CHICAGO | The Row (900 W Randolph) | 495 FT | 43 FLOORS
 

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EMLLQzPU0AANdkp.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EMLLQzPUcAAecnl.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EMLLQzSVUAA1Y11.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Unr7d3F.png

http://neighborsofwestloop.com/2017/...lated-midwest/

900 W. Randolph (Related Midwest/Tucker Development)
Posted by WestAdmin Leave a reply
(Refer to a prior presentation on this property here.)

Development Proposal

On Monday, October 9, Curt Bailey, Ann Thompson, and Mike Ellch of Related Midwest and Rich and Aaron Tucker of Tucker Development presented an updated proposal for a high-rise residential project on Peoria Street just north of Randolph. This project is included in the development known as 900 W. Randolph, in which Tucker renovated a group of low-rise office buildings on the block.

Tucker Development had previously proposed a 19-story building on the site in the spring of 2016. They subsequently partnered with Related Midwest, who had recently delivered the 30-story, 303-unit Landmark residential building at 1035 W. Van Buren. The combined team’s proposal is to upzone the entire group of holdings on the block (which excludes Pastorelli Foods on the northwest corner and Leña Brava on the southeast corner) from C1-1 with a 1.46 FAR (maximum allowable height of 38 ft) to DX-5 zoning with an 8.1 FAR. The result is a proposed 570 ft (51-story) structure that includes a 6-story parking pedestal. The increase in density would require a $4M payment to the Neighborhood Opportunity Fund.

Designer Morris Adjmi Architects drew from their experience in the meat packing district of New York and the nearby “L” to develop the building’s composition, which includes steel & glass rising above the brick-shielded podium. The site would have an active retail/restaurant face along Peoria with an amenity level atop the podium.

The developer is considering using a valet parking system with sidewalk bump-outs on Peoria. A traffic study for the site is underway.

When asked what benefit the rezoning would bring, the developer cited the $4M NOF payment but could not identify other positive results for the community.

Committee Feedback

Our committee provided a number of comments for consideration by the development team:

Height is the committee’s primary concern. The group considered this building – which would be the tallest (existing or proposed) West Loop structure west of Halsted by a factor of three – to be too tall, with too much density for the area. Additionally, the group was concerned that this building would set the new height standard for the West Loop.
Members of the committee questioned the technique of reassigning floor area ratio from landmarked building that could never use the FAR to propose a structure of this height.
The parking pedestal was described as unsightly, with its anonymous red brick covering parking as opposed to active uses above the first floor.
Our committee would like more information about how the developer intends to meet the affordable housing requirements.
The group felt that underground parking should be provided for this development, consistent with the West Loop Design Guidelines.
The group liked the curved steel window frames, but did not fully appreciate the other architectural elements.
Concerns were raised about having the service on Peoria, suggesting that a different off-street circulation pattern would be more effective.
Next Steps

A community meeting will be scheduled for this proposed development in the coming weeks or months. The NoWL Development Committee will issue a position letter based on resident feedback collected before and through the community meeting.

This would certainly be the beginning of the end of the Randolph Street "restaurant row", and the West Loop's status as where the cool kids hangout. Especially when the parking garages come and destroy the vibe.

The density is great, but the neighborhood also is opposing the inactive uses above the first floor.

This will see a height chop and likely a positive redesign. When they are done, I’m guessing this project will no longer deserve its own thread.

Great to see the flurry of skyscrapers lately. :cheers:

Lots of the West Loop midrises already have blank walls on the ground floor and sometimes the second floor to conceal parking. So far most of them have been designed decently...

I don't mind this tower specifically, but I appreciate the West Loop as a midrise neighborhood and I don't like the precedent for tall buildings here. Chicago doesn't have any other European-style midrise neighborhoods, and it's not likely that one could be created anywhere else in the city. Any master-planned development will default to highrises and townhouses.

Not really related to this proposal, but: I feel a meme rumbling into the west loop.

1940s --> "Magnificent Mile"
2010s --> "Cultural Mile"
2018 --> "Culinary Mile" ?

Or are there any better ones out there? This came to me while walking down Sangamon after eating really, really well.

I'm thinking we keep up the "ape NYC" theme and start calling this area "West Loop Navy Yards"...

^ I'm right with you regarding blind imitation of yuppie fads that NY barfs out, but the "Yards" suffix is hardly unique to that region. Camden Yards as a redevelopment term dates back essentially to the 1980s, and there's Schuylkill Yards as well. It's just the new (and larger) "Plaza" or "Square" and I think ya gotta give into it. There are better battles to wage, like against skipping 10 numbers in floor count just to sell condos at a higher price...

That works. Though like "Cultural mile" it lacks the alliteration and ability to abbreviate that I think gives "Magnificient Mile" or "Mag Mile" staying power.

"Cultural Mile" sounds like the Cultural Revolution with Bataan Death March vibes. Asian is in right now, let's do it.

How about Michelin Mile instead?

I like it. Now we just need to popularize it.

Why isn't Restaurant Row a good option? I keep reading the sequence of posts and don't see any actual reasons to change it.

If anything, since everything is kind of spreading between Randolph and Fulton along with many of the cross streets, linear names (mile, row, way) probably aren't great in the literal sense.

Michelin Mile in particular is not good though. Too similar to Magnificent Mile phonetically. Also, no need to incorporate a brand name, sounds sponsored. To that end we would eventually end up with Randolph called the McDonalds Mile.

Are there even any Michelin Starred Restaurants on the "restaurant row" part of Randolph?

Edit: Looks like Elske received 1 star, though it is on the 1300 block of Randolph, and quite a ways off the main drag.

there's also grace and blackbird on randolph, but they're both just east of the kennedy and not part of the core of "restaurant row".

Is that a joke? The block is a "C" shape of protected buildings.
Where else would it go?

There's also the Michelin Bib Gourmand list which has five restaurants in the two blocks from Halsted to Peoria (the biggest cluster in the city) and two more nearby (Publican off Fulton and BellyQ at Randolph & Ogden).

There's also Smyth, although it's a block north toward Lake which I suppose makes it debatable since it's not *on* Randolph, but it has two stars.

Here's a handy map:
https://chicago.eater.com/maps/chica...estaurants-map

Restaurant Row is both a very common term and a very general term for a collection of restaurants. If the object is to come up with a distinctive name for the area then we need something that isn't also referring to streets in Elmwood Park or Wheeling.