CHICAGO | General Developments

[BVictor1]

Riverwalk work

05/20/15

[wierdaaron]

Oh so close! I cannot wait to be able to walk the whole length at the water level. It'll be like a dream come true.

[emathias]

Sorry if I missed this, but is anything happening at 615 N Wabash? In Google Streetview it's a nice brick building. In real life, it's a flat lot covered with broke bricks. Newcastle bought it last year, but I guess I hadn't noticed the lot was empty until now.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by emathias

Sorry if I missed this, but is anything happening at 615 N Wabash? In Google Streetview it's a nice brick building. In real life, it's a flat lot covered with broke bricks. Newcastle bought it last year, but I guess I hadn't noticed the lot was empty until now.

Yes, that is being redeveloped into a stand alone retail structure, not sure how many stories.

I'm drooling over the riverwalk...

[patrick84]

Originally Posted by wierdaaron

I was talking to a friend who lives in River North about all of the new apartment buildings headed to the area and he brought up a point I hadn't ever considered.

There is a ton of new housing inventory coming to the west side of River North (RiNo; make it happen), like west of Clark, and there are currently no grocery stores in that area.

The only exception is the new Walmart Express at Franklin and Chicago, which has some groceries according to their signage, but I'm sure most River North types would rather eat their own designer dogs than buy foodstuffs from a Walmart. From what I've been hearing, people end up getting way too much of their staples at the overpriced mini-marts built into their buildings, or they wait until they're completely out of food and then get an uber/zipcar/taxi for a huge Whole Foods trip to stock up.

A Mariano's would probably do killer business if it replaced the Binny's or Office Depot, both of which have out-of-context parking lots. Hopefully the smart people in the grocery industry have realized this already and are making moves to fix this problem.

This. I am really surprised nothing has popped up on Chicago... Or even Orleans between Ohio and Chicago. Goddess and the Grocer on Larrabee kills because it's the only thing within a reasonable walk for most people in the area. Walmart is fine in a pinch, but because it is an express it doesn't actually contain much of anything... not to mention it is already falling apart - leaking roof, patched floors, constantly out-of-order check-outs - and it's only a few years old. People, especially in the area, will happily pay more for a quality experience.

[r18tdi]

Anyone remember this awkward proposal from Warren Baker?


(rendering from DNAinfo)

Well there's finally a meeting scheduled!

From 43rd Ward newsletter:

WHAT: 2518 - 2552 N. Lincoln Avenue (Lincoln Centre) Redevelopment Proposal
WHO: Hosted by the Wrightwood Neighbors Association (WNA) and Alderman Michele Smith
WHEN: Tuesday, May 26th at 6:30 pm
WHERE: The Apollo Theater; Main Stage; 2540 N. Lincoln Avenue

I've heard the new plan calls for a revised facade ("brick-ish") and that the rear elevated open space has been moved from next to the L tracks to the Lincoln Ave frontage, creating a twin "tower" look. Makes sense to me but we shall see.

Despite the current building being a giant run-down turd, it's Lincoln Park so expect a standard NIMBY — fest. Honestly after the CMH legal debacle, I don't think any of the so-called neighborhoods deserve nice things. Keep the new stuff (and improved infrastructure) for the central business district.

[Near North Resident]

Originally Posted by wierdaaron

I was talking to a friend who lives in River North about all of the new apartment buildings headed to the area and he brought up a point I hadn't ever considered.

There is a ton of new housing inventory coming to the west side of River North (RiNo; make it happen), like west of Clark, and there are currently no grocery stores in that area.



The only exception is the new Walmart Express at Franklin and Chicago, which has some groceries according to their signage, but I'm sure most River North types would rather eat their own designer dogs than buy foodstuffs from a Walmart. From what I've been hearing, people end up getting way too much of their staples at the overpriced mini-marts built into their buildings, or they wait until they're completely out of food and then get an uber/zipcar/taxi for a huge Whole Foods trip to stock up.

A Mariano's would probably do killer business if it replaced the Binny's or Office Depot, both of which have out-of-context parking lots. Hopefully the smart people in the grocery industry have realized this already and are making moves to fix this problem.

There's a massive Jewel at Kinzie and DesPlaines or you can go up to Sedgewick/Divison but you are correct there is nothing east of the river and west of clark even though there is a large population there now

[SamInTheLoop]

Originally Posted by r18tdi

Anyone remember this awkward proposal from Warren Baker?


(rendering from DNAinfo)

Well there's finally a meeting scheduled!

From 43rd Ward newsletter:


I've heard the new plan calls for a revised facade ("brick-ish") and that the rear elevated open space has been moved from next to the L tracks to the Lincoln Ave frontage, creating a twin "tower" look. Makes sense to me but we shall see.

Despite the current building being a giant run-down turd, it's Lincoln Park so expect a standard NIMBY — fest. Honestly after the CMH legal debacle, I don't think any of the so-called neighborhoods deserve nice things. Keep the new stuff (and improved infrastructure) for the central business district.

Oh great - brick....because nothing hints at design sophistication in 2015 like brick (yes, yes, I know it's possible - bKL HoJo - , but do come clean now - not likely).....

[SamInTheLoop]

Originally Posted by ithakas

Even if this one isn't likely to be redeveloped, there's also the former Old Navy/Gap building up for sale. And the four city-owned buildings at State/Adams for sale (I think the middle two would be ripe for redevelopment, as much as I loved walking past Roberto's suits display windows growing up before it closed).

Anyone hear of Georgetown's plans to build a tower on the Gap site yet, beyond what we heard in November?

Without a doubt on the general positive outlook for State Street redevelopment - Personally, I am very, very bullish on State Street over the next several years......have also heard nothing more recent on Georgetown Old Navy, but I have a feeling it's not going to be that much longer (by year-end?)......

Also, someone had brought up advertising for retail space in Old Sears, and wondering whether CVS deal is off.......I thought that quite unlikely, and assumed it was for the smaller space(s) still available......now not so certain, given location and prominence of sign as I saw it the other day........could the CVS deal be off indeed?! I don't know, but that's a mouthwatering prospect, as that was one gargantuan letdown of a lease decision by the landlord - for the entire shopping district.........

[SamInTheLoop]

Originally Posted by Mr Downtown

I'm not sure what could be markedly more profitable at State & Adams. The office market over there is pretty soft; probably wouldn't reliably bring more than $20/foot. The site does have a good windowline (three sides) for residential, but isn't as attractive a site as a couple of the parking lots on Wabash that offer better views of the park. And of course it would be pretty expensive to relocate the district cooling plant, since it would require running new supply pipes to the new location.

I'd think any combination of significant new residential, hotel and retail could in fact be markedly more profitable, even largely without stellar views.....

It's just that I don't think the water chilling facility is going anywhere anytime soon - they have every legal right to stay for decades, and there's a real continuing demand for it.....

[emathias]

Originally Posted by wierdaaron

I was talking to a friend who lives in River North about all of the new apartment buildings headed to the area and he brought up a point I hadn't ever considered.

There is a ton of new housing inventory coming to the west side of River North (RiNo; make it happen), like west of Clark, and there are currently no grocery stores in that area.
...

People do walk to Whole Foods - I see people go by my place on Huron carrying bags west all the time. But it is quite a walk.

I think the major problem is that all those previous new construction buildings near the River were built with too much parking, meaning they're all filled with drivers who have zero incentive to spend their dollars in the neighborhood.

That said, adding a grocery store to one of the still-many surface lots is probably going to happen eventually. That lot on the north side of Huron between Franklin and Orleans seems like a likely candidate, or the one across the street from there between Huron and Erie along Franklin.

Anyone know how many households a typical urban grocery story needs to be supported?

[ardecila]

^ Depends on what you mean by "typical". That area of River North has a very high median income, so a specialty grocer doesn't need a huge customer base to be successful.

I should note that the (approved) Onni tower at Chicago/Hudson is planned to include a grocery store, although last I checked they did not have a specific grocer lined up.

[chris11]

Is the riverwalk still suppose to conclude before Summer?

[ChickeNES]

Originally Posted by chris11

Is the riverwalk still suppose to conclude before Summer?

State to Clark portion opens on Saturday, the rest in early June.

[paytonc]

Originally Posted by emathias

Anyone know how many households a typical urban grocery story needs to be supported?

The old guideline is that 10,000 people can support a small supermarket. (All mouths have to be fed, whether married or single, so this is one metric where population rather than household justifiably matters.)

It's a guideline meant for a suburban context, but we used this when opening the Dill Pickle -- pointing out that Logan Square has 85,000 residents and fewer than eight supermarkets' worth of grocery stores. And it apparently still has relevance today, since NYC's goal is 30,000 sq. ft. of supermarket per 10,000 residents.

[ChickeNES]

I recall a few months back that there was a discussion about how the Shake Shack in the Chicago Athletic Association hotel would work. Well now we know:


http://i.imgur.com/GHz2R9J.jpg

[wierdaaron]

Interesting. Was there a door there before or did they cut a window down to make a door?

[ChickeNES]

Originally Posted by wierdaaron

Interesting. Was there a door there before or did they cut a window down to make a door?

It's new:

[wierdaaron]

Wow. Wonder how they got that past Landmarks.

From Chicagoist:


http://chicagoist.com/2015/05/21/michigan_avenues_shake_shack_is_alm.php

[Skyguy_7]

^ Easy- they dished out Shackburgers to the Landmarks committee. They could approve demolition of the Wrigley Building by sliding a few of those babies under the table.