maybe you guys are missing the point: 9 STORIES.
...and a HOTEL.

^ And maybe by hunching within dark corridors with your nose glued to architecture books you're missing out on anything that resembles reality.

That's what happens to people who have a one track mind--you can't think outside of your world of cool little staircases and insect-shaped buildings.

Perhaps you should get a hold of the basic concept that density is a good thing for cities. Hotel next to Wrigley? How the flying fuck does that not make sense to you? What do you want people to do, stay 5 miles away from their destination?

Lots of condos right next to an L stop? Again, how the hell does that not make sense to you? How is a city supposed to work in your little insect-shaped building world?

Why can't we build all the way to the lot line anymore? What the hell are they supposed to do? Offer an easement of 5 feet to widen the sidewalks? NO, that kind of shit is exactly why streets like Clark St. have been deteriorating and never form from scratch anymore. I thought everyone on here loved buildings that were dense and closely packed so that walking and taking transit makes the most sense???

So you are saying that Wrigleyville is 50% parking lots and 50% bars with almost no residential units? For some reason I don't think that is very demographically representative of the area most people think is Wrigleyville...

Last time I Checked, every building within the city limits was quite literally "part of Chicago". The Starbucks building is nice and all, but A. we have like 10k other buildings just like it and B. That building in particular is not in very good condition and is heavily altered. I mean the parapet wall has clearly been stripped of the original ornamentation in one of those "rip the blocks out and paste over it with cheap cement" hack jobs...

The point is that you have no point.

Neither of these things are inherently dangerous to the character of the neighborhood.

Wish it would have been 11. Any lots around that area on Clark/Addison that are retail should be zoned for denser mixed use....meaning at least 5 stories if not higher. Like the Broadway Bank building in Uptown...denser is better for these transit friendly/dependent "centers".

Sports Corner update: the first floor exterior is being framed up, and pre-cast beige concrete walls are being installed. I'll try and swing by with a camera this afternoon.

Speaking of that McDonald's
 

http://www.chicagorealestatedaily.co...ws.pl?id=33851

Transactions

McDonald’s Corp. franchisee Ernest Cochanis has sold his restaurant across from Wrigley Field for $4.5 million to a real estate investment trust owned by the Oak Brook-based fast-food chain. Mr. Cochanis owned three McDonald’s restaurants in Chicago but recently sold them and plans to retire at the end of the month, says an employee with his company, Chicago-based Ernest Corp. The Wrigleyville restaurant is at 3616 N. Clark St., at the intersection with Addison Street.

:previous:

That seems to be a low ball figure for such a prime spot with its large parking area included. That guy must have really wanted to retire.

^
Well, if he sold it back to a McDonald's-owned real estate company, the company might have helped him purchase the location to begin with.
I wonder what they'll do with the location - will McD's find another franchisee, or will they sell the land for yet another bar?

We had this discussion in another thread... McDonald's is in fact a very shrewd real estate investor. I'm sure they will come up with some more intense use of the site if it makes sense financially.

like they did with their Rock and Roll McDonalds?

:jester:

Laugh if you must, but McDonald's is not stupid. They may be an emblem of suburbia, but they're smart enough to recognize the potential for huge profits to be had by developing land in dense urban areas.

This particular McDonald's was owned by a franchise until recently, so the McDonald's corporation had no control over the disposition of the land. With his decision to exit the business and sell the location back to the company, he has unwittingly opened the land for redevelopment by placing it in the hands of people who can recognize its potential. I doubt McDonald's will develop the land itself, but on such a prominent site I can't imagine that developers haven't made offers; with a new owner, they may come back to make new offers.

I'd be shocked if they don't come to the conclusion that it being a parking lot 81 nights a year is the highest and best use under existing zoning constraints. Oh well.

5-14-09

http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/3902/61545863.jpg

New Sports Corner progress.
http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/5757/sportscorner.jpg

Before there was Wrigley Field.

http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/9...westsidebp.jpg

"Chicago, At the Turn of the Century Photographs" by Larry Viskochil, CHS

Ricketts' Wrigley game plan: rehab on a budget
By: Mike Colias Aug. 25, 2009

(Crain’s) — Among the most closely watched decisions awaiting Thomas Ricketts is what the likely next owner of the Chicago Cubs will do with iconic but rickety Wrigley Field.

Fans shouldn’t expect major changes anytime soon: A major overhaul of the 95-year-old park is probably four or five years out, according to two people familiar with the Ricketts family’s plans. And even then, the job likely wouldn’t exceed $250 million, one source said.

That would be far less ambitious than the $450-million-to-$600-million overhaul once envisioned by state officials when they attempted to buy the stadium from Tribune Co. last year. The apparent five-year horizon signals that the Ricketts clan will take time to digest the $800-million deal it finalized last week with Tribune Co. to buy the team, ball park and a 25% stake in Comcast SportsNet.


The family views as perhaps its biggest new moneymaker the development of the so-called “triangle building” on the stadium’s west side, along Clark Street, one source said. Tribune has had a similar project on the drawing board for years. It would likely include a restaurant, shops, parking and other amenities, but the Ricketts family doesn’t yet have firm plans for the project, the source said.

Other elements are likely to include upgraded skyboxes, a lounge area, widened concourses, better bathrooms and concessions, and some sort of fan-friendly space between the triangle building and the stadium, a source said.

^Wrigley should undergo renovations something akin to Fenway, just enough but nothing more. There is a very fine line. That line was terribly overstepped in 1974 at the original Yankee Stadium and is why the original Yankee Stadium is no more (thank god, it was turned into something impossible to fix and unworthy of being saved). Everyone would hate to see that happen to Wrigley.

9-19

New Sports Corner

http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/8351/sc1ul.jpg

http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/5856/sc2pu.jpg


New Sheffield rooftop facadectomy

http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/4480/shef3.jpg

http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/4831/shef1.jpg

Pleasantly surprising that the new Sports Corner building follows similar overall form as the old one. I guess it'll be a three story bar.



Totally seperate random question: There's a very large steel-frame project going up on Milwaukee Ave just north of Belmont. Any ideas what it is? I rode by too fast to look for any details.