CHICAGO | Boom rundown - everything over 12 floors. v5

[ardecila]

I was driving in on the Ike today and I noticed how pretty the sunlight looked on the western face of the skyline. Nice job capturing it!

[ardecila]

Yup, Google Maps images were taken in 2003. Their 3D building set is also taken from 2003, so I have my hands full keeping the building set for downtown up-to-date.

There was about a month back in 2006 when the images were updated for downtown, but then they switched back for some ridiculous reason.

For the longest time, Windows Live didn't have Birds' Eye images of Chicago either, so maybe it's some city or state law that hinders aerial photographers?

[Chicago Shawn]

[harryc]

Second try - still learning the finer points of WebShots

Click on image for full size

[harryc]

One11 W Illinois




Series 2007
Series 2008

155 N Wacker




Series

[harryc]

215 W Washington Feb 28
Frozen ground, no problem






monsters live here ( according to my youngest son )


501 N State - Palomar Feb 26
Foundation work




From the bridge


Series

From the fountain


Series

[harryc]

251 N State - TheWit


Series

757 N Orleans - Gammonley Condos


Series

325 W Ohio - Silver Tower


Series

Stay Bridge & 110 W Superior


Series

[SolarWind]

February 29, 2008

353 North Clark

[harryc]

Diesel


Hydrolic winch ?


stuff


From above


Series

[Breezyfingers]

300 N. Lasalle will look Whomungous from this angle:


OMP and UIC:

[pasadenabinks]

so quiet................I think I hear crickets.......

[Ecker]

Gold Coast equipment spotting:

- A soil testing rig has arrived at the Mondrian Hotel site.
- A Case Foundation crane has been assembled at Walton on the Park, but no caisson drilling has occurred. Cassion drill motors are not on site yet.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by Ecker

Gold Coast equipment spotting:

- A soil testing rig has arrived at the Mondrian Hotel site.
- A Case Foundation crane has been assembled at Walton on the Park, but no caisson drilling has occurred. Cassion drill motors are not on site yet.

And we don't even know what the Mondrian Hotel will look like. Certain people have seen a rendering in some obscure place, but nobody's posted it here. Since it's by SCB, I have a fairly good idea of what to expect, but I could be totally wrong.

[spyguy]

As far as I remember, it's basically just a glass box with the Cedar Hotel's facade slapped on.

[the urban politician]

Developer's big bet in Chinatown
REAL ESTATE | Wong hoping to build large, mixed-use building with space for indoor mall

March 5, 2008
DAVID ROEDER [email protected]
A developer dedicated to promoting Chinatown as a commercial, housing and hotel destination is asking for zoning authority to construct a large building at 2411 S. Wallace that seems to personify the idea of "mixed use," and a lot of it.

In a building of perhaps 20 stories, See Wong wants to pack 160 residential units, 552 parking spaces and a whopping 235,000 square feet for retailers. He said the stores would be on the ground floors, the parking decks above it and the homes in a tower above them.

The project reflects his belief that Chinatown needs the commercial appeal of an indoor mall. Wong said he hopes to start marketing the space to condo buyers and retailers this summer, assuming he gets the city's zoning OK. He filed an application in early February, which starts a hearing process that can last for several months.

"I've been doing this for 20 years," said Wong, head of Wabash Development Group. "I know the cycles go up and down, but I feel comfortable because I have a niche market and also because immigrants continue to come here to Chinatown."

His homes, he said, might be marketed for student housing while the stores would have an Asian theme.

Wong has received zoning approval for another notable deal, a 175-room hotel that would have a pagoda-style roof. Meant to invoke ancient Chinese dynasties, his Grand Imperial hotel is planned for the southwest corner of Clark and Archer.

He's selling the rooms as condo units, similar to the arrangement that's available for Donald Trump's downtown hotel but at lower prices. Wong said he has sales contracts on about 50 percent of the rooms and has promised to start construction in the spring.

RENT ROLL: After hassling with the city over some design issues, a San Antonio-based company is moving ahead with a new apartment tower immediately east of the Merchandise Mart. Lynd Co. has gotten the city's OK for a 32-story building on an empty lot at the southeast corner of Kinzie and Wells.

The project reflects the standard mind-set these days that apartments in downtown are far easier to fill than condos are to sell. The building would have 249 units, 213 parking spaces and about 25,000 square feet for coffee shops and the like.


http://www.suntimes.com/business/roeder/825680,CST-FIN-roeder05.article

[Mr Roboto]

See Wong seems intent on building up and densifying chinatown, which is a good thing. But I dont know about the locations hes selecting. I like the look of the hotel, but have a hard time picturing it fit at that small triangular lot at Clark and Archer, across from Hilliard. Then this new mixed use building would be at the farthest reaches of chinatown, surrounded by nothing but residential and warehouses, a good walk from the traditional tourist/shopping areas on wentworth and near cermak. I guess the expansion of chinatown, and the density is a good thing though. I just hope its successful.

[VivaLFuego]

^ Good news all around. I won't expect much out of the 2411 S. Wallace project from an architectural standpoint, but it's great to see that barren stretch of Archer redeveloped into a better, denser use. It's not far from Halsted Orange Line, and it's right on the 24-hour #62 bus, so transit accessibility is quite good.

[honte]

^ Yeah, the area is a wasteland - hopefully this tower could start good redevelopment over there. However, I think it is a fabulous place for a tower despite the strageness of its surroundings. Whenever I am sitting on the Dan Ryan at that location, I always imagine building towers because the view is so amazing. If it's priced right, this tower will offer a type of arrangement that it very hard find elsewhere in Chicago. Let's just hope the design is decent.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by Mr Roboto

See Wong seems intent on building up and densifying chinatown, which is a good thing. But I dont know about the locations hes selecting. I like the look of the hotel, but have a hard time picturing it fit at that small triangular lot at Clark and Archer, across from Hilliard. Then this new mixed use building would be at the farthest reaches of chinatown, surrounded by nothing but residential and warehouses, a good walk from the traditional tourist/shopping areas on wentworth and near cermak. I guess the expansion of chinatown, and the density is a good thing though. I just hope its successful.

I'm not sure I'd call it densifying to put a major development on the outskirts of the neighborhood. There are so many spots closer to the Red Line that could (should?) be filled in with that sort of density. Why can't they build something like that on the surface lots on Wentworth between Archer and Cermak? Chinatown Market would lose their parking for a while, but for the area as a whole a mall and parking and residences a block from the Red Line makes a lot more sense than a mall and residences and parking squeezed under/around elevated freeways. If they built it on those lots and had enough parking then they could build out something on the surface lots directly adjacent to the Red Line which could REALLY give Chinatown a nice "pop."

[emathias]

Originally Posted by honte

...Whenever I am sitting on the Dan Ryan at that location, I always imagine building towers because the view is so amazing. If it's priced right, this tower will offer a type of arrangement that it very hard find elsewhere in Chicago. Let's just hope the design is decent.

that's a big part of the problem with Chicago development - even in areas that should be developed to a walking/transit lifestyle, people are thinking too much about them from a driver's standpoint. As primarily a pedestrian, I can't think of too many worse areas to put that development in the general area. Best would be to continue the infill in the existing Chinatown neighborhood. Not best, but better than this current location would be those empty lots on Halsted just a block or two south of Archer.