CHICAGO | Highrise Projects & Construction, v7

[SolarWind]

December 13, 2016

[SolarWind]

December 13, 2016

[SolarWind]

December 13, 2016

[SolarWind]

December 13, 2016

[SolarWind]

December 14, 2016

[SolarWind]

December 14, 2016

[Mr Downtown]

New plan for Atrium Village is an unsettling development

Instead of being relocated within the Atrium Village development while work is completed in stages, as was the original expectation, dozens of residents were told they must plan to move out by the first week of March.
* * *
But the approaching deadline has injected a new level of anxiety into a process that some believe is unfair as developers hurry to transform the low-profile 300-unit apartment complex into what is expected to be four high-rise towers containing 1,500 units.

Residents have been told they will eventually be allowed to move back when the work is completed, a promise that carries echoes of past housing battles in this very neighborhood.

Even that doesn’t solve the problem of where they go in the meantime, or whether all of them will be able to afford to return.
* * *
Atrium Village consisted of two clusters of low-rise buildings, along with a mid-rise building of approximately 200 apartments.

One set of low rises has already been torn down, with many of those residents moving into the mid-rise building. On that site, construction is already underway on the first of the new towers.

But now the developer wants to demolish the second cluster of low-rises, and there is nowhere left to put those residents. Nor will the new building be completed before they must move, as residents say they were promised when plans for the development were originally approved.

http://chicago.suntimes.com/news/brown-new-plan-for-atrium-village-is-an-unsettling-development/

[the urban politician]

^ And yet large swaths of the south side of Chicago, as well as the west side, with excellent transit access, languish and lose population.

There is plenty of housing stock out there, it's time to reactivate it. And without gargantuan subsidies. Large subsidies with large developments are what you get when you keep thinking top-down.

Let small landlords provide low income housing to thousands of low income people. Treat these landlords fairly, when tenants are jerks allow the landlords a quick eviction and turnaround. And stop the practice of Building Dept inspectors roaming around frivolously appending violations just because it gives them a hard-on. Sorry —, but lack of a management sign, or the need for a bit of tuckpointing aren't violations. They don't endanger tenants.

Turning affordable housing into a massive institution that can only be provided by a large entity is exactly why a cheap as hell city like Chicago has an affordable housing crisis.

[ithakas]

Originally Posted by SolarWind

December 12, 2016

More of this please.

Thanks, SolarWind!

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ And yet large swaths of the south side of Chicago, as well as the west side, with excellent transit access, languish and lose population.

There is plenty of housing stock out there, it's time to reactivate it. And without gargantuan subsidies. Large subsidies with large developments are what you get when you keep thinking top-down.

Let small landlords provide low income housing to thousands of low income people. Treat these landlords fairly, when tenants are jerks allow the landlords a quick eviction and turnaround. And stop the practice of Building Dept inspectors roaming around frivolously appending violations just because it gives them a hard-on. Sorry —, but lack of a management sign, or the need for a bit of tuckpointing aren't violations. They don't endanger tenants.

Turning affordable housing into a massive institution that can only be provided by a large entity is exactly why a cheap as hell city like Chicago has an affordable housing crisis.

Just got a fresh stack of — violations in the mail again the other day. My crimes included "cracked concrete", one "Rotten windowsill", and suspicion that there may be an illegal unit in the attic (there isn't). The city has an ongoing witch hunt against affordable housing yet people are somehow puzzled by the lack of it. If you don't want cheap $500 a month studios to disappear, then stop persecuting the plethora of cheap in-law apartments that exist in attics all over town.

[the urban politician]

^ exactly

[lu9]

What an update set from SolarWind. Thanks as always for the tour. Every now and then I forget the scale of this boom and then I see a SW update... wow. Side note: Loving 640 N Wells

[Mikemak27]

I'm sure many of you have seen or heard about the Union West proposal in the West Loop, but I was hoping for some reaction / analysis from the experts on this forum.

http://chicago.curbed.com/2016/12/15/139...ments-washington-sangamon-morgan-madison

[rlw777]

^ I think it's a welcome departure from the overdone west loop faux industrial aesthetic. I hope it get's built without further reductions. I'm not so sure the reality of those abrupt material transitions on the facade (from brick to precast to glass) will work out so well.

[k1052]

West Loop condo owners thrilled as ever according to the DNA piece.

The breakup of the west loop into several different wards (who's aldermen don't need that pocket of votes to get elected) and later the implementation if the neighborhood opportunity bonus is devious political genius to sideline the power of the local NIMBY groups.

[r18tdi]

Originally Posted by Mikemak27

I'm sure many of you have seen or heard about the Union West proposal in the West Loop, but I was hoping for some reaction / analysis from the experts on this forum.

http://chicago.curbed.com/2016/12/15/139...ments-washington-sangamon-morgan-madison

Different and skinny > wide and boring

[KWILLSKYLINE]

Thanks SolaR. 3Eleven is moving f'ing fast.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by Mikemak27

I'm sure many of you have seen or heard about the Union West proposal in the West Loop, but I was hoping for some reaction / analysis from the experts on this forum.

http://chicago.curbed.com/2016/12/15/139...ments-washington-sangamon-morgan-madison

I personally think it's an awesome development. I'd love to see it anywhere in the Central Area, but it seems especially well suited for the West Loop despite what the moronic NIMBYs may squawk about.

I know I'm preaching to the choir, but I really don't understand NIMBYs anywhere when it comes to density. I get if someone wanted to set up a sewage treatment plant right there, but as far as density I just don't get it. First of all, why do peoplel think they should dictate what gets built just because they live nearby? Second of all, they're about a mile from the second largest business district in the country - if they moved there thinking it should be some quaint little neighborhood it just makes them completely myopic idiots. Third, even if you think neighbors should have some say in the matter, they seem to think that current residents should dictate how a place is for generations. I mean, the West Loop has been around for probably 175 years, so even if you lived in the neighborhood for 25 years, that only represents 1/7th of the entire time the area has existed. I just don't get peoples' arrogance about that sort of thing.

[Chi-Sky21]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ And yet large swaths of the south side of Chicago, as well as the west side, with excellent transit access, languish and lose population.

There is plenty of housing stock out there, it's time to reactivate it. And without gargantuan subsidies. Large subsidies with large developments are what you get when you keep thinking top-down.

Let small landlords provide low income housing to thousands of low income people. Treat these landlords fairly, when tenants are jerks allow the landlords a quick eviction and turnaround. And stop the practice of Building Dept inspectors roaming around frivolously appending violations just because it gives them a hard-on. Sorry —, but lack of a management sign, or the need for a bit of tuckpointing aren't violations. They don't endanger tenants.

Turning affordable housing into a massive institution that can only be provided by a large entity is exactly why a cheap as hell city like Chicago has an affordable housing crisis.

Nice rant... but if they were told they could stay...they should be able to stay.

[Mr Downtown]

His partner Jacob Marley's death was quite a shock to TUP. He's been like this ever since.