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Does Chicago really have any large Federal employers in the suburbs? I'm not aware of any.
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Yes, because i see NO PROBLEM with a large federal office situated right above a major expressway. Why not have a target just painted on the building?
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Bottom line, this is big news! |
To be clear, I'm very much hoping that the redevelopment of the post office is done, but also realized with this building offering 3 million sqft of new office space, it would basically mean that we can expect it to heavily compete with new office constructions in the future and probably decrease the chances of new office construction as well. I may be overthinking this, but I would rather Chicago get new office towers that can add to the chicago skyline.
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The gaps in the loop/river north are extremely likely to get filled in with high rises eventually no matter what happens here. Plus, if I really can't see Walgreens pulling the trigger on anything downtown other than this venue. I just can't see them moving into a new skyscraper. All of that said, it's always been my pipe dream that the post office gets redeveloped into a massive Chicago 1920s gangster themed casino. :D |
^^ To a certain extent some of that competition is inevitable (either direct and/or thru indirect market mechanisms), but see my post above re different types of tenants being attracted to historic adaptive re-use vs. trophy/class a new construction towers.....differences in target tenant set mean that these two different types of projects are not interchangeable.....they're far from direct substitutes, so competition overall is far from completely overlapping and direct...
^ Spot on regarding Walgreens not being a likely candidate to anchor (or for that matter completely occupy) a new tower - and it's not just Walgreens - it's really any company like Walgreens - large, old economy, publicly traded corporations - especially those in consumer products - and to some extent consumer services ex-financial as well - are just not good candidates in modern times to occupy expensive, brand new trophy/class a space - such corporations in aggregate just don't go for that type of expense these days, and their shareholders and wall st analysts (which is what really drives their strict cost controls) would largely frown at such 'lavish' expenditure for new real estate.....not to say there are not - and will not continue to be - exceptions to this 'rule' - there are always exceptions.....but in general, developers firmly realize that these types of companies are far from likely new tower anchors.... |
To answer the poster's question about whether the federal government has any large offices in the suburbs, I believe the IRS has a decent sized presence by 355 and Butterfield Road.
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i don't think that i would want to see a megatall there anyway, for the sake of the skyline. it would stand out too much. yes the spire stands out too but at least its in the middle of the skyline not on the side like this one. i would love to see a supertall here though. maybe a 1200 footer and hopefully this could lead to a development in the south branch of the river and some taller buildings on south state street by the central station skyline, to sort of connect the two together.
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Walgreen shareholders are already threatening revolt...
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...re-at-walgreen |
I guess that's not really good news for this project :shrug:
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^ No, this is not necessarily bad news at all for the project.....this stuff seems to, for whatever reason, generate loads of suspect conclusions and confusion.....
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Not a business finance expert but the way Walgreens shareholders boss around the company like panicked chicken littles seems unusual to me.
Anyway, Walgreens and the post office have only recently crossed radars. I get they'd be just fine without a signature tenant like that, just as Merch survives (thrives, now) without it being known for just one tenant. I can't think of any huge companies who might want to move there, but can think of many smaller companies who'd jump on it. What will be interesting to see is if that area, the "near west loop" (between the river and kennedy) starts connecting with the "actual west loop" (west of the kennedy, aka Sterling Bayland). The Post Office/Union Station/Olgilve area is kind of a weird disconnected chunk of city that separates several neighborhoods and keeps them from flowing together. Pumping some life into the Post Office could have a big impact on the city's ecology as a whole. This all makes me wonder why the Sears Tower area has been so bland, since that's an awful lot of people in one square block who you'd think would support a local scene a lot more vibrant than the one it has now. Everything around there seems to cater to it more as a tourist destination than the workplace of umpteen thousand high paid professionals. Maybe the people who work there don't go outside for lunch because they're three elevators away from the street. |
Yeah the southwest Loop is still kinda sleepy. My only theory is that Madison and Washington have the highest pedestrian traffic because of the historical presence of Daley Plaza, Marshall Fields, and now Millennium Park (which all draw suburbanites from the Metra stations). All other east-west streets are kinda service-oriented, none moreso than Van Buren.
It's also the downtown manifestation of the North Side favored quarter... With few exceptions the north side is prosperous and successful out to Lake Forest and Barrington while the South Side is pretty poor-to-middle class out to New Lenox and Peotone. Recent development in the South Loop, University Village, and Hyde Park have been glimmers of hope but southward gentrification is still very much in its infancy. |
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^True. River North probably took off because there was a crush of residents and workers. I guess that area might change eventually with that new development on Van Buren and Wells.
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1) the rail yard 2) electrical station across from river city 2) poor public transit 3) poor integration to the street grid (I am looking at you dearborn park) 4) the Freeway Just doing something about the rail yard (perhaps stacking several of those lines underground to allow room for building over top) and building a new metra station there could set off some real development in the south loop and perhaps encourage Davies to build big at old main. |
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whether they've considered relocation to a permanent large facility? that's beyond me. correction: they downsized to six regional offices, so this is a relatively large gov't presence in suburbs. |
^ Also I think there's some bigass US post office facility out in Carol Stream or Palatine or somewhere. But then I highly doubt the Old Main Post Office would be redeveloped for use by ... a post office.
Argonne? |
A little more info
http://www.rejournals.com/2014/07/03...n-post-office/
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That's nice and all, but where does Sterling get $500M without a single tenant commitment?
Setting a date to start work sounds pretty damn rosy unless Sterling is on the cusp with several tenants (or one massive one). |
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In fact, they've likely been involved with this project for a long time prior to the recent public announcement of their JV with Davies. If you notice, not a peep of their interest in partnering with Davies was leaked until they had already inked a deal. I doubt they'd be claiming they are getting started this year unless they had some anchor tenants in the bag and contingent term sheets for the financing from lenders. PS: It is also worth noting that Sterling Bay has filled up Fulton Market Cold Storage. They certainly seemed to have the edge over just about everyone in the market with the project and it is likely there are a lot of other tenants clamoring to sign a deal with Sterling Bay. The prospect overflow alone from FMCS could be enough to start driving this project. |
Sorry for the double post, but related question: Does the Old Post Office lobby run the entire N-S length of the building? If so this renovation could result in an excellent new pedestrian connection between the Near West Loop and the bullshit DS zoning to the south. I have a feeling a little rezoning will be in order for this area after Sterling Bay fills this place up.
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Here's a cool tidbit: sometime in 2012, Davies' team did tests on window restoration. These old steel windows are becoming rare, but I believe they are protected at the Post Office by some deed restrictions that were written when USPS first sold the building. restored window at center http://chicagowindowexpert.com/wp-co...view-uspo1.jpg src |
^^^ Ah, makes sense, it would be nice if they constructed some kind of Merch Mart like arcade through the second floor of the building (perhaps they are planning this anyhow as a part of the retail component?) that would allow pedestrians to cross the expressway without being subjected to the grody underpasses in that area.
Also, that window looks totally baller. I never noticed that they were essentially triple hung steel frames before. Even that little glimmer of shiny steel (is it stainless steel?) foretells things to come. This building will probably have a 1 Prudential like transformation from grimy to virtually brand new! |
If Sterling Bay is involved it ,with his history and reputation than this is more than speculation. Looking forward to what's in store for this property.
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The window is not stainless steel, just plain old rolled steel. I believe the restored unit was powder-coated though. |
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Closeup view. The color is not what I would choose...
http://chicagowindowexpert.com/wp-co...botcorner1.gif src |
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Also they are calling this renovation phase one, does that include the tower also planed for phase one in the beginning? |
^ Those towers are still very much firmly grounded in make-believe. This is an adaptive re-use of the existing ex-post office building.
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so what gives? :???: i know this is a step by step ordeal, but are the developers still interested in the original humongous plan, or have they given up on it after the first try failed? More here vvv http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...ld-post-office |
The original huge plan was never anything more than a fever dream.
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_________________________________________________________________ as it is now more than clear that this is just a massive redevelopment plan of the old post office structure itself for now, i'm moving this thread out of the highrise proposal sub-forum and into the general development sub-forum to avoid any further confusion by those who thought the super-tall pipe dream plans were ever anything more than pipe dreams. |
It's not entirely outside the realm of possibility that if the Sterling Bay redevelopment is wildly popular they might think about expansion down the road, but I'd wager that they've taken all that stuff off the table in their minds to focus on the first thing first. My guess is we'll see a 600 W Chicago style refactor into flexible office space and maybe some restaurant or retail spaces along the street, but they'll leave the building shell itself intact.
They might be thinking about something like Merch Mart's food court or Illinois Center's tangled indoor pedestrian walkways, but that could be a bit outdated. |
Yeah, there WILL be highrises on the surrounding lots, but certainly not anytime soon and they will probably look absolutely nothing like the pipe dream renderings proposed by Davies. Until the 2.7 million SF of the Post Office building itself is fully or mostly leased, I doubt there will be any talk of towers unless they maybe try to sneak a hotel or a apartments in on the sliver of land next to the building by the river. 2.7 million SF is a TON of space and could take quite a while to lease even if Walgreens comes an gobbles up half of it. Keep in mind that this is almost as big as River Point and 400 N Riverside combined.
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After seeing what they are doing with Fulton Cold Storage, I am convinced that they will find a way to make it work out. The common areas in that building look like they will be pretty flashy and they didn't even have a sexy art deco multi story lobby to work off of. |
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in the meantime, this is currently a project to renovate and reopen the old abandoned post office structure. we can put the talk of a 2,000' tall adjacent skyscraper to bed for a good long while, perhaps forever. |
I honestly don't care what goes there anymore (to an extent), as long as it gets developed. This is a huge piece of land near the famous loop that is totally underutilized. develop the area and maybe it can be the start of a new neighborhood, River South:tup:
EDIT: I don't feel the same about the Chicago Spire site, that is a very special piece of land, and something very special should be done there |
http://www.dailyherald.com/article/2...ess/140809223/
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At this point I think there's a 1/3 chance they move downtown, a 1/3 chance they stay in Deerfield and a 1/3 chance they move to Switzerland to avoid paying taxes.
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News Story Its looking like Deerfield or downtown for them. A REALLY smart move as 25% of their income comes from US public health programs. |
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I can tell there is still confusion about what these corporate tax inversions are about - this was not a potential operational HQ move - it was essentially little more than a prospective move on paper strictly for tax purposes - not a move that really impacts real estate decisions of its operational HQ (the HQ that actually employees thousands of employees and occupies probably one million sq ft + of real estate.......what I'm saying is there was a 40% chance of them inverting, a 2/3 chance of them moving downtown and a 1/3 chance of them staying in the suburbs.....(these are not supposed to add up to 100%!) Moot now, but I think they made the smart decision as well (although has nothing to do with where their operational HQ will be 4 years from now)...... |
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Yeah, at this point who knows where Walgreen ends up, but I can certainly see the appeal of the Old Post Office. It's probably pretty much 50/50 at this point. Hopefully there will be an announcement soon.
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