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- - CHICAGO | Halsted Point | 5 Towers | 691 - 309 FT | 65 - 28 FLOORS (https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=246517)

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardecila (Post 9249162)

Broke: Clinton St subway

Woke: Halsted St subway

Insert *cantwehaveboth?.gif*

Quote:

Originally Posted by Briguy (Post 9249180)

A new Subway that branched off at the current red/brown junction and then ran under the goose island transitway ROW, then south on halsted. Would then turn east and be the missing e-w rail link runningunder the loop to Grant Park where it turns south and becomes the metra electric replacement.

This line would literally cover every major development except maybe the 78.

Lincoln yards
Michael reese
Goose island
Tribune site
Mccormick
Soldier field
One central (lol not happening)
Obama library

This is literally the Chicago Crossrail proposal. Metra has previously looked into it and found there would be a large enough ridership to justify it. Don't expect it to happen though until CN abandons the St. Charles Airline ROW after phase 4 of CREATE is complete, which won't be anytime soon.

CN isn't abandoning the SCAL after pouring millions into South Loop bridge replacement. I got the sense that whole abandonment was a vague Rahm-era plan to get a High Line between the lakefront and The 78 and juice up South Loop condo values. I don't think CN was ever on board with that plan. Grand Crossing is only for passenger trains, fwiw and that's been quiet for a long time given how it was conditional on NS' plan to tear down half of Englewood.

Anyway, to get back to the Goose Island area topically, the North Branch transitway has also been quiet for a long time. I have to imagine it's tied up in the General Iron controversy - if General Iron leaves, then Sterling Bay will likely buy their old property and remove the last obstacle to the transitway.

Sigh, why does every good transit improvement need to be tied up in some evil plot?

The skyline is going to look so weird with this and Lincoln Yards. The whole North branch is probably going to be redeveloped eventually, so it'll look like an arm extending from downtown. Almost Toronto-esque, unless Cabrini fills out with some tall towers, but I doubt that'll happen.

Nice renderings, but meh architecture. And looking at how the glass turned out on Omni Grand and Old Town Park, I'm nervous finished quality on these.

This development in general looks very Toronoto-esque (not the best thing imo), but they're a Toronto developer so I guess it can be expected.

Onni specializes in "meh" architecture. But I would put these as rendered as well above meh.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hudson11 (Post 9250729)

Onni specializes in "meh" architecture. But I would put these as rendered as well above meh.

Any idea if Omni's final work tends to stay close to their presentations?

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Originally Posted by Toasty Joe (Post 9250697)

Onni is HQ'd in Vancouver.

Agreed on the glass. The bases are okay but the towers look like Miami condos...

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardecila (Post 9250789)

Onni is HQ'd in Vancouver.

Agreed on the glass. The bases are okay but the towers look like Miami condos...

Ah right, and somehow hits my point even more. Don't need Chicago looking more like Vancouver or Toronto at these core river lots if we truly want to imitate/spread the success of the main branch.

I fear we'll look back on this period of banal glass monoliths & balcony farms as more than a missed opportunity, but maybe just the start of architecture being more about viewing outward from within than about adding to the built environment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toasty Joe (Post 9250837)

I fear we'll look back on this period of banal glass monoliths & balcony farms as more than a missed opportunity,

probably, but still light years better than the "Great River North Beige-a-thon" of the '00s.

^ thanks for all of that! :tup:

any chance you could resize those images down? they're pretty damn large.

Love the curves, the addition of riverwalk to Goose Island, connecting a pedestrian bridge across the river to the east side. I don't even mind the podiums since Halsted is fairly busy. It makes sense there. This would be a big, big improvement and help connect West Town to Goose Island and Cabrini. Onni doesn't do outstanding architecture, but they do above average work. The views the towers would have over 600 W Chicago give this a big selling point, too. This spot is going to have views of downtown forever. I even like the name, Halsted Point. It makes sense and it isn't some weird SoDoLoBro or whatever mashup. Build it!

It would be nice if the "interior" plaza space was activated, like Barcelona-style interior block. It looks a bit like that in the renderings, but it could end up just being a driveway.

Decent filler. And I do like how its a catalyst to extend the skyline that direction.

Overall this is a win. Decent design and will do wonders for the area. Goose Island is an area that has HUGE potential. Everything here should be focused on the river and transportation. So far I'm liking it!

Quote:

Originally Posted by bcp (Post 9251324)

AGreed...this is nice and a better site plan than the original

BUT...i'd love to see less cohesion between these towers - the brick low-slung building is nice, how about a couple of these towers and a couple from he original version? (that rhomboid shaped one was nice)

That depends on how long the buildout takes. Old Town Park and Wolf Point were able to be completed in one cycle, but this might take 2 or 3 cycles, like Lakeshore East. That would likely mean fresh designs for each tower or maybe even new architects. It would also give the city more time to build needed infrastructure.

Agree that more variation in the tower facades would be nice. Otherwise it's another blue blob from afar.