CHICAGO | Hyde Park Development

[sentinel]

Harper Court, 02.26





From their facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/HarperCourt/photos_stream

[spyguy]

Harper Court/ Facebook

Looks like there are a few more retail tenants: Red Mango frozen yogurt, Porkchop (like the restaurant on Randolph), and something called HP 53 in the Harper Theater building across the street.

[f_m]

Long-time lurker checking in here. The world-famous Hyde Park NIMBYs have deployed this crazy-ass flyer about the McMobil proposal:
http://www.hydepark.org/hpkccnews/McMobilflyerMar18.pdf
The best part is where they claim that it would cast shadows on Nichols Park... which is to the south.

I probably can't go to this meeting, but I would love it if some local kindred spirit went to shake it up a little.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by f_m

Long-time lurker checking in here. The world-famous Hyde Park NIMBYs have deployed this crazy-ass flyer about the McMobil proposal:
http://www.hydepark.org/hpkccnews/McMobilflyerMar18.pdf
The best part is where they claim that it would cast shadows on Nichols Park... which is to the south.

I probably can't go to this meeting, but I would love it if some local kindred spirit went to shake it up a little.

^ Yay

NIMBY's won against U of C before not because of Aldermanic intervention, but because they voted a district dry and thus the University couldn't build a hotel. U of C eventually got their hotel.

[the urban politician]

Mar 20, 2013
Antheus seeks funding

By LINDSAY WELBERS
Staff Writer

City Hyde Park is one step closer to having its financial ducks in a row so construction can start.

The Jeanne Gang designed building was initially scheduled to begin construction in the fall of 2013 but financial hurdles delayed the project.

On Friday the City of Chicago Committee on Finance met to hear the Silliman Group’s request that the property at 51st Street and Lake Park Avenue be added to Enterprise Zone 6.

Illinois’ Enterprise Zone program intends to spur development and job creation in certain geographical regions in the state by relaxing regulations and granting tax incentives to developers who want to build in that area. There are currently 95 enterprise zones in Illinois, the maximum allowed under the law. The Illinois Enterprise Zone Act was signed in 1982 and intended to create growth in economically depressed areas.

To build City Hyde Park, Silliman is requesting that the property be added to the enterprise zone that extends across the South Side as far west as Central Park Avenue and as far south as 123rd Street.

The only Hyde Park properties currently in the enterprise zone are at the corner of 47th Street and Lake Park Avenue. If the state approves the change, the enterprise zone will extend south down Lake Park Avenue to include the property where the Village Shopping Center currently sits.

Joining the enterprise zone would allow Silliman to save millions of dollars on sales tax for building materials and some utilities. It also would make City Hyde Park eligible for certain tax credits, including income tax. It would also be eligible for tax deductions.
The City Hyde Park project was also recently warded $11 million in tax increment financing.

City Hyde Park, once completed, will be the home of the first Whole Foods on the South Side outside of the South Loop, along with space for medium box retailers and 180 apartments.

[joeg1985]

^ Did they mean to write that it was supposed to start construction in the fall of 2012? Or is it really being pushed into 2014?

[ardecila]

Harper Court, looking good





twitter/@ChrisDillion

Akira; pretty nice




http://arcchicago.blogspot.com/2013/....html?spref=tw

[brian_b]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Akira; pretty nice

Overheard a little story recently - U of C was originally courting Urban Outfitters for Harper Court - with discounted rent and other concessions. Not interested, so they went after Akira.

This Hyde Park store is now Akira's best performing store in the city, which has really got a lot of attention in the retail market. Urban Outfitters is said to be scouting in Hyde Park, tail between their leg. No discounted rent is available any more.

[Mr Downtown]

Vue53 approved by Zoning Committee this morning.

[the urban politician]

^ Life rocks when NIMBY's lose

[spyguy]

Harper Court/ Facebook

[spyguy]

And if the renderings are correct, Michaels and Marshalls are joining the development:

[the urban politician]

^ I love the design.

I don't mean to sound snarky here, but are they going to keep redesigning this thing or are we actually on our way towards putting some shovels in the dirt some time this decade?

[spyguy]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ I love the design.

I don't mean to sound snarky here, but are they going to keep redesigning this thing or are we actually on our way towards putting some shovels in the dirt some time this decade?

It's a good question since this thing has been dragging on forever. The latest is that more of the retail space has been leased (not yet announced) and I believe that some utility work will begin near the end of summer. I'm guessing Whole Foods has some kind of opening deadline, so they'll probably have to work to meet that at least.

[Rizzo]

I'm just glad the design hasn't been whittled down to a plain glass box. This looks really nice.

[thewaterman11]

The first Harper Court businesses are opening up this week. An AT&T store opened over Labor Day weekend, while a Starbucks and an athletic shoe shop, Villa, are going to open later in the week.
http://fiftythird.uchicago.edu/2013/...n-harper-court

[ardecila]

^ Great news.

spyguy, that image really shows how Harper Court is not out of scale with the neighborhood, and the McMobil and City Hyde Park projects will also be an appropriate scale.

[spyguy]

The University purchased the building on the SW corner of 53rd and Harper. This reveals their plans for the upper floors of that and other neighboring buildings, but I wonder if they'll clean up the first floor retail as well.





http://news.uchicago.edu/article/201...icago-startups

New innovation hub uses discovery to fuel Chicago startups
Chicago Innovation Exchange to open on 53rd Street, sparking business and product creation
OCTOBER 11, 2013

The University of Chicago announced Friday that it has created a new center to help scholars and entrepreneurs translate their ideas and new technologies into startup businesses and products.

The Chicago Innovation Exchange (CIE), which will open in late 2014 in the 53rd Street commercial district in Hyde Park, will provide space for proof-of-concept work, business incubation, collaboration opportunities, and programming for new ventures by UChicago faculty and students, as well as entrepreneurs from outside the University. It also will cultivate partnerships to connect emerging entrepreneurs with Chicago’s broader innovation ecosystem and drive the creation of new businesses, jobs, and economic activity in the city and surrounding region.

The CIE will bring together the University’s distinctive strengths in research and resources from a network of world-class entrepreneurship programs to drive innovation in a range of areas, applying scientific discoveries to generate scalable solutions to difficult societal problems. The center will have space to incubate five to 10 new companies a year, along with co-working space, gathering places, and meeting rooms that together can accommodate up to 350 people in full working mode.

...The CIE will draw participation from different parts and affiliates of the University, including Argonne National Laboratory; the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and the Michael P. Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation; the College; the Computation Institute; Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory; the Institute for Molecular Engineering; the Marine Biological Laboratory; the Physical Sciences Division; the Biological Sciences Division and the University of Chicago Medicine; UChicago’s Center for Technology Development & Ventures, or UChicagoTech; the Urban Education Institute; and the University of Chicago Law School. The CIE will be a central hub for these distinct entities, allowing for greater collaboration, sharing of resources, and a regular exchange of ideas—complementing existing innovation efforts in Chicago.

[spyguy]

http://hpherald.com/2013/10/09/demo-...n-for-city-hp/

Demo to begin for City HP
By LINDSAY WELBERS OCT 9, 2013

The old buildings at the Village Shopping Center should be demolished in coming weeks.

Peter Cassel, director of community development for Antheus Capital, told the 53rd Street TIF Advisory Council on Monday, Sept. 30, that the buildings should be gone by the end of the year.

Construction on the 17-story building that will eventually house 110,000 square feet of retail including a Whole Foods, 182 apartments, and two levels of underground parking, would begin early next year.

...Cassel also announced that three greystones between 5110 and 5114 S. Harper Ave. will be demolished. Antheus bought the properties in 2008, he said, as a defensive move when they were “a rat-infested mess.”

Antheus has been unable to find a way to rehab the buildings affordably, so to accommodate the retailers’ and neighborhoods demand for more parking the lots the houses occupy will be turned into a 28 space paid parking lot.

[the urban politician]

^ fuck that!