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"?

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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! ;)

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