CHICAGO | General Developments

[the urban politician]

^ Yep, gotta agree. I don't know how the final redo will turn out, but so far I like what I'm seeing

[SamInTheLoop]

Originally Posted by ChiHi

I haven't walked over by this corner in a while but what the hell did Verizon do to this buidling? I'm sure there are plenty of people that didn't like what was there before but this facade redo looks pretty awful in context.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/reale...building-stake

LVDW and TUP nail this one. It is not the re-cladded part that is awful. It's just restoring some design sanity to the comically bad stretch of retail design on Michigan. The remainder of the building should be renovated to match - that's the part that is awful in (or out of) context.....

[nomarandlee]

Originally Posted by SamInTheLoop

LVDW and TUP nail this one. It is not the re-cladded part that is awful. It's just restoring some design sanity to the comically bad stretch of retail design on Michigan. The remainder of the building should be renovated to match - that's the part that is awful in context.....

Agreed. Even if not great it is bound to be a VAST improvement from the badly done faux-Parisian schlock that was sitting on that corner for years.

I think that was perhaps the most embarrassing building on Michigan Avenue bar none. It looked straight out of a stage set even to those without a discerning eye.

[the urban politician]

Two office buildings planned in hot Fulton market area

Chicago developer Jeffrey Shapack plans to build two office buildings near Google Inc.'s future building on Fulton Market, a bet that more companies are ready to set up shop in the hot neighborhood.

A Shapack venture wants the city to approve a seven-story, 59,447-square-foot office project on a parking lot at the southwest corner of Fulton Market and Halsted Street, according to zoning application filed with the city. The building would include about 8,300 square feet of ground-floor retail space, 12 parking spaces and a rooftop patio, the application says.

Separately, a venture between Mr. Shapack, Chicago-based AJ Capital Partners LLC and San Francisco-based Shorenstein Properties LLC proposes a 10-story office building at 221 N. Peoria St., according to another zoning application.

^ Great to see more of this.

Eventually this area is going to need to see a bit more hotel development. Sorry NIMBYs, but it's coming.

[wierdaaron]

Yay, I was just griping about too much residential and not enough office there.

[UrbanLibertine]

Yes, two more surface lots bite the dust! Please let this happen.

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Two office buildings planned in hot Fulton market area



^ Great to see more of this.

Eventually this area is going to need to see a bit more hotel development. Sorry NIMBYs, but it's coming.

[streetline]

^^
^^^

There isn't much residential to begin with north of Randolph, just a few units over retail here and there (the tower against the highway kitty corner form the lot in question is the only major residential around there, at least until the Halsted & Lake tower is built). I'd actually like to see a bit more, along with more Hotel and Office all over retail and entertainment, to develop the area into a 24/7 mixed use neighborhood.

Anyway, I think it's great that lot at Fulton & Halsted is being developed, and 7-story office over retail sounds like a fine use for it. A 10-story office over retail building at 221 N. Peoria also sounds good to me.

One thing to note is that the Fulton & Halsted parking lot is where they do the Green City Market. I really hope they can keep it very near that corner, perhaps in the lot across the street. The farmers market has a great synergy with Isaacson & Stein for fish and Publican Quality Meats for prepared meats and packaged foods (and Little Goat Bread and Olympic Meats a block farther south); together they enable the sort of old-timey multi-shop walking grocery trip that is all but forgotten these days.

[spyguy]

Halsted and Fulton


Peoria

[UrbanLibertine]

^ Very tasteful design

[denizen467]

^^ Is that the neo warehouse style?

[Chicago Shawn]

Awesome news! I am very happy to see this area truly become a westward march of the CBD in a true mixed use format. West Loop has become largely too residential and we are already seeing the negative impacts and limitations of that. Fulton Market is only getting hotter as time goes on; I suspect this will be the next real big tech hub, rivaling River North as long as NIMBYism is kept in check and south of Randolph.

I really do hope the proposed landmark district moves forward though, there's going to be a lot tear down pressure on those older low-rise buildings in the near future. Pitch it as a concession to the neighbors and convince them to allow larger buildings to the north, closer to the Metra tracks.

[SamInTheLoop]

^ I agree on the landmark district, and your proposed strategy for getting it done.

Of these two proposals, I definitely prefer the design of the 10-story one.
The 7-story one is mostly ye faux olde tyme urban warehouse reno design........looks like it may not be ugly, but still to me does not look like good design in the 21st century....

[Jibba]

Originally Posted by spyguy

Halsted and Fulton

The Peoria one looks slick. I like the (idea of the) board-formed concrete base. The corner-wrap windows could be really nice too (if I'm interpreting the elevation correctly). The "applied mullions" everywhere are concerning, but maybe these are more common than I know of and don't look that bad?

[bcp]

totally agreed on strategy....a compensatory model - we'll protect certain buildings (with owner consent!) but you have to concede upzoning in other nearby areas...

[streetline]

It looks like the block south of there at lake and halsted will see some construction soon too. Anna's Asian Bistro, one of my favorite restaurants in the area says their west loop location is closed to make way for a new construction project.

[ithakas]

Originally Posted by streetline

It looks like the block south of there at lake and halsted will see some construction soon too. Anna's Asian Bistro, one of my favorite restaurants in the area says their west loop location is closed to make way for a new construction project.

I went to a couple parties in the unit above it, and the tenants were forced to leave by their landlord at least six months ago for a new development, which they believed would include that corner lot.

[Jibba]

Originally Posted by ithakas

I went to a couple parties in the unit above it, and the tenants were forced to leave by their landlord at least six months ago for a new development, which they believed would include that corner lot.

Sterling Bay purchased the corner lot a couple of months back, IIRC. There are preliminary plans for a restaurant.

Edit: I was thinking of Morgan and Lake.

[Ch.G, Ch.G]

Originally Posted by Jibba

The Peoria one looks slick. I like the (idea of the) board-formed concrete base. The corner-wrap windows could be really nice too (if I'm interpreting the elevation correctly). The "applied mullions" everywhere are concerning, but maybe these are more common than I know of and don't look that bad?

I've never heard the term "applied mullions." "Simulated divided lite" is the industry term for the muntin bars you see on most contemporary residential developments. They're pretty much standard at this point; true divided light is both very costly and very inefficient. IMO, the difference is noticeable. The latter has more depth while the former often really does look tacked on.

It's representative of the problem with historicism. Accurately replicating a past style makes little to no financial (not to mention environmental) sense in both the short run and the long run. When you try to approximate it you sacrifice certain details. One missing detail may not seem like a big deal. An accumulation of them is, and that gestalt plays a big role in the vague but unsettling difference the more discerning eye notices between historic architecture and historicist architecture. It's death by a thousand cuts.

Anyway, I agree with your assessment.

Originally Posted by denizen467

^^ Is that the neo warehouse style?

Originally Posted by SamInTheLoop

The 7-story one is mostly ye faux olde tyme urban warehouse reno design........looks like it may not be ugly, but still to me does not look like good design in the 21st century....

Accurate! It might be awesome if they salvaged a bunch of the material from a recent warehouse demolition. But I highly doubt that would happen.

[Via Chicago]

Originally Posted by streetline

One thing to note is that the Fulton & Halsted parking lot is where they do the Green City Market. I really hope they can keep it very near that corner, perhaps in the lot across the street. The farmers market has a great synergy with Isaacson & Stein for fish and Publican Quality Meats for prepared meats and packaged foods (and Little Goat Bread and Olympic Meats a block farther south); together they enable the sort of old-timey multi-shop walking grocery trip that is all but forgotten these days.

One just realistically has to wonder how long Isaacson will remain there. Seems many of these meat/produce markets are relocating and I imagine in little to no time there wont be any left. Unfortunately the things that tend to draw new development also tend to push those same things away.

[harryc]

Originally Posted by Via Chicago

One just realistically has to wonder how long Isaacson will remain there. Seems many of these meat/produce markets are relocating and I imagine in little to no time there wont be any left. Unfortunately the things that tend to draw new development also tend to push those same things away.

Soil testing last month


Maple Bacon Long John .......