CHICAGO | Tribune Tower Addition | 1,442 FT | 113 FLOORS

[lakeshoredrive]

Oh man I got excited when I saw this thread bumped. Was hoping to see some good news but nope lol

[Zapatan]

Originally Posted by lakeshoredrive

Oh man I got excited when I saw this thread bumped. Was hoping to see some good news but nope lol

It seems the recent news is good, not shovel in the ground construction loan good but not bad either.

[Yackemflaber69]

Its still alive that's important

[lakeshoredrive]

Originally Posted by Yackemflaber69

Its still alive that's important

definitely. i think there's a market for this building if they do 2/3rd luxury rental and 1/3rd condo. And a hotel to add. I can see a lot of people being interested in living in this building given its prominent location. If i had the money I would definitely consider renting for a year there lol.

[Briguy]

Gonna be a hard sell for condos with no personal and very minimal shared outdoor space.

[Ned.B]

Originally Posted by Briguy

Gonna be a hard sell for condos with no personal and very minimal shared outdoor space.

There are plenty of condos out there without balconies that do just fine selling.

With the cities recent requirement that all balconies be thermally broken from the building envelope and adjacent floor slab I'm betting we will see fewer projects with balconies in the future.

[Briguy]

Originally Posted by Ned.B

There are plenty of condos out there without balconies that do just fine selling.

With the cities recent requirement that all balconies be thermally broken from the building envelope and adjacent floor slab I'm betting we will see fewer projects with balconies in the future.

Wonderful, another rule that makes buildings more expensive and impedes growth.

[ardecila]

For a very good reason... concrete balconies waste a ton of energy. That doesn't mean you can't do balconies, but they will be more of the "basket" style made out of steel or aluminum which are easier to thermal-break rather than cantilevered concrete or recessed.

Note this really only impacts highrises. Midrise balconies are usually the basket type already, and neighborhood/lowrise building types will have the back porches or roof terraces. Also, rental housing has been moving toward communal roof decks and amenity terraces anyway instead of private balconies. Condo buildings could do the same thing, it just impacts the HOA charge.

[Toasty Joe]

yeah briguy unless you have the secret to scalable nuclear fission up your sleeve, I'd say it's a good thing...

[Zapatan]

I can't decide whether this building would look cool with balconies or if it would ruin it.

It could be wise from a financial standpoint though.

[bhawk66]

Just an observation...I've never understood the need for high rise balconies in the first place. Is that really a big sell? I've been on a 50th floor balcony and...it's weird. Has anyone seen any pictures in all of these great shots here of anyone so much as chewing gum on any of these balconies? Sitting in a chair? Holding a rail?

I get the "false" balcony, the ones with the rails and banisters against sliding doors or French doors that open up to fresh air.

[SamInTheLoop]

Loving this new requirement, if only because it will likely mean fewer resi high rises will have balconies. Aesthetic win.

Also, from a consumer market standpoint, I never ‘got’ them in highrises. Perhaps in an entirely different climate type….perhaps. Certainly not in Chicago.

[Busy Bee]

Just to echo these comments regarding highrise balconies, I've also never understood the appeal at all. It seems like anything above say I don't know maybe 400 feet just seems like it would be so inhospitable. A highrise right on LSD facing the lake makes sense to have balconies but I'm not sure even as interesting as Aqua looks in LSE whether those balconies either make sense in that context or at that height. Nothing like chilling on a wind swept slab 800 feet up with Aon Center workers spying on you.

[oatmilk]

people in chicago smoke zaza. Why so much anger for balconies tho?

[Briguy]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

Just to echo these comments regarding highrise balconies, I've also never understood the appeal at all. It seems like anything above say I don't know maybe 400 feet just seems like it would be so inhospitable. A highrise right on LSD facing the lake makes sense to have balconies but I'm not sure even as interesting as Aqua looks in LSE whether those balconies either make sense in that context or at that height. Nothing like chilling on a wind swept slab 800 feet up with Aon Center workers spying on you.

Who do we think are renting in brand new supteralls? The rents would be astronomical. At that price point, even if it's weird, people sort of demand outdoor space. It's not necessary, but to make the building work they need to charge rents that merit outdoor space. Look at how they had to sneak in balconies into one Chicago condos. They're not idiots they know they can't sell 1000$/ft withno outdoor space. And one Chicago has 10x the communal outdoor space of tribune 2. St Regis notched those ugly balconies All the way to the top, because if I'm paying 7mil for a condo I want a damn balcony.

[Busy Bee]

I don't know. Who is renting in brand new... supteralls?

[Busy Bee]

Originally Posted by oatmilk

people in chicago smoke zaza. Why so much anger for balconies tho?

Balconies ugly. Balconies not used much. Balconies cold 75% of year. Balconies place to store junk visible to world.

[Ned.B]

From last cycle, but Trump Tower does not have balconies. One Bennet Park only has terraces at few units that fall at setbacks. There's definitely precedence for luxury buildings without dedicated personal outdoor space.

[SamInTheLoop]

^ That’s right. They are clearly not necessary economically. That is not to say there is no market for them. Also, look at the taller recent luxury resi towers in NY….littered w examples of no or very minimal private outdoor space. And that’s in a somewhat better climate than Chicago. They’re just not necessary. One thing you have to remember is that real estate development to this day remains to a great degree individual/personality/ego-driven. Tons of cowboys out there who make important large capital decisions guided by their gut. This isn’t some sophisticated big data analytics industry folks - in large part still. Often times, the numbers are not being crunched. A developer likes balconies, or he thinks his prospective buyers/tenants want/need them based on anecdote, or his daddy who was also a developer always included them, then balconies it is. Not uncommon for development to still be that unsophisticated.

[r18tdi]

Originally Posted by SamInTheLoop

^ That’s right. They are clearly not necessary economically. That is not to say there is no market for them. Also, look at the taller recent luxury resi towers in NY….littered w examples of no or very minimal private outdoor space. And that’s in a somewhat better climate than Chicago. They’re just not necessary. One thing you have to remember is that real estate development to this day remains to a great degree individual/personality/ego-driven. Tons of cowboys out there who make important large capital decisions guided by their gut. This isn’t some sophisticated big data analytics industry folks - in large part still. Often times, the numbers are not being crunched. A developer likes balconies, or he thinks his prospective buyers/tenants want/need them based on anecdote, or his daddy who was also a developer always included them, then balconies it is. Not uncommon for development to still be that unsophisticated.

I do think there is a contingent of buyers and renters who view not having a private balcony as an absolute deal-breaker, and developers are wary about turning those people away.

A luxury tower can absolutely succeed without tons of individual outdoor space (One Bennett, OG Tribune Tower, 401 Wabash), but it's definitely something developers consider.

Personally I'm torn on the issue. I like to grill, but I also realize that most Chicago balconies are eyesores used to store peoples' junk.