Quote:
Originally Posted by left of center
If Related dropped the height of the tower to their ridiculous demand of 200' but kept the unit count the same (as they did when the 570' version of this tower got a haircut), would they really be appeased?
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They probably would.
A precedent has already been set in the West Loop for high density mid-rise buildings, and I believe that the general desire at the moment is to follow that precedent for the core of the neighborhood. Let high rise construction occur on the periphery while the core develops into a dense, stable neighborhood. At some point in the future it will make sense for the for the core to go vertical, but you run the risk of creating a new South Loop if you start allowing 500 foot high rises on podiums when 90% of the area is 5 floors or less.
Imagine West Loop development following its current trajectory of 10-15 floor, lot line to lot line buildings for the next twenty years. The density, street enclosure, and urban fabric consistency would be like nothing Chicago has seen since WW2.
Just take a look at Curbed's West Loop development map. Dense, lot line to lot line apartment buildings, all within 10-20 floors are going up everywhere. 250,000-700,000SF office buildings are being proposed and built all over the neighborhood, all 20 floors or less. Why mess with this cascade of development by allowing property owners and developers to sit and wait for 500 foot towers? How is that working out for the South Loop and River North? Because from my vantage point the West Loop is outperforming both by very wide margins.