Is it still possible for them to build a tower in the place of the river facing southern building's place? Or was that never a part of Sterling Bay's plan here?

The Trib article says they have 300 employees and hope to hire a 100 more.

This isnt Sterling Bay and the tower was envisioned to go where that old terminal building stands which I believe they are planning on rehabbing now. But the FAR and height is already approved so it's possible they could find somewhere else on the property to put a tower.

In place of the best western, hopefully.^

This isn’t a Sterling Bay project, the developer is 601W Compaloes out of NYC.

Anyone have more recent pictures on the progress?...This redevelopment is such an amazing project...Im hoping some huge out of state company plants there headquarters here or a major expansion occurs.

Yeah it auto corrected to "is" I was trying to correct him.

Slowly adding up

https://www.chicagotribune.com/busin...419-story.html

Good news upon good news. :cheers:

OPO had the conveyor belts and warehouse-style floor plates which would have been a perfect distribution center for Home Chef's assembly line! Anyone know where

The smaller lease is pretty interesting, It fits with Chicago's tech reputation of building great B2B applications.

Quote:

Also moving into the building is 84.51, which provides data analytics about Kroger’s loyalty program and its consumer packaged goods brands. The Cincinnati-based firm said it will move into 57,000 square feet this fall, vacating its space at 20 W. Kinzie St. In its new space, Cincinnati-based 84.51 plans to grow from 86 Chicago employees to 250 over the next few years, spokesman Dan O’Keeffe said. The space is large enough for 300 workers, he said

Great news on the continuing pre-leasing momentum here. Such an important project.....I am really bullish for greater SW Loop area next 5-10 years...

Old Main Post Office tenants to get state tax credit money
 

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/greg...x-credit-money

More details on the two leases announced last month. Hopefully the momentum keeps building... a big company moving to the city and occupying this space would be awesome!.

I hear Uber could be looking at as much as 450,000 SF

Really? That's a big ass lease. Where are you hearing that? Why would they need that much space in Chicago?

Edit: I guess a new Uber business could open up shop here. https://therealdeal.com/chicago/2019...wntown-report/

Uber currently has a lot of space up the street at 111 N Canal they must be outgrowing. Without any other info I’d guess they’re expanding their customer service/support footprint in town.

Likely to expand Uber Freight. Right now, they have almost 200k square feet between two offices.

Guess they’re eating into Echo Global Logistics, who last I knew had a ridiculous amount of human beings crammed into a floor of 600WC. Surprising how many people it takes to make that business model work.

AT&T's master lease at 225 W Randolph expires in '22 which would likely cause all the Uber Freight folks to look for a new home. Mix in some expansion and call it a "Midwest HQ" and you can bump up to a few hundred thousand square feet pretty quickly.

Still waiting for an announcement of a WeWork or SPACES in OPO... I thought either one of those would have been signed by now.

Deleted

Uber in talks for massive office in Chicago's Old Post Office redevelopment

"California-based Uber Technologies is in advanced talks to take about 450,000 square feet in the 2.8 million-square-foot building that’s being redeveloped along the Chicago River, according to people familiar with the deal"

"Uber’s deal is not completed, and it could still fall apart. The exact size of the deal also could change, but sources said it is expected to be in the range of 450,000 square feet, enough space for thousands of workers"

https://www.chicagotribune.com/busin...515-story.html

^ Huge. Probably 3000-4000 employees. Maybe even a little more..

Definitely a coup.

Of course, the OPO is basically the largest privately financed rehab project in the United States right now, so......they damn well better announce some big deals

Wow!!! This is kind of like build it and they will come! I was skeptical they would fill this massive thing.

Didn’t Lightfoot indicate she is interested in the city taking actions against ride sharing? Such as more user fees and a limit on the number of licenses available for rideshares? I wonder if Uber might be inclined to back out of the potential deal if it doesn’t like actions the city may take?

Maybe. Depends on whether the regulation is done for practical reasons or just to be punitive. Clearly Amazon was moved to cancel their NYC plans because of just outright threats of punitive action by AOC and others.

But, NYC has a similar cap on rideshare and it hasn’t slowed Uber’s office expansion there. Most people recognize that the cap is a practical way to deal with congestion issues, and it was put in place as part of the framework that allowed Uber to operate in the first place.

Remember that much of this new office is supposed to be for the Uber Freight business. Chicago has the tech talent, airline connections and it is the mecca for logistics industry .. plus offers the urban neighborhoods that

It would be kinda foolish on Uber's part if they didn't expand Uber Freight here, and would only hurt them. Chicago is the transportation hub of the US and not expanding here would just allow competition to fill that demand

well Rahm is working this out as a last minute agenda item for us, so it shouldn't matter about her talks.

Late to the show. But I'll add that I think this will fill up quicker than many think.

I mean with this Uber lease that's moving in on 50% already...

^ At a time when millions of square feet of new office are being built and filled every year. We're gonna need bigger office proposals once this baby fills up

Yea, and Northern Trust's office next to the Post Office is going to be empty by December this year, and that another 450,000 sq feet or so that will be open in the immediate area.

You sound prophetic:

Old Post Office closes in on another big lease

"Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago, one of 11 federally chartered wholesale banks around the country, is in advanced talks to lease around 125,000 square-feet at the massive building at 433 W. Van Buren St., according to sources familiar with negotiations.

The Chicago FHLB is planning to relocate and expand from its office at the Aon Center, where it leases about 96,000 square feet today."

^ Wow, OPO on a roll! :tup:

^ seriously.

:cheers:

Very pleased to hear about this sold leasing momentum, but not surprised.
This is the single most important office project in Chicago - not only at present - but in a long time. And - the transformational potential for the SW Loop area, with the Post Office being the catalyst, is enormous. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s up to 70% leased by the time it opens to the first tenants later this year. Also, although I don’t have any inside info as such, my guess is that one of the major coworking firms will take a large space - quite possibly the largest coworking space in the city (an entire floor?) here as well. It makes too much sense.

5/28. These are not spiral staircases :)
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...f5303b27_b.jpg
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...ae6fcd67_b.jpg

Ooh. Can I buy a ticket for a ride?

No,no,no, this was used as a drop off point for daycare!

They have to keep that. Its old industrial art now.

Remember the old plans were to tear down half of the building because the 2.5million square feet was just too enormous to renovate and would be unable to ever fully occupy. Luckily we waited and cooler heads prevailed.


http://www.post433.com/

In the link I had previously seen the video Act I
But Not Act II and Act III.

Who sings the song in act III?

EDIT

NM=nevermind my kids figured it out.

Its by an obscure group that only has a few videos on YouTube.

And this song was not one of them.

Its call "Gotta switch it on " by the group Grace Mesa.

Grace Mesa is a production team comprised of singer-songwriter Shane Allen of electronic act "DANKE" and multi-instrumentalist Isaac Carpenter of "Awolnation" Their dynamic musical influences and quirky style, coupled with their indie-pop sensibility make this duo unique and refreshing in their approach to commercial music.

https://www.premiumbeat.com/artist/grace-mesa


Here is the whole song, no video exists a far as I know.

https://soundcloud.com/premiumbeatby...witchiton-full

I still think that from an aesthetic perspective that knocking down the east addition would have looked better but that is a minor squabble.

What I do wonder is that with the robust leasing numbers coming in before the OPO is even operational is where there will be plans to knock down the annex building on the SE corner and build some sort of tower accompany the rest of the complex. I'd love to see a building of 400-800feet bookend the south branch of the river there.

I really hope they keep the sugar building annex and turn it into nice loft office space. It is a beautiful red brick building and could look gorgeous with some new windows and a gut rehab. It would really be a shame to lose such a nice and pretty massive brick building considering how hot that sector is right now in other parts of town. Anyone know what 601's plan is for this building yet?

I believe the 'east addition' you refer to is actually the original post office building constructed in 1921... the rest of the massive building is the actual 'addition' and was constructed in 1932...

News today that the OPO developers cooperated with the Feds to bring down Ed Burke... Danny Solis was supposed to steer 601W to Burke's law firm, and in exchange Burke would get 601W the TIF funding they needed.

Given this, I can't believe Rahm wasn't in-the-know on the Feds' plan. Rahm pushed so hard to get the OPO developed, and he even threatened Bill Davies with eminent domain.

Wow. That's a really uncomfortable looking hot tub 601W is installing at OPO. Make sure your tetanus shots are up to date before getting in.

Thank you 601W.

Makes sense it was an out of town developer to push back.

Sorry for the slightly crooked potato quality cell phone shot, but caught them testing the exterior lighting for this magnificent beast at dusk last night:

https://imgur.com/q0pBxUah.jpg

This is going to be sooo awesome once it is done and lit up like the Merch Mart...

Hell yeah! I loved when they added LED's to the Rookery's exterior, but this is going to be a jaw dropper driving by.

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/comm...-cisco-systems