CHICAGO | General Developments

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by UrbanLibertine

Thank God they finished that Walgreens. I was pretty upset when they leveled that old, beautiful church. But if it means Walgreens might start considering have a moderately decent aesthetic to their buildings (not crazy about the brick), then terrific.

Doubtful. I'm sure Walgreens' construction costs vary a bit, but the recent store at Irving Park/Sheridan cost $1.3M, while this store cost $6M (both numbers independent of land costs). Even if this store is profitable, I doubt the design of future multi-level stores will be this lavish. This store will not do 4x the sales of a standard Walgreens.

Important to note that there is a developer here (Mark Hunt) - the building design is not necessarily Walgreens' vision, but it does indicate a willingness to be flexible with design for urban flagship stores.

[Ned.B]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Doubtful. I'm sure Walgreens' construction costs vary a bit, but the recent store at Irving Park/Sheridan cost $1.3M, while this store cost $6M (both numbers independent of land costs). Even if this store is profitable, I doubt the design of future multi-level stores will be this lavish. This store will not do 4x the sales of a standard Walgreens.

Important to note that there is a developer here (Mark Hunt) - the building design is not necessarily Walgreens' vision, but it does indicate a willingness to be flexible with design for urban flagship stores.

I believe this Walgreens was also built in a Landmark district? I know the church was specifically excluded from the original district, but given it's proximity, the city could have had substantially more control over the exterior design than they would have had in other locations.

[wrab]

^ Armitage-Halsted District Link

Originally Posted by ardecila

I don't think it was the "indie" atmosphere that TUP was lamenting.....?

No - my lament; I was thinking of Cynthia Rowley, and smaller chains like Paul Frank, etc. And yes, the bigger chains have closed too or are closing.

Really a very boring stretch for retail. But I love the area's bones.

[PKDickman]

Originally Posted by Ned.B

I believe this Walgreens was also built in a Landmark district? I know the church was specifically excluded from the original district, but given it's proximity, the city could have had substantially more control over the exterior design than they would have had in other locations.

As Walgreens go, that's pretty frickin' cool!
Last time I was up there, (to mourn the demolition of Howard Alan's studio) it was little more than a hole in the ground.

Churches can opt out of landmarking. Once that is done, the landmark commission has no say if future permitting and the Sec of the Interior's Standards do not apply.

They came up with that one all on their own.

[Ned.B]

Originally Posted by PKDickman

As Walgreens go, that's pretty frickin' cool!
Last time I was up there, (to mourn the demolition of Howard Alan's studio) it was little more than a hole in the ground.

Churches can opt out of landmarking. Once that is done, the landmark commission has no say if future permitting and the Sec of the Interior's Standards do not apply.

They came up with that one all on their own.

Based on some of the articles I just dug up when this was under design, you are correct that this lot was exempt from the landmark district. However, the alderman got the developers to adhere to the landmark design guidelines and present at public meetings in exchange for approval for curb cuts, liquor license, and other permits.

[The Lurker]

I was in Chicago for the day Sunday and thought I'd share some observations. Tower crane was coming down at 625 W Division. The new precast Parkside development is topped out. (Harry posted a picture the previous page) The McClurg tower is moving along now. The core is to the fifth floor. Still no activity around the block at O2. Maggie Daley park was swarming with children. I saw the AMLI lofts and I gotta say they turned out great except the layout. i was expecting more of the same dogshit we saw from them amile up the street.

[PKDickman]

Originally Posted by Ned.B

Based on some of the articles I just dug up when this was under design, you are correct that this lot was exempt from the landmark district. However, the alderman got the developers to adhere to the landmark design guidelines and present at public meetings in exchange for approval for curb cuts, liquor license, and other permits.

Darn those NIMBYs.
We could have had this:

[harryc]

4/6

[the urban politician]

^ Can you remind me what that's supposed to be?

[r18tdi]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ Can you remind me what that's supposed to be?

Ditto. Drawing a complete blank on this one.

[Ned.B]

This thing?:

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/reale...ver-north-deal

Edit: for some reason if you search the article you can read the whole thing, but if you click my link above, you have to log-in or subscribe.

This is the image I was referring to:

[sentinel]

^wow, ok, that's totally new to me - don't think I've ever seen that before

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by Ned.B

This thing?:

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/reale...ver-north-deal

Edit: for some reason if you search the article you can read the whole thing, but if you click my link above, you have to log-in or subscribe.

This is the image I was referring to:

I was wondering what the hell was going on there. I've seen it there for a few weeks now. Wish it was something denser - better than a surface lot but still..


Also, the Walton/State luxury high rises now have some big metal structure in them. Almost looks like an ad will be placed there showing what will be built there, but who knows. The structure is 2 stories tall.

[Ned.B]

Originally Posted by marothisu

I was wondering what the hell was going on there. I've seen it there for a few weeks now. Wish it was something denser - better than a surface lot but still..

Or if it could even be 3-4 floors taller to cover that blank wall next door.
I wonder if we are to assume this building is to fill the entire parking lot, so it will be sort of L shaped.

[rlw777]

Originally Posted by Ned.B

Or if it could even be 3-4 floors taller to cover than blank wall next door.
I wonder if we are to assume this building is to fill the entire parking lot, so it will be sort of L shaped.

Agreed that building next door has one of the more offensive podium designs in the area.

[PKDickman]

Originally Posted by Ned.B

Or if it could even be 3-4 floors taller to cover than blank wall next door.
I wonder if we are to assume this building is to fill the entire parking lot, so it will be sort of L shaped.

It is supposed to be 25000 sqft. That's 2x the lot area.

[r18tdi]

Originally Posted by rlw777

Agreed that building next door has one of the more offensive podium designs in the area.

And that's really saying something!

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by PKDickman

Darn those NIMBYs.
We could have had this:

LOL. I would love to see Walgreens start building more stores like the Armitage store, similar to what you'd see in a European city, but the numbers probably don't work except in a very narrow range of dense walkable neighborhoods.

Still, though, stuff like this makes me very glad that Walgreens bought Duane Reade. Gotta have something to counter that awful suburban store template.

[Rizzo]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ Yep, the Northwestern buildings are nice too, but too bad NWU saves all their quality stuff for Evanston while dropping turd bombs downtown.

It's really kind of too bad how Armitage didn't pan out as the retail strip that it was starting to become in the early 2000's. Looks like Southport is taking up more of that role. Of course, that can easily change, it's not like the neighborhoods can't support several boutique retail strips in its affluent areas.

Of course Southport won't stop until every pre-war building is demolished and rebuilt! Though fortunately Armitage is landmarked, you can see the advantages more prominent retailers see in new construction on Southport.

[Mr Downtown]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

too bad NWU saves all their quality stuff for Evanston while dropping turd bombs downtown.

Just as we're distinguishing Christian Scientists from Scientology, it's useful to distinguish Northwestern University from Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation/Northwestern Memorial Hospital.