CHICAGO | 108 North State (Block 37)

[Chicago3rd]

North State in the Loop




University Area of State Street



I would love a Casino in the downtown area of the loop. Especially with the high speed trains running in from the airports in the future.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by LA21st

State Street will surely regain its former glory if Block 37 is developed the right way. I don't think it needs a stinking casino.
State Street retains its soul to this day and a casino would cheapen it.

I don't think a casino would face state st. From the info I have read, it would more likely front the NW corner of Block 37--Dearborn/Randolph.

BTW, Sangho, I"m lovin the pictures. I esp like the pic of the University Center. Once Library Tower gets built, the streetscape south of Congress will fill in more nicely.

I notice there are decent crowds of people on State St, but it still doesn't match Michigan Avenue. I guarantee you that Block 37 with all of its retail and high speed trains will radically change that!!

[BVictor1]

GlobeSt.com UPDATE: ‘Block 37’ O’Hare Express Stop May Get Hotel Builders on Board
By Mark Ruda
Last updated: Thursday, October 14, 2004 08:07pm


CHICAGO-Skepticism from members of the community development commission could be expected this week before they unanimously recommended a $12.3-million sale of “Block 37” to Mills Corp. The $336-million retail and entertainment base of what could ultimately grow to a two-million-sf redevelopment is hardly the first proposal to come and go in more than a decade.


The involvement of well-heeled Arlington, VA-based Mills Corp. is one reason city officials are confident the development, which ultimately promises to generate $17.5 million a year in property and sales tax revenue, will be built pretty much as planned. If there is any gamble to Mills Corp.’s proposal for 108 N. State St., though, it appears to be two towers that could contain multifamily units and hotel rooms.


Mills Corp. is building what it knows best--the 417,000-sf retail and entertainment portion of the development that will be “the podium” for 108 N. State St. Although negotiations are under way with CBS to take 100,000 sf to anchor a 400,000-sf office tower, that project would be built by Lincoln Property Co. Meanwhile, Mills Corp. is in negotiations with developers for the other two towers, says executive vice president of development Steven J. Jacobsen.


Those towers could be 200 to 300 units, and the mixture between residences and hotel rooms will be driven largely by the market, Jacobsen and city officials emphasize. That flexibility improves the odds of the towers being built, suggests Terri Haymaker, deputy commissioner of the department of planning and development. However, some were uneasy about the possibility of that portion of the project failing to materialize.


“The last thing we want is 450,000 sf of retail and an unfinished tower,” Jacobsen says. “This is very important to the company. “


So far, though, Jacobsen says there is “strong interest” from hotel developers, particularly because the base of the entire 108 N. State St. also includes a $172-million Chicago Transit Authority station three stories underground. It will offer express service to O’Hare International Airport, as the CTA’s Red line is connected to the Blue Line, which runs down the middle of the Kennedy Expressway to the airport.


Also overseeing the company’s redevelopment of Piers 27-31 in San Francisco as well as Vaughn Mills in Toronto, the 108 N. State St. assignment is a homecoming for Jacobsen. The architect is a Chicago native, received his degree Downstate at the University of Illinois as well as Downtown at Roosevelt University. “What’s important for me is to come back and do a project like this in the city,” he says.

[Chi-town]

Here's what I hope:

1) That the project really looks as light and airy as it appears in the renderings, and it doesn't lose the interesting visual elements that make it more than a North Michigan Avenue box - the LED media screen that wraps around and up the towers, the glass veil in front of the stores on the inside (no gaudy outdoor signage). Particularly, I hope the interior described by the Kamin article is retained. If Ralph Johnson is the architect, I have a some more hope than I would otherwise, but I still hope the city really sticks it to Mills to do this right.

2) I hope the towers get build, and they retain the architectural consistency displayed in the rendering. On the one hand, it would be cool to have different architects design different buildings, so that Block 37 looked like a real city block rather than a mega-project. On the other hand, they need to "fit".

[HK Chicago]

I hope the interior described by the Kamin article is retained. If Ralph Johnson is the architect, I have a some more hope than I would otherwise,

I'm frustrated that we haven't seen much of the interior. And FWIW, Ralph Johnson designs get changed more often than not to be simpler to build (Skybridge, The Clare, etc.), but I hope we see the glass exterior remain.

[Steely Dan]

well it looks like daley has ruled out a casino at block 37, for better or worse.


City needs casino, Daley says
2 locations rejected; downtown site called essential

By Dan Mihalopoulos and Ray Long
Tribune staff reporters
Published November 10, 2004

Mayor Richard Daley ruled out Block 37 and McCormick Place as possible sites for a new Chicago casino Tuesday, but the mayor said the cash-starved city needs a casino downtown.

On a day when he formally proposed a litany of tax hikes to plug the city's budget deficit, Daley said circumstances are forcing him to reluctantly seek a gaming license from the state.

"I wish I didn't have to do gaming," the mayor told the Tribune's editorial board. "I wish we never had to talk about it. But we have to come up with some other revenue source."

Daley made the comments as Senate Democrats huddled behind closed doors discussing a draft of a gambling bill that would allow dramatic expansions of existing casinos in the state and send multimillion dollar windfalls to horse-racing interests and Chicago State University, a campus long favored by Senate President Emil Jones (D-Chicago).

The mayor has had an on-again, off-again flirtation with the idea of a Chicago casino over the years, but on Tuesday he laid out his concept for a downtown casino in the greatest detail yet.

He said it would be a "basic gaming facility," without even a restaurant on the premises. "It's not going to be Las Vegas," he said. "It's not going to be gaudy, lights, all that, no."

Daley said Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who has given out conflicting signals about his willingness to back gambling in Chicago, has not told him whether he would sign legislation granting a license to the city.

All casinos in Illinois are privately owned, but Daley wants the city to hold title to any gambling facility in Chicago. Though Republicans in the legislature are strongly opposed to city ownership, Daley said he wouldn't have a casino any other way.

"No, I'm not going to compromise," Daley said. "No way."

When Daley revealed his latest push for a casino in May, city officials named the oldest and easternmost building at McCormick Place as a potential gaming site.

But the mayor said McCormick Place officials shot down that notion in talks with the city.

"McCormick Place doesn't want it," Daley said. "They can't have it too close with the conventions. They don't want that to interfere with the basic convention business operation at McCormick Place."

Daley's planning director, Denise Casalino, said last month that the abandoned Block 37 in the heart of the Loop was one of the possible casino sites. But Daley said a casino would not be compatible with the vision that the city and developer Mills Corp. have for the prime Loop site at State and Randolph Streets. The plan calls for a hotel, offices, residences and a shopping center.

The casino would have to be in the downtown area to attract convention tourists, Daley said, but he said he could not say exactly where it would be built. Daley said his prohibition on restaurants at a Chicago casino would better help existing downtown businesses benefit from gaming.

"I don't want to put restaurants there," he said "That will dilute my restaurants around there. That will hurt them. I can't have that."

The state law that first allowed riverboat gambling in the state more than a decade ago was designed to give a boost to communities such as Peoria, Joliet, Aurora and Elgin that were considered economically depressed. Blagojevich declared last spring that if he ever did agree to new casinos, they would have to fulfill that original intent of helping out communities down on their luck.

Downtown may seem thriving, but Daley was adamant that Chicago fit the conditions laid out by the governor.

"We have a lot of poor people in Chicago," he said.

Regardless of the original intent, Daley said, gaming had spread to cities no more worthy of a casino than Chicago.

"You think Rosemont is economically depressed?" he said, referring to the northwestern suburb where the Illinois Gaming Board wants to site a new casino. "Joliet? Aurora? Elgin? No."

In Springfield, the Senate Democratic caucus reviewed an outline of a gambling package that would put new licenses in Waukegan and an unspecified south suburban site as well as give Daley his publicly owned, land-based casino.

One scenario under consideration would allow 5,000 gaming positions at casinos, including current boats now limited to 1,200. But Jones emphasized that the idea is a draft.

Proponents suggested the boats would not actually use the 5,000 positions, but that the number is so high operators won't be continually asking lawmakers to raise the cap.

Inside the caucus, several lawmakers protested a provision that would net horse-racing interests 15 percent of profits from any new casinos, saying more money should be used to spur economic development and possibly spread throughout the state.

Jones in the past has sought to earmark revenue from a casino license to Chicago State, and he called his latest attempt a follow-up.

"It's a work in progress," said Sen. Denny Jacobs (D-East Moline), the father of riverboat gambling in Illinois. "It ain't soup yet."

[jcchii]

Daley sets foot in Trib Tower and speaks to the editorial board

was he strapped with explosives?

[Chicago3rd]

Las Vegas must have messed up having a convention center around gambling....?!?

I want it at the base of the Trump Casiono or take all those kiddie trash off of Navy Pier....DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH OUR BEER GARDEN!!!!!!

[BVictor1]

Don't forget about the Old Main Post Office. I mean what the hell is happening in the West Loop. Block 37 itself will help to liven up State Street and the east loop. Millenium Park has just opened and we are soon to have Trump Tower and the riverwalk. If they put it in the post office it's close to Union and Northwestern Train Station, it's there directly at the circle interchange.

What do you all think about that idea?

[Rivernorth]

^ thats a good place for it. Either there, or somewhere in the south Loop, so its close to downtown, as well as McCormick Place (although not IN McCormick Place).

[Chicago Shawn]

Originally Posted by BVictor1

Don't forget about the Old Main Post Office. I mean what the hell is happening in the West Loop. Block 37 itself will help to liven up State Street and the east loop. Millenium Park has just opened and we are soon to have Trump Tower and the riverwalk. If they put it in the post office it's close to Union and Northwestern Train Station, it's there directly at the circle interchange.

What do you all think about that idea?

Perfect Idea. The old post office has enormous floor plates that would work very well as a casino floor. A on-ramp to the Ike could be built dirrectly into the building with one floor dedicated to parking, allowing suburbanites who use it easy access in and out without clogging up city streeets. For city residents, and other commuters, the blue line and as you said, the train stations are walking distance away. A hotel could even be built between the old post office and the river on top of that unused parking deck, which would have drop-dead views of the Loop. What a perfect idea! I wonder if it is being considered, it would do a lot to wake up that sleepy, ignored corner of downtown.

[Steely Dan]

might the post office be a bad idea to a certain extent because there's not a whole lot of food/bar/entertainment options in the immediate area that could piggyback off of the casino. of course, if they build the casino there, those types of businesses would follow, i would imagine.

[Tom In Chicago]

Wolf Point. . . [cough]. . . casino. . . [cough]. . .

[BVictor1]

^Wolf Point is a good spot as well. Both train stations are mere blocks away, the river is right there. The only thing is that with the Post Office the infastructure is already there. That building has roughly 2.5 million square feet of space, which means that there is enough space for parking, hotel rooms, and retail in a well constructed and handsome building. Yes, it would cost millions to renovate, but I think it's worth it.

[Chicago3rd]

Originally Posted by Tom In Chicago

Wolf Point. . . [cough]. . . casino. . . [cough]. . .

Way Cool! That would tie that part of the city into the downtown pedestrian wise and destination wise.

And I must note...as I past that parking lot...the structure is only 2 lanes wide...with a loop down to underground parking under the new portion and I persume the building. The groundlevel parking area...just south is just asphalt. So easy to take up with a tractor. The parking structure is smaller than the previous one.

[BVictor1]

Kan Am Bolsters Mills Corp.’s 108 N. State Position
By Mark Ruda
Last updated: November 18, 2004 07:55am

For more retail coverage, click GlobeSt.com/RETAIL.

CHICAGO-German commercial real estate company Kan Am is in talks with Arlington, VA-based Mills Corp. to join the shopping center owner and developer as a 50% partner in the 108 N. State St. project. Mills Corp.’s Block 37, LLC received a favorable recommendation from the plan commission Thursday for the $336-million-plus Downtown project, and continues to assuage fears financing could doom yet another proposal for the long-undeveloped 2.7-acre site.


The community development commission last month endorsed a $12.3-million sale of the city-owned site bounded by State, Washington, Dearborn and Randolph streets, one-third its most recent appraised value, and approved Mills Corp. as master developer of a project that will include office space, multifamily units and hotel rooms. A $172-million Chicago Transit Authority subway station, providing express service to O’Hare International and Midway airports, is a separate component of the project.


Kan Am is a joint venture partner in other Mills Corp. projects, including Meadowlands Xanadu in New Jersey, and also is in negotiations for a 50% stake in Piers 27 to 31 in San Francisco. In addition, Kan Am principal Dietrich von Boetticher sits on the Mills Corp. board of directors.


In addition to a familiar joint venture, the $7.2-billion Mills Corp. has $488 million available on its line of credit, according to the REIT’s third-quarter earnings report. “Financing has never been an issue,” says executive vice president of development Steven J. Jacobsen. “We’ve never failed on any project we’ve gone after.”


Other developers have failed to deliver on “Block 37,” nestled between the Daley Center and Marshall Field’s flagship store. The most recent fizzled because of a big-box retail design deemed uninspiring by city officials. “We’ve been spending our time working out the best economic and leasing package,” says Jacobsen, who hopes to break ground by July with completion of the retail and office space by the end of 2007.


However, Jacobsen report no new retail or office leases since his appearance last month at the community development commission. CBS Channel 2 and WBBM radio are expected to anchor the 450,000-sf office tower with 100,000 sf on the first four floors.


“In very short order, we’re going to make announcements on who the tenants are,” Jacobsen says, adding he had meetings this week with potential hotel and residential developers who want to build the two towers on the northern portion of the site in the second phase.


“We’ve had a tremendous amount of interest in the other towers,” Jacobsen reports. “There’s a good chance we can start construction on the [multifamily/hotel] towers at the same time with the first phase.”

[the urban politician]

^This is tremendous news!

If Mills is drawing interest from another company, this means that they see a great deal of potential here. Also, with another company splitting the bill, more is likely to get done with less risk to each company.

I look forward to seeing Block 37 finally get underway!

[dancethingy]

I expect to see final rendering soon and since Ralph Johnson is chief architect I expect only the best. This better be damn good. I need relevant architecture in Chicago right now damn it. Millenium park kind gave the city a shot in the arm and proved that we are moving forward rapidly, so now there is no other option than to move forward.

[alex1]

^i share your hopes.

we don't need buildings that are just good. enought of that. We need a building that's beyond good, entering the realm of great.

ralph johnson has proved that he can produce buildings of very high quality. Hopefully this project will make him one of the "great" architects.

[HK Chicago]

This project hinges on the transportation hub to make it special and the "artistic frieze" to make it beautiful. Otherwise, even if it is good architecture, it will be a wasted opportunity. This is a large site that needs presence. I'm dying to see the interior renderings, I so want the transportation portion to be a Chicago style Waterloo, something that by definition is crazy unique.