Absolute worst case scenario: block 37 video board

^ugh, that would be awful.

I agree. Sure it's fun to hypothesize but theres no proof that this will add height. The San Francisco tower utilizes the mechanical screen for the video board. There is already a large mechanical glass screen at the top of WPS according to the most recent renderings. I could see a scenario where they just retrofit the existing mechanical screen with LED's.

That would be great though if this tower was bumped up at a minimum 50ft to push it to 1,000.

https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ApN_...w_hres__1_.jpg

Photo credit to Curbed Chicago

^ I feel that the existing glass screen at the top which houses the tower's mechanical might be too small for a highly visible LED screen. If they are looking for something along the lines of their namesake tower in San Francisco, then it would make sense to add more height to it. I think we got a good shot at seeing WPS get to 1000' or more because of this.

Fair point. The WPE glass mechanical screen is 34ft8in but the WPS one looks to be considerably taller so who knows.

Do you have a picture of the video board at Block 37? I've never noticed it. I quite like the building...designed by SCB!

https://goo.gl/maps/hyv5psyxxHL2

Its... not great.

A waste of video board cbs was suppose to expand it across and never did smh

^ And that empty space was left exposed for like years... looked like complete crap.

Massive lost opportunity on their part.

^absolutely a waste..I remember that video board was supposed to wrap around the building and be much larger but then was downsized... that part of state street is where video boards and flashy signs should be encourage...sorry to get off topic..i guess its still a sore spot for people..lol

I remember that as well. I suppose I'm also somewhat irked by that a decade later.

Got to say I again agree with Left of Center. My suggestion to the City of Chicago, is to concede on the video board (even though it feels like a Tokyo or Times Square look to a small degree), and let's get this building a little taller (above 1000') and then let's get this going soon before the market changes and construction dollars dry up. Been through several downturns and I guess because of that I am beginning to feel that if a project is not started in the next 12 to 18 months it might be a victim to a changing economic environment. This building's look and its location is a game changer in my opinion for the skyline.

I’m feeling pretty bearish myself, but if Salesforce signs a letter of intent for 500,000 that should get financing flowing regardless of a downturn? The sooner the better tho.

#

I've recently seen the SF tower in person and the top while not a cheap video screen is still gaudy.

Whoa really? It looks so cool in videos. Is the coloring to intense?

I guess i could see a problem where 30 years from now too many towers
all have the same spectacle. Then it would just turn into light pollution. But a couple LED boards spread out would look good.

I was involved in the potential financing of what now is called 444 Lake Street right before the market dropped in 2008. The developer had a large law firm, and several other tenants pre committed to lease nearly 75% of the building but when the downturn hit, we could not get a nibble from anyone. Sort of the "herd mentality" but just saying it would be great to get Salesforce on the dotted line and get the construction financing and maybe even a forward take out on a permanent basis. Let's keep our fingers crossed and hope.

I remember reading about that.

But one thing that stands out about the 2008 recession: it wasn’t your typical recession. Banks were literally about to collapse everywhere because of the subprime mortgage meltdown. Clearly we aren’t at risk of anything of this sort happening again if we hit another recession in the next couple years. Banks are still pretty careful with their lending standards, it seems, plus rising interest rates are also slowing things down.

Its already the tallest building in the city - with the crown as a display it removes it even further from the rest of the skyline which is way darker and it just sticks out too much. Esp when seen coming in via the Bay Bridge.

Well... these complaints wouldn't really apply to this building in this city. It won't be the tallest, and I'd argue we need a little more flash in that part of the skyline. The roof of 311 S Wacker is very bright and that isn't a bad thing