CHICAGO | Highrise Projects & Construction, v7

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by rlw777

They are making the right financial decision avoiding retail. Development on the west side of wells is going to take the better part of a decade. Who knows when the Wells-Wentworth connector will start or when any development will happen along it to add a few more pedestrians. If they build a row of retail there now and it's a very good chance that they have 10 years of empty space.

Agreed. Retail makes no sense down there. The site plan is ok, actually, for such a narrow strip of land.

It makes more sense to focus retail on the parcel north of River City

[hawainpanda]

wow, actually the renders are really nice IMO, I do agree that land is undersued by townhouses but its not like Chicago's population is booming

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by hawainpanda

but its not like Chicago's population is booming

When most people think like you do, it helps people like me become rich. Real estate is about hyper local trends.

And downtown Chicago's population is booming

[ChiTownWonder]

Looks nice, but doesn't look very chicago style at all. Reminds me of something you would find in costal cities like Long Beach, Miami or Tampa, which is ok i guess since it is on the river. The riverwalk here sounds promising as well

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by wierdaaron

Terrible.

Don't they know traffic on that street is going to explode pretty soon? You can't turn it into a garden path. This is Dearborn Park all over again. Fire everyone.

Not sure what you mean here by garden path. Wells will stay the way it is today, but with complete sidewalks.

The riverwalk along the river's edge will also be fully accessible to the public, with a far greater attention to detail than most riverwalks have shown. There will also be several public walks crossing through the development between Wells and the river. It's nothing like Dearborn Park, it's about as permeable as you can get if you are on foot or biking. There aren't any new public streets, but everything would dead-end at the river anyway.

Also, it looks like the designers have left open the right-of-way for the future Taylor Bridge. That's why the north face of Building G is so tall and blank - it will face a bridge abutment one day. There may be some residual space to either side of the bridge, which could be filled in with liner townhouses or retail in a decade or two.

[hawainpanda]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

When most people think like you do, it helps people like me become rich. Real estate is about hyper local trends.

And downtown Chicago's population is booming

Good for u

[LouisVanDerWright]

^^^ TUP is right, hyper local is all that matters. I don't care what is happening to the metro when I know exactly what is happening in a couple of one square mile patches of the city that I focus on.

[BVictor1]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

^^^ TUP is right, hyper local is all that matters. I don't care what is happening to the metro when I know exactly what is happening in a couple of one square mile patches of the city that I focus on.

You should care about what happening in the metro. There still needs to be a cohesiveness and flow. The bigger picture needs to be viewed and not just a corner of the image, otherwise the interpretation can be skewed.

[SamInTheLoop]

Originally Posted by BVictor1

River South Development...

What went before the plan commission today was just a courtesy. There was no vote either yay or nay.

What was discussed today was the land south of River City. This PD is originally from 1980 and was for 1500 dwelling units, 446 are already built (River City).

There are plans for 942 units on this land in 3 towers and townhouses.

It looks like they'll be working south to north.

These images are really rough. I haven't edited or adjusted anything yet...

Really like the architecture here, as I was confident I would........can't wait to see what they have planned for the north parcel......thanks for bringing to us, BVic!



PS Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the river, that area's continues its tireless drive toward total auto-focused retail surburbanized wasteland. The latest is that Portillo's will build a big standalone I'm sure with a large surface lot and two-lane drive-thru outlet near Taylor/Clinton........does the city even realize how what they have actively encouraged in that area is harming the actual urban retail and streetlife in the parts of the South Loop east of the river 'on the grid'??..........infuriates me.....

[LouisVanDerWright]

Both Prentice and the Ontario hotel have significant activity on site. There's also tuckpointing going on at the site closer to Michigan on Ontario. Any news on that lately?

[brian_b]

For this River South development, is the next step in the process filing for permits since it is within current zoning?

[b0soleil]

Just got a letter informing me of an application for a zoning amendment for west side of 1300 block of Michigan (backing into the 2 new buildings on Wabash and 13th) for a 48 story, 495', 500 unit (240 parking) residential building with ground floor retail.

Applicant is SMAT LLC, 181 W. Madison St. Suite 4700
Lawyer is John J George, 180 N. Stetson Ave, Suite 3700

Hope this happens and breaks the 30 story plateau in the south loop. (and I can't wait for the community hearings when some NIMBY want to cut it to 25-30 stories so it "fits" and I get to say, "I live on the 30th floor right next to this proposal and this will completely block my views... Maybe we should make it 28 stories and block everyone's views but mine. On the other hand, every extra floor is $50k in annual tax revenues. 20 extra floors over 30 stories is $1m in extra property taxes. Do it for the schools, do it for the children!!!"

[BVictor1]

Originally Posted by b0soleil

Just got a letter informing me of an application for a zoning amendment for west side of 1300 block of Michigan (backing into the 2 new buildings on Wabash and 13th) for a 48 story, 495', 500 unit (240 parking) residential building with ground floor retail.

Applicant is SMAT LLC, 181 W. Madison St. Suite 4700
Lawyer is John J George, 180 N. Stetson Ave, Suite 3700

Hope this happens and breaks the 30 story plateau in the south loop. (and I can't wait for the community hearings when some NIMBY want to cut it to 25-30 stories so it "fits" and I get to say, "I live on the 30th floor right next to this proposal and this will completely block my views... Maybe we should make it 28 stories and block everyone's views but mine. On the other hand, every extra floor is $50k in annual tax revenues. 20 extra floors over 30 stories is $1m in extra property taxes. Do it for the schools, do it for the children!!!"

Excellent to hear. This is the 3rd Ward, Pat Dowell. I'll have to ask her about it at the Town Hall on Tuesday.

Hopefully the design is good.

[wierdaaron]

I think that lot was a one story that burned down a few years ago. 48 stories is pretty high, even in the south loop. Address for SMAT is the same as MB Real Estate, but they don't develop as far as I know.

[spyguy]

Originally Posted by b0soleil

Just got a letter informing me of an application for a zoning amendment for west side of 1300 block of Michigan (backing into the 2 new buildings on Wabash and 13th) for a 48 story, 495', 500 unit (240 parking) residential building with ground floor retail.

Sounds like a good project. I just hope it isn't some Pappageorge monstrosity.

---
Updated renderings of a few projects.

1) Chicago and Cleveland - the revised proposal decreased the number of units (214->200) and increased parking (160->186)


2) Oak Park proposal

[Near North Resident]

Originally Posted by spyguy

Sounds like a good project. I just hope it isn't some Pappageorge monstrosity.

---
Updated renderings of a few projects.

1) Chicago and Cleveland - the revised proposal decreased the number of units (214->200) and increased parking (160->186)

looks kind of 70's/80s to me but depends on what the terra cotta looks like up close, might be cool

that blank lot to the right of the building is the under construction now 750 n hudson

will make a nice canyon right there... even though the montgomery kind of ruins it

I'm hoping once they demolish the open air prison like thing they got going on with the rowhouses they decide to make Cleveland avenue go all the way through to the north and repair the entire grid there... what a disaster it currently is

[BVictor1]

Originally Posted by spyguy

Sounds like a good project. I just hope it isn't some Pappageorge monstrosity.

---
Updated renderings of a few projects.

1) Chicago and Cleveland - the revised proposal decreased the number of units (214->200) and increased parking (160->186)

^Ugly and bloated POS. Ald. Burnette needs a lesson in planning and design.

[marothisu]

It looks like most buildings I hate in Manhattan with a bigger base. Monolithic bullshit that looks like someone designed the entire thing in less than a week. The base is terrible too. The rest of it has/had a chance to be better but meh. At least it'll be infill? It's also a shame to hear that the amount of parking increased by almost double the number of units it was reduced by.

[brian_b]

Originally Posted by b0soleil

Just got a letter informing me of an application for a zoning amendment for west side of 1300 block of Michigan (backing into the 2 new buildings on Wabash and 13th) for a 48 story, 495', 500 unit (240 parking) residential building with ground floor retail.

Applicant is SMAT LLC, 181 W. Madison St. Suite 4700
Lawyer is John J George, 180 N. Stetson Ave, Suite 3700

Hope this happens and breaks the 30 story plateau in the south loop. (and I can't wait for the community hearings when some NIMBY want to cut it to 25-30 stories so it "fits" and I get to say, "I live on the 30th floor right next to this proposal and this will completely block my views... Maybe we should make it 28 stories and block everyone's views but mine. On the other hand, every extra floor is $50k in annual tax revenues. 20 extra floors over 30 stories is $1m in extra property taxes. Do it for the schools, do it for the children!!!"

Mr. George is a busy guy. Today I received a zoning notice from him regarding a proposed amendment to PD499. That's the PD that the Indiana/Roosevelt tower resides in, however this notice is on behalf of Central Station.

[wierdaaron]

Seems like a lot of fuses just got lit all at once.