improved dramatically over the past 5 years or so. The cops pretty much just loiter there in their Yukons now which has had the effect of pushing all the nonsense a few blocks over. Now the purse snatchers and panhandlers hang out closer to Rush like you said or over by the YMCA.

Originally Posted by SamInTheLoop

Has a developer and/or architect ever been surfaced for this proposed tower?
Haven't been able to find anything.....Separately, on the same block I believe there is a smallish active retail proposal....

I never noticed the small retail building is in the picture and it actually looks more exciting than the tower. Almost looks like a corten steel clad box.

[sukwoo]

Originally Posted by wierdaaron

When I worked over there I routinely saw police there responding to something. Routinely like multiple times a week. I've also seen small drug buys take place on the sidewalk with my own eyes. But beyond that, I think the mcdonalds itself is sketchy. Why is there a one-story, surface parking lot, non-themed mcdonalds right there in that part of the city? It's absurd. How about a 3-4 floor office with a city-style mcdonalds at the base?

Do you remember back in the 90s when there was a one story Burger King right next door to that McDonalds? I always thought that was kinda weird, and when the BK burned down, wondered if the McD crew had anything to do with it.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

I think law enforcement on that corner has improved dramatically over the past 5 years or so. The cops pretty much just loiter there in their Yukons now which has had the effect of pushing all the nonsense a few blocks over. Now the purse snatchers and panhandlers hang out closer to Rush like you said or over by the YMCA.

Yeah, but I was grouping in those YMCA people in with that. They've never once asked me for money. It's actually rare that I see a panhandler there. Maybe about once a month someone asks me for $1 for transit fare. Maybe 5 times/year I get an actual panhandler there which happened today outside the Starbucks at State & Pearson - but very rare.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

I never noticed the small retail building is in the picture and it actually looks more exciting than the tower. Almost looks like a corten steel clad box.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/realestat...oper-plans-retail-project-in-river-north

Here's a PDF of the retail part. I think they seriously took that render of the tower out, but you can still kind of see it in here:
http://search.midamericagrp.com/property_files/flyer_52605.pdf

[emathias]

Originally Posted by denizen467

^ I think that design will work nicely at that location. It's kind of a dead area, and this textured facade will give it some energy.

Nah, the leasing office will spin it as an amenity and as a taste of real urban living.

Yeah, I mean who doesn't want to be able to score xanax on a nearby corner?

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

...
I mean seriously, what is truly sketchy about that location is how there is a drivethru cutting through the sidewalk like 15 feet away from one of the busier subway portals in the city.

Yep.

[spyguy]

171 North Halsted
28 stories, 227 units

July 8 - 6 PM - Merit School

---
Separately, 200 N Michigan is now 488' tall.

[r18tdi]

Originally Posted by spyguy

Separately, 200 N Michigan is now 488' tall.

Damnit, Brendan.

[harryc]

Originally Posted by spyguy

171 North Halsted
28 stories, 227 units

July 8 - 6 PM - Merit School

---

And destroy this culturally significant mural ?

Separately, 200 N Michigan is now 488' tall.

200 N Mich -s more like -12' now

[Notyrview]

Originally Posted by r18tdi

Damnit, Brendan.

What's that down from?

[SamInTheLoop]

^ I believe from 515'.

This one drives me absolutely nuts - it's not the height per se. It's this MLA (essentially a maximum # of units per lot area guideline bs) that is preposterous to still have 'on the books'. No. of units here dropped from 432 to 402. For this lot, at this location, 600 units would not be too many.....700 units would not be too many......it's just preposterous.

This is partcularly an issue - and we're going to be running up against this increasingly I'm concerned, as unit sizes are in general decreasing somewhat (not as much as proponents of microunits and the like purport, but declining somewhat nonetheless)............

This archaic nonsense needs to be removed from the zoning code asap....

[Skyguy_7]

^Very disappointing, indeed. Let's just consider it a kind gesture to not outdo the C&C building, at 503'..

[marothisu]

Well, the "good" news about 200 N Michigan is that it received a building permit yesterday to build the foundation of it. Oh, and so did River Point.

[LouisVanDerWright]

Move this to the Spire thread please:

Perkins & Will turns up heat in Spire bankruptcy

Architecture firm Perkins & Will Inc. is escalating its fight over fees with the developer of the Chicago Spire, asking a judge to toss out the failed project's bankruptcy case.

Perkins & Will filed motions this week to dismiss the Chapter 11 case or convert it to a Chapter 7 liquidation, alleging the Spire development venture led by Irishman Garrett Kelleher is ineligible to remain in Chapter 11 because its corporate owner was dissolved in 2012.

Mr. Kelleher broke ground on the 150-story twisting tower before the crash, but the project at 400 N. Lake Shore Drive wound up in foreclosure and then bankruptcy last year. Earlier this year, the Kelleher venture reached an agreement with its biggest creditor to pay off more than $100 million in debt, which would allow the project to restart...


...KELLEHER VENTURE OBJECTION

The Kelleher venture immediately filed an objection to the motion, arguing that the dissolved corporate entity was listed in bankruptcy documents in error, which has since been corrected. The objection accuses Perkins & Will of acting “opportunistically,” saying the motion “appears to lack good faith.”

Chicago lawyer Joseph D. Frank, a partner at Chicago-based FrankGecker LLP who represents the Kelleher venture, said his client will continue settlement talks with Perkins & Will but also is “prepared to litigate the timeliness of the claim and the merits of the claim.”

The fracas emerges about three months after Chicago-based developer Related Midwest LLC, the project's biggest creditor, and the Kelleher venture reached an agreement that would allow the Spire development to emerge from bankruptcy. Under the deal, the developer would pay Related $109 million by Oct. 31, with an option to extend payment to March 31, 2015, but boosting the total to $114 million. Related would seize the property if the Kelleher venture misses those deadlines.

The Kelleher venture has brought in a third party, Chicago-based Atlas Apartment Holdings LLC, to secure $100 million in financing to pay off Related.

The next Spire court date is scheduled for July 1, Mr. Frank said. A Related spokeswoman declined to comment.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/realestat...s-will-turns-up-heat-in-spire-bankruptcy

Seems that Perkins and Will may have goofed on this one if what Kellher's attorney said is true. The court of law is also a court of opinion and the respective parties' behavior often has an effect on the outcome of the case. Pretty bold of P+W to claim that the entire case was invalid because of a technicality (which is apparently untrue) after P+W's claim was filed after the deadline. Secondary liens priority are often determined in a "race to the courthouse" order meaning the first party to lien the property gets the best position and subsequent filers get less priority. Considering they didn't even file in time, P+W is being exceedingly aggressive here and it might come back to burn them if/when this bankruptcy is resolved.

Also note the last bolded line: There is a court date on July 1st so there is a chance we will get an update on what progress, if any, Kellher is making.

[Onn]

Perkins & Will grasping for straws while they still can.

[SamInTheLoop]

^^ Someone once said something about technicalities and the law.......can't quite place who or what....

^ If someone owed you $5 mil (and then cried poor despite very publicly trying to resuscitate a $1 bil+ development), would you stop trying to get your money back before all available legal remedies were thoroughly exhausted?

We have two distinct possibilities here: either we are on the cusp of another eventually disastrous bubble here such that Atlas sinks $100-120 mil into this sinkhole, or Related - admittedly to the dismay of many - takes title within 9-10 months.....

[r18tdi]

Brendan SMASH:

Dear Neighbor,

I am writing to provide you with an update regarding the hotel development proposed for 740 North Rush Street at Giordano's Pizza. As you know, on April 7th, the River North Residents Association and I co-hosted a community meeting to review the development proposal. The meeting was very well attended and I am grateful to those who took time out of their busy schedules to participate.

Following the community meeting, I received a tremendous amount of constituent feedback regarding the proposal and the resounding overall sentiment was serious concern regarding the overall density of the proposal and the major traffic impacts and loading challenges associated with it.

After spending the past two months reviewing the proposal and associated traffic analyses to determine whether changes could properly address these challenges - I have concluded that the proposed 620 hotel keys, split across separate hotel flags, is simply far too ambitious for this location already surrounded by failing intersections (from a traffic engineering perspective) and high-density buildings.

I did not reach this conclusion quickly. In fact, I met with the development team on several occasions to explore potential changes or other development options to help make the proposal a better fit for this location. Unfortunately, at the end of that process, it became clear that this proposal simply could not proceed.

As a result, the proposed 620 key hotel development for 740 North Rush Street will not be moving forward. I have encouraged the property owners to carefully consider the limitations posed by the infrastructure around their site and existing traffic conditions, as they contemplate future development concepts.

I am grateful to the River North Residents Association (RNRA) and Streeterville Organization of Active Residents (SOAR) for helping me gather public input regarding this proposal and I appreciate the hundreds of neighbors who donated their time to help support our transparent public process.

I value my partnership with downtown stakeholders and residents. I am proud of our success transforming dozens of large-scale development proposals into more compatible, contextual projects. I look forward to working with you to build upon that track record as we review future projects proposed for the 42nd Ward.

Sincerely,

Brendan Reilly
Alderman, 42nd Ward

[J_M_Tungsten]

—. Do alderman try to restrict Chicago from developing more? It hurts me to read something like this. I feel like they are purposely doing it to punish the city of something.

[thewaterman11]

^ I don't know how any 45 story building built 3 blocks away from the 7th tallest building in the United States can be considered "far too ambitious."
Brendan is at it again...