CHICAGO | Highrise Projects & Construction, v7

[emathias]

Anyone have any inside info on the status of the 300 W Huron building? It's had sales signage up for a while now, with the condo market relatively healthy I'd think it should be close to ready to solidify financing and proceed but I haven't heard anything lately. I'd love to see that getting build soon.

Once that's built, between the Lake and the River on Huron we'll have gone from significant surface/vacant lots 15 years ago on Huron, to only four corners plus the Northwestern block in Streeterville. The four corners being the SW corner of State/Huron, the NW corner of Huron/Dearborn, the SW corner of Franklin/Huron, and the SE corner of Huron/Sedgewick (which also has a proposal coming up). That's phenomenal! I still remember when I bought my place just west of Lasalle on Huron, walking over from my commute bus on Michigan Ave some mornings before work to check out the area and property and thinking that it seemed a little rough around the edges with the Wacker Hotel, vacant lots and commercial 1-story building at the corner of Lasalle and Huron where the Godfrey is, and then especially once I continued west of Franklin. I knew it would change over time (and was counting on it), but it's been fun to watch it happen so quickly.

It kind of reminds me of the early-2000s boom on Dearborn. At that time I lived at Dearborn and Goethe, and was working long hours at pre-launch Orbitz.com so I'd often take a cab home from near the Sears Tower and we'd usually shoot up Dearborn from the Loop and it was amazing watching the towers that sprung up on Dearborn between 2000 and 2003 or so. Granted the towers on Wells mostly aren't as tall as the ones that sprung up on Dearborn then, but the impact as at least as dramatic and generally more interesting to look at - less beige anyway.

[denizen467]

Originally Posted by Stunnies23

Why doesn't the city just repave Jefferson street and create a rail crossing, rather than make an out of the way route down des plaines?

The rail crossing ship has sailed I believe, but a grade separated crossing is contemplated as a possibility for Clinton.

However between Kinzie and Grand, one hopes that some additional connectivity is built, like extending Jefferson at full spec northwards for two blocks.

[r18tdi]

Originally Posted by emathias

Anyone have any inside info on the status of the 300 W Huron building?

No inside info... It's been pretty quiet for a while but some units showed up for sale on the MLS this summer which is a step in the right direction. It's known as 312 Huron now.

[ithakas]

Originally Posted by r18tdi

No inside info... It's been pretty quiet for a while but some units showed up for sale on the MLS this summer which is a step in the right direction. It's known as 312 Huron now.

There's also a sales center now open per the website: http://www.312westhuron.com/

[MultiModal]

Originally Posted by ithakas

There's also a sales center now open per the website: http://www.312westhuron.com/

The sales center has been open for some time now and everything is going as planned they are just working on lining up financing.

[i_am_hydrogen]

Site prep has begun at Clark and Huron. There were a few backhoes on the site this morning.

[LouisVanDerWright]

RIP era of parking lots. Seriously, at this rate there won't be a single one left within a decade. I can't believe that my future children won't even remember a Chicago with vast areas of downtown riddled with parking lots.

[10023]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

RIP era of parking lots. Seriously, at this rate there won't be a single one left within a decade. I can't believe that my future children won't even remember a Chicago with vast areas of downtown riddled with parking lots.

Shame about all the parking garages...

[emathias]

Originally Posted by MultiModal

The sales center has been open for some time now and everything is going as planned they are just working on lining up financing.

Excellent

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by 10023

Shame about all the parking garages...

As much as everyone bitches about podium and garages they aren't all that terrible. They are certainly better than parking lots. They will be obsolete in 10 years when a majority of new cars are automated.

[Via Chicago]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

As much as everyone bitches about podium and garages they aren't all that terrible. They are certainly better than parking lots. They will be obsolete in 10 years when a majority of new cars are automated.

that is a bold prediction, i dont think the adoption timeline will be anywhere near that fast. also, self driving cars will still have to be parked somewhere. if anything they will increase congestion and car usage assuming public transit use declines in tandem. either way, we are still stuck with the street deadening architecture of this era.

[llamaorama]

I think robot cars are going to turn downtowns around the US into a hot mess until cities start managing them with things like congestion tolls, neighborhood parking registration, imposing local traffic only restrictions, and regulating where unoccupied vehicles are allowed to go "sleep". A robot car routing algorithm is going to abuse the shit out of any free parking, free highways, etc and you get a "tragedy of the commons". Human driven cars don't have this problem because humans don't like the inconvenience of walking or stopping and waiting, and also humans wayfind with imperfect information.

Why pay to park when your robot car can idle on a side street after valeting itself? It won't just be one car, it will ALL the cars doing it until every street is lined with cars. A clever side street shortcut that most people aren't familiar with? Robot cars are going to all use that route until its choked with traffic and people whose houses are off that street will be left feeling miserable. Free street parking will be abused in every neighborhood in a certain radius of a major destination where demand is peaky and you'd get inbound and outbound rushes.

Also think about airport loading zones. Every street in every dense urban neighborhood will be like that. Even if it takes on average 15 seconds for someone to get out of the car, 10 to get into the car, and 5 seconds for the car to creep out into traffic, etc, its going to create congestion. Imagine all the people who currently use transit trying to hail a car, chat with their coworker, etc, on the sidewalks of Michigan avenue at rush hour. Nope, just won't work.

I think in smaller cities and outer neighborhoods, self driving cars or self driving buses at peak hours could replace all day low ridership fixed route buses. And I wonder what will happen to lower speed intercity and commuter rail where the main attraction is not having to drive oneself, you can read and play on your phone or sleep in your driverless car too. But in urban centers and around mega traffic generators like college campuses, there absolutely needs to be transit. I'm sure the main CTA lines will still be busy because they penetrate the loop, which would just be congested to hell if everyone who took the train drove.

[left of center]

Originally Posted by denizen467

The rail crossing ship has sailed I believe, but a grade separated crossing is contemplated as a possibility for Clinton.

However between Kinzie and Grand, one hopes that some additional connectivity is built, like extending Jefferson at full spec northwards for two blocks.

Why would the ship have sailed? Not enough width between developments along the tracks?

I think it would be a great idea to extend Jefferson from Fulton all the way to Grand, and there have it link up with the planned busway to Chicago. It would really help with the connectivity of the area, which currently feels somewhat isolated and industrial.

A Clinton bridge over the tracks would be an excellent idea as well. Really wish those tracks were grade separated like the lines coming out of Ogilvie.

[left of center]

Originally Posted by llamaorama

I think robot cars are going to turn downtowns around the US into a hot mess until cities start managing them with things like congestion tolls, neighborhood parking registration, imposing local traffic only restrictions, and regulating where unoccupied vehicles are allowed to go "sleep".

You are missing the main benefit of automated cars... there will be significantly fewer cars on the road. They will be so much cheaper to use compared to cabs or even Uber and Lyft that most people wont bother to own one. Car use will become a commodity, cheap and available to all the masses.

Currently cars spend 96% of their time parked, which makes owning one very inefficient on a cost basis. Automated cars will always be on the road, with algorithms efficiently planning drop offs right next to pick ups, so that they are almost always in use. This, coupled with the fact that they drive much more efficiently (don't slow down to look at accidents on the highway, no delay to accelerate when a light turns green, etc.) means that they will be better suited to reduce and eliminate traffic phenomenon.

Add in the fact that automated cars don't get drunk, don't fall asleep at the wheel, don't get distracted with text messages or tuning the radio, and we may come a long way to making our city streets safer and whittling away at the some 40,000 annual automobile fatalities in the US.

Transit won't be going anywhere either. In a culture that's become more car owner free, train service will still be relied on, likely even more than today. I won't weep for all the parking garages that will be losing money however.

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

As much as everyone bitches about podium and garages they aren't all that terrible. They are certainly better than parking lots. They will be obsolete in 10 years when a majority of new cars are automated.

Within a decade, I would imagine many garage owners in the city will definitely be hurting. They will still be around, but talk of what to convert shuttered ones to will be all the rage on SSP

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by Via Chicago

that is a bold prediction, i dont think the adoption timeline will be anywhere near that fast. also, self driving cars will still have to be parked somewhere. if anything they will increase congestion and car usage assuming public transit use declines in tandem. either way, we are still stuck with the street deadening architecture of this era.

How long ago was the first touch screen smartphone released (the original iPhone)?

[Domer2019]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

How long ago was the first touch screen smartphone released (the original iPhone)?

If your point is that it was 10 years ago, I'd say that's coincidental and that the life cycle of a car is about 3 times that of a phone. I'm sure firms and economists and investors have their own projections for the adoption rate of smart cars, so I'm not disputing the number, but it's apples to oranges, both in terms of the capital involved and the various substitutes (the smart phone was a clear improvement, whereas driving/being driven by a robot/taking a train or bike is more dogmatic or personal).

[Khantilever]

Originally Posted by llamaorama

I think robot cars are going to turn downtowns around the US into a hot mess until cities start managing them with things like congestion tolls, neighborhood parking registration, imposing local traffic only restrictions, and regulating where unoccupied vehicles are allowed to go "sleep". A robot car routing algorithm is going to abuse the shit out of any free parking, free highways, etc and you get a "tragedy of the commons". Human driven cars don't have this problem because humans don't like the inconvenience of walking or stopping and waiting, and also humans wayfind with imperfect information.

Why pay to park when your robot car can idle on a side street after valeting itself? It won't just be one car, it will ALL the cars doing it until every street is lined with cars. A clever side street shortcut that most people aren't familiar with? Robot cars are going to all use that route until its choked with traffic and people whose houses are off that street will be left feeling miserable. Free street parking will be abused in every neighborhood in a certain radius of a major destination where demand is peaky and you'd get inbound and outbound rushes.

Also think about airport loading zones. Every street in every dense urban neighborhood will be like that. Even if it takes on average 15 seconds for someone to get out of the car, 10 to get into the car, and 5 seconds for the car to creep out into traffic, etc, its going to create congestion. Imagine all the people who currently use transit trying to hail a car, chat with their coworker, etc, on the sidewalks of Michigan avenue at rush hour. Nope, just won't work.

I think in smaller cities and outer neighborhoods, self driving cars or self driving buses at peak hours could replace all day low ridership fixed route buses. And I wonder what will happen to lower speed intercity and commuter rail where the main attraction is not having to drive oneself, you can read and play on your phone or sleep in your driverless car too. But in urban centers and around mega traffic generators like college campuses, there absolutely needs to be transit. I'm sure the main CTA lines will still be busy because they penetrate the loop, which would just be congested to hell if everyone who took the train drove.

1. Streets are *already* lined with cars "waiting" for their owners. But automation + ridesharing would likely reduce the number of idle cars, since your car can go out and make you money while you're at home. It's possible that automation will increase the quality of "auto services" demanded which will in turn increase the number of cars in total, but given that car ownership is already almost universal, the more plausible outcome is a *lower* number of cars on the road (on a per capita basis, at least).

2. There is nothing in your prediction about mass congestion everywhere that actually has to do with automation. The main "cost" of commuting is no longer monetary, since nearly everyone can afford driving or mass transit; instead, the main cost is time. So there's no reason to expect that everyone will use cars all the time and turn 10 minute drives into hour-long ordeals, while the L trains run empty. "Tragedy of the commons" simply means that the amount of congestion is non-optimal, but it does not imply that the congestion must be apocalyptic.

You're simply predicting the same problems we have today, but worse. The problem is that we cannot theoretically predict what's going to happen with automation since there are effects in both directions; more convenience will likely increase usage of "auto services", but the FAR more efficient provision of those services could plausibly overwhelm the former effect and actually reduce the amount of cars and congestion.

[10023]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

As much as everyone bitches about podium and garages they aren't all that terrible. They are certainly better than parking lots. They will be obsolete in 10 years when a majority of new cars are automated.

Yeah. But much harder to replace. How do you retrofit all those buildings to not look like shit from the street?

[harryc]

Originally Posted by 10023

Yeah. But much harder to replace. How do you retrofit all those buildings to not look like shit from the street?

[mhays]

Garages can be built with residential floor-to-floor heights, or theoretically even commercial floor-to-floor heights...but very few are. Some are even slanted floors, and all are at least partially slanted floors. Most would be hard or impossible to retrofit.