Keep those dancing bananas backstage, guys. No one's pulling any building permits for anything other than Discovery Partners Institute.

I have confidence that General Mediterranean can wait out a substantial recession or two, but I'll have to dig out the 1991 renderings of what a huge development "LaSalle Park" was going to be. Instead it ended up being parceled out for the Target, Amli 900, Roosevelt Collection, and the British School.

Yeah, huge skyline extender. That view from Navy Pier and approaching from the Stevenson or Dan Ryan from the south will be impressive. These towers aren't super interesting to me but the tallest in particular looks unique compared to other 700+ footers in the city with its "bipolar" facades and angular setbacks.

I agree that the 78 could easily turn out different than anticipated and will probably turn out different than anticipated but I think that that type of mindset is a bit of a downer. There are plenty of master planned areas of Chicago that are let-downs but there are also plenty of master planned places that are great. So I'm going to keep believing this will be great, and I don't think there is any reason to temper our expectations until this thing is done in 10 or 20+ years.

[QUOTE=Zapatan;8900920]What does DPI stand for? Department of Public Information?

Its the collaboration with Univ of Ill's Discovery Partners Institute

Thanks :tup:

Good news they're still actively moving along with design!

Big U of I research center moves ahead
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/educ...er-moves-ahead

The University of Illinois took a step forward this week toward building the Discovery Partners Institute in Chicago, with the state’s Capital Development Board issuing a call for consultants to help design and construct the $250 million facility.

The university has been seeking to build the collaborative new research center in the South Loop for years now and won backing in February from Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who agreed to provide $500 million in state financing for DPI and a related statewide Illinois Innovation Network. The new institute will anchor Related Midwest's 78 development.

The Capital Development Board and university notice said the three-stage consultant selection process will kick off on May 14, with the public procurement period ending July 2.

Are there any webcams on-site?

Unless I missed something, I think we are still a ways away from actual construction starting. So not much for a webcam to show yet.

I don't believe so, but FH Paschen is building the road and they sometimes post drone shots on their Twitter.

https://twitter.com/fhpaschen/status...24171796439042

When will we see some evidence of Rail relocations?
1: Moving Rock Island line to the west to allow for Clark St access?
2:Realigning the St Charles airway?
3: any adjustments on the CN Freeport line?
4: any new under/over passes?

FHP has been digging out the approach on the south side of the Freeport sub tracks, looks like they're gearing up to build the Wentworth underpass there. They will use the existing underpass below the St Charles Air Line, which will require an awkward kink in the road.

The Rock Island relocation is a bigger chunk of change, same for the Red Line station... remember that Related is fronting the cost of these improvements and the city will reimburse from the TIF. However, the TIF won't generate any money until there are developments in place paying property taxes. Discovery Partners Institute is the first phase in theory, but if the UI system takes ownership of that parcel then it will generate no tax revenue.

I imagine Related will get the final design prepared for all the infrastructure improvements and then wait it out until they feel confident putting up new office and residential buildings.

CN is also working their way westward replacing bridges on the St Charles Air Line in the South Loop...

At least the last time I asked the Related guys, they were not planning to use that existing underpass but to put in a new one on the proper alignment. I breathed a sigh of relief, because previous plans had relied on that old Santa Fe underpass, which points the wrong direction.

I keep hoping I'll catch the Paschen field engineer down on the Ping Tom end and ask him about the timing. The new diamonds for the RI-SCAL crossing have been sitting out there for months, and the SCAL bridge has been up since April.

Ardecila, I think the full proceeds of the TIF bonds are available as soon as they're sold. It's the bondholders, not Related, who get paid back from the future property tax increment. (Related may well have bought the bonds themselves; that's become common for developers to do.)

An update from sloopin on the wells-wentworth connector: http://www.sloopin.com/2020/07/some-...-well.html?m=1

Hmm interesting, Related's site plan still shows an awkward kink there - although Wells-Wentworth is a CDOT project and not Related. I wonder if it's a total rebuild or if they're just knocking out the skewed center pier and putting in a clear span?

I read the RDA again and it does contain an estimated timetable - with the exception of Wells-Wentworth which is a direct CDOT project, the Related projects are not to start until the end of the year at the earliest: https://i.imgur.com/7BEUjeI.jpg

There's a 10-year window on the city funding, too, so Related would have to complete everything by April 2029 or they're on the hook for the cost.

I'm not sure how many times the 18th St junction will get re-aligned... it will be re-aligned when CN rebuilds the SCAL, including shifting the Clark St bridge further north. It will be re-aligned when Related moves the Rock Island tracks further west. Then the whole junction will need to be shoo-flyed while they build the Red Line station underneath. Hoo boy.

A larger look on progress on the road itself

https://www.instagram.com/p/CCv9a2YD...d=jc0ojji42y5u

Nice to see they are putting in bus pads... so it would appear they are planning ahead for bus service on the corridor. I don't think we know which routes will go through here yet, but it's good to know they can! You can also see the grading for some seriously wide sidewalks on the left there - probably like Michigan Ave sidewalks or wider, with a cycle track on each side at sidewalk level.

I also think the new bridge structure for the SCAL is visible at the end of the video there, just waiting to be dropped in.

Just once, I think. Related conferred with CN and to Metra before having the crossing fabricated and delivered.

From yesterday evening:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw...-no?authuser=0

I think I see a pedestrian crossing being put in?

Looks like they're pouring the pavement at the intersection of Wells and 13th (Street? Place?) right there. From the site plan it looks like those first two intersections won't be real streets, but entrances to the underground parking garage below the Crescent Park.

Also I never realized but that little stuff in the foreground next to the trailers is clearly a mockup of the new street. The darker path is the separated bike lane with parkways on either side, between the sidewalk and street. Not sure what material that is on the bike path, could be a stain or color in the concrete, or maybe something permeable?

^ Good catch, Love that the pedestrians will be separated from the bikes which will be separated from car traffic, IMO that is the way all new streets should be.