CHICAGO | Highrise Projects & Construction, v7 - Page 592

PittsburghPA · #**11821** Posted **Jun 30, 2018, 5:13 PM**

They are taking down the crane at Hayden West Loop right now and there is a large mobile crane at the site of Toyoko Inn in West Loop Proper.

west-town-brad · #**11822** Posted **Jun 30, 2018, 5:51 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by jc5680

Reporting on what nimby's say in the community meetings hardly makes it a nimby publication. It is good that we have an outlet again that actually covers these local events.

giving "local resident who would not provide his name" a voice for his well-reasoned viewpoint on parking is not productive. it's facebook comments masquerading as a new outlet.

10023 · #**11823** Posted **Jun 30, 2018, 7:28 PM**

NIMBYs would be halfway respectable if they only had a goal in mind. You can’t just oppose density and tall buildings. You also shouldn’t be a skyscraper fanboy that’s obsessed with tall buildings. It should be about creating nice places to live and a good urban environment.

Parking lots, parking garages and bad street interfaces (with loading bays, service entrances and no retail) are what they should be against. The ground floor of a building is approximately 4,000x as important as how many floors are above it.

harryc · #**11824** Posted **Jun 30, 2018, 8:25 PM**

June 28

jc5680 · #**11825** Posted **Jun 30, 2018, 9:34 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by west-town-brad

giving "local resident who would not provide his name" a voice for his well-reasoned viewpoint on parking is not productive. it's facebook comments masquerading as a new outlet.

Having a record of things happening in our neighborhoods is a good thing. Dismissing a publication as a whole because you don't agree with some nimby comments in an article is quite the dramatic leap.

harryc · #**11826** Posted **Jun 30, 2018, 9:52 PM**

June 29

pip · #**11827** Posted **Jul 1, 2018, 12:55 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by 10023

NIMBYs would be halfway respectable if they only had a goal in mind. You can’t just oppose density and tall buildings. You also shouldn’t be a skyscraper fanboy that’s obsessed with tall buildings. It should be about creating nice places to live and a good urban environment.

Parking lots, parking garages and bad street interfaces (with loading bays, service entrances and no retail) are what they should be against. The ground floor of a building is approximately 4,000x as important as how many floors are above it.

Yup!

Example. I was disappointed with One South Halsted when I saw it a couple of weeks ago. That's my least favorite building under construction. They are ruining the streetscape of Halsted. Nothing pleasant or nice about it as a pedestrian.

Kumdogmillionaire · #**11828** Posted **Jul 1, 2018, 1:42 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by pip

Yup!

Example. I was disappointed with One South Halsted when I saw it a couple of weeks ago. That's my least favorite building under construction. They are ruining the streetscape of Halsted. Nothing pleasant or nice about it as a pedestrian.

I'm as big an enemy to that horrid base as any of us around here, buuuuuuut tbh, Halsted's streetscape isn't being "ruined". That entire stretch really from Roosevelt to the Kennedy is and always has been terrible, especially on that side. I know we should ask for improvements, but it's replacing a parking lot. Hard to do worse than a parking lot or blank wall, which this is neither.

Fortunately, it looks like related's tower on randolph and halsted looks to have better street presence as of right now, and with the other two major open lots left along that side of Halsted, maybe we can get some better bases and street activity. I won't be too upset though. When I go to the West Loop, it's sure as hell not to hang out along Halsted

pip · #**11829** Posted **Jul 1, 2018, 6:39 AM**

^Yeah you are right Halsted's streetscape isn't being "ruined" it already was

But the potential and instead a new parking base on what should be a major strip.

10023 · #**11830** Posted **Jul 1, 2018, 8:35 AM**

Yes. They could have made a major improvement to Halsted and chose not to.

the urban politician · #**11831** Posted **Jul 1, 2018, 1:43 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by 10023

Yes. They could have made a major improvement to Halsted and chose not to.

No, it’s the city at fault. The city drops the ball over and over and over and over and over and over again on parking podiums.

I understand that it’s cost prohibitive n Chicago (for some reason) to do underground parking, but then liner units should be mandated.

k1052 · #**11832** Posted **Jul 1, 2018, 1:50 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by the urban politician

No, it’s the city at fault. The city drops the ball over and over and over and over and over and over again on parking podiums.

I understand that it’s cost prohibitive n Chicago (for some reason) to do underground parking, but then liner units should be mandated.

Yes, liner units should be non-optional for these projects. Give developers relief on parking requirements or automatic allowable FAR bumps to offset if need be but they must stop allowing this.

spyguy · #**11833** Posted **Jul 1, 2018, 5:19 PM**

Looks like Sterling Bay may actually be planning a residential tower on a former bank building on Morgan. Not sure why they placed the residential lobby right next to Federales, but it will be very convenient to the CTA.

ardecila · #**11834** Posted **Jul 1, 2018, 5:24 PM**

Based on that rendering it looks like the residential lobby is on the south corner, so it's opposite Federales, not right next door. Both the northernmost and southernmost bays have an entrance canopy, but the northernmost bay also has a strip of spandrel glass, suggesting a plenum for a retail space.

That makes sense from a space planning standpoint, too... loading dock, mailroom, etc all wants to be off the alley and near the lobby.

Or it could just be a graphical error in Illustrator. Wouldn't be the first time...

ardecila · #**11835** Posted **Jul 1, 2018, 5:28 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tcmetro

Wintrust recently opened and is about the same size as the Pavilion. It seems dumb to build a new one but I guess they want to remain competitive and still cash in on events. The proposed one is a bit of a hike from the Blue Line though.

Not dumb at all to build a new one. It's a replacement, not new capacity. The urban design at Racine/Harrison right now is atrocious, like everything else surrounding UIC's campus. Just a giant multi-block parking lot facing a massive intersection and totally cut off from Little Italy neighborhood. The train station is an afterthought that faces the Pavilion's loading docks.

The new arena doesn't seem like a huge priority for UIC, as their master plan doesn't proscribe any new uses for the Pavilion site after the new arena opens. They don't need that site cleared urgently but I imagine they are simply looking at a lifecycle cost and determining that, at the point when the Pavilion requires major renovation work, it's better and less disruptive to build a replacement arena on a different site. As noted above, it has no architectural or urban-design value whatsoever and resembles a South Side megachurch more than a 21st-century arena. Good riddance when it comes down, maybe the growing TOD cluster north of the Eisenhower can extend to the south side as well.

Randomguy34 · #**11836** Posted **Jul 1, 2018, 6:39 PM**

Yeah, I'm going to go make a Chicago Proposal + Construction map since I've lost track of how many project have been proposed.

Kumdogmillionaire · #**11837** Posted **Jul 1, 2018, 7:55 PM**

The floodgates for +250ft tall buildings in the West Loop have now swung wide open. NIMBYs put up a good fight for a while, but we all knew they would lose