CHICAGO | General Developments

[sentinel]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Developer drops out of Uptown Theatre rehab (owner still plans on moving forward)

This just a month after the Congress Theatre rehabber pulled out (after years of effort).

Pardon me for not sharing your enthusiasm, Marothisu.....

Oh damn, that's very recent, I had not seen that. Shit

[marothisu]

Zoning app up to build 18 new SFH on mainly vacant lots at the NE and SE corners of Wolfram and Paulina.

[marothisu]

New zoning app for the LeClaire Courts redevelopment project on the SW side between Cicero, 44th, Lavergne, I-55... In total the redevelopment calls for 14 new buildings with 702 units and 882 parking spaces. Units range from studios all the way up to 5 bedrooms. Buildings range from 2 stories to 7 or 8 stories in height. The entire project is slated at $350M and would also include a new 25K sq ft community health center, new grocery store, and other commercial uses. They intend a minimum of 186 of the units to be for CHA residents who were displaced during the 2011 demolition here (26.5% of units minimum). The CHA believes that other commercial uses beneficial for here would include restaurants, hotels, offices, banks, etc. They're looking at creating at least 675 permanent jobs for this and 775 construction jobs.

Initial phase is for 2 mid rise buildings with 210 units, a new healthcare clinic, and new grocery store.

https://chicago.legistar.com/Legisla...vanced&Search=

[marothisu]

New zoning app up to replace the 3 story vacant church at Sunnyside and Hazel in Uptown with a new 5 story building with 32 units and 32 parking spaces. This is around the corner from some other developments near the Wilson Red Line. Definitely not going for TOD and 1 space per unit tells me that they're probably going to gear a little more mid range to upscale-ish in price.

The owners on the application are the 3 founders of Acquity Group, an eCommerce/marketing firm sold to Accenture about a decade ago.

[SIGSEGV]

https://news.wttw.com/2021/03/23/chi...sundays-summer yes please!

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by marothisu

New zoning app up to replace the 3 story vacant church at Sunnyside and Hazel in Uptown with a new 5 story building with 32 units and 32 parking spaces. This is around the corner from some other developments near the Wilson Red Line. Definitely not going for TOD and 1 space per unit tells me that they're probably going to gear a little more mid range to upscale-ish in price.

The owners on the application are the 3 founders of Acquity Group, an eCommerce/marketing firm sold to Accenture about a decade ago.

Sounds more like they will probably be going for condos

Parking is dead space that costs money to build, and for apartment developers near transit 1:1 parking doesn't make much $$ sense. That's why my hunch tells me condos

[Randomguy34]

The central area market is still as hot as ever

Goose Island property sells for $100 million

The warehouse and office building purchase is the city's biggest commercial property sale so far this year.

Industrial giant Prologis has snapped up one of the largest properties on Goose Island in a deal that nets a fat profit for the investors that bought it just 20 months ago.

In the city's biggest commercial property sale so far this year, San Francisco-based Prologis earlier this month paid nearly $100 million for the fully-leased 339,000-square-foot warehouse and office building at 930 W. Evergreen Ave. on Goose Island, according to sources familiar with the deal.
....
The recent deal belies a commercial property sales market that remains hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic, showcasing investor appetite for properties that are fully-leased to high-credit tenants. At nearly $300 per square foot, it also underscores the premium buyers are paying for industrial warehouses located in densely-populated areas while demand soars from companies that need to store and distribute goods purchased online.
....
That stability and the long-term prospects of a big Goose Island warehouse apparently got the attention of Prologis, which is the largest owner of industrial real estate in the country and has been busy bolstering its Chicago footprint. The real estate investment trust is planning a big warehouse in Bridgeport for e-commerce giant Amazon and last year bought another industrial property on the Near West Side that could also be used as a so-called "last mile" fulfillment center to distribute packages.

Companies clamoring for such space explains why the local industrial vacancy rate at the end of 2020 was 6.7 percent, compared with the 12 percent-plus levels of the Great Recession, according to brokerage Colliers International. Investors last year bought $5.2 billion of industrial real estate in the Chicago area, according to Real Capital Analytics data. That was down 12 percent year-over-year, but outperformed the local commercial property sector overall, where sales were down 32 percent from 2019

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/comm...=hero-readmore

[Via Chicago]

definitely some interesting little bits and pieces of rehabs in N Lawndale. i dont think you would have seen something like this 10 years ago (whether it will get whats its asking is one question and cant say im a fan of the black brick trend thats seemingly now the default way for developers to signal "we gut rehabbed a brick building everyone!", but...)

https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/30.../home/13232464

Originally Posted by OrdoSeclorum

If you don't want the creaky Victorian, the payment on this brand new five bedreem place would be under $3,000 including taxes https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...1_M77847-72634

this might be one of the coolest chicago backyards ive ever seen. dosent even look like the city.

[OrdoSeclorum]

Originally Posted by Via Chicago

definitely some interesting little bits and pieces of rehabs in N Lawndale. i dont think you would have seen something like this 10 years ago (whether it will get whats its asking is one question and cant say im a fan of the black brick trend thats seemingly now the default way for developers to signal "we gut rehabbed a brick building everyone!", but...)

Douglas Park is on my watch list for places that might pop. I didn't really even know about it before Riot Fest got booted out of Humboldt Park, but it reminds me a little of of Logan Square or the Northwest Corner of Bucktown in the late 90's. Good transit access, a nice park, boulevards. Feels well maintained with good bones.

[Via Chicago]

Originally Posted by OrdoSeclorum

Douglas Park is on my watch list for places that might pop. I didn't really even know about it before Riot Fest got booted out of Humboldt Park, but it reminds me a little of of Logan Square or the Northwest Corner of Bucktown in the late 90's. Good transit access, a nice park, boulevards. Feels well maintained with good bones.

well maintained is a bit of a stretch. walk around and really look at the buildings and they are in sadly, incredibly rough shape with an enormous amount of deferred maintenance. not to say they cant be saved, but its going to take a big influx and pretty fast before the structural issues get to the point of no return. i dont see it happening in time sadly. the buildings are the same age as those on the north side, but they have an additional 30+ years of distress and neglect added in on top of it. wheras anything worth saving on the north side was pretty much tidied up by the 90s/00s.

also, the trash/blight situation is completely out of control, so anyone driving or walking around is going to be turned off pretty quick. not to mention north of ogden is a premanent open air drug market in the park...directly next to a police station.

id love nothing more to see the area rebound. the odds are just so incredibly steep. walk around McKinley Park and its just a completely different vibe compared to Douglas Park, and those communities arent all that different housing wise

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by Via Chicago

well maintained is a bit of a stretch. walk around and really look at the buildings and they are in sadly, incredibly rough shape with an enormous amount of deferred maintenance. not to say they cant be saved, but its going to take a big influx and pretty fast before the structural issues get to the point of no return. i dont see it happening in time sadly. the buildings are the same age as those on the north side, but they have an additional 30+ years of distress and neglect added in on top of it. wheras anything worth saving on the north side was pretty much tidied up by the 90s/00s.

also, the trash/blight situation is completely out of control, so anyone driving or walking around is going to be turned off pretty quick. not to mention north of ogden is a premanent open air drug market in the park...directly next to a police station.

id love nothing more to see the area rebound. the odds are just so incredibly steep. walk around McKinley Park and its just a completely different vibe compared to Douglas Park, and those communities arent all that different housing wise

McKinley Park, Bridgeport, etc though does have some more upper middle income Asian families now which from an income perspective I don't think is something that areas like North Lawndale have too much of..

Maybe this will help the North Lawndale/Douglas Park area even more, who knows.

https://blockclubchicago.org/2021/03...ople-of-color/

West Side Group Breaks Ground On Affordable Houses That Will ‘Create Wealth For People Of Color’

A West Side community development group broke ground on a pair of homes as part of a movement to build houses in North Lawndale that working-class families can afford.

By creating opportunities for legacy residents to become homeowners, the Lawndale Christian Development Corporation aims to open pathways for longtime residents to build generational wealth and have ownership of the community.

..

The two homes being built at 1621 S. Avers Ave. will be affordable for families earning a combined income of $50,000, Townsell said. One of the houses will be factory-built by Kinexx Modular Construction, and another will be built by local developer, Breaking Ground.

Lawndale Christian Development Corporation is working in partnership with United Power to plan 1,000 affordable houses on the West Side and 1,000 on the South Side to working-class families. The first two houses will be used as “research and development” to test potential construction processes and designs before scaling the project to build more affordable homes.

..

The plan prioritizes affordable housing so that as other aspects of Lawndale improve, longtime residents won’t be pushed out and can be the first to benefit from the revitalization of the neighborhood.

..

The houses are being developed using state tax credits and with support from United Power member organizations including the Illinois Facilities Fund and All Saints Episcopal Church.

..

Lawndale Christian Development Corporation is working on other housing initiatives to build on city-owned lots, develop housing cooperatives and renovate vacant homes that have deteriorated. The organization hosts homebuyer education workshops and training opportunities to create a pipeline of longtime residents who will be fully prepared to purchase the homes being built and rehabbed.

[Via Chicago]

thatd be great to see, and at least Lawndale Christian has a track record of actually following through

[moorhosj1]

Speaking of the (Far) South Side, the Big Marsh Bike Park just got approved for another expansion project. If you haven't visited this park, I highly recommend.

Park District’s First Campsite, Trail With Boardwalks Coming To Big Marsh Park After City Council’s Approval. Aldermen approved $1.5 million in TIF funds to build an accessible trail around the Far South Side park's perimeter, camping platforms, picnic pavilions and more at Wednesday's City Council meeting.

[marothisu]

Proposed 4 story, 27 unit building with ground floor commercial at 3595 S Archer (Archer & Leavitt) across from the 35th/Archer Orange line stop. Includes 23 parking spaces (apparently the max of this for a TOD development? Seems high). Apparently it was cut down from 5 stories following community input in October. This would gobble up a vacant piece of land there.

https://mckinleypark.news/news/1406-...pment-meetings


Street view:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/35...!4d-87.6804342

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Proposed 4 story, 27 unit building with ground floor commercial at 3595 S Archer (Archer & Leavitt) across from the 35th/Archer Orange line stop. Includes 23 parking spaces (apparently the max of this for a TOD development? Seems high). Apparently it was cut down from 5 stories following community input in October. This would gobble up a vacant piece of land there.

https://mckinleypark.news/news/1406-...pment-meetings


Street view:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/35...!4d-87.6804342

Nice, when you read the article it’s refreshing to hear that a lot of the neighbors are strongly in favor of TOD and want more pedestrian oriented designs.

How far we’ve come from just 10-15 years ago, when neighbors were all about “Parking, parking, parking”

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Nice, when you read the article it’s refreshing to hear that a lot of the neighbors are strongly in favor of TOD and want more pedestrian oriented designs.

How far we’ve come from just 10-15 years ago, when neighbors were all about “Parking, parking, parking”

Yeah it's good to see. In the same article though they're talking about some suburban style Starbucks and things like that, new, around Western.

With that being said, has anyone seen that development around 3170 S Archer from the Chinese developer (168 condos, plus some commercial space)? Curious to see how far along it is.

[ardecila]

27 units, 23 parking spaces is not ideal for TOD. And they NIMBY'd it from 5 floors down to 4. Sounds like they still have a ways to go. They're not building mini-towers like the one at 43rd or Damen Green Line stops.

Originally Posted by marothisu

Yeah it's good to see. In the same article though they're talking about some suburban style Starbucks and things like that, new, around Western.

With that being said, has anyone seen that development around 3170 S Archer from the Chinese developer (168 condos, plus some commercial space)? Curious to see how far along it is.

One building is up. They have solid fencing so I can't tell if the foundations are in for the others.

The Starbucks site is outside the 1/4 mile radius around the Orange Line stop but Western itself is also a TOD corridor. There's housing just across the tracks and the park across the street, it's not even an industrial site. Suburban retail here is such a waste. And the Starbucks will face Oil Express instead of facing the park...

My girlfriend and I are planning to buy a house in a few years, we'd love to stay in Pilsen or Bridgeport but the prices might push us to McKinley. The park access and Orange Line is a huge plus.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by ardecila

27 units, 23 parking spaces is not ideal for TOD. And they NIMBY'd it from 5 floors down to 4. Sounds like they still have a ways to go. They're not building mini-towers like the one at 43rd or Damen Green Line stops.

That's true - better than nothing I guess and better for that stretch than a few SFH, or some drive thru McDonald's.

One building is up. They have solid fencing so I can't tell if the foundations are in for the others.

Would love to see pictures - curious as to how this whole thing will look and interact with the street.

My girlfriend and I are planning to buy a house in a few years, we'd love to stay in Pilsen or Bridgeport but the prices might push us to McKinley. The park access and Orange Line is a huge plus.

It's a good location - just interesting that it hasn't gotten more interest from those in situations such as yourself yet. I'm curious to see what will happen to McKinley Park in the next decade.

[Tom In Chicago]

[MODERATOR NOTE] Moved all non development-specific posts >>> HERE <<<

. . .

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by ardecila

And the Starbucks will face Oil Express instead of facing the park...

You can probably get equal quality black sludge from both. </snob>


But seriously it seems like there's an unwritten rule that Western will always remain an auto sewer.