CHICAGO | Highrise Projects & Construction, v7 - Page 1104

BVictor1 · #**22061** Posted **Jan 11, 2023, 12:07 AM**

01.09.23

Randomguy34 · #**22062** Posted **Jan 11, 2023, 12:47 AM**

More construction news

Alex Najem, Shanna Khan complete $49M Fulton Market assemblage

Quote:

The CEO and founder of development firm Fulton Street Cos. partnered with Shanna Khan, the daughter of the owner of the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars, to clear the way to break ground on their next big office project in the booming subsection of the West Loop with a $49 million purchase on Dec. 30.

They bought the Lake Street Lofts property at 910 West Lake Street from a group of investors led by Chicago architect Pat Fitzgerald, Najem said.

The deal is part of an assemblage the developers needed in order to move forward with a 530,000-square-foot office building they plan to build at 917 West Fulton Street. The structure will face Fulton and extend south along Sangamon Street, and wrap around in an L shape to the east to incorporate the existing Lake Street Lofts building that includes 89 vacant apartments.
....
Najem hopes to start construction as soon as March.

https://therealdeal.com/chicago/2023...et-assemblage/

TylerJ · #**22063** Posted **Jan 11, 2023, 7:10 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrinChi

From Target parking lot at Roosevelt & Clark:

Dearborn Park looks like a trailer park lol.

Thats my neighborhood! The north section does leave a bit to be desired though...

twister244 · #**22064** Posted **Jan 11, 2023, 9:31 PM**

So - After spending a little more time thinking about 170 Green Street, I can't help but notice we are seeing a realtime slowdown of construction starts across the city with respect to office space.

Of the last couple starts in the West Loop (1112 W. Carroll / 225 N. Elizabeth), these are primarily residential. Most residential projects in this area seem to be humming along through the development process, yet 170 Green Street has sat vacant since demo since late Summer. I can't help but think we may be seeing the very beginnings of a broader slowdown in highrise construction in the city. And if the economy slows down any further, one might expect residential construction to slow down too.

Another good example is Lincoln Yards..... The next phase of construction was to include office space, but they have pivoted to residential now.

Maybe I am overthinking things, but it's a trend I am seeing. Residential proposals are still moving along, but office is slowing down big time, unless I am missing some numbers.

KWillChicago · #**22065** Posted **Jan 11, 2023, 9:41 PM**

Anyone know if this was part of the LaSalle revamp deal, turning office into apartments?

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...-h0PPMCWFxupy2

Tcmetro · #**22066** Posted **Jan 11, 2023, 9:47 PM**

Office slow down isn't unexpected, IMO. A lot of office came online before the pandemic and big towers like Salesforce, BMO, BofA opened after the pandemic started. A lot of West Loop stuff seems to be more speculative and has a really high vacancy rate. It's really trendy to be in the West Loop but I think with the lack of good transportation the office market could resemble that of the N Michigan Ave area in the future.

I've been surprised to see so much residential continue to happen, but downtown is the only area where lots of new units can easily be added. I think the image of new high-rise residential construction gives the illusion that there's a lot of demand, but I believe that the Chicago metro area is actually adds a low amount of housing units relative to the size of the market.

twister244 · #**22067** Posted **Jan 11, 2023, 9:52 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tcmetro

I've been surprised to see so much residential continue to happen, but downtown is the only area where lots of new units can easily be added. I think the image of new high-rise residential construction gives the illusion that there's a lot of demand, but I believe that the Chicago metro area is actually adds a low amount of housing units relative to the size of the market.

I think part of that is just because many people love to live down in the city. It offers a ton compared to other downtown metro areas, especially during the Summer.

It's also worth noting that city-wide, Chicago has a nice healthy housing stock. We haven't had the price escalations over the last decade that cities like Denver/Austin/SanFran have just because the demand/supply curves are more balanced.

marothisu · #**22068** Posted **Jan 12, 2023, 1:50 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tcmetro

Office slow down isn't unexpected, IMO. A lot of office came online before the pandemic and big towers like Salesforce, BMO, BofA opened after the pandemic started. A lot of West Loop stuff seems to be more speculative and has a really high vacancy rate. It's really trendy to be in the West Loop but I think with the lack of good transportation the office market could resemble that of the N Michigan Ave area in the future.

Some have been pretty successful though. For example - 167 N Green St was spec and has had no problems leasing out. I don't think it has a ton of space left now IIRC. There's definitely been leasing activity in these newer buildings in the last year.

twister244 · #**22069** Posted **Jan 12, 2023, 8:07 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by marothisu

Some have been pretty successful though. For example - 167 N Green St was spec and has had no problems leasing out. I don't think it has a ton of space left now IIRC. There's definitely been leasing activity in these newer buildings in the last year.

True, but that was completed before the current macro conditions started to settle in. Anyone in the tech space is shedding jobs right now. Whether or not it spills over into the broader economy is yet to be seen, but I would imagine it's having a broader impact on office development.

marothisu · #**22070** Posted **Jan 12, 2023, 12:20 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by twister244

True, but that was completed before the current macro conditions started to settle in. Anyone in the tech space is shedding jobs right now. Whether or not it spills over into the broader economy is yet to be seen, but I would imagine it's having a broader impact on office development.

No. It doesn't matter when something was completed. Totally moot point. It matters when leasing activity has happened, and companies sign.. and its still happening recently in these buildings in that area. There's many other industries beyond tech as well who can take office space, and shedding jobs doesn't mean that every company freezes all activity for even real estate.

twister244 · #**22071** Posted **Jan 12, 2023, 3:25 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by marothisu

No. It doesn't matter when something was completed. Totally moot point. It matters when leasing activity has happened, and companies sign.. and its still happening recently in these buildings in that area. There's many other industries beyond tech as well who can take office space, and shedding jobs doesn't mean that every company freezes all activity for even real estate.

That may have been the case for the last few years, but is that trend still actively holding up now given the blood bath occurring in startup world?

The West Loop tends to attract companies that get whiplashed more easily by trends in tech funding. Companies across the board are making another major round of cuts after cuts were made earlier last year. Office developers are probably seeing all of this and taking a step back from breaking ground on projects with office space until we get a more clear picture of where the market is heading.

Not saying you are wrong, but the trend I keep seeing is any project involving office space is taking longer to break ground.

KOgc · #**22072** Posted **Jan 12, 2023, 4:24 PM**

Stalworth has mobilized for 1112 W. Carroll. Guys are tying rebar cages for the caissons now. Should start to go up soon.

OhioGuy · #**22073** Posted **Jan 12, 2023, 5:13 PM**

Off topic, but I wish those tracks were submerged. This area of town extending west to Ashland (and probably eventually further west to Damen & ultimately Western) is filling up with density. Three surface-level tracks for heavy rail seems increasingly out of place for the neighborhood. There isn't a lot of park space in the area either until further west to Union Park, so maybe a linear park with a bike/pedestrian trail would be a nice addition. Would be nice if possible to get the developers to commit future funds to making this happen as it would seemingly benefit their developments in the area to have an attractive park instead of the tracks cutting through the neighborhood.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BVictor1

01.09.23

Steely Dan · #**22074** Posted **Jan 12, 2023, 5:40 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by OhioGuy

Off topic, but I wish those tracks were submerged. This area of town extending west to Ashland (and probably eventually further west to Damen & ultimately Western) is filling up with density. Three surface-level tracks for heavy rail seems increasingly out of place for the neighborhood.

those tracks only run at-grade out to racine, west of which they merge with the UP tracks and move up onto that massively wide 8-track embankment all the way out to giant railyard west of western.

getting them "submerged" from racine into union station would be extremely tricky and almost certainly astronomically expensive.

as the great "player with railroads" of the nation, chicago will probably be forever stuck with some of these oddball pieces of old rail infrastructure, at least until teleportation becomes a thing.

Chi-Sky21 · #**22075** Posted **Jan 12, 2023, 5:46 PM**

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ardecila · #**22076** Posted **Jan 12, 2023, 7:03 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

those tracks only run at-grade out to racine, west of which they merge with the UP tracks and move up onto that massively wide 8-track embankment all the way out to giant railyard west of western.

getting them "submerged" from racine into union station would be extremely tricky and almost certainly astronomically expensive.

as the great "player with railroads" of the nation, chicago will probably be forever stuck with some of these oddball pieces of old rail infrastructure, at least until teleportation becomes a thing.

I think they could extend the elevated section to Green St. Then you'd have one grade crossing left at Green, Halsted and DesPlaines on existing overpasses, and then Canal/Clinton. Clinton would get a two-way underpass and Canal just closed entirely at the tracks. Eventually Green could be closed too if there are viaducts at Peoria and Sangamon.