CHICAGO | General Developments

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by r18tdi

Amen. And it's affordable housing, which has even slimmer profit margins. Market-rate developers should take note.

Slimmer profit margins, maybe... Heartland Alliance was developer here and they are a non-profit, although they take a healthy "developer fee" that covers their overhead, and the salaries they pay their staff are not exactly poverty-level.

Also, the cost of construction is often higher per square foot for affordable housing versus market-rate housing, because of prevailing wage requirements, DBE requirements, local hiring requirements, accessible design standards, etc.

[Handro]

The Mobil gas station at Lawrence and Ashland had fencing put up a couple of months ago. I remember some discusison about why since there were no pending permits or plans anyone could find.

A demo permit was issued yesterday. Hopefully some good infill coming down the pipeline... Lawrence from Clark/Ashland is shit, this could go a long way to fixing that (considering the auto shop acorss the street was recently replaced, too.)

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.9691...7i16384!8i8192

[ardecila]

The 18-story Medical Center Apartments at Harrison/Ogden is being gutted right now... such an ugly building, I'm glad it's getting renovated.

There is a demo permit active for removal of all those awful brown spandrel panels. Can't find any renderings but Brininstool+Lynch is listed as architect, so the replacement facade could turn out to be something pretty cool and glassy. Worst case, it turns out like the Caroline Hedger Apartments in Edgewater - not great, but still a definite upgrade.

Hopefully they fill out the site with some retail, amenity space/parking, or even more residential like they did for the Hedger Apartments or the Montgomery Wards building on Chicago Ave... would make the whole area feel a lot more urban and less like a Modernist hellscape. The parking lot is certainly big enough for a sizable infill building, and right next to a Blue Line entrance to boot.

EDIT: apparently 27 units in the renovated building will be reserved as off-site affordable units for a tower planned at 1400 W Randolph, also a Brininstool+Lynch design:
https://twitter.com/ChicagoDPD/statu...185088/photo/1

[Handro]

More good news for Chicago construction boom during this weird time... some updates from a little bird at work--we (major contractor) are currently working on a bid for 1400 W Randolph (https://chicago.curbed.com/2019/8/22...lyq-union-park)

And a mid-rise at 1010 W Madison, currently: https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8817...7i16384!8i8192

So while things can still easily turn south at any moment, at this time projects are still moving forward.

[Downtowntransplant]

Very nice. A mid rise at 1010 W Madison would really complete that corner.

[r18tdi]

Originally Posted by Handro

More good news for Chicago construction boom during this weird time... some updates from a little bird at work--we (major contractor) are currently working on a bid for 1400 W Randolph (https://chicago.curbed.com/2019/8/22...lyq-union-park)

Thanks for sharing. I believe the one at 1400 actually got taller. Went from 21 to 25 stories: https://twitter.com/ChicagoDPD/statu...38952148185088

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Handro

The Mobil gas station at Lawrence and Ashland had fencing put up a couple of months ago. I remember some discusison about why since there were no pending permits or plans anyone could find.

A demo permit was issued yesterday. Hopefully some good infill coming down the pipeline... Lawrence from Clark/Ashland is shit, this could go a long way to fixing that (considering the auto shop acorss the street was recently replaced, too.)

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.9691...7i16384!8i8192

We'll, that didn't take very long, the old station and pump canopies are already gone as of this morning. Very curious to see what will replace it.

Could we ever be so blessed to see the Shell station on the NW corner also bite the dust?

[harryc]

April 9

Chicago | 306 W Erie by Harry Carmichael, on Flickr

Chicago | 306 W Erie by Harry Carmichael, on Flickr

[Darude_Sandstorm]

Originally Posted by Tcmetro

Massive change for North Avenue. Looks great!

To get here we lost 2932 W. North Ave and the Carbit Paint Building, please be respectful.

[ChiTownWonder]

^That paint building looks like a pretty significant loss, is that where developers built off site affordable housing?

[marothisu]

Building permit was issued a few days ago to replace the surface parking lot at Lawrence & Magnolia behind (to the west) of Uptown Theater with a new 5 story building with 54 units and ground floor retail. Parking lot for 27 cars - not sure if that means surface lot or not. No zoning change required.

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.9689...7i16384!8i8192

Anyone have renderings of it? Good to see this surface lot potentially getting developed as something denser. Article from a month ago about it:
https://blockclubchicago.org/2020/03...ment-building/

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by Handro

The Mobil gas station at Lawrence and Ashland had fencing put up a couple of months ago. I remember some discusison about why since there were no pending permits or plans anyone could find.

A demo permit was issued yesterday. Hopefully some good infill coming down the pipeline... Lawrence from Clark/Ashland is shit, this could go a long way to fixing that (considering the auto shop acorss the street was recently replaced, too.)

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.9691...7i16384!8i8192

If I'm reading this correctly, GW Properties on Elston (http://gwproperties.com) bought this in early February. The official parcel address is 1544 W Lawrence (PIN 14083150260000). I can't find anything else but who knows what they'll do. It's the same people who build 1 story retail stuff but at the same time are the ones behind a dense 6 or 7 story mixed use building on Western and the 606..

[Randomguy34]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Anyone have renderings of it? Good to see this surface lot potentially getting developed as something denser. Article from a month ago about it:
https://blockclubchicago.org/2020/03...ment-building/

Looks like even Ald. Martin didn't know about the project, since it's being built as-of-right. Looks like we'll have to wait till it's finished to see

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by marothisu

If I'm reading this correctly, GW Properties on Elston (http://gwproperties.com) bought this in early February. The official parcel address is 1544 W Lawrence (PIN 14083150260000). I can't find anything else but who knows what they'll do. It's the same people who build 1 story retail stuff but at the same time are the ones behind a dense 6 or 7 story mixed use building on Western and the 606..

I can't imagine anybody will be launching a new retail project right now, so if they're breaking ground it's probably apartments or mixed-use.

Retail vacancy was already high, but it's gonna go through the roof in the next few months as small businesses never re-open after the pandemic, and other businesses find that their customer base has dried up.

Of course, if you're doing a single-tenant building and you've got a lease from a major national tenant, it's a different ballgame... Starbucks, Chik-Fil-A, McDonalds, etc.

[harryc]

April 9

Chicago by Harry Carmichael, on Flickr

Chicago by Harry Carmichael, on Flickr

[Busy Bee]

If they're going to squander the site for something so obviously begging to be at least 10 stories, they should at least repaint that kickass old Lee advertisement.

[Skyguy_7]

Speaking of 10 stories, a nice-looking office proposal for 753 N Lasalle just hit the street for bidding. SE corner of Chicago and Lasalle. Handsome brick with black windows, 9 stories tall. The best part: it replaces a 1-story bank.

[bgsrand]

Originally Posted by Skyguy_7

Speaking of 10 stories, a nice-looking office proposal for 753 N Lasalle just hit the street for bidding. SE corner of Chicago and Lasalle. Handsome brick with black windows, 9 stories tall. The best part: it replaces a 1-story bank.

Bank or the checks cashed on the hard corner?

[ChiPlanner]

Originally Posted by Skyguy_7

Speaking of 10 stories, a nice-looking office proposal for 753 N Lasalle just hit the street for bidding. SE corner of Chicago and Lasalle. Handsome brick with black windows, 9 stories tall. The best part: it replaces a 1-story bank.

So this means they're dropping the co-living development we last saw? (pic from curbed below)

https://chicago.curbed.com/2019/10/9...ment-co-living

[Skyguy_7]

^My bad. I went from memory after going through the bid docs last week. It's co-living, not office.

And yes, it will replace the Western Union on the corner.