CHICAGO | General Developments - Page 2422

ardecila · #**48421** Posted **Apr 13, 2021, 2:11 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by marothisu

It's good to see these fill up. I posted a few weeks ago about Roosevelt Square phase 3 from Related Midwest. Was kind of surprised to see nobody talk about it. On the other side of Addams Medill Park on Roosevelt, 2 new buildings on vacant lots - 6 stories and 70 units each. Pretty close to the IMD in general.

I was at the community meeting for the Roosevelt Sq project since I live nearby, it also includes the buildout of the Public Housing Museum on Taylor and a mixed-use building at Taylor/Racine.

Exciting, but the overall progress on Roosevelt Square and the other CHA lands (Cabrini, Robert Taylor, Prairie Shores) has been embarrassing.

marothisu · #**48422** Posted **Apr 13, 2021, 2:27 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardecila

I was at the community meeting for the Roosevelt Sq project since I live nearby, it also includes the buildout of the Public Housing Museum on Taylor and a mixed-use building at Taylor/Racine.

Exciting, but the overall progress on Roosevelt Square and the other CHA lands (Cabrini, Robert Taylor, Prairie Shores) has been embarrassing.

Yup. Posted all that a few weeks back. I read some people were worried about their property values..?

Yeah, it has been slow. I think they said they wanted to complete phase 3 in 2023 right? When is this supposed to start then?

ardecila · #**48423** Posted **Apr 13, 2021, 2:34 PM**

Yeah Little Italy residents are really awful. God forbid they have to share the neighborhood with some lower-income families. I can't believe they'd rather have a vacant lot. Fortunately Ald. Ervin doesn't really give a crap about their NIMBY complaints. He might be sensitive to parking complaints but I doubt he will downsize the buildings. Can't believe I'm saying this but thank god for our gerrymandered ward map. If there was a white alderman representing the Near West Side it would be a NIMBY paradise like Norwood Park or something.

Any phasing for Roosevelt Square is basically a joke. Related keeps tweaking the income mix but per their agreement with CHA, they can't build enough market-rate units to actually be profitable. So they have to rely on a trickle of LIHTC tax credits to build everything, and those credits are highly competitive every year.

What I don't get is why Related claims they can't make market-rate townhouses pencil out in Little Italy, when the market for SFH and townhomes is the hottest we've seen in decades (condos not so much). Seems like you could literally print money with those.

ChiPlanner · #**48424** Posted **Apr 13, 2021, 2:35 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardecila

I was at the community meeting for the Roosevelt Sq project since I live nearby, it also includes the buildout of the Public Housing Museum on Taylor and a mixed-use building at Taylor/Racine.

Exciting, but the overall progress on Roosevelt Square and the other CHA lands (Cabrini, Robert Taylor, Prairie Shores) has been embarrassing.

Honestly though, the build-out proposed for the Roosevelt Square area is FAR superior to what they were doing pre-recession. Those single family homes and two flats already look horribly aged and are strikingly low density.

ardecila · #**48425** Posted **Apr 13, 2021, 2:50 PM**

I would have liked to see denser development in Roosevelt Square Phase I, given how close it is to downtown, but I don't mind the fine-grained scale of the early 2000s stuff. The design is a little cringey but it hits all the right points of a traditional Chicago neighborhood block (porches/stoops, parking off alleys, fenced yards, narrow lots, etc).

It could have been so much worse; HOPE VI developments in other cities are really really bad imitations of neighborhood vernacular. Roosevelt Square is merely mediocre. The buildings are all masonry too so I think they've aged pretty well, they just need a spitshine after almost 20 years of Chicago winters.

Randomguy34 · #**48426** Posted **Apr 13, 2021, 3:02 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardecila

I was at the community meeting for the Roosevelt Sq project since I live nearby, it also includes the buildout of the Public Housing Museum on Taylor and a mixed-use building at Taylor/Racine.

Exciting, but the overall progress on Roosevelt Square and the other CHA lands (Cabrini, Robert Taylor, Prairie Shores) has been embarrassing.

Hearing NIMBYs complain at CHA meetings is probably one of the most toxic cesspools you could imagine at a meeting

To answer your question about why progress on developing the sites has been slow, CHA the past couple of years has been shifting towards having the private sector play a major role in redeveloping the sites. CHA could get more public funds to redevelop the sites themselves, but the CHA doesn't want to take that risk after what happened with the Great Recession.

That's why Related has been heavily involved with Lathrop Homes & Roosevelt Square, Harold Ickes is being built by Mccaffrey, and the current Cabrini Green phase being developed by a Texas developer. So redeveloping the remaining CHA sites isn't going to happen anytime soon unless there is interest from the private sector. This of course means that the former Robert Taylor and Ida B. Wells homes are gonna remain vacant for a long while

marothisu · #**48427** Posted **Apr 13, 2021, 10:51 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by bcp

Sorry...wait, what??

"Public housing museum"...

What the hell...?

It actually exists in River North. It would move to Taylor St once that's completed:

https://www.nphm.org

ardecila · #**48428** Posted **Apr 14, 2021, 2:56 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by bcp

Sorry...wait, what??

"Public housing museum"...

What the hell...?

If this seems like a weird idea to you, watch The Pruitt Igoe Myth. There's a lot of interesting history - the people who moved in didn't do so out of desperation, the projects were genuinely an upgrade from the overcrowded slums, at least at first. Then the wheels started coming off, for a whole list of complicated reasons.

killaviews · #**48429** Posted **Apr 14, 2021, 3:23 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by marothisu

Permit was issued yesterday to renovate the Bridgeview Bank building in Uptown on Broadway (& Lawrence) with Cedar St leading the charge. Part of it will be converted to 176 new apartments, and the lobby will become a co-working space. The rooftop will have an amenity deck. Ground floor Starbucks and bank are expected to remain. According to an article from November, they'd most likely start once they have permits - which is now..

Estimated cost on the permit is nearly $15.25M. Cedar St bought the building a few years ago for $19M.

Level Incorporated - the architect - posted updates on Instagram. Glad to see this is well on its way.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CNpkmKoh...d=zs6i1kz5l3cw

ardecila · #**48430** Posted **Apr 14, 2021, 3:59 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by bcp

I'm familiar - good intentions gone awry due to very bad design (and many other factors).

That said - seems like a waste of funds that could be used for............housing?

The museum has done private fundraising like any other museum and gotten state/federal cultural grants. I think Related is making a big donation that will put them over the top. They're not using housing funds for the museum.

west-town-brad · #**48431** Posted **Apr 14, 2021, 4:41 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardecila

If this seems like a weird idea to you, watch The Pruitt Igoe Myth. There's a lot of interesting history - the people who moved in didn't do so out of desperation, the projects were genuinely an upgrade from the overcrowded slums, at least at first. Then the wheels started coming off, for a whole list of complicated reasons.

no weirder of an idea for a museum than:

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/...holography-mro

or

https://imss.org/

Busy Bee · #**48432** Posted **Apr 14, 2021, 8:20 PM**

My parents bought me a Michael Jackson hologram sticker from the Museum of Holography when I was a little boy back in the day. Good memories.

CrazyCres · #**48433** Posted **Apr 15, 2021, 9:26 PM**

C40 Chicago Loop Site Proposals

Assemble Chicago

• Video Link

Common Good Collaborative - The Arbor

• Video Link

Inspiration Exchange

• Video Link

ecoVIBE -

• Video Link

Assemble Chicago is my favorite

r18tdi · #**48434** Posted **Apr 15, 2021, 10:25 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrazyCres

Assemble Chicago is my favorite

I second this. It's not even close (aesthetically speaking).

CrazyCres · #**48435** Posted **Apr 15, 2021, 10:53 PM**

Project Boards

Assemble Chicago
https://www.chicago.gov/content/dam/...le_chicago.pdf

Common Good
https://www.chicago.gov/content/dam/...ommon_good.pdf

Inspiration Exchange
https://www.chicago.gov/content/dam/...n_exchange.pdf

ecoVIBE
https://www.chicago.gov/content/dam/...40/ecovibe.pdf

ithakas · #**48436** Posted **Apr 16, 2021, 4:11 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by r18tdi

I second this. It's not even close (aesthetically speaking).

Agreed, though I like programming aspects of all the other projects a lot (a Silver Room space, Massimo Bottura soup kitchen, and housing for recently graduated artists, respectively).

Jibba · #**48437** Posted **Apr 16, 2021, 3:00 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ithakas

Agreed, though I like programming aspects of all the other projects a lot (a Silver Room space, Massimo Bottura soup kitchen, and housing for recently graduated artists, respectively).

Agree. And the way the Valerio building meets the park is quite nice.