CHICAGOLAND | Urban Development in the Burbs - Page 30

harryc · #**581** Posted **Dec 31, 2019, 3:28 PM**

Dec 28

spyguy · #**582** Posted **Jan 5, 2020, 6:07 PM**

Optima Wilmette - 1210 Central
108 units + retail

Steely Dan · #**583** Posted **Jan 6, 2020, 5:43 PM**

^ oh, more TOD for wilmette.

and it looks light years better than the village's first attempt at TOD: https://www.google.com/maps/@42.0754...7i16384!8i8192

it looks like it would replace a non-descript stand-alone bank building with a large surface lot. no loss there.

that's a rather big dense urban building for little old wilmette. it'll be interesting to see if they approve it.

aaron38 · #**584** Posted **Jan 6, 2020, 5:57 PM**

The Boomers like condos now. My parents are considering one. They don't want any stairs in a unit (no townhomes). Covered parking, no sidewalks to shovel, no yard to rake.
I imagine there are plenty of folks in Wilmette that want to stay in Wilmette and want a new construction condo to downsize into.

kolchak · #**585** Posted **Jan 6, 2020, 7:25 PM**

Downtown Wilmette is a victim of poor urban planning. Compared to the gentle uniformity of Winnetka and Hubbard Woods, DT Wilmette feels habscrable. Its noticeable in the relative lack of varied retail and restaurants. The area is almost dead and having a large TOD Metro adjacent is a good idea. But in the end that design doesn't fit in well with the surroundings.

kolchak · #**586** Posted **Jan 7, 2020, 10:35 PM**

I have to correct myself, I thought this was on the East side of the Metra. Its actually along Green Bay Road. Much less out of place there.

Steely Dan · #**587** Posted **Jan 7, 2020, 10:50 PM**

^ yeah, green bay road through downtown wilmette is already pretty hodge-podge, just about anything would fit in.

and while downtown winnetka is certainly more polished, i would hardly describe downtown wilmette as "dead".

i mean, there's some stuff there: https://www.google.com/maps/@42.0766...7i16384!8i8192

i count a dozen restaurants east of the metra tracks with at least some amount sidewalk seating. that's not terrible.

it's decent enough for a traditional pre-war metra stop village center. it could certainly be better, and a 108 unit TOD can only help in that regard.

also, i wonder how the proximity to downtown evanston might impact downtown wilmette. it's only 2 miles away as the crow flies. i grew up in east wilmette, and when my family went out to eat, we were FAR more likely to head into downtown evanston than downtown wilmette. downtown winnetka is nearly 5 miles from downtown evanston, and thus probably doesn't lose nearly as many potential customers to it as wilmette does.

kolchak · #**588** Posted **Jan 7, 2020, 11:29 PM**

Yes true about Downtown Wilmette being in a kind of in between point. I swear it used to be busier, though. The area near the theater just feels almost forgotten. For coffee in the afternoon recently I could find only the Panera Bread open. Maybe everyone just goes to Walker Bros.

Regardless there is plenty of room for new development and probably demand so it'll be interesting to see what happens.

Steely Dan · #**589** Posted **Jan 8, 2020, 2:48 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by kolchak

Yes true about Downtown Wilmette being in a kind of in between point. I swear it used to be busier, though.

perhaps it was. i admittedly haven't walked around downtown wilmette in many, many years. i was just going off of streetview, and the scenes of people sitting out at sidewalk cafe tables as of august 2018 led me to believe that there had to be some life there.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kolchak

The area near the theater just feels almost forgotten. For coffee in the afternoon recently I could find only the Panera Bread open. Maybe everyone just goes to Walker Bros.

the area around the theater doesn't seem that forgotten or forlorn to me: https://www.google.com/maps/@42.0766...7i16384!8i8192

yeah, it's not sherman avenue in downtown evanston or anything, but that's still an intact traditional retail street. it's no great shakes in the grand scheme of things in chicagoland, but if you transported that street to say phoenix, it would instantly become one of the most urban retail streets in the entire city.

and it's heartening to see that Chuckwagon is still there.

for what it's worth, i counted 21 food/beverage service establishments in downtown wilmette, 14 for downtown winnetka. downtown wilmette seems more oriented towards actual restaurants, while downtown winnetka does seem to have more coffee options.

aaron38 · #**590** Posted **Jan 27, 2020, 2:10 PM**

The Flynn, on Addison in Elmhurst, is now a massive deep hole for the underground parking.
The One 95 building facade is going up.
I’m really impressed with the downtown density Elmhurst has added the last two years.

spyguy · #**591** Posted **Feb 2, 2020, 4:09 PM**

I came across these renderings for the expansion of the Fashion Outlets mall by O'Hare (will replace the Rosemont Theatre). I'm surprised they are thinking of an outdoor mall vs. just an expansion with some enclosed pedestrian bridges over the road.

ChiTownWonder · #**592** Posted **Feb 3, 2020, 12:58 AM**

^Nice find, Looks like a decent addition to Rosemont. Its quite awful from an urban design standpoint, considering that parking structure will likely discourage continual development to the south, but Rosemont will always be a drive in attraction for the rest of the suburbs. At least it might provide more connection to the attractions in the north, but Balmoral feels uncomfortable to cross.

Also I gotta say I'm not surprised they went this route. Indoor malls are in general failing while outlet centers and urban street retail is in much higher demand. Turns out people want to feel like they are in a "place" rather than a mall interior, which are hard to distinguish from one another.

phanta721 · #**593** Posted **Feb 21, 2020, 2:37 PM**

Work resuming after a lengthy IDOT permit delay.

Skyguy_7 · #**594** Posted **Feb 21, 2020, 6:52 PM**

^ Nice pics. Interesting to see Big Black travelling outside of the city limits.

harryc · #**595** Posted **Feb 24, 2020, 9:02 PM**

Feb 7

Schaumberg Illinois by Harry Carmichael, on Flickr

Feb 19

Schaumberg Illinois by Harry Carmichael, on Flickr

emathias · #**596** Posted **Feb 25, 2020, 3:39 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skyguy_7

^ Nice pics. Interesting to see Big Black travelling outside of the city limits.

Looks like some sort of giant carnival ride!

emathias · #**597** Posted **Feb 25, 2020, 3:43 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChiTownWonder

^Nice find, Looks like a decent addition to Rosemont. Its quite awful from an urban design standpoint, considering that parking structure will likely discourage continual development to the south, but Rosemont will always be a drive in attraction for the rest of the suburbs. At least it might provide more connection to the attractions in the north, but Balmoral feels uncomfortable to cross.

Also I gotta say I'm not surprised they went this route. Indoor malls are in general failing while outlet centers and urban street retail is in much higher demand. Turns out people want to feel like they are in a "place" rather than a mall interior, which are hard to distinguish from one another.

Looks like suburban Miami - like Doral or something. (I wish SSP Forums had a BB plugin for embedding Streetview scenes.

emathias · #**598** Posted **Feb 25, 2020, 3:54 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

^ oh, more TOD for wilmette.

and it looks light years better than the village's first attempt at TOD: https://www.google.com/maps/@42.0754...7i16384!8i8192

it looks like it would replace a non-descript stand-alone bank building with a large surface lot. no loss there.

that's a rather big dense urban building for little old wilmette. it'll be interesting to see if they approve it.

Both of those look better than the average Chicago attempts at TOD. I really, really don't get how some Chicago suburbs get better TOD near Metra stations than Chicago seems willing to enforce next to freakin' 'L' stations! That really irks me, that the City is unwilling to sit NIMBY's down and say something to the effect of, "You have chosen to live in the third-largest city in English-speaking North America - you don't get to complain about 5-story buildings next to transit infrastructure that, all together, cost billions of dollars to build for people who actually want to live in a city. You don't like it, here's a one-way bus ticket to Zanesville. Our treat."

TribbyBear · #**599** Posted **Mar 4, 2020, 4:03 PM**

There is a rather large red crane on site at the Maple Street Lofts project in Mount Prospect. I will try to upload a photo once I am able to figure it out.

https://www.wingspandev.com/maple-street-lofts.html

Steely Dan · #**600** Posted **Mar 12, 2020, 2:18 PM**

the 252'/19 story office proposal at 601 Davis in downtown evanston was approved by the city's plan commission last night.

the project now heads to the full city council for a final vote.

the current site is a dumpy old drive-up bank and a vacant lot.

source: https://www.cityofevanston.org/gover...pment-projects