CHICAGO | General Developments - Page 798

Tom Servo · #**15941** Posted **Jun 12, 2012, 10:16 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hayward

Eh... I'm not a fan of the millions either. They should have done a grid like system with lots of horizontals or nothing at all.

Yeah, fuck the millions!

Hah, but really, are you guys actually complaining about mullions on a renovation project? They are fine.

I like this.

Tom Servo · #**15942** Posted **Jun 12, 2012, 10:21 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChiTownCity

^well that looks horrific...

What looks horrific? I welcome any and every building BLK gives us.

brian_b · #**15943** Posted **Jun 13, 2012, 1:39 PM**

Sounds like some of the surface parking lots surrounding the United Center will be developed. And if they go all out like the speculation in the article, perhaps we will see a United Center stop on the Pink Line?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports...,3023978.story

Quote:

It's official.

The Chicago Bulls announced overnight Wednesday that they are moving their practice facility from suburban Deerfield to downtown Chicago.

The Tribune exclusively reported the potential move last month.

In a release, the team said the new facility, which has no timetable and will be privately funded, "could include additional features that would allow the team to expand its use of the building, particularly during non-practice times. Some ideas under consideration include event and educational space, and greater digital and video production capabilities."

Team and real estate sources indicated the team has considered creating a restaurant- and entertainment-based complex on the East end of the United Center, modeled on the successful "L.A. Live" outside the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

spyguy · #**15944** Posted **Jun 13, 2012, 2:09 PM**

^Might help in recruiting top NBA talent too. I can't imagine many rich 20-something-year-olds enthusiastic about having to either commute to Deerfield for practice or live in the northern suburbs.

---

Fioretti confirms that Apple will open a store in the Roosevelt Collection, according to Crain's. I have to say, I'm kind of surprised that they passed on State Street in favor of Roosevelt.

emathias · #**15945** Posted **Jun 13, 2012, 2:18 PM**

There was a zoning change notice mailed to Staybridge neighbors this week. It appears to be a technical change just to accommodate using the existing built parking for non-accessory purposes - previously it was going to be hotel-only, but I guess they realized that hardly anyone staying in River North brings a car with them. I'm a little annoyed to have a public parking garage snuck into the neighborhood, but in this specific case it's really not a big deal and obviously wasn't the original intent and getting this thing moving is still a huge net positive.

emathias · #**15946** Posted **Jun 13, 2012, 2:23 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by spyguy

...
Fioretti confirms that Apple will open a store in the Roosevelt Collection, according to Crain's. I have to say, I'm kind of surprised that they passed on State Street in favor of Roosevelt.

It would be more accurate to say that Fioretti *claims* Apple will be there. The Roosevelt Collection says no lease has been signed. That leads me to think they're in talks. I would be surprised, however, if Apple decided to locate there. I don't see how it fits their normal strategy at all.

VivaLFuego · #**15947** Posted **Jun 13, 2012, 2:30 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by emathias

...and obviously wasn't the original intent...

I wouldn't be so sure... for many years now, downtown developers have been using parking minimums to build "accessory parking" that they know full well is going to function as publicly available non-accessory parking reaching peak occupancy when serving commuters during the day.

Of course, if they tried to do otherwise, the neighbor groups would make them add more parking, so I guess it's a "win-win" outcome...

I'd be curious whether their zoning change request is because the city finally caught on to this loophole or if the new developer and his zoning lawyer are simply being as forthright as possible and taking the initiative on their own.

daperpkazoo · #**15948** Posted **Jun 13, 2012, 3:53 PM**

Not sure what thread this belongs in, so correct me if it's in the wrong place.

Yesterday I saw some work going on at the dusable park site-- looked like a few guys and an excavator moving some rolls of something and some crates around. Tough to see exactly what was going on over the walls and vegetation.

Anyone know anything?

Mr Downtown · #**15949** Posted **Jun 13, 2012, 4:05 PM**

Crain's reports that AMLI paid $12.3 million for the 3.5 acre site at SWC Clark & Polk, where it plans the two 11-story loft-style buildings. AvalonBay bought the property for $23 million in 2007.

jc5680 · #**15950** Posted **Jun 13, 2012, 4:20 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by daperpkazoo

Not sure what thread this belongs in, so correct me if it's in the wrong place.

Yesterday I saw some work going on at the dusable park site-- looked like a few guys and an excavator moving some rolls of something and some crates around. Tough to see exactly what was going on over the walls and vegetation.

Anyone know anything?

Soil Cleanup

http://soarchicago.org/home/2012/6/7...up-begins.html

ardecila · #**15951** Posted **Jun 14, 2012, 12:10 AM**

Well, I'm not sure what the effect on Staybridge is. It has parking levels already built, so the owners will find some way to use that parking regardless of whether it's used for hotel guests or the general public.

It's more above-board now that the neighborhood is being notified before the hotel opens, but the switch to public parking would have eventually happened anyway.

Maybe it's a mirage, but it seems like neighborhood groups are gradually becoming more enlightened with respect to issues of density and parking. I was amazed when I went to the River Point meeting and saw that most of the complaints were about inadequate pedestrian capacity! 100% on point, so good on the FRDA. SOAR is leading the way in urbanist enlightenment, and Mr. D is doing the Lord's work down in the South Loop.

ChiPhi · #**15952** Posted **Jun 14, 2012, 2:00 AM**

^^^
Who is Mr. D?

Also, community review of projects really came into 'fashion' with Jane Jacobs and such in the seventies, so maybe these groups are simply returning to their roots...

the urban politician · #**15953** Posted **Jun 14, 2012, 3:26 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChiPhi

^^^
Who is Mr. D?

Also, community review of projects really came into 'fashion' with Jane Jacobs and such in the seventies, so maybe these groups are simply returning to their roots...

^ Mr. Downtown, one of our forumers and a 'community leader' in the south loop.

I wasn't aware that Mr. D was doing the 'lord's work', but if he is then I think he has come a long way from the days of shadow studies. Looks like our forum has had an impact on him

denizen467 · #**15954** Posted **Jun 14, 2012, 5:07 AM**

Perhaps then "Bishop D." would be appropriate. (Actually, that sounds almost like a rapper name.) I would say "so-called community leader" (articulating the quotation marks) undersells Bishop/Mr. D, as he has long been a professional in the field, not to mention he literally wrote (parts of) the encyclopedia of Chicago. In fact he should get to wear a "Dean" hat for all of that. I know people have criticisms, but that's part of the territory.

---------------------------

Does anyone know if and when the Finkl steel complex is going to move to the South Side? I wish press organizations like Crain's would follow up on stories they write even when an announced plan ends up simply fizzling, so we the unwashed masses could get that elusive sense of closure.

denizen467 · #**15955** Posted **Jun 14, 2012, 5:20 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by spyguy

^Might help in recruiting top NBA talent too. I can't imagine many rich 20-something-year-olds enthusiastic about having to either commute to Deerfield for practice or live in the northern suburbs.

But aren't palatial mansions with giant driveways and expensive cars, and movie theater rooms, and pools for weekend parties, de rigeur for the pro athlete demographic? I think part of it comes from the fact that lots of new pro athletes just spent their formative years on a college campus sprawled across some rural city or a suburb, and most likely grew up somewhere similar, and their initial desires are fixated on things like that.

ardecila · #**15956** Posted **Jun 14, 2012, 8:28 AM**

Pro athletes have long maintained condos or townhouses in the city. This is not to say they don't also have huge mansions on the North Shore or some other uber-wealthy area.

To the extent that some basketball players come from impoverished inner-city areas, it's possible that they have suburban dreams - but I give them a bit more credit than that. Americans are attracted to the suburbs for economic reasons, not because they necessarily prefer wide-open spaces and endless driving. The trick in convincing people to choose city over suburb is to convince them that the rewards of urban living lead to a higher quality of life than they expect. At NBA salaries, professional players don't have that concern - they can have their cake and eat it too, with huge lofts, terraces, etc right in the city.

denizen467 · #**15957** Posted **Jun 14, 2012, 11:51 AM**

^ Not to dwell on this, but I was going off the fact that the Bulls and Bears both have long settled into Lake County and there are reasons for that, a large one of which is tastes and preferences (often influenced by a spouse). Jonathan Toews crashing his Mercedes into an L support not long ago at Dearborn and Lake reminded me of the vehicle obsessions of suddenly-wealthy twenty-somethings. Although stories of urban-dweller athletes here are often reported, I think they are unfortunately exceptions that bolster the suburbia rule. Also, one of the reasons the Bulls built the Berto Center in the 1990s was that they had become celebrities and needed the separation from the public and press, and this important aspect is harder to achieve living in the city. But anyway, I was just responding solely to spyguy's notion that putting a training facility downtown would help with sports recruitment - I think that is an easy sell for Motorola employees but not as clear cut in this case.

Now the LA Live idea, I like that.

Baronvonellis · #**15958** Posted **Jun 14, 2012, 3:54 PM**

Of course, then you've got to wonder why these people get paid ungodly amounts of money to throw a ball through a hoop in the first place. While contributing nothing to society.

Segun · #**15959** Posted **Jun 14, 2012, 4:45 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by spyguy

^Might help in recruiting top NBA talent too. I can't imagine many rich 20-something-year-olds enthusiastic about having to either commute to Deerfield for practice or live in the northern suburbs.

You must not watch Mtv Cribs.

Joking, but a little bit of truth is in jest.

Via Chicago · #**15960** Posted **Jun 14, 2012, 5:27 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by denizen467

But aren't palatial mansions with giant driveways and expensive cars, and movie theater rooms, and pools for weekend parties, de rigeur for the pro athlete demographic? I think part of it comes from the fact that lots of new pro athletes just spent their formative years on a college campus sprawled across some rural city or a suburb, and most likely grew up somewhere similar, and their initial desires are fixated on things like that.

yea, i think the mentality of new money NBA talent is severely misjudged here. true, some buy downtown condos but most of these guys live in huge McMansions in the suburbs by choice.