I'm not sure what your point is?

Cisco primarily sells products and services to businesses, not individuals. So yeah, if your picture of them is based on products that you personally buy, they won't seem that impressive (I agree, Webex sucks).

That's because most of what they do is sell products and services to companies that build telecom and data center infrastructure. The average person won't interact with them in their day-to-day life, but there's still a lot of money there. $50B of revenue in fact, employing 77500 people. Getting a slice of that is a good get for OPO, and downtown Chicago.

just trying to have some fun really, which is rarely welcomed in this forum so that's my bad

I know cisco is b2b

Not sure if the plaza was open before, but this was the first time I walked by and the gate was open. They have some netting next to the benches... Not sure what it's for. It's hard to get the full view, but it has a great perspective of downtown and the river.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...b2178173_h.jpg

And of course these bad boys.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...a13643c7_b.jpg

90% occupied? Fantastic news! And to think, 20 years ago there were proposals to gut/demo much of this beautiful structure. Thank God that didn't happen. Would have been a travesty on the scale of the demolition of the old Merc...

Speaking of potential demos, what is the plan for the Chicago Central Carrier Annex? I remember years past that it was to be demolished, but that might have been with Davies and his crapshoot ideas for the OPO in the decade he slumlorded the property.

The carrier annex/Sugar House is also owned by 601W along with OPO. Right now they are using it as a staging site for work on the main structure and for the tenants' GCs. I don't think there is a firm plan to develop there yet.

The city is planning major projects to rebuild Harrison directly in front of the Sugar House (Canal to the river) as well as Canal itself, both of which span over the Union Station tracks. If/when those projects kick off, the Sugar House site will be virtually inaccessible except for workers driving into the OPO and the new Post Office garages. So I'd guess 601W is waiting on those projects.

They also own the parking lot at Clinton/Harrison next to the Holiday Inn. They are in the midst of resurfacing that lot so it looks less awful, but that probably means they aren't planning to develop there either anytime soon.

Interesting! What does the city have planned for Canal? That stretch of road definitely needs work, and not just because its crumbling. Its a jumbled and confusing mess, especially the intersection of Canal and Harrison which constantly confuses everyone driving through it with underpass under 290 and the 'frontage roads' style on/off ramps to 290, plus the old access drive on the east side of that stretch of Canal creating a no man's land along the entire west side of the OPO. I assume the city and developers want to make the now fenced off Canal frontage more inviting/embracing the street, with the opportunity for street fronting retail?

They will rebuild the viaduct structure between Madison and Taylor. I’ve heard it compared to the Wacker Drive rebuild from a few years back, except the lower level is train tracks. I haven’t seen any detailed plans yet for the Canal project but it keeps cropping up in planning documents.

However, once the viaduct is rebuilt, the plan is to build park space along the west side of OPO in the old loading dock areas.

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/comm...ld-post-office

October 21, 2021 05:24 PM UPDATED AN HOUR AGO
Milwaukee Tool leases space for engineering hub at Old Post Office
The deal sets up the power tools maker to bring a few hundred jobs to the city.

DANNY ECKER


They said 90% last lease, but whatever... It's good news.

This sort of feels like a slight to Milwaukee (the city)?

They probably round...

Yeah, 70,000SF is only 3% of the building's massive 2.5 million leasable SF. Drop in the bucket.

It should be convenient for Milwaukee people to get down there, though. Easy 1-block walk from Union Station if they're riding Amtrak.

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/comm...ld-post-office

November 22, 2021 11:29 AM

Health care firm inks big Old Post Office lease
Vizient is combining its downtown and suburban offices into a single location at the redeveloped mammoth.

DANNY ECKER

Health care management consultant Vizient signed a big lease at the Old Post Office, a move that will combine its local offices into a single location and cut Uber's footprint at the redeveloped building by more than 20%.

Vizient inked a deal this month for roughly 112,000 square feet in the property at 433 W. Van Buren St., according to sources familiar with the lease. Vizient plans to consolidate its local offices in the building from its roughly 150,000 square feet of combined workspace today at 155 N. Wacker Drive in the West Loop and 5250 Old Orchard Road in north suburban Skokie.

90% of this behemoth is leased? Incredible! A white elephant no more.

Is this the same Texas company that was alluded by a forum member a few weeks ago as moving their HQ to Chicago?

I don't think so... based on https://www.chicagobusiness.com/juic...-casinos-bears

^ Deputy Mayor Samir Mayekar said the Texas company is mid-sized and there will be an announcement about the move

Just an update on this, FH Paschen has had parts of Canal closed off for 2-3 weeks now for the plaza work. All the ratty old loading dock pavement is being ripped up, you can see a bunch of round vents for train exhaust. Will be interesting to see how the plaza design deals with this... not super pleasant to hang out above some diesel locomotives.

I thought they were gonna rebuild the underlying viaduct first, but I guess not. :shrug:

This seems like big news, anyone have a CoStar subscription to summarize the article?

Old Post Office Lands $830 Million Loan in One of Chicago’s Largest Refinance Deals

After 601W’s $1 Billion Redevelopment, Long-Vacant Structure Along Chicago River Is Now 95% Leased
https://www.costar.com/article/17067...efinance-deals

^ Story in Crain's now too: https://www.chicagobusiness.com/comm...0-million-loan

I wonder what this means (if anything) for further redevelopment or plans for the building. Will this go towards the landscaping on the west side or the riverwalk side? The South annex building/new building?

The riverwalk side is "done" for the moment but the landscaping there is "interim".

I assume the plans for that area are in flux given the need to upgrade Union Station by repurposing the old mail platforms under OPO (and the infrastructure bill may fund this).

601W probably also has plans to eventually build a highrise where the Sugar House is, and they will need to provide a pedestrian link to the north somehow for commuters.