CHICAGO | Highrise Projects & Construction, v7

[BVictor1]

Just a piece about River Point

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/ct-river-point-kamin-met-1218-20161216-story.html

Curvy new skyscraper reflects river and rising design ambition

Blair Kamin Contact Reporter
December 16, 2016

Chicago Tribune

Chicago is a big dot on the architectural map because of its pre-eminent role in the invention of the office skyscraper, a development that transformed the skylines of cities worldwide. But thanks to the Great Recession, it's been seven years since a major downtown office building opened here. Now we have a new one, and its exuberant curves take full advantage of its prominent riverfront site.

River Point, as the 52-story office building at 444 W. Lake St. is known, has a clear kinship with 333 W. Wacker Drive, the great 1983 high-rise with curving green glass walls that exquisitely mark a bend in the Chicago River. Though River Point doesn't meet the high bar of its neighbor across the river, it enhances the waterfront with its sleekly sculpted form and an inviting 1.5-acre plaza.

Good modernism, this tower shows, is not incompatible with the making of good cities.

Designed by New Haven, Conn., architects Pickard Chilton and developed by the Chicago office of Houston-based Hines, the $500 million project transforms a challenging site that marred the riverfront with exposed railroad tracks and a surface parking lot. A lot of engineering acrobatics, devised by Seattle-based structural engineers Magnusson Klemencic Associates, went into this significant shift.

The plaza is essentially a land bridge, supported by concrete beams that span tracks on which passenger trains still run. To avoid hitting the tracks, some of the office building's steel columns lean inward. In addition, some of the tower's caissons had to be shifted so they didn't pierce the Chicago Transit Authority's Blue Line tunnel 60 feet below the site. Anybody who thinks architecture is all style, no structure, should pay a visit to 444 W. Lake.

[denizen467]

Mr Downtown, I could swear you made virtually the same comment about someone a couple months ago. Or was that one an It's A Wonderful Life character? The timing for this one is rather better though.

[Ryanrule]

Originally Posted by BVictor1

Just a piece about River Point

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/ct-river-point-kamin-met-1218-20161216-story.html

Curvy new skyscraper reflects river and rising design ambition

Blair Kamin Contact Reporter
December 16, 2016

Chicago Tribune

ide love to see a 3d map of all the underground stuff in chicago.

[Mr Downtown]

^Well, here's a cross-section done to show how astonishingly three-dimensional Chicago is despite having an absolutely flat location.

http://encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/6382.html

[marothisu]

That new Homewood Suites at 11th and Wabash just got a building permit yesterday. Curbed reported a few weeks ago that they started construction, which might be true, but now they have the official go ahead at least to build thru the 7th floor.

The permit says it's going to be 30 stories - I don't see this listed on page 1. Am I blind or is it not on there anywhere?

[KWILLSKYLINE]

Originally Posted by Bombardier

Construction loan should be closing on Monday for this project. Overheard canopies for the garage demolition should go up just after the moratorium is lifted after the first of the year. Excited to see this one rise!

I dont want to jinx myself but can a skyscraper nerd get anymore early christmas presents? Lets go Kenndey's, lets get Wolf Point rollin.

[Notyrview]

I know, i've been such a geek lately fantasizing about WP and Union Station redevelopment, and what I'd really like to see is someone propose a 800 + footer in the Loop. It should have been block 37 but there must be a lot nearby there suitable for a tall residential tower.

[rlw777]

A few renderings of 609-657 W North Ave from

Father Son Plaza to be Demolished Crains

[ithakas]

Originally Posted by Notyrview

I know, i've been such a geek lately fantasizing about WP and Union Station redevelopment, and what I'd really like to see is someone propose a 800 + footer in the Loop. It should have been block 37 but there must be a lot nearby there suitable for a tall residential tower.

Probably either the Gap on State Street or the abandoned food court building on Clark/Lake (if it changes to competent hands).

[ardecila]

^ Now we just need a landscaped median on North Ave and that area will start to be reasonably urban!

[munchymunch]

Originally Posted by ithakas

Probably either the Gap on State Street or the abandoned food court building on Clark/Lake (if it changes to competent hands).

That Gap store's lease expires 1st Quarter of 2017, Clark/Lake will probably hang in limbo for a while.

[denizen467]

^ Plus integrating this into the retail on the south side of the 6-way. That medical facility that stands in the way is an easy candidate for redevelopment. A question then is whether the CTA would allow some kind of safe and upgraded public cut-through underneath the Brown Line to connect to the existing retail. One idea could be to include additional public parking when redeveloping the health center and then demolish the stupid outdated garage behind the old Borders. The diagonal Weed Street stub could be extended as an entrance. Better yet, demolish the whole ex Borders complex and do a midrise TOD with retail (which unavoidably would require ample parking). Anyway, the gist would be to fuse together as many of the balkanized retail complexes as possible and encourage unimpeded pedestrian circulation among them. The Red Line portal is on the south side of North Ave which weighs in favor of focusing on that side of the retail district.

[Kumdogmillionaire]

Originally Posted by munchymunch

That Gap store's lease expires 1st Quarter of 2017, Clark/Lake will probably hang in limbo for a while.

Yeah, isn't the old food court on clark/lake proposal tied up in limbo because the current owner is going to jail or something of that sort?

[LouisVanDerWright]

Interestingly the entire Crate and Barrel block is part of the PMD-1 which will be dissolved as a part of the Sterling Bay Finkl Redevelopment. Does anyone know what zoning that will revert to? Has it even been announced since the dissolution of a PMD has never happened before? That's a site that could result in some very large buildings some day if a -3 or -5 tag is applied to it and it suddenly fits in the TOD bonus category. That's also a site that would basically single handedly change the feel of that area since it is so central to the parking lot hell.

[marothisu]

That new Hotel at 123 E Cermak (Cermak & Michigan) issued a permit yesterday. 22 stories and 466 rooms.

Refresher:
http://www.antunovich.com/projects/67/123-east-cermak-hotels

[Mikemak27]

The residential plan for the Bridgford Foods building at Lake and Green has gone from 13 to 17 stories. This was done because the Department of Planning & Fevelopment told them to (is this a first?). As a result it was pulled from the December meeting. This should probably get another rise out of the West Loop nimbys and their call for a height cap in the neighborhood.
http://chicago.curbed.com/2016/12/20/140...foods-redevelopment-gets-reworked-design

[SamInTheLoop]

Originally Posted by marothisu

That new Hotel at 123 E Cermak (Cermak & Michigan) issued a permit yesterday. 22 stories and 466 rooms.

Refresher:
http://www.antunovich.com/projects/67/123-east-cermak-hotels

Yes!!!! I was thinking about this project literally in the last few days wondering when we might finally see some movement on it.....fantastic news!

[orulz]

Originally Posted by marothisu

That new Hotel at 123 E Cermak (Cermak & Michigan) issued a permit yesterday. 22 stories and 466 rooms.

Refresher:
http://www.antunovich.com/projects/67/123-east-cermak-hotels

Seems that the address changed from 111 to 123?

This was supposed to have a data center component, that somebody here mentioned a few months ago pulled out of the project. But the midrise component around the corner on Indiana remains. So either the data center is back in, or has been converted to hotel rooms, or is going to be used for something else. I also wonder whether the plan is the same for the Rambler building. Originally it was supposed to contain offices, parking, and the main entrance for the data center, and a coffee shop at the corner of 23rd & Indiana.

[r18tdi]

Originally Posted by Mikemak27

The residential plan for the Bridgford Foods building at Lake and Green has gone from 13 to 17 stories. This was done because the Department of Planning & Fevelopment told them to (is this a first?). As a result it was pulled from the December meeting. This should probably get another rise out of the West Loop nimbys and their call for a height cap in the neighborhood.
http://chicago.curbed.com/2016/12/20/140...foods-redevelopment-gets-reworked-design

Are you ducking serious?! 17 stories?!

I live in the West Loop. I moved there in 2002 and I was promised that nothing over ten stories would be built!

This is an outrage!

[Steely Dan]

^ has your pitchfork been sharpened recently?

it's time.