If you want to see how this conversation plays out, feel free to go through earlier posts in this thread. For the love of god, let's not have another blue glass tower debate in here.

we all wanted this but unfortunately it wasn't selected in the design competition...
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cr2uy83W8AAlFb1.jpg

I agree, every new building built in Chicago will not be iconic, or an eye pleaser. Often times when buildings are completed, the finished product is very impressive, compared to the architectual design, hopefully that's the case with BMO.

^^Also there are about 0 blue glass boxes within a 5-block radius of that location.

I like it.

Rgarri will this building plus 1000m close the gap view from the lake ?

BMO is blocked from straight on. There's a bit of a gap between there and 1000M mostly where the shorter towers of the Riverline are going. Wish they were taller.

https://images2.imgbox.com/f0/35/XraZXXw5_o.jpg

^ It should have a decent impact from the planetarium view rising behind the Hilton.

The view I'm most interested in is from Alder (where most basics like me take their skyline photos haha). I feel it will have a huge impact there and appear taller than Sears, etc. Essex has already really filled things in (and the green looks very sharp too!). Hopefully, BMO will pop up better on other angles :shrug:

The building that would help the gap is something right on 290 or Congress, preferably on the South side of the street. Something like the Old Post Office tower.

What do we think the Odds of 601 cos moving on a proposal there at some point in the near future? Given how the OPO is leasing I can't help but think they are considering how they will use up all that FAR Davies got approved...

Honestly, given the trajectory of OPO, I think that might be our dark horse next supertall proposal. Could see them doing a 1,000-1,200' tower there.

Nice bro , very nice

Is 1000M really going to flare out that much?

The parking lot is closing on September 30, paving the way for demo and bananarama.

No

The building is not straight on in the rendering above. What you are seeing is the added width from the north facing wall.

That gap between Van Buren and Roosevelt is easily my biggest gripe with our skyline.

Guessing this may have been addressed/discussed (I looked back a few pages but not all 30+ of the thread), but do we know if there will be space reserved at basement level to eventually continue the existing ped tunnel from Union Station to the transit center further southward to connect to the Old Post Office and Blue Line? I would like to assume this as a given but figured better to ask...

Just walked by site - demo of garage already underway! Pretty quick given that garage just closed a week ago. Sidewalks on Canal and Clinton sides (E&W) now blocked with barriers. Heneghan crew has a couple big rigs actively chewing into West side of garage; already making progress; lots of noise, etc. Sorry no pix.

Yeah, I walk by this site every day. They've been going at it for a week now, with the parking garage having closed on September 30. It'll be fun to watch this grow bit by bit during my commute.

Between the Tribune Annex building, 300 Michigan, and the US parking garage this has to be the best two weeks for demolition contractors in Chicago.

I think that is typical - Demo started fast after the lot closed prior at One Chicago Square as well. Based on this and a couple other lots my observation have been when the parking lot closes it's game on! :)

https://i.imgur.com/PZmwoSZh.jpg

That's how it looked yesterday, 10/7/2019.

And a lovely cameo of 110 N Wacker :cool:

I love parking garages getting ripped down. Almost as much as I love surface parking lots get ripped up.

10-10-19
 

https://i.ibb.co/KXrLXm6/10-10-2019.jpg

I need to start a daily photo of this thing rising. I am so excited for this one going up right outside my desk.

Daily photos could be put together in a video or a gif. Do it! :cheers:

October 9, 2019

And to think that the last high rise proposal for this site (1990s?) had put the tower on the site of the bus transit center and was adding several floors to this parking garage. Positive change in attitudes on parking.

There is a construction cam for this one (320 S. Canal St.) at https://app.oxblue.com/open/clarkcon...erconstruction.

Looks like the cam got knocked out of position in the last 24hrs.

October 17, 2019

https://i.imgur.com/1nxp0QLh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/0ijI2rOh.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/bQxfyJ5/IMG-3097.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/C7ZbSP4/IMG-3106.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/7gVFbD4/IMG-3136.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/pj6F8k4/IMG-3138.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/gVLWM42/IMG-3141.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/8gCKcZd/IMG-3186.jpg

From the first day to today

Oct 19



Nice Neighbor !

This will have a huge impact to the feel of the area, especially for Post Office people when they exit their shiny "new" building onto Van Buren, looking west.

11/5/19
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...8aca3914_c.jpg

From the Sears Tower
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...1421ee9c_c.jpg

such a sizeable plot of land that def could handle a much larger building...I wish the taller "cheese grater" design was selected for this property

I had almost forgotten about that design. Such a huge missed opportunity to do something unique.

And I agree on the size. This location will be in-demand for *literally* centuries. Chicago and the metro area will only keep growing in size and this spot is accessible to roughly 9 million people via a ~90 minute (max) commute. This could have been a 1,200 footer easily.

bye felicia

The cheese grader looks too good to just go in the bin. Would love to see it somewhere else.

Just a refresher for those who don't remember it...


https://s3-prod.chicagobusiness.com/...909861-AR.jpeg

https://s3-prod.chicagobusiness.com/...919996-AR.jpeg

Back to the real plan. Look how close it is to the Old PO.

That area is just going to boom. So you can live close and in the burbs at both places and walk to work DT in this area as a breeze.

http://unionstationtower.com/location/

Union Station Tower is located at the nexus of Chicago transportation with direct pedway access to Union Station, the Midwest’s largest train station. With convenient access to multiple forms of local and regional commuting including Metra [ ogilvie transportation too ], the CTA light rail and bus, Amtrak, interstate highway systems and several Divvy bike share stations.

In the heart of the West Loop, the Union Station Tower development will feature the largest park in the neighborhood with year-round programming providing energy and excitement. The immediate area offers an abundance of retail and residences to create a community destination.

COMMUTER RAIL

100% Transit Score by Walkscore.com
90% of Chicago Commuter Rail within 3 Blocks
Direct Pedway Connection to Union Station



http://unionstationtower.com/

The Cheese Grater is obviously awesome and I'm sure this tower will turn out great. The problem I have is that Goettsch basically recycled their design from 110 N Wacker (don't care which came first). They are both great buildings but I would like to see a little more creativity in design when it comes to two of the tallest office towers constructed in the past ~30 years.

I agree and the great plains could handle a giant buldge in the crust of the earth that enters into low earth orbit and houses all of humanity. Why haven't they built it yet???!?!?

From the looks of it I don't see the old ball and chain type tear downs.

Are we done with that approach with these larger hydraulic excavators and their vibrating attachments?

I mean the good old steel wrecking ball, not the ex wife.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrecking_ball

Ok EDIT I remember them in my younger year


But could be controlled charged be cheaper and faster?

Or is the parking lot too small to do it that route.

Interestingly this demo ocean tower from south padre island texas.

This pre built ocean tower built on a poor sandy foundation and sinking in the sand that was a 77 million dollar mistake.


Long but interesting if you want to see how a building takes one down in one shot. And I'm sure everyone here has seen several examples of it.

It was a solid concrete building in a tight location but the only reason it had to come down was because of its poor foundation. Its a heavy core concrete building intended to withstand a level 5 hurricane. It was the engineers that failed in this one.


Watch only if you are interested. Did not mean to turn off the topic of this thread.


• Video Link

Come on out to Oak Brook. I need a new image host and I haven't been taking pictures. But the old McD's corp headquarters is being smashed to bits with a genuine wrecking ball.

^^ One reason for the use of hydraulic jackhammers and megadeath claws could be the fact that parking garages are heavily reinforced and thus require lots of precision demo and cutting/slicing.

The good old wrecking ball is ideal for brick or cinder block structures that can collapse inward when applying a lateral force.

They traded away the opportunity for an iconic structure for an essential ripoff of a building a few blocks away. Anyone know why they didn't go this design? Cost?

That other tower design came with a different developer. Specifically it was designed for Sterling Bay. Sterling Bay was not selected as the master developer. I'm actually not sure how this proposal relates to what SB actually submitted as this was publicly released in September 2016, several months before the actual proposals were due. But more importantly, this was not a design competition, this was about making money for Amtrak. Clearly for one reason or another Riverside had the better proposal.

Also, even if Sterling Bay had been chosen, I doubt this concept would have made it fully to fruition. The footprint of this building would have been way bigger than what ended up being feasible. It was originally assumed that the bus station could be rearranged or that the air rights could be developed. Neither of these proved possible or acceptable for CDOT. And the park that fills over 50% of the rest of the site was Alderman required.

It would have been a nice 1000+ footer but even at 700+ it still starts the process of spreading the skyline Westward. It's a nice looking building too, simple, but nice

stunning.

We don't know that the bus station will never get developed - but it was paid for with Federal money, and the Feds don't take too kindly when you tear down brand new facilities just a few years after they open. They might ask for their money back, as they did for the 63rd St branch of the Green Line in 1997 when the city decided to tear that down*.

As always, the problem is the dysfunctional relationship between agencies - in this case, CDOT and Amtrak. CDOT could have held off on the bus terminal if they were sure Amtrak was going to redevelop the garage, but Amtrak has failed to fish or cut bait on Union Station development for literally decades, so I don't blame CDOT for grabbing the Federal money while it could and building the bus terminal as a capstone for the Loop Link bus lanes project. It's actually a pretty elegant facility and way better than a parking lot or more underused park/plaza space.

As Mr. D speculated awhile back, the bus terminal site is plenty of space for a second tower that could include an enclosed bus terminal in its base. Maybe in the next development cycle, or the one after that, once the terminal has passed the 12 or 15 year mark. It's probably good to let this area grow over time, instead of putting up as many blue-glass towers as possible, all at once...


* = CTA ended up cutting a deal to reuse the Federally-funded steel somewhere else in the city, but they never did and it still sits rusting in a yard.

Thanks for the clarification.