CHICAGO | General Developments

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by harryc

3/05

^ You had me confused here for a second, but that's not next to the British School, that is on Division near Clybourn

[harryc]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ You had me confused here for a second, but that's not next to the British School, that is on Division near Clybourn

My bad - isn't the rounded blue building on the right (N) the British school ?

[harryc]

Originally Posted by i_am_hydrogen

Nice shots, harry. Were you able to check out the new "Music and Communication Building" at NW? It's supposed be done.

[Via Chicago]

that music building looks quite a bit different from the render. did that floor to ceiling glass portion of the performance space get VE'd?

[marothisu]

Part of that building reminds me of a big pipe organ. Was that the point?

[harryc]

Originally Posted by Via Chicago

that music building looks quite a bit different from the render. did that floor to ceiling glass portion of the performance space get VE'd?

The shots are from the East (lake) side, the renders appear to be of the West face.

Another new one in Evanston.

[Ned.B]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Part of that building reminds me of a big pipe organ. Was that the point?

That's actually part of the Perkins and Will designed parking garage and visitors center. It's several hundred feet away from the Music School, but looks like part of it due to the foreshortening in the picture.

[rlw777]

I was admiring the Northeastern Illinois El Centro campus today. After seeing that and Instituto Health Sciences Career Academy I'm hoping JGMA gets some larger projects here in Chicago.

[Skyguy_7]

^Remember this? Would add a nice bit of flare to the Loop...

[Ned.B]

Originally Posted by Skyguy_7

^Remember this? Would add a nice bit of flare to the Loop...

I don't think that's going to happen. Another firm has been working on recladding / renovating the building (though I will not say who until it has been publicly announced).

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by harryc

My bad - isn't the rounded blue building on the right (N) the British school ?

No, it's an SRO that was built around 6 or 7 yrs ago

[i_am_hydrogen]

Today, I saw 3 or 4 heavy construction vehicles at 3030 N. Broadway. I'm guessing construction will start any day now.

[SamInTheLoop]

Originally Posted by rlw777

I was admiring the Northeastern Illinois El Centro campus today. After seeing that and Instituto Health Sciences Career Academy I'm hoping JGMA gets some larger projects here in Chicago.

I certainly second that....


^^ Speaking of Jahn (coolest-looking SRO I think I've ever seen), he sure is overdue for another downtown project......hopefully he's in the early stages on some commission here....

^ 3030 Broadway......just so hard to get excited for this one........getting rid of a residential component (and the much-downgraded final design in general for that matter).......such a terrific waste.....

[wrab]

Originally Posted by harryc

My bad - isn't the rounded blue building on the right (N) the British school ?

That's the Helmut Jahn SRO on Clybourn; the British School building is the Valerio Dewalt Train @ Halsted & Blackhawk

[Ned.B]

Originally Posted by i_am_hydrogen

Today, I saw 3 or 4 heavy construction vehicles at 3030 N. Broadway. I'm guessing construction will start any day now.

They have been there a few days now. The site has already been cleared of the surface lot and any remaining debris from the former grocery store building.

It would have been nice to have some residential on this site, but I actually think that the design has improved drastically since the renderings that were first presented a couple years ago, but it still isn't a great design, so that isn't saying much. At least the second and third floors aren't completely blank now, but the unbroken mass of mass of it is still going to completely overwhelm everything within a block of it.

[marothisu]

2211 N Milwaukee (Milwaukee & Talman/Atrill) got its building permit yesterday.

http://chicago.curbed.com/tags/2211-n-milwaukee-ave

[the urban politician]

This is another one of those anecdotal, "I heard it from so and so" posts, so take it for what it is.

A commercial lender from a small bank that I am in frequent touch with and I had a long conversation today, and he mentioned that he is hearing about an increased amount of foreign interest in Chicago real estate.

Mind you, he represents a smaller local lender, which is important since we have already long known that foreign money has gone into downtown real estate. But to know that more foreign investment is increasingly going into smaller projects is very interesting.

The other thing he has noted is the lack of good choices in the city from hungry buyers. You either have high priced properties in trendy areas sold for very low cap rates, or very risky investments in higher crime areas.

And without being able to readily buy, many property owners are weary of selling, because instead of paying hefty taxes after a sale, a seller will want to get into a 1031 exchange, which is a problem if you can't find a good product for purchase at the end. More eyes are turning towards suburban opportunities as well because of this.

So the city has the problem of a dwindling number of good buys, and an increased amount of interest from foreign investors. That's a perfect formula for 1) gentrification and 2) more money flowing into suburban investment opportunities. Of course, I'm more of a hobby real estate type of guy, so I'll leave it to the real experts to comment on this. Sam, LVDW, anyone else want to throw in their 2 cents?

[LouisVanDerWright]

Considering I'm in NYC meeting with business partners from London right now, I'd say you are onto something.

The gentrification is coming, my partner just said to me today "I'm starting to see what you say about Chicago being a better opportunity than NYC, NYC seems somewhat played out."

[munchymunch]

First all of the red tape has to go away........

[ardecila]

^ hogwash. The red tape in Chicago is nothing compared to NY, SF or London.