^^to be fair, the 2 PT buildings between Jefferson & Desplaines still have a godawful street presence. Still, that area has REALLY improved.
The only "trophy lot" is the half block bounded by Jefferson, Desplaines, Monroe, and Adams - because of Heritage Green Park to the south and Old St. Patrick's complex to the west it will have light and views, it is 2 blocks from Union Station, quick highway access. |
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Imagine apartment hunting if it were simply a choice between an apartment overlooking the lake or one between a railroad and a freeway interchange in a bad area. If location and price werent factors I would live in One Museum Park but I'm not rich and I am employed in a different state |
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There are easily developable, essentially vacant, large parcels of land within walking distance of both major commuter rail stations. It’s not absurd to think they’d be developed at some point soon, probably before “the 78” (which is much less prime real estate). |
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I’m not talking about the couple of buildings along the river. I’m talking about the surface lots and under-utilized land closer to the expressway. Which are already preserved? There are lots of 19th century brick buildings in the area. And if they’ve already rehabbed Presidential Towers, then they did a shitty fucking job. There’s still a blank wall on two sides of that parking garage, and so on. I walked past it on the way to dinner last fall. |
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Here's a quote from a Crain's article published a few months ago about 625 W Adam's struggle to find tenants Quote:
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^ well it’s a better office hub than residential hub with the stations, so hopefully it stays zoned that way until the demand is there.
Still think “the 78” is far more out of the way and less desirable, so I don’t know why they think they can land big corporate tenants here. |
I have to agree, how is 625 W Adams not a good location for offices? It's right on top of the metra stations! Blocks from the loop and river. The 78's location is way worse for offices. There's nothing around there. I'd much rather be at 625 W Adams.
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In the end it's really hard to argue that 625 Adams is a superior office location if tenants don't agree by actually leasing space. As pointed out that area is in a weird zone that isn't particularly desirable. |
^ Exactly, the proof is in the pudding. The law firms, media firms, etc that drive new construction want to be in buildings with a marquee address, dramatic architecture/setting, and proximity to transit, restaurants, etc. 625 W Adams satisfies only the transit box. The architecture isn’t even particularly good. Sometimes value-conscious corporations like Quaker, PepsiCo, USG, etc have moved to this area in an attempt to save money while remaining close to Metra. Think about the area around Penn Station in NY, which also remained an undesirable location for office until the city, Related, and other groups built up the Hudson Yards brand and hype.
Also, this section of the West Loop can’t be “zoned for office”. That’s not how the zoning code works. Downtown zoning categories are agnostic on office vs. residential. The only exception is DS, which bans residential, but that’s really more of a light industrial category for service uses or large-scale retail. As for The 78.... it only works as an office site if a Fortune 500 level company comes in and builds their own ecosystem. It will obviously have a good Red Line connection at both ends of the site, so it is very accessible from the North Side City neighborhoods where a lot of young workers live. I’d also expect a pretty big boom in Bronzeville, especially in the former Robert Taylor Homes area close to the Red Line stop at 35th. Also some pretty serious gentrification pressure on Chinatown. |
I agree on 625 Adams. If I was looking to relocate an office from Schaumburg to downtown, I’d park as close to Ogilvee as possible. Why do I want my workers going out to 2 hour 3 cocktail power lunches? (I eat at my desk). What do I care if there are good restuarants next door?
I’d want to minimize the commute as first priority. That maximizes my draw. If restaurants want our business, they’ll come to the offices. |
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Also lol at how many people think 625 is a no brainer but it can't lease up. This is up there with the argument that Fulton Market isn't an office district and never will be but is getting a shit ton of office built because tenants are simply wrong. |
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You’re saying that modern recruitment says make my workers walk farther, take longer to get to/from work (thus reducing my draw and/or the time I can get from them) so that it’s easier for them to party during lunch (thus reducing their productivity)? LOL. Okay. Game on. |
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I wonder if and when the Union Station parking garage tower project gets started, if that would bring in a critical mass of workers and office tenants that would help liven up this stretch of downtown and make it more desirable for tenants, and ultimately driving demand for more office towers?
This neighborhood isn't really all that bad. Excellent transportation connections, both Metra and CTA), and honestly Randolph and Fulton aren't too much of a walk away. Randolph east of 90/94 definitely has a growing scene with quite a few good restaurants and bars; Sepia, avec, Proxi, Blackbird (which is Michelin star rated). If this section of downtown has a sleepy reputation, I think it will shed it sooner rather than later. |
^ To be fair, I think the leasing struggles at 625 West Adams are just generally indicative of how difficult it is to lease office space in Chicago. Even with a hot economy right now, office developers are still competing intensely for a relatively small number of anchor tenants and relocations, and changes in office design plus consolidations are reducing the footprint that each company occupies. If you want to fill office space, you have to be the coolest kid on the block... right now Sterling Bay is the coolest kid after landing Google and McDonalds and basically building a whole ecosystem in Fulton Market. They have the Morgan stop to bring in city workers, and they've figured out how to run private shuttle systems that bring people from Metra.
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Um, you know those are mere placeholders, right? No building will ever be built that looks like any of the ones in the renderings we've seen so far (with the possible exception of the Discovery Partners Institute, which may be far enough along in design that something real was included).
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