CHICAGO | General Developments

[Via Chicago]

Originally Posted by aaron38

Oh, also saw a report that the Sun Times is up for sale. Wonder if that has any implications for everyone's least favorite building?

indeed it does

https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/2017...wners-announce

New owners of the legacy Chicago newspaper plan to move the company's offices to 30 N. Racine Ave. in a building that was formerly part of Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Studios campus, said Izabela Miltko-Ivkovich, an acting spokeswoman for the new ownership group.

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by 10023

They need to take lanes away from LSD, really. Make it two in each direction and add speed control features. It should be a scenic parkway, not something like an interstate expressway.

And for god sakes, cut down the lanes on Columbus and other roads that traverse Grant Park. Balbo should be closed, as should Jackson. Intelligent use of roundabouts could keep traffic moving around the park without so many roads.

They are getting rid of the only speed control feature left: the Oak Street curve when you will just slam into concrete if you go faster than 40 MPH. LSD will turn into a racetrack without the curve and street lights.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by Via Chicago

indeed it does

https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/2017...wners-announce

That's actually a pretty big deal. One of the city's 2 major newspapers is moving to this area. Not sure how many people the SunTimes employs but it just further solidifies the West Loop as a place for offices

[Randomguy34]

New owners of the legacy Chicago newspaper plan to move the company's offices to 30 N. Racine Ave. in a building that was formerly part of Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Studios campus, said Izabela Miltko-Ivkovich, an acting spokeswoman for the new ownership group.

More fuel added to the flame known as the West Loop.

[TimeAgain]

Originally Posted by msu2001la

Interesting observations and comparisons.

The lakefront between Belmont and Grand is pretty heavily used by pedestrians. I'm not totally sure where you are seeing pedestrian sidewalks on LSD that are barren. The lakefront trail has over 30,000 users daily at some points in this stretch. These numbers have been observed since 2013 by the project team and are rising every year.

The footprint of NLSD roadway isn't changing. The roadway is being reconfigured, and may convert a lane to dedicated transit, but the amount of pavement will remain roughly the same. The additional park space is created by filling in the lake, which is necessary to revise the roadway geometry to straighten out the S-curve and lengthen ramps to current standards.

The reason IDOT is looking at this project at all is because the current bridges and underpasses are in need of replacement, and additional protection from the lake is needed to prevent roadway flooding. Rather than rebuild what's there (and be stuck with existing bad design) and put up a big wall, they are using this as an opportunity to rework the entire stretch of NLSD. This isn't an "either/or" scenario where they're choosing to do this project instead of improving Grant Park (which has recently seen massive improvements via Millennium Park and Maggie Daley Park). The NLSD project is being run through IDOT, with cooperation from CDOT, CTA and CPD. Grant Park improvements would generally be run through CPD and have nothing to do with IDOT, CDOT or CTA. They use different funding mechanisms.

I think me and you are talking about two different things. I'm talking about the area specifically around Grant Park, and I was responding to another poster's idea, not IDOT's plan (which I am in favor of).

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by emathias

I feel like Grant Park is largely treated more like a fairgrounds than a park for much of the year.

Well, that's basically what it is. Chicago doesn't have a fairground to stage large events like Taste or Lollapalooza, so Grant Park has to fill the bill. Obviously that sets up a conflict with the many thousands of people who now live around Grant Park and expect to have relaxing, recreational park space nearby.

[ithakas]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Well, that's basically what it is. Chicago doesn't have a fairground to stage large events like Taste or Lollapalooza, so Grant Park has to fill the bill. Obviously that sets up a conflict with the many thousands of people who now live around Grant Park and expect to have relaxing, recreational park space nearby.

I wonder if it would be realistic to turn the parking lot where the Lucas Museum was meant to be into the downtown fairgrounds for the city. They could build a pedestrian bridge to Northerly Island and incorporate the northern half for it as well (leaving access to the lagoon via 12th Street beach). They'd probably half to buy out the Pavilion lease, and figure out more transportation options, but if it means Grant Park can evolve into something more cohesive and refined it would be well worth it...

[Stained]

I would like the city to find some kind of use for that lot, but Friends of the Parking Lot would emerge again and find a reason to reject it.

[marothisu]

Notable items on the zoning agenda next Friday (7/21):

* 1220 N Bosworth (just north of Division Blue Line Stop). I wrote about this before but it was once the site of a 12 story high rise proposal. It's been downgraded to 23 3-story townhome units. Oh well - at least it gets rid of some surface lot?

https://www.google.com/maps/place/29...!4d-87.6999899

* 1936 W Augusta Blvd (Augusta & ~Winchester). 5 stories, 16 units with indoor parking. Leona's restaurant (1 story). There was an article back in April about how this got saved from demolition. Doubt that's true anymore with this.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/19...!4d-87.6763218

* 4422-30 N Sheridan Rd (Sheridan & Agatite). 4 story, 33 unit building with retail. Currently a vacant lot:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/44...!4d-87.6547403

* 2332 S Princeton (Princeton & 23rd Pl). 7 stories, 24 units. Currently an old building and surface parking lot:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/30...!4d-87.6348676

* 1802 S State St (State & 18th St). 4 stories, 39 units w/39 parking spaces. Currently a parking lot. Not sure if it also includes the 1 story building south of it:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/18...9!4d-87.627658

* 2900 W Logan Blvd (Logan & Francisco). Current church to be converted into 9 dwelling units.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/29...!4d-87.6999899

* 1972 W Devon (Devon & ~ Damen). 5 4-story townhomes. Currently a vacant lot and probably includes a house or two:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/19...!4d-87.6796782



Also, the Jaslin Hotel in Chinatown is looking to open a bar of some kind.

[JK47]

Originally Posted by 10023

They need to take lanes away from LSD, really. Make it two in each direction and add speed control features. It should be a scenic parkway, not something like an interstate expressway.

And for god sakes, cut down the lanes on Columbus and other roads that traverse Grant Park. Balbo should be closed, as should Jackson. Intelligent use of roundabouts could keep traffic moving around the park without so many roads.

1) Cutting LSD's throughput in half is a terrible idea. Just as respects the North Side, the streets to the west aren't nearly wide enough nor configured well enough to handle the load and the Red Line, particularly south of Addison, is too distant and likely too inadequate in terms of capacity. You'd need to replace the lost capacity with some kind of heavy rail component to handle the commuter traffic alone.

2) Drivers in the Midwest aren't going to be able to handle roundabouts. Half the people here barely remember to use their blinkers to signal turns let alone lane changes. Roundabouts are also going to make pedestrian crossings (in a city where pedestrians rarely look before walking into a normal intersection) a lot more difficult.

[maru2501]

most chicagoans already hit roundabouts at 52 mph

[Via Chicago]

Originally Posted by ithakas

I wonder if it would be realistic to turn the parking lot where the Lucas Museum was meant to be into the downtown fairgrounds for the city. They could build a pedestrian bridge to Northerly Island and incorporate the northern half for it as well (leaving access to the lagoon via 12th Street beach). They'd probably half to buy out the Pavilion lease, and figure out more transportation options, but if it means Grant Park can evolve into something more cohesive and refined it would be well worth it...

i still think they should turn part of the grounds on south works into a permanent festival space similar to the Summerfest land in milwaukee. but everyone wants the marquee views and location and transportation options...i just dont see it changing

soldier field lot is not nearly large enough to accommodate a festival the size of Lolla.

[Le Baron]

Originally Posted by Via Chicago

i still think they should turn part of the grounds on south works into a permanent festival space similar to the Summerfest land in milwaukee. but everyone wants the marquee views and location and transportation options...i just dont see it changing

soldier field lot is not nearly large enough to accommodate a festival the size of Lolla.

An interesting thought to consider would be to bifurcate the streets and the park into two different vertical levels. One continuous park space E/W from Michigan to LSD; from Congress south to Roosevelt. This way you don't need to block off the streets to host events.

Could create hardscape above the tracks and move events there.

Would obviously need to build up in places so, in effect, you're creating a giant green roof over most of the area, especially to span the roads.

Incline on west side of lower Hutchinson could be used for premium seating for events like lolla, incremental revenue source to them and the park district (I think they get ~$3 million a year from the event currently).

Upper Hutchinson, below the new park in my fantasy world, could be the staging grounds for any vehicles or equipment.

Clearly dealing with Monopoly money but ~$535+ million was spent on the north end of the park @ Millennium and Maggie Daley.

[SolarWind]

July 13, 2017


Exhibit on Superior’s pocket park in the foreground ^

Originally Posted by ChickeNES

http://www.chicagocityscape.com/perm...?pid=100591641:

February 19, 2016 - 162 W Superior St - Erect 4th, 5th and 6th floor addition to existing 3-story structure to an open plan day care center for children ages 15 months to 6 years with architectural, structural, mechanical, plumbing, electrical and fire protection work per plans.**certified corrections- - subject to field inspections & audit

Page 1 needs to be updated. It has an old proposal for 162 West Superior listed as 189 ft, 17 floors.

[SolarWind]

July 13, 2017

[SolarWind]

July 13, 2017

[SolarWind]

July 13, 2017

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by SolarWind

July 13, 2017


Exhibit on Superior’s pocket park in the foreground ^



Page 1 needs to be updated. It has an old proposal for 162 West Superior listed as 189 ft, 17 floors.

The guy doing this job used to rent storage space from me. How about that?

[LouisVanDerWright]

Meanwhile in Logan Square Revcon appears to be on site at California Micro Apartments. Talk about a density boost:

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

Meanwhile in Logan Square Revcon appears to be on site at California Micro Apartments. Talk about a density boost:

What's up with the Megamall redevelopment? A few days ago the site was cleared but otherwise no sign of activity.