CHICAGO | St. Regis Chicago (Vista) | 1,191 FT | 101 FLOORS

[Swicago Swi Sox]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

Disagree, the ramp you mention is on top of another ramp which leads up from Service Level Wacker to Lower Wacker. Without that ramp you are basically trapped on the Service level unless you go to Stetson or up through LSE. Vertical circulation is already not so easy in that area, the last thing we need is to clog it up further.

I don't think that's right (maybe we are talking about different ramps). This ramp appears to originate from mid level wacker and rise to upper wacker on the most south side. If you streetview all along the river walk for its entire length there is not any other structure between the river walk level and the ramp. There is even places where the river walk path exists under this ramp.

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8890107,...MRgUip1jIBhYj9T_O31_w!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

To me, this area in general is not very trafficked or congested. I've never seen a back up of people trying to get from mid wacker down to lowest wacker, so i doubt that is a concern. Without direct access from LSD to upper wacker, it would require some cars to turn on columbus or stenson and either go to michigan ave, or traverse the south water steet ramp, but I'd still be interested in the traffic impacts. Isn't it true that traffic tend to fill up available streets/lanes when available? The loss of this ramp may just make everything even out in another way. The result is much nicer river front urban design than a triple stacked four lane wide road that does not really service that much...

[JK47]

Originally Posted by Swicago Swi Sox

To me, this area in general is not very trafficked or congested. I've never seen a back up of people trying to get from mid wacker down to lowest wacker, so i doubt that is a concern. Without direct access from LSD to upper wacker, it would require some cars to turn on columbus or stenson and either go to michigan ave, or traverse the south water steet ramp, but I'd still be interested in the traffic impacts. Isn't it true that traffic tend to fill up available streets/lanes when available? The loss of this ramp may just make everything even out in another way. The result is much nicer river front urban design than a triple stacked four lane wide road that does not really service that much...

The ramp has been closed a couple times this year for a few weeks to a month. Traffic did divert to other ramps accessible from Lower Wacker and having been in that traffic I will say it was uniformly horrible. There is a light at South Water on Columbus off of Lower Wacker that was soon overwhelmed with traffic backed up to the Lower Wacker & Columbus intersection causing a jam at that intersection. The ramp between Stetson and Columbus is one lane each way with a three-way stop sign. On normal days, with the Upper Wacker ramp running, that ramp will be backed up to the foot due to pedestrian traffic in the cross walk and north-south traffic on Columbus causing the ramp to slowly cycle. Considering it requires a U-Turn from the Stetson 4-way stop to access when coming west down South Water that isn't going to be a good option. Which leaves traffic heading down South Water, hitting a choke point at Stetson due to the four way stop, and ultimately getting dumped onto North Michigan where at Wacker and North Michigan no left turns are allowed (I was on a CTA bus that found this out and after a shouting match to some TMA folks had to go north on Michigan rather than west on Wacker).

So that means all that diverted traffic would have to make a left from South Water onto Michigan then right on Lake to Wabash then north to Wacker (basically 1 lane) or further south to Randolph then north on State to Wacker. There's just no way for this route to work well with the volume of traffic coming off of LSD that wants to head west on Wacker.

[harryc]

Originally Posted by Swicago Swi Sox

I don't think that's right (maybe we are
...snip...
To me, this area in general is not very trafficked or congested. I've never seen a back up of people trying to get from mid wacker down to lowest wacker, so i doubt that is a concern.
...snip...
wide road that does not really service that much...

I must disagree - enough traffic to make me keep a very sharp eye out when biking on the mid level, the last two times I was down there (few weeks ago) I had to wait to cross over from the "Wanda" side to the "Optima/Apple" side, which I do at the foot of that ramp.

[SolarWind]

September 13, 2016

[MayorOfChicago]

Originally Posted by Swicago Swi Sox

I don't think that's right (maybe we are talking about different ramps). This ramp appears to originate from mid level wacker and rise to upper wacker on the most south side. If you streetview all along the river walk for its entire length there is not any other structure between the river walk level and the ramp. There is even places where the river walk path exists under this ramp.

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8890107,...MRgUip1jIBhYj9T_O31_w!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

To me, this area in general is not very trafficked or congested. I've never seen a back up of people trying to get from mid wacker down to lowest wacker, so i doubt that is a concern. Without direct access from LSD to upper wacker, it would require some cars to turn on columbus or stenson and either go to michigan ave, or traverse the south water steet ramp, but I'd still be interested in the traffic impacts. Isn't it true that traffic tend to fill up available streets/lanes when available? The loss of this ramp may just make everything even out in another way. The result is much nicer river front urban design than a triple stacked four lane wide road that does not really service that much...

Hmm, I've seen that ramp from LSD up to upper wacker very busy, in the mornings it's packed. I would say around 40% getting off LSD get on that ramp, as do ALL express buses that come down Lakeshore in the morning and use Wacker, 134, 135, 136....

Also if you took out that ramp, it would be a huge mess trying to get from LSD to Wacker Drive, you would have to do loopty loops, etc on side streets.

[BVictor1]

Noticed a blue and yellow crane base on site. It was hard to see from the boat. Get those dancing bananas ready.

[woodrow]

Originally Posted by MayorOfChicago

Hmm, I've seen that ramp from LSD up to upper wacker very busy, in the mornings it's packed. I would say around 40% getting off LSD get on that ramp, as do ALL express buses that come down Lakeshore in the morning and use Wacker, 134, 135, 136....

Also if you took out that ramp, it would be a huge mess trying to get from LSD to Wacker Drive, you would have to do loopty loops, etc on side streets.

VERY BUSY. When it is closed, the ripple effect on traffic is extremely noticeable. Rush hour is critical, but I have been in buses / cars non-rush hour and it has a great deal of traffic. I think with Vista coming, it will only increase.

[hotwheels]

Chicago's Future Third Tallest Building Breaks Ground

The birthplace of the skyscraper is naturally no stranger to heights. Chicago's Willis Tower was the world's tallest building for nearly 25 years, and though the recession hit the housing market of America's third largest city hard, an economic rebound is afoot. The restoration in Chicago's fortunes has produced one of the most anticipated residential developments in American history. Set to become the city's third tallest building upon completion in 2020, Vista Tower is about to make a massive impact in the hearts and minds of Chicagoans.

[r18tdi]

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/realestate/20160914/CRED03/160919947/who-will-finance-vista-tower

^Pretty interesting piece in Crain's regarding Wanda/Magellan's decision to start construction without a loan.

[nergie]

Originally Posted by BVictor1

Noticed a blue and yellow crane base on site. It was hard to see from the boat. Get those dancing bananas ready.

Case crane on site, my photos are not uploading

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by r18tdi

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/realestate/20160914/CRED03/160919947/who-will-finance-vista-tower

^Pretty interesting piece in Crain's regarding Wanda/Magellan's decision to start construction without a loan.

not a big deal at all, i remember that same tactic working out just fine for waterview and the spire.







ruh-roh?

[F1 Tommy]

So the Chinese do Chicago a second time!!! Maybe you should leave it in the proposal section until it is topped out just to be sure

[LouisVanDerWright]

^^^ Yeah, but Magellan and Wanda are not Shelbourne and Teng. Not by a million miles. Jianlin could probably build Wanda with the change he finds in his dryer after a load of laundry. He is also probably trying to get as much cash out of China as quickly as possible. One way of speeding that up would be to build real estate assets overseas cash and then, using his fancy new assets, refinance so he suddenly has hundreds of millions in cash plus his new hotel in the United States.

China is undergoing a massive run of capital flight which may only intensify if the Fed ever raises rates. The smart and the rich in China are the ones at the forefront of this phenomina.

[Via Chicago]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

China is undergoing a massive run of capital flight which may only intensify if the Fed ever raises rates. The smart and the rich in China are the ones at the forefront of this phenomina.

thats working now because theres (apparently) a market for buildings at this price range and we've had one of the longest bull markets in history. if we hit another economic downturn in year or two (been almost 10 years since the last one) and buyer pools dry up, i doubt anyones just going to be throwing up skyscrapers for the hell of it

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

^^^ Yeah, but Magellan and Wanda are not Shelbourne and Teng. Not by a million miles. Jianlin could probably build Wanda with the change he finds in his dryer after a load of laundry. He is also probably trying to get as much cash out of China as quickly as possible. One way of speeding that up would be to build real estate assets overseas cash and then, using his fancy new assets, refinance so he suddenly has hundreds of millions in cash plus his new hotel in the United States.

China is undergoing a massive run of capital flight which may only intensify if the Fed ever raises rates. The smart and the rich in China are the ones at the forefront of this phenomina.

I find it funny. Anybody who thinks that Wanda is as amateur as Shellborne knows nothing about Wanda. They're THE largest real estate developer in China and own MILLIONS of square feet of buildings. The head guy is THE richest man in China (over $30B) and not to mention they have a diversified portfolio of business such as being the owners of AMC Theaters. They aren't about to let their first US project fizzle out randomly.

We've discussed this a few times - I can't believe this is even being compared to Shellbourne. Shellbourne are complete amateurs compared to Wanda.

[the urban politician]

Not to mention that Magellan is an experienced developer as well.

Your comparing Wanda and Magellan building an 1186 ft tower to an ex-painter trying to finance and build a 2000 ft tower.

What on earth do they have in common?

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Not to mention that Magellan is an experienced developer as well.

Your comparing Wanda and Magellan building an 1186 ft tower to an ex-painter trying to finance and build a 2000 ft tower.

What on earth do they have in common?

Yeah - people have the worst logic ever. "Oh, well a completely different developer did this with a site that fizzled out therefore this might fail too." No.

[rlw777]

This is actually a pretty smart move by the Wanda and Magellan.
As the Crain's article points out many condo buyers won't sign contracts until construction is underway which usually leads to a boost in sales for a few months after construction starts on a condo project. Having more condos under contract means less risk which can result in a better loan.

[harryc]

Sept 15
No bananas yet - but I can smell them.

[LouisVanDerWright]

Any day now. Making things flat for the cassion rigs. One big case crane up, setting up a second.