CHICAGO | General Developments

[ardecila]

A close up:

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even larger

[george]

The floors & ceilings on that north section were no doubt leveled years ago. Prop up the window units a few inches or leave them. The glazed terra cotta horizontal facade elements between the windows/piers or columns (forget what those are called) just needs to be reset/rebuilt level. All it takes is money.

[harryc]

3/6


3/7


3/7

[harryc]

[ardecila]

That Fulton Market project is dragging on for ages. The cost advantages of renovating an existing building are definitely eroding on this project...

[spyguy]

Not sure why the annex building is taking a while as well...

[harryc]

Nice that they left the trees.

[wrab]

Originally Posted by ardecila

A close up:

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even larger

Ownership considered rehab a while ago; if I recall correctly, issues of cost & structural integrity kept them from moving forward.

[Busy Bee]

If it's structurally sound, leave well enough alone. View it as character. Older European squares are no less beautiful because theyre often lined with slouching sagging buildings.

[left of center]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

If it's structurally sound, leave well enough alone. View it as character. Older European squares are no less beautiful because theyre often lined with slouching sagging buildings.

I was going to say, is it structurally stable? As long as there is no need to fear bricks or terracotta falling on pedestrians on Boul Mich, then it can be left alone. Its barely noticeable from street/park level anyhow. Adds a bit of charm and character, if anything.

[daperpkazoo]

Originally Posted by Chicago_Forever

Yes, it's supposed to be on IIT's campus in Bronzeville. A couple years ago when the project was first announced, I believe there were a conceptual rendering showing the institute being right on the Dan Ryan.

Then again, I just look on ITT's website and it says a specific site on campus hasn't been chosen.

There were several conceptual designs released about a year ago, all of which sited the project on the parking lot between the Rock Island tracks and Federal Street, north of Machinery Hall, south of Vandercook.

[J_M_Tungsten]

^That would be great! Looking forward to that happening

Today
Wells and Scott

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by J_M_Tungsten

^That would be great! Looking forward to that happening

Today
Wells and Scott

I'm loving how quickly Wells St is filling in

[the urban politician]

According to Crains, the developer of the Old Colony Building is switching to student housing for 490 beds.

Financing in place, ready to start.

That's a decent amount of density for that area. I've always questioned how much an office to residential conversion "increases" density since office uses are pretty intense as well. However, my assumption is that most office conversions involve buildings that already have very high vacancies, so the residential conversion naturally is a significant density boost.

[Buckman821]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

According to Crains, the developer of the Old Colony Building is switching to student housing for 490 beds.

Financing in place, ready to start.

That's a decent amount of density for that area. I've always questioned how much an office to residential conversion "increases" density since office uses are pretty intense as well. However, my assumption is that most office conversions involve buildings that already have very high vacancies, so the residential conversion naturally is a significant density boost.

I can't help but be a little bummed out by this. This is one of the most architecturally and historically significant of all Chicago office buildings. I just wish it could remain office. I guess I'm just sentimental like that.

[wierdaaron]

^Just a month ago they were talking residential. http://www.suntimes.com/business/182...nder-plan.html

I'm guessing the place is so old and busted they didn't think they could get high end rents. That will probably start becoming even more popular with rehabs of these older office buildings. They probably looked at hotel options as well.

[LouisVanDerWright]

^^^ I thought I mentioned Old Colony was going student housing a while ago? The developer put the entire deal together and then sold it to Campus Acquisitions before they even had permits. Bang up development work.

Also, don't fret about the original use of the building. Multiple floors are going to retain their original office finishes in most areas. The redevelopment is being carried out hand in hand with landmarks and is retaining a high degree of the historically significant finishes. Only floors that were already completely mutilated beyond recognition after a century of office use are being allowed to be completely gutted. Everywhere else will retain the original, film noir, frosted glass doors, look of the original office use.

All-in-all I can't think of a better reuse for a historic building like this than to house our students and indoctrinate them in the ways of great Chicago architecture while they are young.

From mid February:

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

That Old Colony rehab is going to be really great. They are even preserving the historic finishes and layouts on several floors. They were originally going to do it as apartments but sold the project to campus acquisitions for student housing before they even broke ground. Now that's how you develop...

[Link N. Parker]

Originally Posted by wierdaaron

^Just a month ago they were talking residential. http://www.suntimes.com/business/182...nder-plan.html

I'm guessing the place is so old and busted they didn't think they could get high end rents. That will probably start becoming even more popular with rehabs of these older office buildings. They probably looked at hotel options as well.

Actually, I have been thinking a great deal about this lately, despite all of the awesome new office buildings out there, I am sensing that with work-from-home initiatives that a lot of companies are implementing, that demand for office space int he Loop will actually drop.

Look at it this way: For the past 8 years, I have been working in an position that brings me thru the AON building pretty much every day. When I first started working there, the building was BUSTLING with workers all day, every day...workers who either lived in the city or lived in the burbs. Today? The place looks/feels deserted, and this is because a large portion of the workforce in that building has gone to a work from home model. So many of the employees no longer go to the office, that they have large amounts of retail sitting empty. They also had a large cafeteria that was open to the public, but that is closed now (but this is also due in part to the fact that one tenant in the building moved to the Merchandise Mart). My employer, its the same thing, we are moving to a work-from-home model where most employees work from home every other day, and share a cubicle with another employee (known as 'cubicle hotelling'). They have shrunk the cubes, and are hotelling, and will close off and rent out those floors to other companies for rental income.

This, I think, will lead to a shrink in demand for Loop office space, as employees work from home more. So, unless more companies move to chicago, we may be faced with an overhang of office space that will need to be converted to residential.

[wierdaaron]

Must have missed that because I didnt recognize the building by name. I have appointments inside Monadnock every once in a while so I see the area quite a bit. That building, if I'm remembering it correctly, could definitely use some ground-level love. Most things south of Congress are catering toward students (fast casual food and bars). It'd be interesting if that moved up a few blocks.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by Link N. Parker

Actually, I have been thinking a great deal about this lately, despite all of the awesome new office buildings out there, I am sensing that with work-from-home initiatives that a lot of companies are implementing, that demand for office space int he Loop will actually drop.

Look at it this way: For the past 8 years, I have been working in an position that brings me thru the AON building pretty much every day. When I first started working there, the building was BUSTLING with workers all day, every day...workers who either lived in the city or lived in the burbs. Today? The place looks/feels deserted, and this is because a large portion of the workforce in that building has gone to a work from home model. So many of the employees no longer go to the office, that they have large amounts of retail sitting empty. They also had a large cafeteria that was open to the public, but that is closed now (but this is also due in part to the fact that one tenant in the building moved to the Merchandise Mart). My employer, its the same thing, we are moving to a work-from-home model where most employees work from home every other day, and share a cubicle with another employee (known as 'cubicle hotelling'). They have shrunk the cubes, and are hotelling, and will close off and rent out those floors to other companies for rental income.

This, I think, will lead to a shrink in demand for Loop office space, as employees work from home more. So, unless more companies move to chicago, we may be faced with an overhang of office space that will need to be converted to residential.

So this answers my question: office to residential truly does "increase" density.

And I agree that the work-from-home model seems to be becoming more popular, especially among higher up executives. The office overhang conversion to hotels/residential is a great thing for downtown because it preserves or even enhances density without seeing the loss of historic buildings.