CHICAGO | General Developments

[Mojava]

$40 Million...

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=35283


(Crain’s) — A bidder agreed at an auction Thursday to pay $40 million for the Old Main Post Office.

The identity of the winning bidder could not immediately be determined. The auction took about a half hour, with bidding starting at $300,000, the suggested opening offer.

[VivaLFuego]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ So getting back to my point, very little will be added to the cityscape when all is said and done and Loyola's project is completed

Sounds like, particularly since students will be driving into an attached parking garage rather than deigning to park in an existing public garage or lot in the area or even take a taxi, which might place them into dangerous contact with the street level... right Nowhereman?

[aic4ever]

Reconciling the address, 100 Loyola Way, and the university's map, along with the renderings and then Google maps, it looks like this building will occupy the east side of State, between Pearson and Chestnut, which when drilling down to street view, looks like it will find the Mike's Bar & Grill building remaining, and see Sally's, and the existing university bookstore being replaced by the new building. This is affirmed by clicking on item five, the University Bookstore, on the Loyola map, which indicates this bookstore will become part of 100 Loyola Way, and become a Barnes & Noble within the new building.

The rendering appears to indicate a building that is about 10 stories, and one that does not impact any of the existing buildings TUP brings up, and which manages to be architecturally striking along the whole block, and in an area that doesn't particularly demand it.

[bnk]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

Anyone want to make a prediction on what the auction selling price will be for the Old Post Office?

40 million.

[bnk]

http://www.suntimes.com/business/roe...82709.article#

$40 million bid for Old Main Post Office


August 27, 2009

BY DAVID ROEDER droeder@suntimes.com

Old Chicago Main Post Office sold for $40 million in a public auction today.

The old massive building that spans the Eisenhower Expressway was sold in a spirited auction that drew more than 120 onlookers. The identity of the winning bidder could not immediately be learned. The winner went behind closed doors to complete contract signing after the 45-minute auction.

» Click to enlarge image The Old Main Post Office was sold for $40 million in a public auction Thursday. The building covers about 2.7 million square feet.
(Richard A. Chapman/Sun-Times)



The bidding drew interest from several Chicago developers but it appeared that out-of towners were the ones who escalated the price.


In the end, the bidding was almost exclusively between two parties who are believed to be from elsewhere.

The building at 433 W. Van Buren covers about 2.7 million square feet and used to be the largest postal processing center in the world. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places but is not a Chicago landmark.

The post office was built in stages from 1921 to 1932 under a design by Graham, Anderson, Probst & White, the firm that succeeded the one founded by Daniel Burnham. Other Chicago buildings the Graham firm designed included the Civic Opera Building, the Merchandise Mart, the Wrigley Building and Union Station.

The building has been empty since 1996, when the U.S. Postal Service moved to modern space nearby. It retained ownership of the property and for years cooperated on a redevelopment plan with Walton Street Capital, headed by prominent investor Neil Bluhm.

But those plans collapsed in the worst real estate market in decades and the postal service opted to auction the property to ease its own cash crunch. A government report has said the agency pays more than $2 million a year to keep the building heated and secure.

Auctioneer Rick Levin, president of Rick Levin & Associates Inc., suggested an opening bid of $300,000. The auction was held at Hotel InterContinental Chicago O¹Hare in Rosemont.

Immediately after the auction was announced in June, there were questions about whether the building merited a positive bid at all. Renovation costs would be huge and the building, with an interior space almost as large as what¹s in Willis Tower, would become taxable under private ownership.

In addition, the postal service¹s earlier deal with Walton Street carried negative value. The sale price was $10, but the postal service agreed to kick in a $9 million subsidy toward renovations.

A big challenge with the building is its dark, two-block-long floors that stretch over the expressway. Walton Street had proposed removing some of the old mail sorting space and turning the rest of it into a hotel. Other sections would have been retrofitted for offices or condominiums.

The budget for the work was believed to be more than $300 million.

[bnk]

Sorry Mojava I missed your post.

Originally Posted by Mojava

$40 Million...

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=35283


(Crain’s) — A bidder agreed at an auction Thursday to pay $40 million for the Old Main Post Office.

The identity of the winning bidder could not immediately be determined. The auction took about a half hour, with bidding starting at $300,000, the suggested opening offer.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=35283

Old Main Post Office fetches $40 million
By: Eddie Baeb Aug. 27, 2009

(Crain’s) — A bidder agreed at an auction Thursday to pay $40 million for the Old Main Post Office.



winning bid came from a man and woman who did not speak to reporters. A U.S. Postal Service spokesman identified them only as principals with International Property Developers North America Inc. The spokesman would describe the company only as a global development firm and would not say where it is based.

He said the winning bidders were foreign. They signed a contract and paid $250,000 in earnest money, the spokesman said.

He read a statement from the winners in which they said they plan to “re-energize the property as a focal point and destination for the entire city and its visitors for the next century.”

...

“To paraphrase Daniel Burnham, let me assure you, that we shall make no small plans.”

The auction took about a half hour, with bidding starting at $300,000, the suggested opening offer.

The bidding narrowed to two prospective buyers at about $15 million.

The winners are to close on the purchase by Sept. 30.

...

[VivaLFuego]

Originally Posted by aic4ever

Reconciling the address, 100 Loyola Way, and the university's map, along with the renderings and then Google maps, it looks like this building will occupy the east side of State, between Pearson and Chestnut, which when drilling down to street view, looks like it will find the Mike's Bar & Grill building remaining, and see Sally's, and the existing university bookstore being replaced by the new building. This is affirmed by clicking on item five, the University Bookstore, on the Loyola map, which indicates this bookstore will become part of 100 Loyola Way, and become a Barnes & Noble within the new building.

The rendering appears to indicate a building that is about 10 stories, and one that does not impact any of the existing buildings TUP brings up, and which manages to be architecturally striking along the whole block, and in an area that doesn't particularly demand it.

If it is as you suggest, then this will be a great development, since it would leave the buildings with "character" (the corner one admittedly gritty but still a positive for the streetscape imo) and eliminate the parking lot, crap book store, and crap beauty store. This would be ideal and awesome. However, Nowhereman seems to be implying the opposite - the parking lot and northern portion of site are being held for an eventual mixed use tower, while the corner building with Mike's and the adjacent Victorian rowhomes along Pearson would be replaced by the B-school.

I agree with you that architecturally, this seems like a nice building with interesting interior spaces. I will be much more positive if it's construction doesn't mandate demolition of ever more of the endangered historic stock of the area.

[Nowhereman1280]

^^^ Wow, I just looked at their new plans and it appears that you guys are right. I think they may have shuffled up the layout and rotated the building 90degrees so it now faces state street like you suggest. Originally they had it facing Pearson and I assumed it still was, but I guess those row homes are being saved now. One of the two is on the national historic places register or whatever its called.

Originally Posted by VivaLFuego

Sounds like, particularly since students will be driving into an attached parking garage rather than deigning to park in an existing public garage or lot in the area or even take a taxi, which might place them into dangerous contact with the street level... right Nowhereman?

Well the original intent of attaining parking is so that they have enough space for all of the faculty members to park without forcing them to walk several blocks or to pay for parking at the other garages. My understanding is that there would still be no space availible for students in the garage. Besides, outside of the MBA program (which I'm sure you could understand them wanting to avoid an extra 5-10 min walk when they are balancing a full time job, classes, and maybe a family) no one at Loyola really drives to school, almost everyone uses the Shuttle, 147, or lives within walking distance. I know maybe half a dozen kids who regularly drive here.

[spyguy]

Originally Posted by Nowhereman1280

^^^ Wow, I just looked at their new plans and it appears that you guys are right. I think they may have shuffled up the layout and rotated the building 90degrees so it now faces state street like you suggest. Originally they had it facing Pearson and I assumed it still was, but I guess those row homes are being saved now. One of the two is on the national historic places register or whatever its called.

Here's a larger version of one of those renderings:

It still looks like it's on State and Pearson, so maybe it's old. On the other hand, one of the interior shots shows a view to the south from the atrium.

Nowhereman: was the "Clare on steriods" for this site or the lots next to Lawson YMCA (is that project even moving forward at that scale)? And are there any plans to do something with Maguire Hall in the future?

BTW here are some other projects for the Lake Shore campus from Loyola's website:
New Intercollegiate Athletic Facility

New Academic Center for Lake Shore Campus
Funds are needed to complete the Lake Shore Campus's original architectural plans with a state-of-the-art facility for mathematics and political science in the footprint of Damen Hall.

[Nowhereman1280]

^^^ The "Clare on Steroids" tower was supposed to go behind the new business school along Chestnut, but if they modified the plans, it may have been dropped. Thats the original rendering for sure, but are we sure thats not the corner of Chestnut and State? I remember hearing that the glass atrium was designed to face south and gather as much of the winter sun as possible and to self heat and cool much like the Information Commons does.

Updates on the other projects:

That intercolligate sports complex is actually just breaking ground right now. They have the site fenced off and there are a few pieces of miscellaneous equipment there right now. I think it looks pretty good, but I couldn't disagree more with its placement, Gentile Center already cuts the campus in half, this will be attached and further separate the campus.

McGuire Hall will be renovated and all the offices moved to the upper floors of the new building and then all of McGuire will be renovated into the classrooms for the undergraduate school of business while the entire graduate school of business and undergraduate library will reside in the new building. 25 E. Pearson is going to become the exclusive law school building containing brand new sets of mock courtrooms, the law library, and law classrooms. 25 E is already in the process of these renovations and a beautiful new courtroom just was opened on the top floor. They are also in the process of modifying and replacing the elevators in the building as well.

That last building is the replacement of Damen Hall which is going to be demolished very soon seeing as how the renovation and restoration of Mundelein (Skyscraper Building) is nearing completion (only two floors left to go). That Mundelein building is absolutely huge now that they have finishing renovating it with 15 floors and between 7 and 4 classrooms a floor for 8 or so of those floors plus dozens of offices and practice rooms in the skinnier higher floors. Expect Damen to come down within a year and for construction of that new building to begin immediately after.

[spyguy]

Originally Posted by Nowhereman1280

Thats the original rendering for sure, but are we sure thats not the corner of Chestnut and State?

I think it's Pearson and State based on the perspective. You can see SCB's Wolf bands on Baumhart Hall and that small lowrise building on Pearson next to the currently standing rowhomes.

[brian_b]

Originally Posted by VivaLFuego

Notice is up for a zoning request to establish a parking lot at the SE corner of Randolph & Desplaines. The site is currently a private parking lot, so I'm assuming this is just to make it a public lot.

For once I'm agnostic on it. Whatever. There are some very nice buildings farther east on the block that ideally will some day see landmarking or other protection, so I'm fine if development takes it's time on this site to get it right. It's not like this represents a developer throwing in the towel and going for surface parking instead (a la 560 Fairbanks).

I'm pretty sure that this lot was owned by Catholic Charities who have not used it much at all since the demolition of the buildings they owned across the street (made way for R+D659). This lot is pretty small but would be great for use by the valets at Blackbird, Meji, and Avec. They currently use up a lot of the metered spaces in the neighborhood.

[brian_b]

Originally Posted by Nowhereman1280

There are no billionaire alums from LUC. There are, however, many multimillionaires who will probably donate. For example, the CEO and founder of Morningstar is a Loyola Alum and the CFO of Wal-Mart is as well, these guys have got cash and may have donated already.

Joe Mansueto is on the board of the Booth School, so I doubt he's giving any money to a competitor.

http://www.chicagobooth.edu/about/le...p/council.aspx

[aspiringArchitect]

I don't post in here very often but I just saw this on Yahoo and thought it was important...

Chicago's vacant post office auctioned for $40 million
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090828/...ago_postoffice
Thu Aug 27, 10:34 pm ET
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Chicago's old main post office, which dates from the 1920s and has been vacant for more than a decade, was sold at auction on Thursday for $40 million.

The minimum bid was just $300,000 and bidders had to have a certified check for $250,000 to express good faith.

The U.S. Postal Service identified the new owner as International Property Developers North America Inc, which did not specify its plans.

In a statement read by a postal service spokesman, the company said it would "re-energize the property as a focal point and destination for the entire city and its visitors for the next century."

"To paraphrase Daniel Burnham, let me assure you that we shall make no small plans," it said.

The building of 2.5 million square feet (232,000 square meters), which straddles an expressway and sits above railroad tracks, was deemed a must-sell because the postal service did not want to keep paying the $2 million annual cost of up keep, auctioneer Rick Levin & Associates said.

The postal service moved its main office across the street from the old facility in 1997.

The old nine-story building, flanked by two towers, was once the U.S. Postal Service's largest facility. Its soaring marble-floored lobby was featured in a scene in "The Dark Knight," the latest entry in the Batman movie franchise.

Among past failed proposals for the structure, which sits adjacent to the Chicago River and near the downtown Loop, were converting it into condominiums, a hotel, an auto dealership, an indoor parking facility, a casino and water park.

(Reporting by Andrew Stern; Editing by John O'Callaghan)

[Rizzo]

I came into this thread hoping to see people's response to this. Surprisingly the majority of discussion of the old Chicago post office is to be found on a Detroit website. I think it's funny it's been posted here like 4 times without any response. Not criticizing, just ironic, that's all.

Hmmm, maybe I should be more interested in the Loyola development since I should be able to see the construction site from my apartment.

[the urban politician]

^ I imagine people aren't saying much because so far no plans have been announced. The old post office went from public to private hands in the middle of the worst recession in recent history. Whoopty doo, I guess...

[VivaLFuego]

The only thing that comes to mind for the old PO... is a totally immense casino with hotel, resort, indoor parking, the works.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ I imagine people aren't saying much because so far no plans have been announced. The old post office went from public to private hands in the middle of the worst recession in recent history. Whoopty doo, I guess...

Yeah, all we can do is speculate on the plans, but even that's already been done to death - just ask John Ronan.

[Busy Bee]

if the biggest hurdle is what to do with 2.7 million sf, an idea I've been thinking about lately is cutting through the floor plates to create a large interior atrium and having a pretty sweet indoor amusement park/entertainment complex—maybe even an indoor ski slope, how bad ass would that be?. Yeah, it would be tourist hell, but it beats using such an iconic building as condos or a parking garage.

[Mr Downtown]

^Are you thinking that would be as successful as Old Chicago in Bolingbrook (1975–1981)? Or Llove in Dallas (1975–1978)?