So how tall will the tallest building be?

I bet that patio used to have fantastic views.

And a large hobo encampment right below it.

The view will improve as more and more of the West Loop and Fulton Market are developed.

Any chance of that rail complex across the river getting redeveloped?

In like 20 years, sure. Downtown still has plenty of developable sites before we need to start capping railyards. If One Central can't do it without subsidies, then I doubt the railyards along the river will be developed soon.

Other than the ones that have already been capped, that is.

150 N Riverside says hello.

You forgot a zero.

Amtrak will eventually move some of their operations from Union Station Yard to Canal St Yard, so this could free up some of the real estate. Not all of it, but maybe enough so that a few tracks can be removed and the river edge landscaped with a walkway.

I'm still hoping the Power House can be stabilized and turned into an art facility as an outpost of MCA or the Art Institute, sorta like PS1 in Queens.

That's a great idea. A bit like the Tate. Also, need to have a floating balloon pig nearby.

^Well, first you'd have to build a building inside. And then you'd have to enclose that new building with something to keep out the rain and snow. So what do you end up with? A new building that sort of looks like an old building, but isn't very good for the purposes to which it's put.

The Union Station steam plant is not a huge empty hall like Battersea or Fisk power stations. It's a big boiler hung within a purpose-built steel frame, and then enclosed by century-old brickwork that would mostly have to be relaid brick by brick. So if you're building a new frame and hanging a new skin on the outside, what exactly are you preserving?

https://i.imgur.com/EYPMRtoh.jpg
Today

I was on the lake this weekend and was pleasantly surprised how visible The Reed is, poking up nicely above the South Loop plateau. The top floors should have decent views of the water.

Maybe I'm not understanding the condition of the building, but I don't see why you can't take apart the boilers with a torch one bit at a time, and leave the steel frame intact. It won't be huge open art galleries, so any work exhibited there would have to be small scale work or site-specific installations working around the steel frame (that's why I brought up PS.1).

This building proves that you can fix mundane blue boxes by just making them black. I like it. :cheers:

that parking garage right on the river is ghastly, but atleast the tower itself looks decent.

Yeah, no kidding. The black cladding looks great on there. Bumps up the building's visual appeal a couple notches for sure!

From this morning
 

https://i.imgur.com/Ah7MkiX.jpeg
A hazy/cloudy day out today down at Ping Tom Park

The Reed at Southbank - 234 W Polk
 

July 12, 2022













July 14, 2022

Not sure if this was discussed before, but it seems that there are 4 more floors on the newer/current version of this building. Seems that this one should be topped out pretty soon if not already.

Thanks for all these beautiful pictures SolarWind!

Yeah I just don't get why they got rid of the low-rise townhome component on the north end. Parking podium would be digestible if they stuck with that plan. Unless the plan was for a separate structure all along and they're still going to add a low rise along the park space.

Fingers crossed that's the case... though I doubt it.

07.25.22
https://uniim1.shutterfly.com/ng/ser...855517/enhance

^Great shot BVictor!

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...73329a29_b.jpg

Reed is T/O, reported YIMBY:

https://chicagoyimby.com/2022/07/con...outh-loop.html

Apparently it is 447 ft, which does not match any of the heights in this thread's title "600FT - 500FT(X2) - 380FT(X2) - 242FT(X2) - 300FT". And since it does not have a twin, I am guessing this height was either reduced from 600 ft, or increased from 300ft?

If I am interpreting the images correctly - and I may not be - it appears the podium extends into the area where the liner units would have been

Really the whole thread should be dissolved after the REED completes construction.. A lot has changed since this was announced. It has been broken down into two separate developments and the placeholder designs are obsolete. Updated massing models now show two instead of three remaining towers on this plot and both appear to be less than 500'

Or maybe change the title and move it into general developments for park and riverwalk updates

Yeah, from the pictures on YIMBY Chicago today, I lost all hope of there being room for liner units. :surrender:

Yea, it was established a few pages back the the title was incorrect.

Where did you get the 447 figure? How many towers will accompany this one?

https://www.skyscrapercenter.com/bui...the-reed/22659

After clicking "Southbank", I was led to this page:

https://www.skyscrapercenter.com/complex/3899

Hopefully the 598 footer will still happen.

CTBUH has much less info on Riverline:

https://www.skyscrapercenter.com/complex/2229

The Reed at Southbank - 234 W Polk
 

July 26, 2022









July 28, 2022

That sign is going to be featured in many a skateboarding video I imagine

Some nice images from Urbanize. Loving the view from the top:
https://chicago.urbanize.city/post/s...tion-week-reed

https://chicago.urbanize.city/sites/...?itok=0E-be6Au

Please hate this.

This is on the top of a school. I'm sure the parents love it and the kids are indifferent. I know it's not Chicago's style to be cutesy, but there are worse things.

I have a better idea....

"Make No Small Plans"

I would throw my kid into any school that would put that in big letters on top. Just my 2 cents.......

The reality is that it is chicago's style to be cutesy, given the apparent love for Matthew Hoffman: http://www.heyitsmatthew.com/. Somebody should put up a sign in cursive saying "insipid".

I try not to be too cynically critical of art, but this is bad. It's the equivalent of those horrible signs from TJ Maxx or Home Goods that people put in their kitchens that say "EAT" or "COFFEE" or whatever. Just bigger and in a millennial-oriented font.

We went from Jenny Holzer to Hobby Lobby.

it's all around Chicago, for many many years....

https://you-are-beautiful.com/pages/public-art

Count me in the minority but I like it. Not necessarily for the look of it... because the "look" is rather blah... but I like it for the "message" of it. With TV and the media in general (rightly or wrongly) giving us daily messages of murder, death and rampant criminality, this city can never get enough "positive" messaging. If these signs give 1 person hope... 1 kid hope... and we know that "hope" can turn a life around, particularly when juxtaposed against "hopelessness" which we see all too much of/which we know can lead to criminal behavior... then these signs are worth it.

This city is big enough and expansive enough, that I don't think we need worry about these occasional messages and blurbs engulfing the cityscape.

.

Or perhaps SOUTH LOOP STRONG...

People will ask what the tragedy was. It will be like a ouroboros or a chicken or egg situation...

I dunno, I'm still not behind it. Actions speak louder than words. Emblazoning a school with such an au courant phrase and in such an exuberantly cute script seems more like a marketing signal for the school than anything constructive for the students...

Add to that the fact that I don't find phrases like this to be supportive at all. It's just another exhortation telling someone how to feel, in my mind. Like parents yelling at their kid's sports game "YOU GOT THIS!" and then having a meltdown when their kid doesn't perform to their expectations. What if people don't "got it"? I'd rather live in a world where that's acceptable.

If I could appreciate it in a vacuum I would say that I value the positivity of it, certainly.

Omgeeeeeeee

The Reed at Southbank - 234 W Polk
 

August 25, 2022

That facade is really turning out fantastic!

However I sincerely hope that the garage isn't finished as it currently is, and that they will covered it up somehow.

Maybe it's an illusion, but it looks like the facade installation has stalled on this one. Haven't seen any progress in a while.

Haha the way Legacy aligns with Aon in this photo makes it seem like Aon is being reskinned!