CHICAGO | General Developments

[LouisVanDerWright]

They put up new poles and lights on the street where I was doing a bungalow renovation. They look really nice though the two head approach is a little aesthetically awkward. They have a big arm going up to a head that serves the street and then a smaller lantern that sits just about head height and lights the sidewalk. They are silver and I wonder if they aren't machined aluminum or something other than steel. They could be stainless steel, but that sounds even more expensive. Anyone know what these new poles are made of?

[k1052]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

They put up new poles and lights on the street where I was doing a bungalow renovation. They look really nice though the two head approach is a little aesthetically awkward. They have a big arm going up to a head that serves the street and then a smaller lantern that sits just about head height and lights the sidewalk. They are silver and I wonder if they aren't machined aluminum or something other than steel. They could be stainless steel, but that sounds even more expensive. Anyone know what these new poles are made of?

They aren't all that new AFAIK since I've been seeing them on side streets in Lakeview for a few years. I don't see a lot of them but they're out there. They look like they're made of aluminum to me. Not sure at all how or why these have been appearing.

[sentinel]

The new Plumbers 130 Training Center will open in September. Article states that it is 50,000 sq. ft., 3 stories, has a nearly 3,900 sq. ft. green roof and was designed by Gensler:


Image from article
http://chicagoconstructionnews.com/n...careers-union/

[Via Chicago]

looks good, but still wish they had found a way to rehab the old building.

[i_am_hydrogen]

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/reale...eport-20170628

[Via Chicago]

no.

[BuildThemTaller]

Originally Posted by Via Chicago

no.

Yes.

But in actual criticism, this adds green, or at least public space to an otherwise barren area. People like plazas. The plaza between Tribune Tower is great as in the Plaza of the Americas and Pioneer Plaza. They could be onto something and it will create additional restaurant/coffee shop space off of Michigan ave.

I also like the idea of using multiple levels. This connects the elevated pathway along Wabash to Rush Street, which is a plus. And the under-pathway lighting is intriguing.

What really excites me, though, is the tower potential on top of this. Please, please, please put a tower on top of this mall! Make it dense, make it tall! There won't be any neighbors to say no!

[emathias]

I had sort of mixed feelings about the double-level North Bridge thing, but I think at the end of the day I like it. It is covering Illinois, which is already a pedestrian no-go zone at streetlevel. And Illinois extends an upper level east from Michigan Avenue already, so extending west, too, in this one, very specific area, actually makes sense to me. I wouldn't support doing it at Grand or pretty much anywhere else, but here, at Illinois, I think it makes sense and could actually do a lot to tie several features in the general vicinity together. Have good illumination will be important, finding a naturally-feeling way to transition between the levels will be important. But I like the general idea and feel hopeful that in this one specific area it can be pulled off in a pretty dramaticly positive way.

I do agree that it needs to include a *significant* residential an/or hotel component in order to help increase the natural pool of customers for all that excess retail. That's really my only big concern, having a ton of new retail space in a time when retail in general is already running into industry-level challenges.

[Via Chicago]

Originally Posted by emathias

I do agree that it needs to include a *significant* residential an/or hotel component in order to help increase the natural pool of customers for all that excess retail. That's really my only big concern, having a ton of new retail space in a time when retail in general is already running into industry-level challenges.

im seriously questioning the decision to continue expanding mall retail so significantly given all the other red flags and warning signs pointing in the complete opposite direction

[left of center]

I am also conflicted by this. While that stretch of Illinois is definitely very pedestrian unfriendly, its all the elevated streets that made it so to begin with. Michigan and Wabash are both elevated, making that 2 block stretch of Illinois between them a no go zone for anyone on foot. Extending upper Illinois merely pushes off that problem to surrounding streets, such as Rush.

If they made it easily accessible and intuitive for people on the lower sections to get to the upper section (including signage, lots of lighting, elevators, etc.), then this might work. Otherwise, it'll be more alienating and make it more difficult for people who are from out of town to get around, IMO.

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by Via Chicago

im seriously questioning the decision to continue expanding mall retail so significantly given all the other red flags and warning signs pointing in the complete opposite direction

The type of retail being wiped out is not the set North Bridge caters to. Hell just look at Eatly right next door. The future is not one of no retail, it's one of different retail. People aren't going to be buying staples at the store anymore, but they will go out to buy luxury or novelty good that come with an experience. Eatly is experience retailing 101. I expect that's largely the type of retailer (also see Starbucks flagship) that will ultimately occupy this expansion.

[Randomguy34]

The city has finally filed for a zoning change of the North Branch, with the draft zoning changes seen below:


Chicago DPD Twitter

[marothisu]

Building permits were issued yesterday for a new building at 2340 N California just north of the California Blue Line stop. 6 stories, 138 units, 44 parking spaces, and ground floor retail space (also, 138 bike spaces).

https://www.google.com/maps/place/23...!4d-87.6978464

It's going to be called Savoy on the Park. In the picture below, there's a plaza there. The site linked below states that it'll be public, which is awesome. Hopefully it's used well
Source: https://www.buzzbuzzhome.com/us/savoy-on-the-park

[Near North Resident]

Originally Posted by Randomguy34

The city has finally filed for a zoning change of the North Branch, with the draft zoning changes seen below:


Chicago DPD Twitter

interesting those Tribune lots are DS-5 does that mean pretty much anything can be built on them with a FAR less than 5?

[Randomguy34]

Originally Posted by Near North Resident

interesting those Tribune lots are DS-5 does that mean pretty much anything can be built on them with a FAR less than 5?

They're a DS-5 at the moment because the city wants to make sure that manufacturing businesses in the area do not have to go through the whole zoning process if they want to expand or renovated their property. Developers who want to do something that's not manufacturing related can just upzone to a DX-5. If they need more FAR, they can pay into the NOF for up to an additional 3.1 FAR, to get a total of 8.1

[Kumdogmillionaire]

Originally Posted by Via Chicago

im seriously questioning the decision to continue expanding mall retail so significantly given all the other red flags and warning signs pointing in the complete opposite direction

I'm going to go out on a limb and say the people making the decision to spend as much money as they are to build this thing are smarter than you when it comes to retail and whether or not the market is good enough to absorb more mall space...

[intrepidDesign]

Originally Posted by Kumdogmillionaire

I'm going to go out on a limb and say the people making the decision to spend as much money as they are to build this thing are smarter than you when it comes to retail and whether or not the market is good enough to absorb more mall space...

I was listening to NPR the other day and they had a story about "The death of retail". Long story short, not all retail districts are created equal. Are malls in rural areas dying? Of course, but so are rural areas. Companies like Sears that invested in grey box stores in the suburbs and rural areas are feeling the pain because of the demographic shift. Big city stores are having a much easier go of it, and can by and large support big retail. I think this proposal looks amazing. I know I'm probably in the minority here, but I like elevated pedestrian walkways. No typical big retail blank walls until you're way up, and with a modern lighting scheme, this thing would be bad to the ass.

[r18tdi]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Building permits were issued yesterday for a new building at 2340 N California just north of the California Blue Line stop.

I thought they ditched the green for gray...

[emathias]

Originally Posted by Kumdogmillionaire

I'm going to go out on a limb and say the people making the decision to spend as much money as they are to build this thing are smarter than you when it comes to retail and whether or not the market is good enough to absorb more mall space...

It's not just about whether the market there could support it, though, it's also about whether the City would rather concentrate that retail there or let it expand elsewhere nearby. Are five levels of retail on one block better than five blocks with 1 level of retail?

[Via Chicago]

Originally Posted by Kumdogmillionaire

I'm going to go out on a limb and say the people making the decision to spend as much money as they are to build this thing are smarter than you when it comes to retail and whether or not the market is good enough to absorb more mall space...

the notion that Michigan Ave is somehow immune to the retail pinch that is sure to play out over the next few years i think is pretty myopic. the stuff inside North Bridge, Water Tower Place, and MI AVE in general aside from some exceptions are pretty standard mall brands. the changes coming around the corner are going to be seismic.