Thanks. Not sure what happened but I edited my post so that the link works.

I really can't imagine a more perfect fit for Amazon. This is made for them.

Literally, when considering the history of the building. The Sears mail catalog is what spurred its construction to begin with. Amazon would bring everything around full circle, since they are the digital hiers to the Sears and Wards of yesteryear.

They've added a short video to the website - http://www.thepostofficechi.com

I love this quote from the Tribune article. Makes me think that developers read this forum frequently:

Excellent vid. So glad we get to keep this gem in the city instead of it being demolished like so many other great buildings.

It probably has more to do with Amtrak owning Union Station, and the Post Office sits above Amtrak tracks so there's already a certain level of familiarity between the two.

The one thing I don't particularly like about this location is this side of the building. It's not at all inviting as a pedestrian. Concrete & ashphalt everywhere, no trees, a noisy highway, etc. I was in Seattle earlier this month and walked around Amazon's campus there, including the three new highrises and biospheres that have been constructed. From a biking & pedestrian perspective, Amazon has done a fantastic job making the new neighborhood feel fresh and inviting. I wish it was possible for the freeway to be below grade around Jefferson and rise up to its current level at some point underneath the Post Office to continue at its current level across the river. It could be capped above, with both the Clinton & Canal streetscapes modified to improve the pedestrian experience in that area. Of course that's probably quite difficult given the blue line subway that's already there and any potential Clinton subway in the future. And perhaps the decline/incline to achieve a below grade highway over a few blocks is simply too much. I just wish the west side of the building had a higher quality pedestrian experience to better match what Amazon seems to prefer given how much attention they gave to pedestrians & cyclists when designing their Seattle campus. It seems to be something that was important to them there, so I would think it would behoove backers of Amazon locating at the Post Office to do something creative to allow for a quality pedestrian experience here as well.

I'm pretty confidant the city would agree to basically any streetscape improvements Amazon requested here short of burying the highway.

I'm sure 601W plans on doing something on that side to improve the pedestrian experience with or without Amazon. It just hasn't been shown in any renders yet because the immediate focus has been elsewhere.

They could easily put up big, curved, architectural barriers to either side of the expressway starting at Jefferson, and do the same underneath the overpasses. That would go a long way toward making the expressway "disappear" from the surrounding neighborhood from a pedestrian perspective.

No need to bury the highway, simply have it end immediately at the Circle and extend Congress Parkway west.

It would still need to bridge over Desplaines as it currently does, but after that you can have traffic light-controlled intersections at Jefferson, Clinton and Canal. Canal can be brought to grade, and the extra space between the street at the existing grade level portion along the OPO can be turned into a wide, landscaped walkway.

Assuming the elevated portion of 290 between the Circle and the river is as old as the interchange that is currently being replaced, it would be pushing about 50 years and in need of replacement soon anyway.

I've always thought they should just build a sweeping set of stairs on each side of the highway with ramps built in like the section of the riverwalk on each side of the highway. Bring the entire side of the Post Office up to grade with retail on top. Would add serious value to that first floor space.

I agree with this 100%. Just remove the Congress/Canal grade separation and return it to being a normal street like it was when the post office was built in the first place. A normal intersection on either side of the building and regular streets all around would make a world of difference in terms of usability.

https://chuckmanchicagonostalgia.fil...erial-1947.jpg

http://chicagotonight.wttw.com/sites.../1953%20PO.jpg

Even on the east side of the building there used to be reasonable street access. Not dark abandoned alleys to nowhere and a random patchwork of concrete leftovers from the past.

Yeah, looking through that gallery at the link, looks like an ideal mega tech office.

While this site is great for Amazon, I honestly would rather they go somewhere else, and spur development in another part of the city. I doubt this site is going to have trouble attracting clients.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...005-story.html

Column: With or without Amazon, old post office site is ready for its comeback




Robert ReedContact Reporter
Chicago Tribune

The former old main post office, among Chicago’s most long-awaited and significant downtown redevelopment projects, doesn’t need Amazon’s stamp of approval.
But getting it would sure be nice.
While undergoing a $600 million rehab, the massive art deco complex and adjacent area is expected to be on the list of sites Chicago’s City Hall presents to Amazon, which is scouring the nation in search of a home for its second headquarters.
Yet with or without Amazon, the old post office’s rebirth promises to be one of the most economically vital and far-reaching development projects to emerge from the city’s current downtown building boom.

Spruced up and pushed to its commercial potential, the site would finally shake off its dreary image as an empty, foreboding behemoth along the river ...

windows allow more natural light into the building’s core.
The post office site meets a couple of Amazon’s top requirements.
It’s in a centralized location with close proximity to train and other mass transit options. What’s more, with 2.5 million square feet and the possibility to build on adjacent property, the post office can immediately provide the wide, open work spaces that Amazon craves.

Still, even this building behemoth may not satisfy the Seattle-based ...


Not holding their breath for Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ call, the development’s backers are scoping out other tenant prospects.
The list includes: banks, call centers, software developers, technology firms, insurance companies and corporations seeking to band together multiple area offices into one location.

Any company that opts to move ers.into the post office development should have a little pioneering spirit.
The sheer size and scope of the project means there will be construction underway on-site after a major tenant moves in.
“It’s the ultimate urban loft experience,” the planning council’s Ellis says.
Nonetheless, the post office is the largest redevelopment in the country and promises to become a money generator for the surrounding community.

...

Chicago awards old Post Office preliminary landmark status, property tax incentive [Curbed]

"Known as a Class L incentive, the measure reduces tax assessments for landmarked buildings over a 12-year period with the caveat that the owner must invest at least half of the value of the property into an approved rehabilitation project. In the case of the old Chicago Post Office, taxes will be lowered a combined $53.2 million over the dozen-year life of the incentive.

Once that period expires, the renovated building is expected to create $19 million in additional annual tax revenue—quickly offsetting the initial discount."

The OPO is the location to beat for Amazon. If not them, I'm sure some other techies will gladly take it over.

Developer just landed a $500 million construction loan! :cheers:

^that still doesn't put a tower there, right?

No it's to renovate the OPO.

That a really big loan.


Worth reading about it.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...219-story.html

That definitely adds heft to the OPO proposal for Amazon. I wonder if this announcement is causing any buzz in Seattle?

Just for some perspective, this is one of the largest construction loans in Chicago's history. And it might be the largest construction loan for an adaptive reuse project in Chicago, as well as one of the largest of this sort in US history. And the lender is JP Morgan Chase, no less. A huge bet.

This is most certainly big news.

That comment section is silly. Also, as a side note I don't know why they bother reporting on old loans in nominal values.

with no big tenant signings announced, does the fact that they landed a $500m loan give credence to maybe some behind the scenes guarantees of a giant online retailer committing to the space?

I don’t know about Amazon, but perhaps some other large tenant

I try to not read open comments. They're pretty much always silly.

I'm looking at you Uber.

JP Morgan definitely wouldn't do this without pre-leasing. But that doesn't mean the building already has tenants lined up... it just means JP Morgan wouldn't fund until a certain percentage of the building is under lease.

I'm looking at you Walgreens...

Hoping this means they landed a tenant who will lease a lot of space

How big of a roadbump is this lawsuit going to cause?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...228-story.html

None

None considering the subs are the ones getting blasted by OSHA, not the owners or even the GC. Also:

$225,000 / $500,000,000 = 0.045%

And that's just on the total construction costs, not including acquisition costs of the building. Two hundred grand might sound like a lot to the average person, but it's not even a blip on the radar for a project of this size.

I thought that ship had sailed.

So, 601W Companies who owns the Old Post Office bought the parking lot on Clinton between Harrison and Congress - just to the west of the Holiday Inn which is across from Old Post Office. They bought this for $10M on 12/5.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/52...!4d-87.6404979

I know that Old Post Office had the option for other land when they pitched to Amaon, but were they going to purchase it no matter if they had a potential client or not?

Didn't Davies own that land as well? I'm not sure when 601W purchased the post office, but maybe they deferred purchase of the outlots until the main building reached a certain stage.

527 S Clinton LLC owned it since at least 2007. I don't think that's Davies, but I could be mistaken.

Who owns the Holiday Inn building and/or the land it sits on? That isn't exactly a prime development.

I believe Westloop Equities owns it

In googling Westloop Equities I found links to a long-standing legal battle between 527 S. Clinton and Westloop Equities over an easement for what I think is the parking lot that was just sold.

Found that too. I'm wondering if that hotel would consider selling to 601W - I'm sure you could build a sizable tower on half that lot, but the entire lot could yield a really big tower or two. It looks like 601W pretty much was able to buy half of that block - minus the hotel and the small building with Don Fresco in it. Everything else is now theirs.

I know that 601W said they could develop on adjacent land, so I'm just wondering if purchasing a lot like they just did was always part of the plan regardless, or if it was more of a conditional thing that they'd buy the lot of land if they had a legitimate interest/signing.

If it's conditional then this gets really, really interesting, otherwise it's just business as usual.

There is much interesting here with the Old Post Office project, really.

I am still intrigued that while other developments need an anchor tenant, this project landed $500 million in financing from one of the nation’s premier lenders despite no major announcements. That’s not just a vote of confidence, that’s SCREAMING to the world that something really legit is happening here.

I’m not necessarily saying it’s Amazon, but something is going on behind the scenes.

Yeah - I think the loan is very interesting for sure. You don't usually land a loan that big unless you can show you have something legit. That's a bit of money - the last thing anybody would want to do is have to make up for the $500M + interest you couldn't pay back.

Obviously I hope it's Amazon, but I would be just as happy with a major HQ relocation type of announcement here too.

I've heard rumors of Walgreens and United Airlines taking space in the OPO.

^ Walgreens AND United, from who?

:rolleyes:

Come on. Those must be some really bad sources.

And I have to say, I will be pissed beyond belief if all of this was for fucking United Airlines...