CHICAGOLAND | Urban Development in the Burbs

[spyguy]

27-story luxury condo development would be tallest building in Oak Brook

[wchicity]

Originally Posted by spyguy

27-story luxury condo development would be tallest building in Oak Brook

Interesting development. Seems like something you'd see in Houston or Atlanta, but not so much suburban Chicago. What are the chances of this being approved?

[KWillChicago]

Those curved corners would look good along lincoln park.

[the urban politician]

Sounds like LaGrange is trying to do a One Bennett Park kinda thing out there. I like it. Oak Brook is about to experience a major ass-whipping soon, so this will be its consolation prize...

[Chi-Sky21]

Might get approved, there is already a taller office building a few blocks away. Not sure i would want to spend what will probably be a lot of money to live in that corner of the mall though.

[Tom In Chicago]

I like the idea. . . could set a new precedent for building tall residential buildings in Chicago 'burbs. . .

. . .

[Swicago Swi Sox]

The article says the condos will be $1-Million to $3-Million. Seems very expensive to live in a mall parking lot. Nearby Western Springs has small Luxury Condo project under construction. Only 28 units, but seems to make more sense right next to a BNSF Metra Station.

https://www.foxfordstation.com/

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by Swicago Swi Sox

The article says the condos will be $1-Million to $3-Million. Seems very expensive to live in a mall parking lot.

It's not that unusual in other cities. Vancouver's been building luxury condos and apartments around virtually all of its suburban malls. LA has highrises around Westfield Century City. Toronto has countless suburban highrises including an entire skyline around Mississauga's Square One. In fact, North American suburbs pretty much never build suburban highrises UNLESS they are adjacent to a shopping mall. These places have wide roads with no worries about adding a few hundred extra cars, and no bitchy homeowners next door to complain about shadows.

As the article points out, this project is aiming at wealthy Oakbrook mansion owners/empty nesters who want to downsize. These people are not transit-oriented and will continue to lead an autocentric lifestyle, if they work downtown they will continue to drive to Metra. This project offers a way to downsize without losing prestige or leaving the community for the city. The North Shore has had these luxury multifamily developments for decades (usually lowrise condos or townhouses) but this is relatively new for the western suburbs.

From a political standpoint you probably couldn't get a highrise approved anywhere BUT a spot next to the mall. There's a reason the railroad downtowns are under-developed and even new infill is capped at 3-4 stories max, even if this is a huge waste of costly transit service... Plus, living next to the mall isn't so bad. Oakbrook Center has the western suburbs' best dining options and even a few shops that can loosely be considered "convenience retail", so I'm sure at least a few of these residents will end up walking much more than did in their mansions.

[left of center]

I agree that its location isn't the best (auto oriented mall parking lot), while also acknowledging that building near transit infrastructure (which is the right thing to do) can be difficult due to NIMBYism. That all said, its still adding to density out in the burbs as opposed to more tract housing that would eat up greenfield/farmland. We'll take what we can get.

[aaron38]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Oak Brook is about to experience a major ass-whipping soon, so this will be its consolation prize...

Meaning what?

[aaron38]

I work in Oak Brook, I'll take pictures if this gets built. It's about half a mile from Oakbrook Terrace tower (31 floors, 418 ft), so it won't look out of place. When I get a chance I'll take photo in that direction and see if I can mock up the massing.

27 floors of residential is what in height? 300-325ft?

[Investing In Chicago]

Originally Posted by aaron38

Meaning what?

McDonalds is leaving Oak Brook for the West Loop.

[aaron38]

Originally Posted by Investing In Chicago

McDonalds is leaving Oak Brook for the West Loop.

Right. But other companies have moved in, like mine.

[Investing In Chicago]

Originally Posted by aaron38

Right. But other companies have moved in, like mine.

That's nice.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by aaron38

Right. But other companies have moved in, like mine.

That's good to hear. Unlike some people in this forum, I'm not aching to see the absolute implosion of the suburbs.

I actually would like to see more developments like this.

In addition, I absolutely love that luxury condos in the millions are selling adjacent to suburban Metra stations. This goes to show just how valuable access to downtown is. I view that as a good thing

[aaron38]

Quick and dirty, just eyeballed. But the Oak Brook tower doesn't look out of place as far as height goes.

[the urban politician]

Some interesting and progressive things planned in Niles. We need more suburbs to have a pro-development, pro-transit bent:

https://chicago.curbed.com/2018/2/8/...district-plans

[Tom In Chicago]

Originally Posted by aaron38

Right. But other companies have moved in, like mine.

We're in Oakbrook Terrace Tower and I look forward to seeing the construction site from our 20th floor offices. . .

. . .

[left of center]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

That's good to hear. Unlike some people in this forum, I'm not aching to see the absolute implosion of the suburbs.

Yeah, I am in agreement that the suburbs won't be imploding anytime soon (nor should they). While cities continue to attract skilled Millennial workers, the suburbs remain alluring to a big chunk of the population and will continue to do so. What will end up occurring is that HQ's and offices that require young, tech savvy workers will continue migrating to the city, while suburban office space will transition to more back office/clerical uses that would most benefit from lower rents relative to the city center.

[spyguy]