CHICAGO | General Developments

[Skyguy_7]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

..
Finally, I think the biggest factor is that employers would see it as a waste of money. It is not so much that workers charge a premium for working in the cold, but that they are probably far less productive when their movement is restricted by being bundled up and their fine motor skills are hampered by cold fingers. It is often better for all parties involved to just wait for better conditions where the workers will be safer, more comfortable, and more productive. This is why many developers and contractors rush to "finish the envelope" before winter sets in so they can get the indoors trades underway who won't be as affected by the weather. This can make a difference of months in the delivery timeline of a project.

^Nailed it.

While news is relatively slow, would you care to open up on the 50-70 story cantilever-over-landmark development? I've been head scratching for 6 months and it has lead to a bald spot.

[marothisu]

There's an article today about how the president of Cook County is resurrecting the redevelopment of the old Cook County Hospital. The new Medical District development + hotel around the corner are cited too.

Within the next few months, Cook County plans to hire a manager to guide the redevelopment effort of about 10 acres on the Near West Side campus of the Cook County Health & Hospitals System, with an eye toward preserving the historic public hospital building,

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...ed-cook-county

[SamInTheLoop]

Saw something on blog Sloopin that Chica Loca has now officially walked away from opening a restaurant in Roosevelt Collection (I'd suspected as much for many months now), following in the footsteps of the also previously announced Blackfinn American Grill, who has long since given up on RC. Despite the way off-base assessment of the Sloopin blogger (seems really detached from reality on this issue......granted he/she is not that quick on the uptake on matters economic, real estate, urban design, architecture, etc etc etc), this really is just another highlight of the horrific job McCaffery has done with the lease-up of Roosevelt Collection. Horrific. This is no first rate developer/owner/operator by any wild stretch of the imagination to be sure....that should be a surprise to no one, but their performance since buying the distressed center approximately 31 months ago has left just about everything to be desired. Note: This is primarily not a market issue, nor a property issue, but a McCaffery issue. For example (one of all too many), has it occurred once to these proven non-performers to outsource to retail leasing experts once in the past 31 months, as opposed to having Junior McCaffery and company in-house continue to miss every self-announced target date (ie deadlines......of which surprise, surprise they stopped publicizing these because apparently they've even lost credibility on this stuff with themselves!) and overwhelmingly likely financial/operating objective imaginable? You quite literally couldn't make this stuff up, as far as what a thoroughly piss-poor job McCaffery has done - no restaurants open at this stage....really? Actually, no restaurants even in build-out at this stage! That's just incomprehensible incompetence (Contrast with CIM Group's handling at Block 37......quite evidently they had issues and were not pleased with their leasing brokerage - Stone Real Estate, and made swift and decisive action to kick their sorry butts to the curb and replace them - granted it probably took too long - this occurred +/- 20 months after their purchase of the center and appointment of Stone - but still, the realization that this is actually really important stuff and ability to decisively change direction).

Also, on a more positive South Loop note - I think it's now official that the upper floors of the old Courthouse building in the 1300 block of S. Michigan are now being renovated into residential units (above the first floor Giordano's that recently opened).....forget where I saw this posted, but will try to go past the building itself in the next few days if possible to confirm.....

[LouisVanDerWright]

^^^ In regards to Roosevelt Collection (and Block 37 as well). Wasn't I just telling everyone 6 months or a year ago that there was no way they will ever make the progress they were claiming towards leasing the vacant space? I know I was saying the same thing about Block 37 as well and I think their occupancy has actually fallen since I said that with nary a single new buildout under construction.

In my semi-professional opinion, Block 37 and Roosevelt Collection are both eternally fucked by terrible design. They both suffer from the same "courtyard" effect that is literally the opposite of good retail design especially in light of the resurgence of urbanism. You can't build retail courts and expect to succeed anymore. You need thru traffic to attract premium tenants these days. You can't just rely on people wandering to the 4th of 5th floor of Block 37 and you can't just rely on people wandering into Roosevelt Collection. Isolation is literally the opposite of an attractive retail environment and I don't see either project leasing up until either A. the economy gets so red hot that there is literally no other class A retail available or B. a material change is made to the project or surrounding environment that mitigates the courtyard effect problem.

I frankly don't see scenario A as likely any time soon, so we are going to have to hope B happens. A scenario B at Roosevelt Collection would mean the successful development of the parcels around in that increase interconnectiveity and foot traffic along Roosevelt Rd. In particular the strip of land along the river north of Roosevelt and along Wells needs to be developed into a multilevel mixed used project that successfully addresses the grade separation issues in the area. Block 37 is more difficult to imagine a situation B. Perhaps the supposed movie theater could do it, but really I am not sure that is even enough. The addition of the hotel towers might help as well, but again, that doesn't do anything to draw people UP into the retail which is really what the problem is.

TLDR: Roosevelt Collection and B37 are both fucked for the same reason: horrendous urban planning.

Originally Posted by Skyguy_7

^Nailed it.

While news is relatively slow, would you care to open up on the 50-70 story cantilever-over-landmark development? I've been head scratching for 6 months and it has lead to a bald spot.

I would if I could, this is a project that will eventually come to fruition, but it could be a year or five years before I can say anything about it as the developer is currently distracted by an even cooler development (and more important to the city IMO) which we should see more news on soon.

I doubt anyone will ever guess the site I am talking about, but if you pay attention to all the things I frequently talk about on here you should be able to string the pieces together. Remember how I was saying a while ago that Chicago will never run out of developable parcels when people were debating the density of new projects near union station. Well this is one of those sites that no one ever notices until the project is announced. A site that kind of appears out of thin air when demand is high enough.

[jc5680]

Developer Plans Transit-Oriented Rentals Near Paulina Brown Line Stop



An empty lot by the Paulina Brown Line "L" stop may soon be home to an apartment and retail building — but little parking.

Centrum Partners, which has a contract to buy the site at 3400 N. Lincoln Ave., wants to build a transit-oriented mixed-used building, with about nine parking spots planned in initial drawings.

Naturally, neighbors are 'concerned' about the minimal parking. Comments are unusually quite positive though. Full story and more detailed drawings over at DNAinfo

edit:
the drawings the story links to also show several height variations:

[marothisu]

^ I'm glad it's moving along and that there aren't too many NIMBYs. People in Chicago need to be educated about TOD though. That area is walkable and right next to a train stop. It's a great location for someone who wants to move to this city who wants to live a car-free lifestyle (or someone moving from another part of town).

I just wish the wall facing the alley was more complete and like the rest of the building. It's good though something TOD is being developed again.

[Rizzo]

Yeah any comment about parking seems outrageous. It's right there in the rendering...I see it with my eyes..vehicles parked in a garage. The fancy condo building behind me downtown is the same size and same garage configuration and they are mostly empty spots. Some people just don't drive or need their cars close by, especially the folks I know that rent and own blocks from this Transit station

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by jc5680

Naturally, neighbors are 'concerned' about the minimal parking. Comments are unusually quite positive though. Full story and more detailed drawings over at DNAinfo

edit:
the drawings the story links to also show several height variations:

Originally Posted by marothisu

^ I'm glad it's moving along and that there aren't too many NIMBYs. People in Chicago need to be educated about TOD though. That area is walkable and right next to a train stop. It's a great location for someone who wants to move to this city who wants to live a car-free lifestyle (or someone moving from another part of town).

I just wish the wall facing the alley was more complete and like the rest of the building. It's good though something TOD is being developed again.

Originally Posted by Hayward

Yeah any comment about parking seems outrageous. It's right there in the rendering...I see it with my eyes..vehicles parked in a garage. The fancy condo building behind me downtown is the same size and same garage configuration and they are mostly empty spots. Some people just don't drive or need their cars close by, especially the folks I know that rent and own blocks from this Transit station

Thanks for the update on this. I have been wondering what was going on.

Of course the typical NIMBY parking complaint is raised. No one is owed a free street parking spot in the City.

[wierdaaron]

What would "transit-oriented" mean for a rental if not a lack of parking? How else could an apartment be oriented for transit? Firehouse poles to quickly slide to the L platforms?

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by wierdaaron

What would "transit-oriented" mean for a rental if not a lack of parking? How else could an apartment be oriented for transit? Firehouse poles to quickly slide to the L platforms?

No. i think that's only a small part of it. TOD has to do with location. In this case, it's TOD because it's right near a train stop.

[vxt22]

Originally Posted by SamInTheLoop

^^^ Speaking of IIT, has anyone heard anything recently about the new 100,000 sq ft (I want to say some sort of innovation center or incubator or something similar, but can't remember exactly what it is) building that is planned? (I think the parcel is directly fronting the Dan Ryan if I remember correctly)....last I had heard - which is a while ago now - is that they still had a lot of fundraising left to do...

Also, years ago when I had toured Helmut Jahns' IIT dorm complex, I remember being told that there was another new dorm complex planned, at least at that time set to be designed I think by Dirk Lohan. I wonder if anybody close to IIT knows if this is still planned at some point, or was shelved?

Think they're still raising money. My alma mater is really has a much smaller endowment than for example the UofC. They got in to debt problems building the Jahn and Koolhaas projects. It's for that reason that the other talks about more dorms haven't gone anywhere.

There's always some kind of big dreaming conception going on, but as it is now they won't even maintain main building -- it's vacant right now.

The current president seems to want to tear down main building in the years to come, though the alumni may be able to dissuade him. Apparently it needs more work only a few years after the prior work was completed. But honestly, I see heavy efflorescence on the 33rd street side so it seems to me like they hired a contractor with little experience in historic masonry.

Their entrepreneurship center is going to happen, but not in a hurry.

[marothisu]

Anybody around Argyle see if there's any movement on the old nursing home at Sheridan & Argyle? It was issued a building permit almost 3 weeks ago to convert it to 160 residential units.

[marothisu]

I've created a new map starting with data from 1/1/2014 which shows housing density gain/loss of existing buildings and also some more ground level business buildouts.


http://goo.gl/maps/AM7lM

Red = negative density change
Blue = positive density change
Purple = new business buildout
Cyan = new offices buildout
Yellow = school/university type conversion

[lu9]

Originally Posted by marothisu

I've created a new map starting with data from 1/1/2014 which shows housing density gain/loss of existing buildings and also some more ground level business buildouts.


http://goo.gl/maps/AM7lM

Red = negative density change
Blue = positive density change
Purple = new business buildout
Cyan = new offices buildout
Yellow = school/university type conversion

This is amazing. ty

[Pilton]

Google sells off Motorola Mobility to the Chinese firm Lenovo.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...,7227701.story

Should add: "Motorola Mobility's planned move to the Merchandise Mart in Chicago from its longtime headquarters in Libertyville, first announced in the summer of 2012, is expected to go forward."

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Speaking of Bridgeport, not exciting but a break from all the SFHs going up there. There was a permit issued for a new 3 unit + ground floor commercial/retail space on Halsted just on the other side of I55 and the Halsted Orange Line station (right near Palmisano Park).

There was another one of these issued a permit yesterday for the address next door to it. It mentions in the permit something about the previous being a prototype (2611 S Halsted). Right now this is a bunch of open lots. I'm hoping there's a handful of these being put in and it's pretty close to the Orange line.

[Chi-Sky21]

John Buck buying stake in The Drake. Now the question as to why a developer would buy a large stake in an old hotel........

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/reale...-of-the-drake#

[wierdaaron]

^A pretty small stake, though. It could just be an investment, hoping to get 5% should the land ever sell. It doesn't give them any ownership of the hotel itself.

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by marothisu

I've created a new map starting with data from 1/1/2014 which shows housing density gain/loss of existing buildings and also some more ground level business buildouts.


http://goo.gl/maps/AM7lM

Red = negative density change
Blue = positive density change
Purple = new business buildout
Cyan = new offices buildout
Yellow = school/university type conversion

Originally Posted by lu9

This is amazing. ty

Right, nice work!

[pilsenarch]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

^^^ In regards to Roosevelt Collection (and Block 37 as well). Wasn't I just telling everyone 6 months or a year ago that there was no way they will ever make the progress they were claiming towards leasing the vacant space? I know I was saying the same thing about Block 37 as well and I think their occupancy has actually fallen since I said that with nary a single new buildout under construction.

In my semi-professional opinion, Block 37 and Roosevelt Collection are both eternally fucked by terrible design. They both suffer from the same "courtyard" effect that is literally the opposite of good retail design especially in light of the resurgence of urbanism. You can't build retail courts and expect to succeed anymore. You need thru traffic to attract premium tenants these days. You can't just rely on people wandering to the 4th of 5th floor of Block 37 and you can't just rely on people wandering into Roosevelt Collection. Isolation is literally the opposite of an attractive retail environment

TLDR: Roosevelt Collection and B37 are both fucked for the same reason: horrendous urban planning.

right on LVDW... as the sorry chap who is responsible for leading the design of the masterplanning of the current as-built, including the clusterf**k that is occurring below grade with the CTA station, loading docks, parking garage, pedway, secure CBS parking, etc., I feel a need to defend myself and show just a couple of initial planning sketches that convinced Daley and planning that Mills really could do a successful urban mall (haha). The images depict a concept I tried to hang on to despite beating after beating to narrow it down and eventually obliterate it altogether... that being a large arcade ala the galleria in Milan so that standing in Daley Plaza you could easily see through Block 37 to the facade of Field's and vice a versa... this would have undoubtedly driven foot traffic from State to Daley on a regular basis, through what we originally described as an indoor sister civic plaza to Daley...

orange was condo, red was hotel, yellow was an idea I had to turn the comed into an art piece, and green and blue are retail...

the plan sketch was an initial attempt at saving the concept after CBS arrived with a fully designed building they wanted to plop down and have us just work around (designed to kind of match Booth's art institute dorm at Randolph & State)... one of thousands of sketches trying to save the concept after every new surprise (harrod's, super station, etc. etc.) BTW, that plan does not reflect the perspective sketches.... the initial plans included a large rectangular, completely sky-lit plaza that the arcade bisected... a search of my posts in the 108 N State thread will result in a more definitive narrative...