CHICAGO | General Developments

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Townhomes? No, that patch of land is reserved for an underpass beneath the Metra tracks.

I do see that the city has allocated $3M for design/engineering, so the survey markers may be connected to that.

Thank goodness... I always thought it was ridiculous that there was no underpass there.

[wierdaaron]

Oh good, an underpass would be more use to me and my dog than a building. Maybe they’ll add a traffic signal on Clark to stop the drag racers who’ve discovered the city’s longest stretch of straightaway.

[ardecila]

^ Yeah, an underpass has been planned there for decades, along with a new river bridge at Taylor.

Also, part of the plans for The 78 include “taming” Clark south of Roosevelt with a landscaped median, parking lanes and wider sidewalks on both sides.

[Mr Downtown]

I notice there are no stakes west of the tracks, so I suspect this is for some utility project rather than the Ninth Street underpass—much less a new building.

[ardecila]

^ Possibly. It's encouraging that the city Capital Improvement Plan includes money for this explicitly, no? I know those plans are just a rough outline and not binding, but the underpass was identified as a "2019" budget item instead of a "future/within 5 years" budget item, so CDOT wants to start this sooner than later.

Granted, that plan was prepared before we had a Covid-sized hole in the city budget... but most of those projects come out of TIF so the money is there unless Lightfoot wants to declare a TIF surplus.

[RedCorsair87]

Another Blue Line TOD

https://blockclubchicago.org/2020/09...lue-line-stop/

[marothisu]

A few zoning applications out of note:

1) Plumbers Local 130 with a zoning application out to build a new 85 foot tall parking garage with nearly 15,000 sq ft of ground floor commercial space on the surface lot at Randolph and Ada (next to Kaiser Tiger). I could be wrong but the Randolph street side looks like they might be making it look more like a residential building even if it's not.

2019 streetview:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/13...!4d-87.6610104

2) Existing 7 story vacant warehouse at 1819 N Major in Galewood - 282K sq ft - looking to rehab the entire thing for commercial uses. Name of the project is White Cap Lofts.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/18...!4d-87.7679755

3) Lake View Lutheran Church at 835 W Addison to be torn down and a new 69 foot tall building with 37 affordable housing units and 12 parking spaces to go in its place. It looks as if religious assembly space (probably from the same church) would go in on the ground floor.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/83...!4d-87.6509451

4) Proposed 2 new buildings with 20 total units and 18 parking spaces at 2208 W Lawrence. Currently a vacant lot used for parking and a few blocks east of Western Ave. Next to Roots Pizza.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/22...9!4d-87.684549

5) Currently vacant building(s) at 2008-12 S Ashland in Pilsen to be torn down for a new 4 story, 14 unit building. One of the buildings on this site right now is set back many feet from Ashland with a small surface parking lot in front on Ashland. Developer is The Resurrection Project

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8546...7i16384!8i8192

6) Our favorite former Pizza Hut at North & Western is back at it again. Unfortunately before it was only going to become a convenience store (7-11). Now it's back to also include a new 4 story, 9 unit building on the site. While not as good as before, at least it's better than only a 1 story retail building on the site.

The former pizza hut was already torn down:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/16...!4d-87.6869622

7) Currently vacant lot at 4301 W Milwaukee (& Cullom) to become 4 story (49 feet) building with 9 units and ground floor commercial space on Milwaukee Ave. Building formerly on this parcel was torn down in 2017 or 2018.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/43...!4d-87.7526215


ALSO Hogsalt (Au Cheval, Maude's, Gilt Bar, etc) has an application up to convert the building at 1352 W Lake St near Ogden (close to West End on Fulton) to a restaurant with outdoor patio.

[ardecila]

The Hogsalt project is another Small Cheval. It’s close-ish to Au Cheval but definitely feels like a world away.

That end of Fulton Market is pretty sleepy except for Kaiser Tiger and some more traditional sit downs like Macello, Smyth and Elske. it’ll be interesting to see if they can breathe some life into it.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by marothisu

3) Lake View Lutheran Church at 835 W Addison to be torn down and a new 69 foot tall building with 37 affordable housing units and 12 parking spaces to go in its place. It looks as if religious assembly space (probably from the same church) would go in on the ground floor.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/83...!4d-87.6509451

phew!

when i first read that, i feared it was this church:

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.9475...7i16384!8i8192

but that's the lovely old lakeview presbyterian church a few blocks east of the forgettable lakeview luthern church, which few will miss.

Originally Posted by marothisu

4) Proposed 2 new buildings with 20 total units and 18 parking spaces at 2208 W Lawrence. Currently a vacant lot used for parking and a few blocks east of Western Ave. Next to Roots Pizza.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/22...9!4d-87.684549

nice!

another hole on lawrence bites the dust.

[harryc]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

phew!

when i first read that, i feared it was this church:

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.9475...7i16384!8i8192

but that's the lovely old lakeview presbyterian church a few blocks east of the forgettable lakeview luthern church, which few will miss.

....

I must have passed this, hung out in front, and .... so many times back in the days. Never noticed how cool it was.

[Handro]

Originally Posted by ardecila

The Hogsalt project is another Small Cheval. It’s close-ish to Au Cheval but definitely feels like a world away.

That end of Fulton Market is pretty sleepy except for Kaiser Tiger and some more traditional sit downs like Macello, Smyth and Elske. it’ll be interesting to see if they can breathe some life into it.

Small Cheval is enough of a destination to get people to walk over there from the busier end of Fulton, maybe? Plus with some of the development in the works it's only a matter of time before that sleepy end is not so sleepy at all. I'm surprised there hasn't been more of a rush down that way as Fulton exploded considering the Ashland Green Line stop has always been right there and there's plenty of land ready to be developed.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by Handro

Small Cheval is enough of a destination to get people to walk over there from the busier end of Fulton, maybe? Plus with some of the development in the works it's only a matter of time before that sleepy end is not so sleepy at all. I'm surprised there hasn't been more of a rush down that way as Fulton exploded considering the Ashland Green Line stop has always been right there and there's plenty of land ready to be developed.

There are some large projects in the works for down there pretty close to this:

1. 1200 W Carroll - 14 story commercial (office?) building
2. 1200 W Fulton Market - 1 building with 556K sq ft office space and 1 building with 150K sq ft retail space
3. 1101 W Carroll - 18 story building with office space and ground floor commercial.

Not to mention these 2 buildings permitted in the last few months:
1. 1454 W Randolph - 243 units
2. 1400 W Randolph - 278 units

None of these are more than an 8 minute walk away.

Something tells me they'll be OK.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by Handro

Small Cheval is enough of a destination to get people to walk over there from the busier end of Fulton, maybe? Plus with some of the development in the works it's only a matter of time before that sleepy end is not so sleepy at all. I'm surprised there hasn't been more of a rush down that way as Fulton exploded considering the Ashland Green Line stop has always been right there and there's plenty of land ready to be developed.

Restaurants have been on Randolph (and a few edgier places on Lake or Fulton) for decades. The opening of the Morgan stop and the rollback of the Kinzie PMD allowed this area to become an office destination for more than a handful of small creative firms; big companies like Google and McDonalds had the infrastructure to bring their employees into the neighborhood each day and developers could put up buildings big enough to accommodate them. The meatpackers they displaced were happy to get a big payday and open gleaming new facilities in the I-55 corridor - no sob stories except from weird hipsters who like urban grit.

The area around Ashland is much tougher to redevelop. None of the land immediately around the station is available for redevelopment - north of Lake is still a strict PMD, southeast is Union Park and southwest is CHA projects/drug addicts at the Womens Treatment Center. It is very much still a part of the old Black West Side. You have to cross Ogden to get parcels that are really developable, but even then a lot of land is sucked up by labor unions and other institutions (Salvation Army, City OEMC, etc).

[marothisu]

A 4 story residential building (mix of affordable and market rate) with ground floor commercial/retail was issued a new construction permit for 508 E Pershing (a little east of Martin Luther King Jr Dr). Total of 53 units. Lot is currently vacant - right near Oakwood Shores and the not-too-old Mariano's grocery store.


Source: https://www.niaarch.com/project/508-pershing/

[Handro]

Originally Posted by marothisu

There are some large projects in the works for down there pretty close to this:

1. 1200 W Carroll - 14 story commercial (office?) building
2. 1200 W Fulton Market - 1 building with 556K sq ft office space and 1 building with 150K sq ft retail space
3. 1101 W Carroll - 18 story building with office space and ground floor commercial.

Not to mention these 2 buildings permitted in the last few months:
1. 1454 W Randolph - 243 units
2. 1400 W Randolph - 278 units

None of these are more than an 8 minute walk away.

Something tells me they'll be OK.

Yep can't wait for that stuff to go up, Union Park is an awesome park and will be even better surrounded by an more active urban landscape!

Originally Posted by ardecila

The area around Ashland is much tougher to redevelop. None of the land immediately around the station is available for redevelopment - north of Lake is still a strict PMD, southeast is Union Park and southwest is CHA projects/drug addicts at the Womens Treatment Center. It is very much still a part of the old Black West Side. You have to cross Ogden to get parcels that are really developable, but even then a lot of land is sucked up by labor unions and other institutions (Salvation Army, City OEMC, etc).

Ah that makes sense, just a lot more barriers to entry than the eastern end I guess.

[emathias]

The BP station on the NE corner of LaSalle and Ontario is being remodeled or something.


Pic by me

[Chi-Sky21]

Urlacher keeping a watchful eye on all the cities projects.....

[Handro]

Originally Posted by emathias

The BP station on the NE corner of LaSalle and Ontario is being remodeled or something.


Pic by me

I get weird rush every time i see fencing around a gas station...

[Jibba]

Originally Posted by RedCorsair87

Another Blue Line TOD

https://blockclubchicago.org/2020/09...lue-line-stop/

Cool to see a TOD new-build on a narrow, single-parcel site like this. If it's successful it can be a new pro forma for developers to follow. There's a lot just south of the Sedgwick stop of the Brown Line that could follow suit. These can probably only be built with no parking (at this unit density, anyway).

Visually, though, it's a dog. What's with the jumbo scale of these things? Is it the result of modern code requirements (and the requisite plenum space, or something)? It makes for a lot of opaque expanses of facade material. The swimming pool illusion is an -- um -- inventive solution for that.

[marothisu]

The upcoming 7 story, 198 unit + commercial building at Broadway & Cornelia, former site of Treasure Island, was issued a new construction permit yesterday.


In sad news (for me at least) - 937 N Rush is being torn down. This was the former home of Le Colonial which I had many fond memories at over the years living in Chicago. If I'm not mistaken, another building is supposed to go in its place - probably of similar size but more for retail like most of the stores right near it now.