Sorry did read through the whole thread, I feel dumb:koko:

Has anyone been in the area around the Post Office recently? If yes, is there any sign of life at all in the building, or it is completely vacant? Something like 2.4MM sq feet right?

I just ask because the project showed up again in Crain's "construction bid" area this week (along with 1 S. Halsted for the umpteenth time with no dirt moved yet)......and was curious if there were any "official" looking people touring/measuring/doing anything that would signify that Davies was moving forward with rehabbing the building (I agree that the other towers including the 2,000 footer are a vision only).

It just kills me to drive into the city via 290 and see this hulking 1900's building completely devoid of any life in the second largest business district in the country.

I know Ikea chose this as one of two options in 2000 for a city store (250k sq feet I think, crazy to think that Ikea would only fill ~10% of the building). But that was, what, two recessions ago? A lot has changed since then (i.e. new Bolingbrook IKEA opening, St. Louis IKEA future opening, and Schaumburg IKEA expanding).

Is it better to wait around for a mixed use project to follow through, than a low density project like a mega-data center (just throwing that out there, I have no idea the cost to refit a 1900's building into a 2010's data center), but the City has seem intent on growing data centers lately.

Thanks.

^No word

In the General Developments thread, Skyguy mentioned this:
I've been wanting to head over to the site to see what, if any activity is going on but I've been busy recently and it's a bit out of the way from where Payton is.

^^^ Yeah that's an interesting coincidence. Wonder if Davies isn't going to surprise us in some manner. It could also just be work the city is forcing them to do to stay in code compliance.

That's what I was thinking. I can't imagine the cost to keep the place up....millions per year? Why would he buy something like this just to let it sit fallow for years and years, while he tags up multi-million dollar bills (assuming he is paying them actually)......makes little sense....

zI know this isn't a legit proposal but this doesn't look that bad
http://markosun.files.wordpress.com/...1/chicago2.jpg

http://assets.dnainfo.com/generated/...extralarge.jpg

Phase 1 actually looked to be much more realized, as far as renderings go. Remember talk about it starting in September 2013? Man if the Spire goes, this is next on my wish list. Rehab of an Art-Deco gem, 900' mixed-use plus a Casino. If I were da Mayor, I'd throw in 100% worth of TIF.

Well, at least one thing that mock up shows is that its a pretty good location for a significant office tower.

I imagine any project on this site is going to take quite a bit more time to design and implement than most. There are a ton of complicated design problems with this site. It's next to the river, over the metra lines, over the blue line, 290 runs through the center, and it would include modifications to a historic building.

I can see the top of a barge crane from my apartment, but it doesn't appear to have moved an inch all week. Staging, maybe.

^ I thought perhaps it was staging for the Riverwalk project, but why would they erect it there? If it were on it's way to the riverwalk, I'd assume they'd just leave it laying flat. Harry please help.

Any bridges scheduled to be overhauled in the area?

Honestly I think the site would be more attractive with the demolition of the old post office.

Could it be waiting to move to Wolf Point or would Hines float the barge crane at River Point across the confluence now that they're moving onto the tower portion of that project?

Wherever it's going, maybe they're waiting for St. Patty's to be over so they're not further clogging up the main branch/confluence for all the tour boats

http://assets.dnainfo.com/generated/...extralarge.jpg

Looks rather like the base of Trump along the river walk.

Maybe, but that doesn't explain the timing of the recent work bids showing up. I'll be curious to see what the barge starts doing if anything.

Ya the old post office is kinf of a buzz kill, with all the other modern buildings in the project

^ We got plenty of empty lots for modern buildings to go on. We only have one massive art-deco behemoth spanning over a major gateway into downtown. Demolishing it just to make the site easier to work with is just being lazy. A good architect knows how to use an irregular lot to his advantage, and integrate the old with the new in a way that brings out the best of both designs.

I would like to see the Old Post Office saved, considering its of major historical importance (reflected with its designation on the National Register of Historic Places). Now, whether that means remodeling it as it is, partially demolishing it as part of a larger plan, or integrating it into a larger redevelopment plan is entirely up to the developer and the economics of such a plan.

Remember, once its gone, its gone.

^ 1000 times yes. Demolishing the Post Office is NOT an option.

I guess your right even if they were able to demolish it would be a hastle to demolish it over the highway

Hey guys - so apparently Bill Davies, Garrett Kelleher and Atlas are in serious talks - all evidently prompted to the table by a landmark study by US Equities' Bob Wislow - to move a resurrected Spire to the Post Office site - actually to the center of the post office's existing footprint - don't ask me about the engineering details, as I definitely don't understand it all myself, and I was frankly shocked that IDOT/CDOT would even consider relocating the IKE terminus/Congress - but apparently all systems are indeed 'GO'.....despite my earlier extreme skepticism about both these projects, it turns out that combined they create a virtually unstoppable force - seemingly one of nature........interestingly, this project will be a first ever 'ultra-depth facadectomy', in which at least the first 65' feet of the existing post office building (around the entire exterior) will be preserved - according to the coming PD - in perpetuity....this part of the development will apparently serve as a combo museum to our nation's unsung heroes - our postal carriers - and Chicago's long-awaited first (of many) casino......I don't know about y'all, but I'm 'sure 's shit' looking forward to this one!!!!!

....okay...

Why move it from the site they already have? Just so both projects can pool their money? What happens to the Hole? Wouldn't they have to redesign the whole tower given the changes to the base? It kind of sounds like Davies would just be buying the name recognition and cache of "The Spire," which many laypeople know by now, to drum up awareness for his post office dream.

You neglected to mention the rainbow pony factory, as well as the high-rise luxury hotel made completely out of ice cream sandwiches.

^ Uhhh... I think he's just joking

But nothing is funny about the old post office. Nothing.

I feel like Sam is trying to tell us that we shouldn't focus our attention to the project again until there is more news (if any) about plans to move this project forward.

This is hilarious.:haha:

On a serious note, my gut has always told me that Davis is waiting on the approval of a casino before moving forward. Either that or he's just been bullish(!)ting.

I heard about that meeting but I heard that Davies was inspired by the incomplete spire and decided that he would "finish" the art deco post office. He would take the existing pedestal and turn it into the much larger version of the empire state building that it was meant to be.

The Crane at the Post Office location is gone now.

And I thought April was 2 weeks from now.

http://img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb2...lose-pose1.jpg

Dude, you're two weeks early.

I like the design, but honestly, there are other proposals I'd rather see built in the city (namely the Chicago Spire). If this is going to be built, I'd like to see it dulled down a bit, so these towers don't stand out so jarringly with the rest of Chicago.

I have to say I do like the most well developed design mabye cut of the spire though

And here's a reason thats not going to happen

http://www.enewspf.com/latest-news/l...g-hot-air.html

sigh....

Well, now we have something to discuss
 

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...in-post-office

Walgreen looks to move HQ to Old Main Post Office
By Thomas A. Corfman and Greg Hinz May 08, 2014

Walgreen Co. is taking steps to move its headquarters downtown — the old Main Post Office.

Under pressure by some shareholders to move its Deerfield headquarters to Europe, the drug store giant has for months been scouting locations in the Loop, where it would potentially move thousands of jobs.

The company is the largest employer in Deerfield, with 3,500 workers, according to a filing by the northern suburb to bond holders in December 2012. Exactly how many employees would come downtown could not be determined.

Wow, that would really create a huge hole in the north sububurban office market.

^Sweet mother of pearl :runaway:

I took this photo yesterday, admiring the fact that whoever is managing the building cares enough to paint the plywood boarding up the doors.. Or was this done solely for the Dark Knight?
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-q...h559-no/14+-+6

Holy potential watershed moment, Batman!

this could be big.

REALLY BIG.

That's pretty big news! Hope they do it! :)

It doesn't say anything about whether they'd be moving in as-is or waiting for the hypothetical towers.

Keep fingers crossed!

In the meantime, such positive news/foreshadowing about this in Chi-town, and the Hudson Spire in NY entails:

http://37.media.tumblr.com/8b83a39e4...5vsao1_500.gif
:)

Wow - awesome.

I wonder if they'd be looking at moving all their employees downtown (around 3,500 in Deerfield)... The Crain's article said they're looking for 1M SF of space, but their Deerfield campus has about 1.7M.

WOW really 1 million thats more than enough to get the project moving, I wasn't really not expecting any news for a while. Now just forget about the whole train thing and focus on the project please IPD

i know less about this than anybody here, so. . . let me offer my opinion. . .

when i saw this in crain's, i immediately thought of this thread, of course, and the proposed 1,000'er.

however, then i thought maybe they will use the sizable post office or its skeleton to create a sort of urban suburban campus like they already have in deerfield.

i guess it's the sears of pharmacies, so maybe the walgreen tower (shaped like a prescription bottle?) is a possibility.

anyways. . . :cheers:

Ya I just remembered the intial plan meant to re-do the the post office. The article also mention Bill Davies is driving a hard bargain. I wonder if that means he's not open to much change in the project, also I forgot to mention this but whats with Jones Lang were does Booth Hansonn fall in this. Does this mean walgreens is buying the office off of Davies, or is there something I missed.....

All I can say is: LOL.

This is a Holy Shit moment if this actually happens. They would unquestionably go Motorola style and take several of the massive floorplates of the post office to create hyper efficient space like in Merch Mart. These massive old buildings (Montgomery Ward, Merch Mart, Fulton Cold Storage, and now the Post Office) are turning out to be extremely efficient for the modern reality of open plan offices. Because the plates are so big and there are very few interior walls, the loss factors in these buildings are rock bottom which means the tenant gets several percent more usable square feet per rentable square foot.

In addition to the USF bump, they also can cram massive numbers of desks into a wide open floorplate like this. That means higher density plans and lower costs per employee. They also typically go with a low cost loft style buildout which simply involves cleaning and painting the structural elements and then installing new mechanicals which sheds huge amounts of buildout costs, again reducing the cost of moving downtown. All in all it might even be the case that most of the 1.7 million SF in Deerfield is turning into 1 million SF downtown because they are seeing massive efficiency increases. I am sure that the expansion possibilities in the Post Office are also very attractive to them. No major corporations like to be hemmed in which is a major reason why they moved to suburban corporate campuses in the first place. They can go up and out at a site like the Post Office.

This means, for massive companies like Moto or Walgreen, that take multiple full floors, downtown office space in a massive old building like this can actually be as cheap as or cheaper than suburban space. I'm starting to foresee a day where Chicago rue's the loss of the other previously obsolete downtown behemoth buildings because they seem to have become an incredible tool for attracting massive businesses to downtown. There could actually be a day where Merch Mart, Montgomery Ward, and Post Office are all 100% leased. What happens then? Are there other targets out there I am forgetting about?

Wow! Let's hope this happens. It would be great to see something actually go in at the old post office.