CHICAGO | General Developments

[ardecila]

^ Well, this is a weird area with short blocks and no alleys. The power lines have to go on Wayman.

[Freefall]

The Bush Temple is finally listing their units as available. Pics on the flats website too.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by left of center

It would be a shame to lose this block to demolition/redevelopment. There really isn't much old human scaled architecture left in the Loop. If they cleaned these buildings up they would be gems. You can easily build a tower with a facadectomy, ala The Heritage or The Legacy on Wabash.

I agree, it's a block of multiple pieces of Chicago - and even general American - history. I've been in that pawn shop several times. They even had their own TV show modeled on Pawn Stars for a short while. And there are hardly any hardscrabble SROs like the one in that block anymore.

[Mr Downtown]

^Back before the recession, the city seemed to be moving toward a redevelopment project for that block of Clark, but I never heard any more about it. I'm not sure how much, if any, of the block is owned by the city.

[Halsted & Villagio]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Oh come on, with a decent restoration they would be nice.

This is what Chicago has that wannabe sunbelt shitholes like Atlanta or Dallas will never have. True historical buildings built with old methods and materials. Take the bad with the good.

Totally agree. Every major to mid-major US city has skyscrapers and/or is building skyscrapers nowadays. Just about all of them have shiny new towers that glimmer in the sunlight. And just about every major to mid-major US city has new low rise developments. What most of those cities don't have and can NEVER have is Chicago's old stock. If we lose that, we lose one of the defining characteristics that sets Chicago apart from the pack and makes Chicago, Chicago.

Variety creates interest. Variety is a beautiful thing.

That said, it definitely can use a decent restoration.

.

[Vlajos]

I can't believe someone would want to get rid of those buildings. With rehab they would be great!

[Near North Resident]

Originally Posted by Stockerzzz

Sorry for the randomness, but can anyone explain how this block still exists in the Loop? It's around the corner from the Board of Trade.

Sure - it's across from the prison. But I'm still baffled. It looks wildly out of place.



https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8764...7i13312!8i6656

That's the 70's Loop Historical district

no, not the 1870's, the 1970's

[Busy Bee]

_


Respect

[MayorOfChicago]

Originally Posted by Stockerzzz

Excuse the terrible photo.



Before:

My apartment was on the second floor directly across from this from 2006 to 2008. I used to look out at that every day and wonder why on earth no one was building anything. The southern three corners of that intersection have nice historic buildings and look great, but the northern was this lot, a gas station and Gino's East which had terrible street presence.

Finally they put a sign up for a new development in late 2007 - but of course the recession ate that.

Glad they finally did something there. I would love to see them do something on the Gino's corner as well, probably going to be a long time before the gas station is replaced.

[Halsted & Villagio]

Originally Posted by Near North Resident

That's the 70's Loop Historical district

no, not the 1870's, the 1970's

Lets not pretend that that 70's loop historical district (as you call it) is not directly across from a prison. I don't know of too many developers willing to take on the challenge of developing a property right next to a prison - especially when there are so many lots available without that massive downside.

Moreover, call it 70's for the sake of argument (although that's questionable as some look a bit older than that), but again, for the sake of argument, we can say 70's. Still, that 1970's development can potentially be very nice with sprucing up. And in large part due to its location it provides VARIETY - again, something that should never be lost on Chicago.

I was just in Miami a few months ago on business. No knock on Miami but everything in its downtown was either new and/or monochromatic. The streetscape bored me to tears. Losing our old stock (1950's, 60', 70's included) should be done with great thought and careful planning - and in some (if not most) instances, avoided entirely.

Of course most everything is contingent on exactly what is proposed to take the place of something... the age/historical significance of what is being replaced... can the historical structure be moved... is a facendectomy (sic) possible... etc, etc.

.

[r18tdi]

Bad ass. Almost European in its approach to preservation. More of this please.

https://chicago.curbed.com/2017/11/1...l-architecture

[Near North Resident]

Originally Posted by Halsted & Villagio

Lets not pretend that that 70's loop historical district (as you call it) is not directly across from a prison. I don't know of too many developers willing to take on the challenge of developing a property right next to a prison - especially when there are so many lots available without that massive downside.

Moreover, call it 70's for the sake of argument (although that's questionable as some look a bit older than that), but again, for the sake of argument, we can say 70's. Still, that 1970's development can potentially be very nice with sprucing up. And in large part due to its location it provides VARIETY - again, something that should never be lost on Chicago.

I was just in Miami a few months ago on business. No knock on Miami but everything in its downtown was either new and/or monochromatic. The streetscape bored me to tears. Losing our old stock (1950's, 60', 70's included) should be done with great thought and careful planning - and in some (if not most) instances, avoided entirely.

Of course most everything is contingent on exactly what is proposed to take the place of something... the age/historical significance of what is being replaced... can the historical structure be moved... is a facendectomy (sic) possible... etc, etc.

.

It just reminds me of how awful the loop was in the 1970's because take that little slice across the street from the prison and expound that to pretty much any dense part of town and that's what it was like

[Investing In Chicago]

Originally Posted by Near North Resident

It just reminds me of how awful the loop was in the 1970's because take that little slice across the street from the prison and expound that to pretty much any dense part of town and that's what it was like

While the buildings may be in rough shape, if cleaned up, would be a fantastic addition to the immediate area. I'd rather have dozens upon dozens of blocks of those buildings than most of the glass, precast, and concrete buildings that pepper the great Loop area today.

[Investing In Chicago]

Originally Posted by MayorOfChicago

My apartment was on the second floor directly across from this from 2006 to 2008. I used to look out at that every day and wonder why on earth no one was building anything. The southern three corners of that intersection have nice historic buildings and look great, but the northern was this lot, a gas station and Gino's East which had terrible street presence.

Finally they put a sign up for a new development in late 2007 - but of course the recession ate that.

Glad they finally did something there. I would love to see them do something on the Gino's corner as well, probably going to be a long time before the gas station is replaced.

The development is from Noah Properties, who does fairly modern work. I walked thru one of the units a few weeks ago during an open house, def an improvement over a surface lot, but a huge missed opportunity IMO.

[J_M_Tungsten]

I just drove by the old sports authority on Lasalle, and it looks as though they are preparing for retail and office conversion for 2018.

[marothisu]

Getting our first glimpses of what's going to replace that gas station at Damen and Division. The other day there was a permit for a 3 story 2 unit building with ground floor retail on it. The estimated cost makes me believe this is going to be a few lots - my guess is there will be other buildings built on the lot too. I guess it's better than a gas station to start, but damn I was hoping for something a bit more dense than what appears to be probably 2 units that will easily be over $1M each and a retail space or two . I am guessing there will be a few buildings like this put in.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by J_M_Tungsten

I just drove by the old sports authority on Lasalle, and it looks as though they are preparing for retail and office conversion for 2018.

I'm glad this building is being preserved

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Getting our first glimpses of what's going to replace that gas station at Damen and Division. The other day there was a permit for a 3 story 2 unit building with ground floor retail on it. The estimated cost makes me believe this is going to be a few lots - my guess is there will be other buildings built on the lot too. I guess it's better than a gas station to start, but damn I was hoping for something a bit more dense than what appears to be probably 2 units that will easily be over $1M each and a retail space or two . I am guessing there will be a few buildings like this put in.

Bye bye gas station!

[left of center]

Now if only something could be done with that strip mall and bank drive through on the northwest corner...

[Skyguy_7]

Originally Posted by r18tdi

Bad ass. Almost European in its approach to preservation. More of this please.

https://chicago.curbed.com/2017/11/1...l-architecture

Holy smokes, this is awesome!