CHICAGO | General Developments

[BrinChi]

oh, haha I did not know about the Salvation Army's nickname. Glad that building will stick around!

[ithakas]

Some interesting discussion here about converting older office buildings in the Loop to multifamily:

https://therealdeal.com/chicago/2022...nt-conversion/

I hope they don't default to making all early conversions to student housing. I think eventually some of LaSalle could be upscale condo, for example.

[rivernorthlurker]

Originally Posted by ithakas

Some interesting discussion here about converting older office buildings in the Loop to multifamily:

https://therealdeal.com/chicago/2022...nt-conversion/

I hope they don't default to making all early conversions to student housing. I think eventually some of LaSalle could be upscale condo, for example.

The city has been urged by a panel of experts convened by the Urban Land Institute to free up tax incentives to facilitate the transformation of empty properties on LaSalle Street, and to also close a section of LaSalle to vehicles to create a more retail-friendly experience on the corridor.

Yes please.

[BVictor1]

Big Deahl

05.05.22

[Rizzo]

Originally Posted by ithakas

Some interesting discussion here about converting older office buildings in the Loop to multifamily:

https://therealdeal.com/chicago/2022...nt-conversion/

I hope they don't default to making all early conversions to student housing. I think eventually some of LaSalle could be upscale condo, for example.

Said this before, but some of these buildings would be great as high end condos. Especially the old Bank of America building.

[ardecila]

Maybe? They have ornate lobbies, but the Loop leaves much to be desired as a place for wealthy individuals to live. There's no green space and no real grocery store. And those older buildings don't have any on-site parking, so it's difficult for residents to head to other neighborhoods for their needs. Generally in Chicago the wealthiest individuals will demand at least one, usually two parking spaces. No, I think the people to pioneer this area will be younger professionals and upper-middle class folks who don't mind putting up with some inconvenience for a short commute to work. In time the amenities will come.

I agree the old BofA building (Field Building) is the big test case. It's mostly empty, it's landmarked so they can't tear it down, and the wedding-cake shape of the building is not a terrible fit for residential uses. If they can get a grocery store to take a big chunk of the 1st floor, then we're off to the races.

FiDi in NYC managed to grow a crop of residential buildings and conversions, I guess... they should study how that happened. Not sure if we can replicate that in Chicago or not.

[ithakas]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Maybe? They have ornate lobbies, but the Loop leaves much to be desired as a place for wealthy individuals to live. There's no green space and no real grocery store. And those older buildings don't have any on-site parking, so it's difficult for residents to head to other neighborhoods for their needs. Generally in Chicago the wealthiest individuals will demand at least one, usually two parking spaces. No, I think the people to pioneer this area will be younger professionals and upper-middle class folks who don't mind putting up with some inconvenience for a short commute to work. In time the amenities will come.

I agree the old BofA building (Field Building) is the big test case. It's mostly empty, it's landmarked so they can't tear it down, and the wedding-cake shape of the building is not a terrible fit for residential uses. If they can get a grocery store to take a big chunk of the 1st floor, then we're off to the races.

FiDi in NYC managed to grow a crop of residential buildings and conversions, I guess... they should study how that happened. Not sure if we can replicate that in Chicago or not.

I think it depends on what part of the Loop. If you're talking anywhere east of Dearborn, I think young professionals are probably the best demographic to get on board, though it's already been happening to some extent (COVID notwithstanding).

On LaSalle, I think they could market these to North Shore residents who want a pied-à-terre close to Loop offices and maybe cultural amenities like the Art Institute, Broadway in Chicago, etc or businesspeople who need a permanent spot in the city but don't count it as their primary residence. Grocery stores might be less important where they're eating every dinner out in the West Loop, Printers Row, etc. Maybe this is a small niche but I could see developers targeting these demos for the very first projects.

I'd be on the young professional side of this coin and only live a few blocks away from the LaSalle corridor, though I'm not sure I'd want to live there full-time until a few of these developments are in place.

[ardecila]

Yeah, in my limited understanding this was the first wave of residential in FiDi too. Wall Street types who work from their home in Palm Beach or Aspen, but want more of a home when they come to NYC instead of a hotel. Or temporary housing provided by the financial firms for internships or temp assignments.

[Rizzo]

My thought was some of the lower levels adjacent to the alleys would be converted to parking, much like that building at Washington and Wells. I know it wouldn’t be the most convenient engineering.

Either way, residential conversion has got to work. Even when these historic buildings were busy office buildings, the architecture was trashed by terrible, cheap office modifications. Any residential or hotel renovation would restore these buildings to their original grandeur.

[thegoatman]

Kind of unrelated, but I was fooling around on Google Maps and found this amazing view in Lincoln Park. Straight New York vibes. Wish this level of density could be replicated in other neighborhoods with new developments.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/43...!4d-87.6407499

[SIGSEGV]

It's about time for the central loop to get a grocery store anyway. I can't for the life of me figure out why there's no Aldi or something in the basement of block 37.

[Klippenstein]

Originally Posted by SIGSEGV

It's about time for the central loop to get a grocery store anyway. I can't for the life of me figure out why there's no Aldi or something in the basement of block 37.

There are some groceries in the goth target as it has been dubbed on tiktok.

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by Klippenstein

There are some groceries in the goth target as it has been dubbed on tiktok.

I'm very well aware since I live a block away from there

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by thegoatman

Kind of unrelated, but I was fooling around on Google Maps and found this amazing view in Lincoln Park. Straight New York vibes. Wish this level of density could be replicated in other neighborhoods with new developments.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/43...!4d-87.6407499

Yup. Areas on the north side along the lake can be pretty dense. I usually use this area to show people this.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by Klippenstein

There are some groceries in the goth target as it has been dubbed on tiktok.

Not enough. I went there the other day to buy macaroni after work, and they didn't have any. I had to buy shells instead, and I got the last box. It's not geared to anyone who actually cooks, just students and young people that want quick/prepared stuff. Which is fine! But it's not enough to support thousands of new apartments.

Target serves an important niche, but there's definitely a need for more and better options in the Loop if we want to see a large-scale residential conversion. I'd even support the city underwriting a store for a few years until the business gets established, the same way they do in Englewood or Austin.

[Busy Bee]

I'm a shells guy, so your anecdote is totally lost on me

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Not enough. I went there the other day to buy macaroni after work, and they didn't have any. I had to buy shells instead, and I got the last box. It's not geared to anyone who actually cooks, just students and young people that want quick/prepared stuff. Which is fine! But it's not enough to support thousands of new apartments.

Target serves an important niche, but there's definitely a need for more and better options in the Loop if we want to see a large-scale residential conversion. I'd even support the city underwriting a store for a few years until the business gets established, the same way they do in Englewood or Austin.

Yeah they have basics, but it's a rare week they have everything I need. Mariano's isn't too far but it's far enough away to be annoying.

[marothisu]

The Central Loop completely needs a real grocery option if it wants to support a larger population. When we briefly lived in South Loop, we used Target down there which filled part of the need but it definitely doesn't have everything. There definitely needs to be something real there in the Loop to support a growing residential population.

[Busy Bee]

An Aldi or a Lidl would be pretty cool since they are so used to doing urban center stores in their homeland.

[pullmanman]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

An Aldi or a Lidl would be pretty cool since they are so used to doing urban center stores in their homeland.

It's a little short on produce but there's a great Lidl in Harlem in a tiny storefront with a large basement! There's some photos in this article. Something like this would be very nice in the Loop.