They've gone from 5 towers to 4.

The building along Harrison was supposed to be the tallest and now it appears no taller than The Reed.

Not impressed.....

There was an article about The Reed a week ago. Should be starting construction soon, apparently.
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/resi...dds-apartments


Newer rendering - The Reed in the center
https://s3-prod.chicagobusiness.com/...ndlease%20.jpg

I checked out the sales center a few weeks ago because I'm in the market to purchase. Nice building, nice amenities, and nice finishes. But these factors don't justify a $750 average Price/Sq.Ft. Not in that location and not with a building that doesn't add any architectural significance to the Chicago skyline. :shrug:

Also, the future 40-story buildings (according to the site plan) will pretty much negate any northern view (the best one IMO) from this building.

There is Case equipment on site at Harrison and Wacker (the Northern-most part of the property) :yes:

I’m so glad that there are still construction starts, but I can’t help but wonder what data these developers and lenders are looking at? In my own experience, rents are still down compared to pre-Covid and it’s still harder to fill apartments than it used to be.

Probably the data that suggests two new huge office buildings - OPO and BMO - are under construction, plus the rest of the Loop within walking distance and they want to have more apartments hit the market in 2 years when construction is finished. :shrug:

This was in Crain's a few days ago:

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/comm...al-real-estate

So basically we may not get a quick turnaround to full on downtown boom for a couple years, there is at least enough indication that by the time these new buildings are ready for tenants the demand will be there.

^ I read that article as well, but it's still a bit of a gamble no matter how you cut it

How much does this factor into developers' plans for what to build when?

For example, when WPE was built it blocked the views down the river of WPW. Some people bought into WPW not realizing this. So presumably demand would have been lower if WPE was built first.

How much is this actually a factor, vs. other considerations (e.g. waiting to commit to the taller more expensive building until you've already gotten returns on the earlier ones)?

There's already $2 trillion in excess savings sloshing around in the economy from pent up demand and massive stimulus. That's not considering the helicopter drop that Biden is about to make. Most people I know are already plotting the hedonistic binge they are going to undertake as soon as things normalize. Shits about to get wild real quick, who knows how long until the bubble they are inflating pops, but there is going to be intense growth and inflation between now and then. Inflation is essentially a transfer payment to asset holders particularly those holding real estate due to the leverage in that industry.

The Fed has been trying to get the US to have a consistent inflation rate of 2% since the 2009 financial crisis without much success. I wouldn’t bet on a lot of inflation. I’d be praying we don’t tip into a deflationary spiral which will make anyone with leveraged real estate a fool.

^ Correct. LVDW's operating definition of inflation needs a good bit of work. What he's talking about is not inflation.

My take and I've mentioned before is that some of these developers that are launching large projects '20-21 are taking a calculated risk on the timing of the recovery. These are projects that won't deliver until '22-23 and they are making a bet (I'd argue a fairly smart one) that the economy will be back on track enough by then (with potentially a still strengthening 2-3 year outlook) to launch now. Given the nature of this downturn, it's makes sense to me.

^Exactly. If you're in the business of renting apartments, you want to have some inventory available when the market is ready to absorb them.

Site prep is underway at The Reed.

It also appears that the lot on the north end is under construction – the area's fenced off, with heavy machinery on the site – though whether that's for a new building or something else I'm not certain.

^ They are sealing off the freight tunnels that run under the site and building a new access point for utility workers. There will be a little bunker along Harrison there with a blank door and stairs that go down 7 stories to the tunnels.

Freight tunnels, on this side of the river? They must be the old abandoned narrow gauge rail tunnels from the Chicago Tunnel Company, right?

^Exactly.


https://i.imgur.com/PU4r02C.png

April 26






tunnel plugging ?

05.04.21

https://uniim1.shutterfly.com/ng/ser...176666/enhance

For some reason I'd assume real site work had already commenced for the new tower.

As much hate (hate might be a touch strong....disappointment?) the new design has gotten, I've got to say I think it's pretty solid. I could be wrong, but my gut tells me the older design (perhaps for all of the yet to be built towers) was always just a placeholder - and I think that contributed to the deflated feelings relative to expectations. I don't think the columns were ever really going to be built like that .

Also glad LendLease is thus far sticking with Perkins & Will with design work.

I'm as curious as ever what CMK is waiting for with (the actual) Riverline development (this one is Southbank/since the developers split up and split it up)?

CMK has a lot of dirt. The area south of River City, the 1st District Police Station parking lots, the salt shed at 18th & Clark, the parking lot at 14th & Wabash.

Wouldn't surprise me for them to do 14th & Wabash next and wait until The 78 has some things happening and makes the River City South site really ripe.

Why is this in the U/C section? Looks like they barely just got equipment on site for solid testing.

If you notice the thread title and the previous posts, you will see that there has been one tower built of a possible eight. However, it appears the project has been renamed and split up somewhat. Perhaps someone can update the title if that is the case.

A caisson rig is being assembled and several liners have been delivered.

^ Nice. Sounds like a 2nd May highrise start. (correction - looks like K3, if that's what it's really called? - actually started in late Apri)

True enough. 18th and Clark though? Did not realize they own that parcel. That's interesting......do they own all the way up to 16th I wonder? I'm very curious what they are thinking for this....could be multiple highrises I presume, adjacent to the 78

That is quite the narrow lot(s). I wonder if they could even build all that tall there, or if they'd simply settle for midrises. I suppose it really depends on what zoning density they get, assuming it hasn't been changed from its current industrial/city use.

Yeah I'm also interested, is this public information? I know Streets and San is moving across the river eventually, but doesn't there need to be some kind of open solicitation for the land? They can't just cut a backroom deal with CMK.

The same would apply for the CPD parking lots...

BTW, 'The Reed" is under construction. Two caisson liners in the ground that i saw.

So are they drilling caissons for the tower itself or "vertical access shafts" for the underground tunnel beneath the site?

The Reed was issued new construction permits for the foundation yesterday.

The Reed at Southbank - 234 W Polk
 

August 5, 2021

I've been wondering if actual foundation work had even gotten underway on this one, as there was mention of some other work being done first on the site. Nice update, and great to see.

Nice update and great photos!

There's new activity at the site over the past week or so, beyond the construction of the Reed.

There's a small notch of land that was prepped just north of The Cooper on Wells – the footprint doesn't look large enough to be the next rental building though.

Also, just an hour or so ago, I saw a crew putting in a new sidewalk path straight north of the circular path midway through the park.

Whatever happen to that wooden tower that’s was proposed couple years ago

Nothing more than a conceptual design exercise, IIRC.

Correct. It was Perkins+Will's shot at taking timber to new heights. It was a marketing exercise at the least, and I think some of us were hoping the developer would latch onto the idea if the first phases of Riverline were successful.

Ironically the design work behind that concept was used to inform the design of Ascent in Milwaukee which is now about halfway framed out. Just took some pictures of the construction today, pretty impressive. Will be the tallest heavy timber building on earth when complete. Check out the video about it here:

https://www.thorntontomasetti.com/project/ascent

I understand why a timber parking garage is a bad idea, but it still feels like Ascent is cheating with a concrete podium...

Tower crane going up for The Reed.

Sept 7









New com-ed vault for the tower and new rowhouses.

05.10.21
https://uniim1.shutterfly.com/render...&ts=1631435083


08.30.21
https://uniim1.shutterfly.com/render...&ts=1631434762


09.10.21
https://uniim1.shutterfly.com/render...&ts=1631434860

https://uniim1.shutterfly.com/render...&ts=1631434880

https://uniim1.shutterfly.com/render...&ts=1631434914


09.11.21
https://uniim1.shutterfly.com/render...&ts=1631434941

https://uniim1.shutterfly.com/render...&ts=1631434970

Awesome stuff.

Which of the 8 towers is this crane for?

The Reed, which will be 447 feet tall (41 stories).


Also, any word on what CMK is thinking about their piece of the puzzle south of River City? Would be awesome to see that start.

CMK seems to be in a "one project at a time" mode right now. They probably have reduced staff from their peak 10-15 years ago. And they've been focused on overseas development (Turks & Caicos) just as much as Chicago. I don't think Colin wants the headaches of juggling multiple Chicago projects at once. Right now their next project seems to be 1400 S Wabash, so that will proibably keep them busy for the next 1-2 years at least...

I know several years ago they were planning a large townhouse development for the riverfront site, but the townhouse market hasn't been super robust for years. They're probably waiting for that market to improve, so they can sell a super-premium product (like the townhouses on South Water St by the old Spire site). The sale of the north half of Riverline to Lendlease probably gave CMK enough financial cushion to sit on the south half for years, if need be. A lot depends on The 78 too - if Related can make something big happen there once the new road opens, then CMK will probably look to jump in too even if they need to reconsider their townhouse plans.

I just went on a boat ride yesterday with friends and was thinking how the South Branch still seems just as barren as when I took an architecture cruise in 3rd grade, 20 years ago. There are several new buildings visible from the river, but all set back by a block. The only real improvement fronting the river itself is the Riverline park.

I feel like we are right on the cusp of having the south branch see some very rapid change.

Its unfortunate that literally all the changes will be on the east bank of it, though. Hopefully one day the air rights over the Amtrak/BNSF/Metra railyards on the west bank can be acquired by a developer, although the logistics of building over them is probably going to be quite a feat to overcome.

Tower crane is fully installed, as Harry's pictures indicate.

There's also a new installation in the park courtesy of PORT and the Chicago Architecture Biennial (rendering here: https://chicagoarchitecturebiennial....tributors/port).