CHICAGO | Highrise Projects & Construction, v7

[F1 Tommy]

That looks very nice. Lakeshore East is becoming the best looking area of downtown.

[chicubs111]

Wow 875 is not bad at all... where we expected something along Vistas height? ... Does anyone have the heights of the remaining buildings?

[Bombardier]

Parcels IJKL were 3 buildings basically 80, 50, and 40 stories.

[James_Mac]

Originally Posted by ithakas

Thanks! I see that David mentioned some kind of pedestrian ramp on the east side of LSE – what kind of connectivity are they planning from the east side to the lakefront? A little hard to discern from the photo.

There will be a gradual ramp from Upper N. Harbor Drive leading down to the area under Lake Shore Drive. Definitely a good thing -- the current route from Lake Shore East to the Lake is awful. See below for what it looks like from under Lake Shore Drive (looking west).



EDIT: Also, see the view from Upper N. Harbor Drive:

[The North One]

Oh my god, that looks amazing, lord yes.

[the urban politician]

Certainly looks great. Probably won't end up being that full of people but you never know.

I'm in favor of any effort to add some vertical topography to Chicago's green spaces. Yes to slopes and hills. Polk Bros park near Navy Pier will have a small one. Would love to see some in Grant Park as well. But that's another topic

[nomarandlee]

Very nice. I'm happy if the reality holds up to the photos.

[James_Mac]

Also, kind of hard to tell from some angles, but apparently Building I angles outwards as it rises (so the floorplates get larger as it goes up), 1000 S. Michigan style.

[James_Mac]

Showing all the park area - most of which is open to the public.


Building KS.

Some scattered other notes/thoughts from the community presentation:
- They're going to connect up the pedway to Village Market (i.e., Marianos) through Building O. So it will be possible to get from the Illinois Center, Hyatt etc. to Marianos through the Pedway.
- There will be retail in Building O, and also retail on the south side of the corner lot, along the sloping path they're planning to construct to the lake.
- There will be two public elevators in the corner lot buildings, connecting upper and lower levels.
- There will be a permanent dog park in the corner lot public space, on the south side, semi-covered.
- Lol at the women publicly venting about all of downtown Chicago being overbuilt.

[KWILLSKYLINE]

Please happen. I really didnt think we would get that height. Fingers crossed.

[TimeAgain]

That building is at least 10 years from starting construction, but oh well, it looks beautiful.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by TimeAgain

That building is at least 10 years from starting construction, but oh well, it looks beautiful.

Based on what information?

[nergie]

I was able to attend the LSE community meeting this evening. I asked questions about a possible transit center, better traffic control on Upper Columbus so i don't get run over while walking and also if another grocery store is in the works. Butler nice plea for "collusion" between Related and LendLease to frame the river with iconic towers.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by James_Mac

- There will be retail in Building O, and also retail on the south side of the corner lot, along the sloping path they're planning to construct to the lake.
- There will be two public elevators in the corner lot buildings, connecting upper and lower levels..

Im trying to figure out what you mean here. Which "corner lot" buildings are you referring to. Also, none of the renderings depict retail along that sloping path unless I'm missing or mistaking something

[trvlr70]

It would be a real loss if the new developments did not cover up the ugly "scar", the party wall on the Chandler. It's such a blight.

[James_Mac]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Im trying to figure out what you mean here. Which "corner lot" buildings are you referring to. Also, none of the renderings depict retail along that sloping path unless I'm missing or mistaking something

The elevators are in I and J, I believe.

I'm guessing the retail just isn't visible. I recall seeing some of it in at least one of the renderings, though.

[ardecila]

Towers in a park! Towersinapark towersinapark towersinapark towersinapark! How dare they! Failed urban planning!



In all seriousness, I like the idea of dispersing the towers a little more to create a soft transition from city to the lakefront. The site plan firmly rejects the hard grid laid out in the rest of LSE, this is really the first serious departure we've seen from the SOM master plan. Also, I like the idea of burying the parking inside of a landform instead of doing a traditional boxy concrete podium.

However, some of those towersinapark concerns still apply. It will be interesting to see how the open spaces are maintained once LSE is built out. This is much more landscaping than we've seen before, and unlike the LSE park, it will all be privately-owned. What happens in 2060 when the hotshot techbro condo buyers of today are pensioners, and don't want to pay an astronomical landscaping bill every year?

Random thoughts:
-it seems the retail is in the arcade space beneath Tower J. Its at true ground level, so it will sorta be in a hollow at the bottom of the sloping park and in the shadow of LSD overpass. No direct car access, so the developers assume it can survive on foot traffic alone. Looks like the rendering is showing a coffee shop or a small cafe.

-wow, lots of expensive sloping beams to hold up the path over Harbor Service Drive. All so that the architects can have their nice angle. Expect that to get VE'd out...

[ithakas]

For the most part I'm pretty happy with everything planned. Some thoughts:

–I think one thing missing from LSE is a really signature piece of public art. I wonder if there are any large-scale sculptures or architectural monuments looking for a permanent home? The Sears Calder comes to mind, but would need to be housed in some way...
–I'm glad they're planning a public school, but there's something really cool about the auto pound being on Lower Wacker that evokes 60s-80s Chicago to me.
–I don't think the corner tower needs to be higher; it just needs to rise above the rest of the buildings in that section of LSE, which it does. Really lovely design too.
–I like the other tower from that corner of LSE as well; shouldn't there be a third over there as well? Not sure I'm seeing it.
–I like this iteration of Building O better, but it looks like my dream of having a Steinway Tower clone built here won't be happening...
–Are they doing anything with that NE corner of the park, where the temporary dog park is now? I know the original plans called for more townhomes here...

[emathias]

Originally Posted by ithakas

For the most part I'm pretty happy with everything planned. Some thoughts:

–I think one thing missing from LSE is a really signature piece of public art. I wonder if there are any large-scale sculptures or architectural monuments looking for a permanent home? The Sears Calder comes to mind, but would need to be housed in some way...

I'd rather it be original and more on the scale of this:

NYTimes.com

Originally Posted by ithakas

...
–I don't think the corner tower needs to be higher; it just needs to rise above the rest of the buildings in that section of LSE, which it does. Really lovely design too.
...

I'im just glad it's big enough to hold its own against whatever Related puts up on the Spire site. I'm guessing this means Related isn't going to push for the sky, as an 800-900 foot tower there would accomplish creating a "gateway effect." Of course it also means we won't be seeing anything crazy like a giant actual arch over the River, which would pretty pretty awesome but was never really a serious consideration.

[BVictor1]