CHICAGO | General Developments

[ithakas]

Originally Posted by Via Chicago

oh cool, more handsome well maintained vintage stock getting torn down for soulless condos. love it.

Yeah, this is one of the biggest bummers since I started tracking development here on the forums. Imagine if Smithfield had taken the same approach to design and preservation that Cedar Street has with its Bush Temple project + addition (they're tearing down two smaller buildings put preserving the jewel of the block – much like Smithfield could have done on Wells). We'd be getting two nice new streetscapes in River North rather than just the one...

[the urban politician]

^ That's because Cedar Co's got into the game rehabbing properties, and are now moving into ground up construction.

A lot of developers really just do ground up work, and rehabbing an old property is likely just seen as a costly hassle.

That's too bad, but a lot of rehabbers do actually enjoy bringing a vintage property back to life. It's not just about the money, there is a certain joy and sense of accomplishment in that.

[chrome]

Originally Posted by Via Chicago

oh cool, more handsome well maintained vintage stock getting torn down for soulless condos. love it.

Happened to be in the area last weekend while they were demoing it. This one hurts.

[spyguy]

One story retail right by the Morgan CTA station


Unrelated, but is anything happening with the new Nobu Hotel on Randolph? Figured that would have started by now.

[r18tdi]

Originally Posted by spyguy

One story retail right by the Morgan CTA station

Looks like it includes on of those "people places" or whatever you call them.

[streetline]

Originally Posted by r18tdi

Looks like it includes on of those "people places" or whatever you call them.

This may be a bit more permanent than a normal people spot; that area is currently striped off rather than used as parking spaces that would need to be paid for every year if removed. So that is nice.

What's not nice is that from the rendering it appears that they're keeping the parking lot in back.

Between this and the restaurant under construction across the street (not to mention the suburban drive through bank just to it's south), I'm not impressed with the density going in directly adjacent to a new el station. Retail is nice but they ought to be stacking ~10 stories of something on top (office, apartment, hotel, condo; almost anything beats nothing).

[maru2501]

^ yeah.
as development typically is more or less an outgrowth of maximizing sites for financial benefit I am surprised that this is what the equation spits out

[VKChaz]

Originally Posted by streetline

Retail is nice but they ought to be stacking ~10 stories of something on top (office, apartment, hotel, condo; almost anything beats nothing).

Sometimes nothing in the short term is better if it means much more in the future.

[PKDickman]

Originally Posted by maru2501

^ yeah.
as development typically is more or less an outgrowth of maximizing sites for financial benefit I am surprised that this is what the equation spits out

They may just be reworking the existing industrial building in the hope of attracting another class of tenant.

It would certainly be a cost effective way of increasing the value with going through a lot of shenanigans.

[streetline]

Originally Posted by VKChaz

Sometimes nothing in the short term is better if it means much more in the future.

One would think that if they wanted a one story building for only the short term they'd use the one already there. New construction suggests it will be there for a while.

[Ryanrule]

Originally Posted by maru2501

^ yeah.
as development typically is more or less an outgrowth of maximizing sites for financial benefit I am surprised that this is what the equation spits out

Yes, but chicago developers are very conservative when it comes to risk.
Why be exciting and maybe make a lot when you can take a nap and make an easy return.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by Ryanrule

Yes, but chicago developers are very conservative when it comes to risk.
Why be exciting and maybe make a lot when you can take a nap and make an easy return.

^ You've got to be joking. Remember that 444 W Lake got out of the ground as one of the first major on-spec downtown office towers that launched in the country since the great recession.

Sure the developers aren't in Chicago, but the location is. Chicago has a long and storied, hell I would even say epic, history of people taking chances on real estate.

[ithakas]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ You've got to be joking. Remember that 444 W Lake got out of the ground as one of the first major on-spec downtown office towers that launched in the country since the great recession.

Sure the developers aren't in Chicago, but the location is. Chicago has a long and storied, hell I would even say epic, history of people taking chances on real estate.

In the words of Bruce Graham, "I've known a lot of good developers. They're all suicidal."

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by streetline

One would think that if they wanted a one story building for only the short term they'd use the one already there. New construction suggests it will be there for a while.

Who says it's new construction and not just a new facade?

Anyway, the lack of density is disappointing here given that the master plan for the community specifically calls for taller buildings along Lake so that the historic buildings along Randolph can be preserved.

Still, the active retail will be a huge streetscape improvement over the blank industrial wall that exists there right now.

[streetline]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Who says it's new construction and not just a new facade?

Anyway, the lack of density is disappointing here given that the master plan for the community specifically calls for taller buildings along Lake so that the historic buildings along Randolph can be preserved.

Still, the active retail will be a huge streetscape improvement over the blank industrial wall that exists there right now.

The rendering shows a single flat roof, while the existing building has four separate sections at different levels, including a small 2-story area; it wouldn't surprise me if it started out as multiple buildings. If they're saving anything it can't be much.

[sentinel]

The new Writers Theater, Glencoe, IL
Designed by Jeannie Gang

January 26, 2016
Six things about the new Jeanne Gang-designed Writers Theatre in Glencoe
By Anne Spiselman

'The new Writers Theatre in Glencoe is sure to be a major North Shore cultural attraction. Set to open with a ribbon-cutting Feb. 12, the 36,000-square-foot building, developed in partnership with the Woman's Library Club and the village of Glencoe, features two state-of-the-art performance spaces, one seating 250 and the other a flexible black box for 50 to 99. A spacious main atrium, with an all-wood grand gallery walk suspended around it, is intended as a central gathering area for supplementary artistic and educational programs. Outdoor rooftop terraces, landscaped and rooftop gardens and access to adjacent parks are meant to create a “theater in a park” atmosphere...'

Images taken from the article, here:

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...tre-in-glencoe


Photo by Manuel Martinez


Photo by Manuel Martinez

[Near North Resident]

Cabrini Row homes Choice Neighborhoods Planning information session meeting this Thursday (1/28/16) at 6PM at the new Jessie White Center show up if you can! We need more sane urban focused voices in attendance!

http://www.connectnearnorth.org/uplo...e_white_cc.pdf

[Ryanrule]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ You've got to be joking. Remember that 444 W Lake got out of the ground as one of the first major on-spec downtown office towers that launched in the country since the great recession.

Sure the developers aren't in Chicago, but the location is. Chicago has a long and storied, hell I would even say epic, history of people taking chances on real estate.

Im not talking about the big money.
Medium and small stuff.

Though i would say the big boys fail when it comes to interior finish and layouts.
And developers that put in fake bedrooms (no window) can burn in hell.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by Near North Resident

Cabrini Row homes Choice Neighborhoods Planning information session meeting this Thursday (1/28/16) at 6PM at the new Jessie White Center show up if you can! We need more sane urban focused voices in attendance!

http://www.connectnearnorth.org/uplo...e_white_cc.pdf

Interesting. I was wondering when they would fill in this hole in the Cabrini master plan. Hopefully they will continue a corridor of mixed use highrises along Chicago Ave and extend the new Cabrini streetgrid through the remainder of the site.

CHA has to be realistic about the income mix here. The greater the demands for subsidized housing placed on the private development partner, the fewer partners will compete for the opportunity. Money that could go to support amenities and services in the new neighborhood (library, school, park, etc) will instead go towards subsidizing an ever higher percentage of sub-market rate housing.

CHA could solve this problem if they allowed and encouraged highrise densities (or even European-style midrise density) while keeping the number of public and affordable housing units capped.

[marothisu]

Another office project planned on Goose Island
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/reale...n-goose-island

Lakeview Realty Investors, the real estate development business of WaterSaver Faucet President and CEO Steven Kersten, is seeking one or two tenants for a two-story, 76,500-square-foot office project it wants to build on the North Side island.

The new building at 1087 N. North Branch St. would include office, research and development and showroom space, said Mike Senner, a principal at Seattle-based Colliers International who is leasing the development.

Designed by Irvine, Calif.-based Ware Malcomb, the building at 1087 N. North Branch would include ground-floor R&D or showroom space with 23-foot-high ceilings and second-floor offices, Senner said. The developer seeks one or two tenants to lease the building, but Kersten could decide to build the project on speculation, or without any tenants signed in advance, Senner said.

A Kersten venture bought a former Nazdar Ink Technologies warehouse on the site for $3 million in May 2015, according to Cook County property records. The building was demolished in December to make way for the new structure, Senner said.