Chicago Loop development opportunities

chicubs111 · #1 Posted **Jan 9, 2020, 3:01 AM**

Does anyone think the Loop has so much more potential for development\redevelopment opportunities. I feel like the loop transforming into a 24 hour type area has slowed recently...there was defiantly a lot of development in 90's and 2000's. Seems like Fulton market has become the new kid on the block and alot of focus has moved from the central loop. There is so much potential in the loop and its so unique to Chicago im surprised more developers aren't thinking bigger in size of developments. I know Thompson center redevelopment could be a game changer. I kinda dream of a large mixed use building that has some large theater hall, retail, hotel to really energize state and randolph street corridor.. ala Carnegie hall/ Rockefeller center in NYC. It seems like block 37 was such a missed opportunity for a development like that.

IrishIllini · #2 Posted **Jan 9, 2020, 6:29 PM**

There’s still a lot of activity going on in the Loop. There are a few residential projects in the works (new construction and conversions). There are parking garages along Lake/Wells/Van Buren/Wabash that need to meet the wrecking ball. The surface and brownfield lots on Orleans need something.

chicubs111 · #3 Posted **Jan 9, 2020, 7:34 PM**

I agree..there is some huge parking garages that are prime for demo and redvelopment could really add to theatre district/Randolph corridor... the Old navy site at some point down the road as well

Baronvonellis · #4 Posted **Jan 10, 2020, 7:58 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by chicubs111

Does anyone think the Loop has so much more potential for development\redevelopment opportunities. I feel like the loop transforming into a 24 hour type area has slowed recently...there was defiantly a lot of development in 90's and 2000's. Seems like Fulton market has become the new kid on the block and alot of focus has moved from the central loop. There is so much potential in the loop and its so unique to Chicago im surprised more developers aren't thinking bigger in size of developments. I know Thompson center redevelopment could be a game changer. I kinda dream of a large mixed use building that has some large theater hall, retail, hotel to really energize state and randolph street corridor.. ala Carnegie hall/ Rockefeller center in NYC. It seems like block 37 was such a missed opportunity for a development like that.

That's what block 37 is, and it barely made it off the ground and did terrible for years.

chicubs111 · #5 Posted **Jan 11, 2020, 2:16 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baronvonellis

That's what block 37 is, and it barely made it off the ground and did terrible for years.

Block 37 doesnt have a theatre hall for live theatre to compliment the theatre disctrict ?...The overall design of block 37 was a huge miss and it could of been something special and added more energy to the street ...its way to conservative but thats what you get when your in a rush to just get something there and have a suburban developer with no visions build it.

Handro · #6 Posted **Jan 11, 2020, 2:55 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by chicubs111

Block 37 doesnt have a theatre hall for live theatre to compliment the theatre disctrict ?...The overall design of block 37 was a huge miss and it could of been something special and added more energy to the street ...its way to conservative but thats what you get when your in a rush to just get something there and have a suburban developer with no visions build it.

I’m not sure an additional live theater venue would do anything for the area...

Rizzo · #7 Posted **Jan 20, 2020, 3:09 AM**

I think there’s still more opportunities for hotel and residential. When BofA moves, their existing building is better suited for mixed use and residential on top. There’s lots near DePaul downtown that could be student housing. And then there’s that cluster of GSA building on State st

ardecila · #8 Posted **Jan 21, 2020, 12:08 AM**

The Loop won't get more vibrant by attracting residents, it will only get more vibrant by adding street-level uses - entertainment, dining and nightlife. Right now the mix of businesses is still too tailored to office workers - fast casual lunch places, branch banks, menswear, etc. Culturally, Chicagoans don't shop much at night, so I don't see State Street ever being a big night-time hub outside of what the theaters already support.

Even in ultra-dense neighborhoods in cities like New York or Hong Kong, things are generally pretty quiet at night unless there is a specific concentration of night-time businesses that brings in people from all over the region and tourists. Greenwich Village is bustling at night, the Upper East Side not so much... but UES is significantly denser.

emathias · #9 Posted **Jan 21, 2020, 4:59 PM**

The closest thing to Rockefeller Center in Chicago is the Buliding formerly known as Hancock and the Watertower areas. You have a big building with a viewing deck, smallish plaza that gets holiday decorations in front, there's high-end shopping surrounding it, a noble church across from it, and around the corner a public plaza that attracts a lot of tourists.

The Loop, remember, is the Central Business District, with especially the Lasalle Corridor being like Downtown Manhattan. North Michigan Ave is more like Midtown on the 5th Avenue side of things, with Hancock functioning a bit like a mix of Rockefeller and the Empire State building.

Times Square and the immediately surrounding blocks have tourists more or less 24/7, but other than that there's really only pockets of late-night entertainment and food scattered across NYC. Plenty of other parts of New York close up by 11 or even earlier, just like Chicago.

I don't think the Loop will ever be 24/7, and only partly because I don't think it'll get the development needed. There concept of a 24/7 city had nothing to do with 24-hour entertainment originally, and everything to do with industrialization leading to factories that were only efficient if they ran 24/7, and there was a time where there were so many factories running 24/7 that businesses sprung up to meet the needs of the shift workers, so ran 24/7. That's where 24/7 diners came up - prior to that 24/7 diners were really only along highways to serve teamsters and other long-distance travelers.

Today's concept of 24/7 entertainment really only exists in, maybe, a few dozen places in the entire globe. Most cities don't have even a single district that has 24/7 entertainment. A few might have a few clubs in close proximity that run all weekend. Even London's famous club districts aren't really 24/7, they're more like 24/3 or 24/4. Madrid and Barcelona are famous for their night cultures, but they're really just time-shifted to start and end later, they're not really 24/7.

So I don't think Chicago is likely to ever have a 24/7 entertainment district. There just isn't the demand for such a thing. A few of the megacities have districts like that, and a few of the current manufacturing hubs have districts like that supported entirely by shift workers. But the numbers of humans willing to live a true 24/7 lifestyle is just too low in most places to support such a thing. The vast majority of people over 30 or under 16 keep schedules that align with the sun. And there are only so many 16-29 year olds with no responsibilities, or with goals that allow a 24/7 lifestyle to go around.

I don't see it as a loss to not have a 24/7 district. As removed as we may often feel from nature, we are still part of it and it still largely governs how we live.