CHICAGO | Marriott Marquis McCormick Place | 444' | 40 FLOORS
 

^That's a slick tower. I wish there was another rendering that shows the base a little better and also one that shows the terrace deck.

I love the hotel tower design! Slick!! Kind of wish we could get something like this on the Mag Mile.


Also harryc, thanks for the great photos. Your updates are always well composed.

53 floors of awesome. That's quite nice - thanks spyguy!

It's cool the size increased. It was going to be 35 not too long ago..

New Marriott is SICK! It's like One Bryant Park and the (Chicago) Sofitel had a baby.

If that base is built anything like the rendering, this will be the boldest new tower we've had since Aqua.

Im so excited after seeing the new Marriott renderings. Its a terrific new centerpiece for the south section of the south loop. With this and the new green line stop, and even the new arena, I cant wait to see how the motor row/mccormick area grows in the next few years.

Wow. That's a sharp looking hotel.
I stayed at the Hyatt last year, surprised to see how dead that area is at street level with McCormick Place nearby.

Wow. That Marriott Place is incredible. I am salivating

I guess I'll go ahead and be the first to say that all though the tower portion is nice, I really hate that oversized base. The design of it is nice, but I really dislike all of these new towers making these humongous podiums mostly for no other reason than to protect views which completely kills the potential for other low to midrise structures to neighbor it....

The hotel maintains a slender base on Michigan Ave which is in scale (in width) with its neighbors. The back portion which faces the side of McCormick is mostly a celebrated service drive. It appears they've gone way above and beyond to improve that street, especially since it was supposed to be a faceless data center.

Wait now I'm confused. Where exactly is this going? I thought it was over on Cermak & Indiana.

Pretty damn nice.

Certainly towers above the Lexington.

Excited to see this one built.

Well, remember its a convention hotel and here the base could serve a function like for meeting and ballroom space.

I don't know if it has a listed height, but I think it deserves its own thread.

I really like this one. The base and the top look awesome and I like the way it crescendos into the top. If they decide to use non-cheap materials for the exterior, it could look awesome.

I'm not following your argument. You'd prefer this be a much shorter building with a back-to-back-E or H shape, like the Palmer House or Chicago Hilton?

Might wanna check out streetview that will clarify my post. I see no issue with the Michigan Ave side, but Indiana? It's pretty much a glorified service road....back of house. Heck I don't like them either but if there's any site they had to go on this one is perfect for it. Ban them from streeterville and RN, yes. But it's McCormick center of all places.

Again, I love this tower design.

Fantastic! I was hoping for a bold statement on that prominent site and this hotel does not disappoint. With this being a McPier project, we can certainly expect this to move forward quickly.

Let's all toast to the first 500' footer not just south of 13th, but south of Cermak. :cheers: Here's to hoping this is a catalyst for Motor Row, the Cermak Corridor and south of the Stevenson Expy.

Here is the Phorio Object Page for the project. Do we know who the architect is?

Gensler Chicago is the architect.

http://www.chicagorealestatedaily.co...335B4707812H8Y

McHugh sues city over site of proposed McCormick Place hotel
By: Ryan Ori September 16, 2013

James McHugh Construction Co. is suing the city of Chicago over a South Loop parcel that the Emanuel administration has targeted for a 1,200-room Marriott Marquis hotel that would complement the proposed DePaul University basketball arena.
The Chicago–based contractor has had plans of its own for the site: a six-story, 314,000-square-foot data center at 121 E. Cermak Road, about two blocks west of McCormick Place. McHugh's plans have been stuck in limbo since last fall, when city officials told the company it intended to acquire the parcel, according to the complaint filed today in Cook County Circuit Court.


-Combine the projects, make the tower taller and give McHugh the bid to build the structure. Problem solved.

good idea but...
 

Combine the projects, make the tower taller and give McHugh the bid to build the structure. Problem solved

a data center has extreme safety/structural/security issues to protect the data... can't really combine it with any other use...

Chicago needs bold architecture for its skyscrapers. The Marriott proposal is bold. I like.

I work in the data center field and multiple office buildings downtown have data center floors embedded within office floors. Sometime spanning multiple floors. You build the safety mechanisms within the structure itself (fire suppression, cooling, extra generators, etc)

I personally feel this is a pretty ballsy move on McHugh's part. They must have very good attorneys with a a very solid case against the City and have had a concrete agreement with whomever they had partnered with for their proposed data center....or they're really fu*king stupid and don't care if they never get City work ever again :haha:

Beautiful tower. The only thing I'm wondering about is how much it widens from base to top (since it's graceful change in width seems to be one of the most elegant features). I just get a little suspicious that these renderings could be a little deceiving, and sort of exaggerate that effect.

Oh..... and this thread shows up in the highrise forum, but I don't see it in the Chicago P&C subforum. Not sure if it needs a special tag for that, but I'm sure I'm not the only forumer here that mostly just clicks into the Chicago section.

I don't work in the data center field, but have worked with developers who have built a few... my understanding is that there are data centers and then there are data centers... the kind of data center McHugh wants to build is the kind that would have above and beyond the guarantees of security and safety that could ever be provided in an office building downtown...

Shouldn't this title read "Mariott Marquee McCormick Place"?

. . .

Marquis, not Marquee. McCormick, not McCormack.

Oh I don't think they are stupid, they are just trying to get more money for the land

i'm really digging the design, and at 53 floors, this potentially could be the tallest all-hotel tower in the city, offering the highest hotel rooms.

Well, this is 100% correct, you're totally spot-on. I do however wonder how (if at all) this will affect their future interaction with McPier, whether or not they'll be invited to bid on large-scale project, by McCormick and also at Navy Pier.

I love this building design - I think Gensler hit a home-run here, especially with the base. It seems like with this project as well as with the winning proposal for Navy Pier (James Cormer/Field ops.), McPier is finally understanding the benefits of highly progressive architectural design in attracting tourist money. More importantly, will this type of approach also mean a really amazing boutique hotel design AND something very unique for the new arena? Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought there was already a short-list released for arena designers/finalists?

OMA, Pelli, Grimshaw, Krueck + Sexton, Ross Barney, and John Ronan

A colleague of mine at one of the listed firms has already completed and submitted their entry as of 2+ weeks ago.

A great looking proposal. I love the huge terrace up top.

This tower is a very welcome upside surprise. Didn't think we'd be looking at anything remotely as nice. Let's hope that both the arena and the smaller second hotel planned are of similar high design caliber....

Good luck to them - have you seen their proposal?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...,2394996.story

City sues to acquire land for Marriott at McCormick Place

By Kathy Bergen
Tribune reporter
5:48 p.m. CDT, September 23, 2013

Chicago's push for a 1,200-room Marriott Marquis convention hotel near the planned DePaul arena moved into court Monday when the city filed an eminent domain lawsuit aimed at acquiring the property next to McCormick Place.

Here is what is happening behind the scenes:

McHugh: c'mon I need more money
City: yes of course, but what about the taxpayers?
McHugh: make it look like we are duking it out for a few months, then finally, settle for a higher price, and you will be the hero for "saving" the taxpayers from a costly court battle
City: Brilliant! Let's do it

Wow. . . was I half asleep when I wrote this?!? Sheesh! ;)

. . .

But eminent domain doesn't work like a negligence lawsuit. The eminent domain filing puts the parties straight into court, where the amount is set by a judge (or jury) based on expert testimony. It's not like months of discovery and dilatory pleadings are avoided or even possible. Neither side has much to gain from a "settlement."

Something's very funny about the city or McPier not having a purchase agreement on the McHugh data center parcel before ever hinting at the hotel location—unless McHugh wanted so much that McPier thinks the eminent domain price will be much, much less.

So, for the uninitiated, what's the take on this kind of eminent domain claim? Is it legally/ethically legit, or slimy city tactics to grease the wheels of a lucrative business arrangement? Sounds like something mayor Kelsey Grammer would do.

Eminent domain, sometimes called expropriation in other English-speaking countries, is older than the nation, and the practice is limited by the Fifth Amendment, which requires "just compensation" when "private property [is] taken for public use." Historically this was used for government facilities: military installations, post offices, reservoirs, highways. But states in the 19th century also gave eminent domain power to railroads, utility companies, and the like; Illinois is one of the most generous. In the 1950s, new redevelopment authorities were given eminent domain power as well if there was a finding of "blight," and this is the sort of transfer from private owner to government to private owner that was challenged in Kelo. The Supreme Court declined to discover a new right in the Constitution to be protected from your own city council and state legislature, provoking howls from the same right-wing think tanks who usually decry just that sort of judicial activism. Sometime in the 1960s, probably connected to building of new superhighways, most states created "quick-take" eminent domain, where you give up the property immediately and get whatever a court decides is fair later.

McPier has quick-take eminent domain authority over a limited area: Cermak to I-55, Indiana to Metra Electric tracks plus 21st to Cermak, Indiana to Prairie.

So there's nothing at all sleazy or unusual about a government body taking property for construction of convention facilities. Much shadier things are done through the city's various redevelopment districts.

Interesting. I've heard of using eminent domain for roads and bridges and electrical infrastructure stuff, but not for convention center expansion. It's easy to see the "greater good" argument about seizing land for a highway or power lines, but a convention center isn't so apparently in service of the community.

It makes all the sense in the world when you consider the "potential" tax revenue.

http://www.gazettechicago.com/index/...s-in-jeopardy/

McCormick Entertainment District plan puts some local businesses in jeopardy

November 1, 2013

By Dolly Duplantier

McHugh: don't really care if they take a bath, the site is vacant

small businesses: more of a shame, but hopefully they are compensated fairly

Just a friendly and relevant bump.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a4...D720/ry%3D480/

What do people expect the community reaction to be? I'd assume that unlike in Lincoln Park, they're pretty acclimated to the idea of giant corporate developments.

Does anyone know anything about Alderman Dowell? Is she likely to cave to local nimbys if they make an appearance? I love that design for the Marriott, and if it gets watered down..... :hell: