CHICAGO | General Developments

[LouisVanDerWright]

Strack and Van Til would probably have done better if their logo didn't make them look like a giant art supply store. I had no idea it was a grocery store and not some sort of giant Michael's competitor until like 6 months ago. Seriously, their logo looks like a giant painters pallet.

[emathias]

How big are those panes of glass? They look to be nearly 50'x15'

[harryc]

I always love glass walls.








details - details - details






a really big lifter

[aaron38]

A Park Under The Brown Line Is In The Works, And Planners Want Your Ideas
https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/2017...ommunity-input

[nomarandlee]

http://www.loopnorth.com/news/riverwalk0314.htm

City will explore ideas to extend Riverwalk

By Steven Dahlman

14-Mar-17 – Imagine taking the Chicago Riverwalk from Lake Street to Chinatown. Mayor Rahm Emanuel can, and says architectural firms will soon be asked to submit proposals.

Speaking Monday afternoon at Gleacher Center in Streeterville, Emanuel said the firms will compete to re-imagine the Riverwalk, extending it into neighborhoods along the south branch of the river.......

Participating will be Chicago-based companies Perkins + Will, Ross Barney Architects, Site Design Group Ltd., Skidmore Owings & Merrill LLP, and Studio Gang, along with New York firms James Corner Field Operations and SWA, Boston-based Sasaki, and David Adjaye Associates, based in London.

Ideas from the architectural firms are due in June. They will be displayed at public locations for review and comment.

Emanuel made his remarks at a panel discussion hosted by Chicago Council on Global Affairs.........
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..

[marothisu]

^ Awesome to see. With Riverline being built and Ping Tom Park being completed with the boat house just north of it - it makes sense if you want to go for the grand plan. If that huge site just south of Roosevelt gets something in it then that would be really cool all together.

[J_M_Tungsten]

Speaking of Perkins + Will, demolition is well underway on the old student housing across from Rush University Medical Center in Ashland and Harrison. Seems sporadic how they are doing the demo across the site.

[the urban politician]

Does anybody have any updates on the Congress Theater rehab plan and nearby 10 story building?

[ardecila]

Well... extending the Riverwalk south from Lake is tricky. The channel of the river can't really be narrowed or it would impede navigation, and the South Branch still sees significant freight traffic as well as tour and pleasure boats.

However, there is the existing and continuous Riverside Plaza at the upper level that stretches south to Jackson. You could extend the upper level walkway from Jackson to Van Buren, then a long ramp that dips under Congress to meet up with Harrison. Cross back over the river at Harrison and you're at the start of Riverline's path. And so on and so forth down to Chinatown. Basically it's a three-block section from Jackson to Harrison for the city to pay for, then developers will fund the rest. Hell, 601W might even build two of those three blocks while redoing the Post Office.

The North Branch is a much more interesting challenge IMO. Lots of legacy industry, lots of jumbled property ownership and disjoint segments of riverwalk already existing, but huge potential for bike commuters. The Riverfront Ordinance already mandates a 30' setback from the river edge, so the city either has to wait for the whole stretch to be redeveloped (*cough Sterling Bay*) or start building floating walkways.

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Does anybody have any updates on the Congress Theater rehab plan and nearby 10 story building?

The apartment building will not start until the theater is done. They are finally making visible signs of progress there with multiple blocks of terracotta being removed for restoration on the exterior and a big pile of what looks like the old iron stairwells from the fly over the stage piled up in the lot. From what I understand they had to cut a hole in the lobby floor to lift out all the ancient mechanical equipment and drop in the new stuff. That will sure be a site to see. There is a two floor high mech room down there with all sorts of access to crazy tunnels and vaulted alleys.

[J_M_Tungsten]

Today
Wells and Evergreen in Old Town


Just north of the above on Well. There was a one story building here (no loss demo-ing that though). Not sure what plans are now.


Yesterday
Grand and Green (right on the highway)

[spyguy]

Mayor unveils combined public housing, library designs — are they more than pretty pictures?
By Blair Kamin

When Mayor Rahm Emanuel's media handlers call, they're not inquiring about my health. They're pitching architecture stories they think will make the mayor look good. This week's offering: City officials on Sunday will unveil designs for three outside-the-box buildings that combine public housing with public libraries.

Nothing wrong with that, at least at first glance. The designs — by John Ronan Architects and the Chicago offices of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and Perkins+Will, all highly respected local firms — put alluring flesh on the concept of "co-location," which links libraries with other public buildings to lower construction costs and increase patronage.

All renderings from the Trib article:


Taylor and Ada - SOM


Western and Pratt - Perkins + Will


4022 N. Elston Ave. - John Ronan

[the urban politician]

Blair Kamin's commentary as usual trivial NIMBY sounding garbage...

[pilsenarch]

^exactly... he's been told to pander to the suburban populist crap...

he's bitching that the community forums weren't held first?! really?! so the best architects in the city can't get the convo started? Kamin is pathetic...

[denizen467]

Well presumably he's just being tentative on putting the potential crime problems accompanying public housing right on top of schoolchildren visiting libraries. Especially seeing as libraries are supposed to be placid, inviting places of learning for youth, the elderly, and the whole community. Depending on scale these could be as incompatible as putting a factory next to a single family home tract. Keep in mind public housing, over the medium and long term, can turn out more unpredictably, and be harder to alter, than probably any other type of land use -- why plant the seeds of inevitable future political acrimony (or worse) when you don't have to.

Kamin was just setting out some perspective and pushback against what any thinking journalist in this city would suspect at least could be pure, and possibly reckless, political expediency.

[pilsenarch]

^Well, I think the point is to get the dialogue started in a healthy way. To suddenly jump to conclusions such as you just did right there ^ and as Kamin did in his column is not helpful. You suddenly assumed that any housing involving public assistance will inevitably be crime-ridden. Kamin suddenly assumed that any process that starts with architect's proposing projects must already be rigged. I personally think it's better to start with a design proposal to develop dialogue than without one. I doubt very highly that any of the design teams developed their programs and projects without considering the policies that would create and sustain them.

They are many examples of 'mixed-income' projects throughout the city. Combining these with libraries, or what are really 'community centers', would appear to me an excellent point to involve designers to begin a conversation on whether this would be a good idea. Kamin shooting it down before the conversation even begins is a bad idea.

[Halsted & Villagio]

Originally Posted by Stockerzzz

On average, public housing will have a higher likelihood of crime than market rate housing.

The question is whether it's acceptable to have this small increase next to a public library.

Not to single you out but why is that? Why is there a higher likelihood of crime? Is it genetic or environmental?

Public housing of the past was a stark, dank, concrete jungle that offered little in the way of emotional and intellectual stimulation. It was a breeding ground for discontent, hopelessness and the crime that inevitably grew therefrom. This new proposal offers a unique dynamic to public housing that we have never seen before -- that's why it is worthy of thoughtful consideration and debate.


And of course you know the answer to my first question.... it was/is environmental.

.

[wrab]

Foot traffic is an excellent crime deterrent, and libraries make foot traffic all but inevitable. Genius to combine the library amenity with any housing complex, subsidized or market-rate.

[denizen467]

^ And one flying bullet each year is an excellent foot traffic deterrent. Especially discretionary foot traffic.

Originally Posted by pilsenarch

You suddenly assumed that any housing involving public assistance will inevitably be crime-ridden.

You suddenly assumed that any housing involving public assistance will have no potential for periodic crime. You also suddenly assumed that any concern about some crime is a paranoia that a place is, calling all squad cars, "crime-ridden".

I had written "potential" since the history of public housing here is plenty enough to warrant the notion of "potential". In this specific case, these 3 locations may not have trouble handling 40 units of senior and mixed income housing, though there's no assurance that they'll actually be operated with those restrictions in the near or long term. The general concept of combining these uses warrants a dialogue about the matter, which is what Kamin was setting the tone for; I'm at a loss as to what words constituted "Kamin shooting it down".

[west-town-brad]

anyone have any thoughts or news on how potential federal tax reform under Trump will impact affordable/public housing projects around town? I've read the tax credit value is being discounted by 20-30% in the financial analysis of new projects thus killing many plans.