CHICAGO | Post Office Redevelopment

[rothko]

Can't say I particularly missed this project after its cancellation... Don't get me wrong; this location would be great for some sort of significant project, but supertalls in this area would seem out of place, and throw off the balance of the skyline.

[r18tdi]

Originally Posted by rothko

Can't say I particularly missed this project after its cancellation

True.

Originally Posted by rothko

Don't get me wrong; this location would be great for some sort of significant project

Also true.

Originally Posted by rothko

but supertalls in this area would seem out of place

Flase.

Originally Posted by rothko

and throw off the balance of the skyline.

Nonsense.

[ChiTownWonder]

it was just a vision really.

[SamInTheLoop]

^ Yes - there was no cancellation of anything here. Cancellation by definition means that there was an actual project (meaning the supposed new construction elements) to begin with......as we've discussed over and over again, that was never the case here.....

[Zapatan]

Originally Posted by SamInTheLoop

^ Yes - there was no cancellation of anything here. Cancellation by definition means that there was an actual project (meaning the supposed new construction elements) to begin with......as we've discussed over and over again, that was never the case here.....

True, but it would be a good place for some potential large tower someday.

[jcchii]

all the growth is north and west of there, unfortunately for them

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by jcchii

all the growth is north and west of there, unfortunately for them

Exactly, this is why the Downtown Service zoning is so toxic. It's just like PMD zoning, irrationally suppressing the value of land for some kind of fairy tale ideal. Instead of dense mixed use development we have abandoned factories in the PMD. Instead of dense mixed us development we have big box retail in DS districts.

I think a large part of why the Post Office has taken so long to develop is that there is literally nothing South of there except parking lots full of delivery vans and some marginal big box retail. There's nothing of value on the other side of the Post Office worth developing towards. It's not like the wastelands that used to be Cabrini, or the near West Loop, or River North where you know that eventually that area is going to connect to an attractive residential neighborhood like West Loop or Lincoln Park. All you get if you go South of the Post Office is miles of DS garbage and then depressed neighborhoods on the South Side after that. DS zoning is a cancer on this city just like PMD's.

[jcchii]

yes

I would have typed all that if I weren't too lazy

[LaSalle.St.Station]

The major impediment is just the sheer size and scope of the project. This is what TIF districts were meant for.

[Chi-Sky21]

Just turn it into a giant parking facility..it would stop all the traffic from the Ike from coming into the loop looking for parking! 8)

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

All you get if you go South of the Post Office is miles of DS garbage and then depressed neighborhoods on the South Side after that.

Except, you know, Pilsen, University Village, Bridgeport, and Chinatown. There's plenty to connect to, if the zoning were changed. I would not call them "depressed" just because they are not filled with white professionals. There's nothing wrong with genuinely middle-class neighborhoods.

I don't necessarily mind the DS zoning or even the concept of PMDs, just the inflexibility the city has shown in accommodating new growth through rezoning (witness The Maxwell, whose residential units were canned by city planners). Goose Island should probably remain a manufacturing zone, accommodating office and light industrial uses, research park, etc. The rest of the North Branch should be removed as a PMD; the infrastructure is buckling under all the heavy truck traffic. Let the market determine where large scrap metal and recycling operations should go (hint: it ain't on the edge of Lincoln Park).

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Except, you know, Pilsen, University Village, Bridgeport, and Chinatown. There's plenty to connect to, if the zoning were changed. I would not call them "depressed" just because they are not filled with white professionals. There's nothing wrong with genuinely middle-class neighborhoods.

That's fair, I always get disoriented as to what's next to what on the near south side because of all the viaducts and freeways. There's nothing depressed about University Village, Pilsen, Chinatown, etc...

Let the market determine where large scrap metal and recycling operations should go (hint: it ain't on the edge of Lincoln Park).

So true, as cool as it is to drive through an active scrapyard and almost get picked up by a giant magnet crane on the way to the Trader Joe's parking garage, it really makes no sense at all.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

That's fair, I always get disoriented as to what's next to what on the near south side because of all the viaducts and freeways. There's nothing depressed about University Village, Pilsen, Chinatown, etc...

Yeah, there are a lot of hard infrastructure barriers that aren't gonna go away. The Dan Ryan, the BNSF rail line at 15th, the river, etc.

There are actually a lot of good connections across those, though, and amazingly the Chinese community has been building housing in the middle of all this infrastructure on some very unlikely sites. The Canal St corridor is a super-walkable way to go from Chinatown to Bridgeport. The awesome buildings at Cermak and Jefferson are unfortunately another PMD, but they could make a super-dope ready-made loft neighborhood.

[munchymunch]

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/reale...oreUserAgent=1

A Middle Eastern developer wants the next crack at the Old Main Post Office, a massive structure along the Chicago River that has stymied previous developers.

Gulf Resources Development & Investment, based in the United Arab Emirates, is working on a potential deal to buy the 2.7 million-square-foot West Loop building for about $150 million, according to people familiar with the deal.

Owner Bill Davies, a Liverpool native who now lives in Monaco, is expected to keep an ownership stake in the redevelopment of the building along Congress Parkway and the river if the deal is completed, according to sources.

[LouisVanDerWright]

Every time I see this thread bumped I go "Now what?"...


I doubt anything will come of this either with dumbass Davies at the helm. Stupid oil money does a lot of dumb things, but I doubt they'll be stupid enough to hand Davies $150 million for something he paid next to nothing for, especially considering the oil market right now.

I do hope it goes through, I just don't see it as likely. It would be nice to start garnering attention from the types of people who have been dumping money into NYC, London, Dubai, etc etc. That's a set of people who are largely ignorant of Chicago's existence.

[wierdaaron]

They probably showed him some flashy designs to turn the place into Dubai 2 with a bunch of mile-high towers shaped like Klingon sex toys. Ever since Sterling Bay dropped out I've abandoned hope for this project being anything good, and now I'd settle for anything less than a total embarrassment. If they don't use a local developer it's just going to end up about as well as the Spire.

[Chicago_Forever]

At Old Main Post Office, another deal can't be delivered

A Middle Eastern developer's interest in buying and redeveloping the Old Main Post Office apparently has come and gone, the latest mirage for the art deco colossus that has sat empty for 19 years.

Gulf Resources Development & Investment, a company based in United Arab Emirates, was negotiating to buy the 2.7 million-square-foot structure for about $150 million, according to people familiar with the deal. But soon after Crain's reported that a potential sale was in the works, British owner Bill Davies killed the deal. He plans once again to launch his own development on the highly visible site along the Chicago River...

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...stumbles-again

[wierdaaron]

City's going to have to eminent domain this thing.

[Randomguy34]

Originally Posted by wierdaaron

City's going to have to eminent domain this thing.

After they take hold of it, they should then sell it off to the person who's offering the best price and has been shown to have a good track record for big projects. At this point I just want anything that will be a shot in the arm for the area around the Post Office.

[LaSalle.St.Station]

Originally Posted by wierdaaron

City's going to have to eminent domain this thing.

Metra and or Amtrak would be a logical eminent domain driver for the base rail access but sell off above grade property to a serious developer.