CHICAGO | General Developments

[LouisVanDerWright]

Tons of info on that project at Haddon and Milwaukee:

http://wickerparklofts.com/

Renderings as well.

[ardecila]

You might be thinking of Hairpin Lofts across the street, which has the Payless and the (awesome) second-floor ballet studio as well as a distinctive name.

The Gap building is "Logan Square Lofts" but that might not help you on a google search. Address is 2778 N Milwaukee.

[Mr Downtown]

Out of curiosity, I decided to see if there were any patterns to new development, particularly to see whether it clusters around transit. I looked only at new construction and renovation/alteration permits with an estimated value $5000 or more. First I looked at all the data available, since 2006, and then at just the last three years.

[wierdaaron]

I'm surprised by the low number of new construction permits in the 10-13 map, especially in the west loop area where things are going crazy. But I guess those permits were probably requested long before construction began.

[Mr Downtown]

I doubt that. I would assume most contractors/developers proceed within 6 months after getting the permit. Marothisu, is there some category of permit that I might have overlooked?

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by Mr Downtown

I doubt that. I would assume most contractors/developers proceed within 6 months after getting the permit. Marothisu, is there some category of permit that I might have overlooked?

I don't think so. The West Loop hasn't necessarily been going crazy with it. We just know about it because there are some large scale, or notable projects going on there. However, if those new construction permit markers are 1-to-1 you may have an error. There's 3247 new construction building permits between 1/1/2010 and 12/31/2013 and your map looks like it has nowhere near that number. I know from doing my map that there's a ton of new construction permits that have been issued since even late 2012 in Bridgeport, West Town, Lincoln Park, Lakeview, and Roscoe Village.

[marothisu]

On another note, I don't know how many of you guys follow Theaster Gates but I'm starting to learn more about him. I'm really, really excited by this Ted X talk. The Dorchster projects arts center and housing in Greater Grand Crossing (though I think it's technically South Shore, actually), which I hit on a few weeks ago in this thread as having secured 4 building permits to start doing work, is talked about in this video. I didn't know he owned other buildings in the small area too which are near these projects and offer great community program. This stuff is AWESOME to me - really fucking awesome (as a musician, myself and art lover).

• Video Link
• Video Link

[XIII]

Originally Posted by marothisu

On another note, I don't know how many of you guys follow Theaster Gates but I'm starting to learn more about him.

Theaster Gates is a city treasure and doesn't get the publicity or the respect he deserves. His work frequently focuses on civil rights themes and most of it is created out of items they've reclaimed from the renovated buildings in grand crossing. Even if you see the pieces on the other side of the world, they feel very "Chicago". As a person, he seems very hardworking, thoughtful, pragmatic and intellectually adventurous; almost like the spirit of Chicago personified.

The neighborhood renovation in grand crossing is amazing. Every downtrodden city or area tries to build an "artist community" which is more or less step 1 of a gentrification process. Grand crossing doesn't really follow this model. There are renovations and new businesses following the group into the the neighborhood, but they are converting entire buildings to archives and works of art; essentially things that cannot be removed or upgraded without destroying what made the community special.

This story is a good profile of Gates.
http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Ma...ticle=0#artanc

More or less, Gates is sort of Chicago's Andy Warhol right now. He's creating great art and building a place that is unique in the world.

One of my favorite works of his is "Raising Goliath" where the weight of an old fire truck (like those used in the south during the civil rights era) is raised off the floor by a counterweight of Johnson publishing (ebony/jet) works and fire hoses

[Justin_Chicago]

Perfect opportunity to show your support for the 11 story apartment building at 3200 N Clark St.

Link is in the following article:
http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20140...t-clark-tower#

How is this not a perfect TOD when it is only 1 block from the Belmont Redline stop?

[Justin_Chicago]

Originally Posted by Mr Downtown

Out of curiosity, I decided to see if there were any patterns to new development, particularly to see whether it clusters around transit. I looked only at new construction and renovation/alteration permits with an estimated value $5000 or more. First I looked at all the data available, since 2006, and then at just the last three years.

I was hoping to see more new construction in Pilsen, Bronzeville and East Garfield Park. One of these years new development will kick in at a rapid pace. All three neighborhoods are close to the Loop and have great transit access.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by Justin_Chicago

Perfect opportunity to show your support for the 11 story apartment building at 3200 N Clark St.

Link is in the following article:
http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20140...t-clark-tower#

How is this not a perfect TOD when it is only 1 block from the Belmont Redline stop?

Yeah, because this guy isn't self-interested at all...

[Mark Thomas] is best known for owning counterculture store The Alley, 3228 N. Clark St. Several of his other businesses, including Taboo Tabou and Blue Havana, are in buildings that will be torn down for the Belmont and Clark development, and he recently consolidated them into The Alley store.

[Skyguy_7]

Originally Posted by Justin_Chicago

Perfect opportunity to show your support for the 11 story apartment building at 3200 N Clark St.

Link is in the following article:
http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20140...t-clark-tower#

How is this not a perfect TOD when it is only 1 block from the Belmont Redline stop?

Done. Good find!

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by Link N. Parker

Agreed, not sure why they are not opting for mutli-level with apartments above...

That's my gripe with this, it should have two or three stories above.

[Mr Downtown]

Originally Posted by Justin_Chicago

I was hoping to see more new construction in Pilsen, Bronzeville and East Garfield Park. One of these years new development will kick in at a rapid pace. All three neighborhoods are close to the Loop and have great transit access.

Well, the reason I made the map was to show that transit access doesn't actually seem to be especially important to redevelopment. It's true that Loop office workers look for it, but they seem to solely bid up safe Blue and Brown Line locations with trendy restaurants and good schools rather than pioneering elsewhere. In a metro growing as slowly as Chicago, there's just not that much pressure to relieve.

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by Justin_Chicago

Perfect opportunity to show your support for the 11 story apartment building at 3200 N Clark St.

Link is in the following article:
http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20140...t-clark-tower#

How is this not a perfect TOD when it is only 1 block from the Belmont Redline stop?

This needs to get built.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by Mr Downtown

Well, the reason I made the map was to show that transit access doesn't actually seem to be especially important to redevelopment. It's true that Loop office workers look for it, but they seem to solely bid up safe Blue and Brown Line locations with trendy restaurants and good schools rather than pioneering elsewhere. In a metro growing as slowly as Chicago, there's just not that much pressure to relieve.

Your map is cool but the amount of points on it is WAY too low.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by XIII

Theaster Gates is a city treasure and doesn't get the publicity or the respect he deserves. His work frequently focuses on civil rights themes and most of it is created out of items they've reclaimed from the renovated buildings in grand crossing. Even if you see the pieces on the other side of the world, they feel very "Chicago". As a person, he seems very hardworking, thoughtful, pragmatic and intellectually adventurous; almost like the spirit of Chicago personified.

The neighborhood renovation in grand crossing is amazing. Every downtrodden city or area tries to build an "artist community" which is more or less step 1 of a gentrification process. Grand crossing doesn't really follow this model. There are renovations and new businesses following the group into the the neighborhood, but they are converting entire buildings to archives and works of art; essentially things that cannot be removed or upgraded without destroying what made the community special.

This story is a good profile of Gates.
http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Ma...ticle=0#artanc

More or less, Gates is sort of Chicago's Andy Warhol right now. He's creating great art and building a place that is unique in the world.

One of my favorite works of his is "Raising Goliath" where the weight of an old fire truck (like those used in the south during the civil rights era) is raised off the floor by a counterweight of Johnson publishing (ebony/jet) works and fire hoses

Yes. I'm beginning to learn about him and he's amazing. I absolutely love what he's doing in GGC/South Shore because it just makes sense, is cool, and seems like it would work. It's really great that the artists collective, the 32 unit area, got its building permits too. It would be amazing to see this area emerge as a big arts area of town (not hipster, but arts).

Plus, he went to my alma mater so that just makes him awesome by default.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by Justin_Chicago

Perfect opportunity to show your support for the 11 story apartment building at 3200 N Clark St.

Link is in the following article:
http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20140...t-clark-tower#

How is this not a perfect TOD when it is only 1 block from the Belmont Redline stop?

Wait, what? Wasn't soil sampling being done recently? So this isn't approved yet?

Ridiculous. This thing needs to be built.

[SamInTheLoop]

Originally Posted by Mr Downtown

Well, the reason I made the map was to show that transit access doesn't actually seem to be especially important to redevelopment. It's true that Loop office workers look for it, but they seem to solely bid up safe Blue and Brown Line locations with trendy restaurants and good schools rather than pioneering elsewhere. In a metro growing as slowly as Chicago, there's just not that much pressure to relieve.

I definitely see correlation patterns in the maps. To know for sure, obviously some geospatial stats need to be run here. I'm not saying it's as strong a correlation as in some other cities, or nearly as strong as it should be here, but it appears to exist. Hopefully a map covering the second half of this decade will look more obviously clustered around transit, with the TOD ordinance (however weaker than it should be it actually is), and just more focus from developers on the market opportunity with TOD in various areas around the city. Point taken that Loop workers still prefer the 'proven safe' lines/neighborhoods, etc, however just as others feel, I also believe there are some South/Southwest, even West side neighborhoods with significant transit nodes that could be posied to 'pop' within a short time frame - maybe even the next few years....at any rate I think before 2020....

[marothisu]

Hey LVDW - speaking of Theaster Gates, I noticed in his Ted X talk he said something about purchasing a big performance space near Grand Crossing that is now abandoned. Is he the investor part of the sale of the New Regal Theater on 79th?