CHICAGO | 400 N Lake Shore Drive | 851 FT & 765 FT | 73 & ? FLOORS

[left of center]

Interesting how the new plan has 1100 units in two shorter towers (875' & 765') but the older plan was to only have 850 units but in two taller towers (1000' & 790').

What is the maximum number of units that this property would be zoned for? Would be interesting to see if they have wiggle room to expand the height (and density) of the 2nd tower if apartment leasing goes really well with tower 1.

[r18tdi]

Originally Posted by left of center

Would be interesting to see if they have wiggle room to expand the height (and density) of the 2nd tower if apartment leasing goes really well with tower 1.

I doubt it. Reilly wouldn't have worked so hard to appease the nimby neighbors only to allow "wiggle room" to upsize the tower at a later date. I suppose the developer could come back to the city and amend the PD between phases 1 and 2, but why waste another 2+ years dealing with the clowns next door (and at city hall)?

Besides, the current plan very deliberately places the taller building atop of the strongest and deepest portion of the existing foundations. I would think supersizing the second tower after the fact would entail big, expensive changes to the below-ground infrastructure.

[rivernorthlurker]

Originally Posted by sentinel

No, unfortunately, those are the old ones. These are the current renders:





More here:
https://chicagoyimby.com/2020/12/app...countdown.html

Freaking amazing if this gets going this year. Yeah downsized but it makes up for it with the design. 875' is going to seem massive on the lakefront. Hey it's taller than Salesforce

1000M just got going and now this. Throw in either Site I and/or Tribune East which are realistic possibilities and 2022 is shaping up to be a really special year in Chicago...

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by r18tdi

I doubt it. Reilly wouldn't have worked so hard to appease the nimby neighbors only to allow "wiggle room" to upsize the tower at a later date. I suppose the developer could come back to the city and amend the PD between phases 1 and 2, but why waste another 2+ years dealing with the clowns next door (and at city hall)?

Besides, the current plan very deliberately places the taller building atop of the strongest and deepest portion of the existing foundations. I would think supersizing the second tower after the fact would entail big, expensive changes to the below-ground infrastructure.

Phase I is the north (taller) tower. This will re-use the Spire foundations and may in fact include "big, expensive changes" - likely a big thick transfer mat and maybe some additional caissons as well, since the North Tower is not in the shape of a 7-sided polygon like the Spire was...

Phase II is the south tower. It's unclear how they will handle the foundations here, since the existing caissons in the ground on this side were only intended for an underground garage. They may need to use entirely new caissons for Phase II.

[kolchak]

I think the changes made to the base almost outweigh the loss of height. The old podium design stank.

[thegoatman]

Originally Posted by kolchak

I think the changes made to the base almost outweigh the loss of height. The old podium design stank.

Rather have a supertall and an almost 900-footer with the podium than the height decrease. Literally no reason the height should have been cut, I hate the power alderman have in this city.

[BuildThemTaller]

Originally Posted by kolchak

I think the changes made to the base almost outweigh the loss of height. The old podium design stank.

Generally, I am not a fan of podiums. This one, though, was right next to what is essentially a highway overpass. It was an appropriate component of the original design. I still love these towers, but it would have been a lot better had the podium plus added ~200 ft of height remained.

[rivernorthlurker]

Originally Posted by BuildThemTaller

Generally, I am not a fan of podiums. This one, though, was right next to what is essentially a highway overpass. It was an appropriate component of the original design. I still love these towers, but it would have been a lot better had the podium plus added ~200 ft of height remained.

Agreed. I thought the connected entrance to the two buildings was kinda posh.



via https://www.chicagomag.com/real-esta...ll-spire-hole/

[Klippenstein]

Must preserve views of historic LSD and the “neighborhood character” of loud car noises.

[JMKeynes]

Originally Posted by rivernorthlurker

Agreed. I thought the connected entrance to the two buildings was kinda posh.



via https://www.chicagomag.com/real-esta...ll-spire-hole/

This project is amazing.

[chicubs111]

^^ Yes this podium was not our traditional parking garage podium we see all over...this one actually has elegant design to it which made it work well...

[Chicago_Forever]

^^Yes, this one really pissed me off. Reily had issues with this very elegant podium, yet he was okay with that huge blank wall of a podium at 500 N LSD. Smdh...
F that dude!

[left of center]

The alderbeasts should have *zero* input on property development in their wards. That should be handled by a central planning and zoning agency that can plan the city's growth properly through the work of civic engineers and city planners that actually know what they are doing and not catering to the moronic moaning of the NIMBY electorate.

The job of alderman should literally be limited to ensuring my garbage is picked up on time and potholes on my street get filled. They are paid to ensure the city runs properly, and not to have delusional dreams of grandeur in running their little "fiefdoms".

Really wish the state would step in and simply put an end to aldermanic prerogative, because the city is clearly unable of doing so.

[Kngkyle]

I don't recall the original site plan w/ the podium, but if the complaint was around the podium restricting access to DuSable Park then that is a fair complaint.

[Bonsai Tree]

Originally Posted by Kngkyle

I don't recall the original site plan w/ the podium, but if the complaint was around the podium restricting access to DuSable Park then that is a fair complaint.

The biggest complaint iirc was the hotel. Neighbors didn't want the extra traffic that a hotel could bring down Water Street. So Related nixed the hotel portion of the project. With the hotel gone, a lot of the spaces in the podium weren't necessary anymore. People also thought it was too big and bulky (which to be fair it kinda was).

As for access to DuSable Park, a significant neighborhood complaint was that there was TOO much accessibility to DuSable Park. So the new design restricts accessibility by funneling people through one entrance along the river, instead of two (one along the river and the other along Odgen Slip). The NIMBYs in the townhouses along the slip lost their shit when they saw plans extending the public ROW to DuSable Park. So now we only have one entrance to the park!

[thegoatman]

The vacant patch of grass that is Dusable needs to be renovated asap. Looks embarassing in front of the city.

[r18tdi]

Originally Posted by Bonsai Tree

As for access to DuSable Park, a significant neighborhood complaint was that there was TOO much accessibility to DuSable Park. So the new design restricts accessibility by funneling people through one entrance along the river, instead of two (one along the river and the other along Odgen Slip). The NIMBYs in the townhouses along the slip lost their shit when they saw plans extending the public ROW to DuSable Park. So now we only have one entrance to the park!

I remember that from the meetings. Such bullshit.

Also not exactly stoked for the "acoustic wall" planned for LSD. Good chance it looks like total shit.

[left of center]

How long/tall is that acoustic wall going to be? Is it going to extend over Ogden slip? I fear it may block a lot of the views of the skyline from LSD, which would be a shame. Driving on the Drive is one of the best ways to show out of towners our city.

[JK47]

This is why we can't have nice things. I said this would get another height cut and it did. I said there was no way this gets built with terracotta and that's gone. I still remember people here swearing up and down that Related wouldn't water down the materials further in addition to a height cut.

In the end the best that could be said for this is that it's taller than the letdown that is Salesforce, they buried the podium, and they managed to refrain from encasing this in blue glass. Otherwise, everything else that was interesting or notable about the design got cut. There's also the high likelihood only one of these gets built so we'll have yet another orphaned twin in this city.

[rivernorthlurker]

Originally Posted by left of center

How long/tall is that acoustic wall going to be? Is it going to extend over Ogden slip? I fear it may block a lot of the views of the skyline from LSD, which would be a shame. Driving on the Drive is one of the best ways to show out of towners our city.

Yeah, no podium but acoustic wall is ok.... Acoustic wall sounds fancy but in reality I suspect it's just those concrete walls on the highways to reduce sound to adjacent neighborhoods. The above rendering of the entrance to Dusable supports this.

I liked the courtyard podium design but it's design had a lot to do with serving the previous hotel for the building I'm sure. So with the hotel gone they don't really need a big fancy lobby and ground floors I guess. I do think this was a weird location for a hotel anyway.

The aldermanic privilege and NIMBYness of the approval processes irks all of us. Billion dollar developments shouldn't be bending over to a few people down the street because 'I don't like the way it looks.' I can understand complaining about traffic and people cutting through the neighborhood and other functional things. But changing the podium design and building design because of the neighbor's taste is so idiotic.