Quote:
Originally Posted by r18tdi
|
I like this so much! The infill projects on the slim lots on this part of Randolph are just killing it.
This is the kind of fine grained density I'd love to see built on more vacant/parking lots within a couple of miles of the loop or half a mile of an El station:
- 40-80ft wide lots
- 8-15 stories tall
- Built to the lot line
- No visible podium (hopefully that remains true with this one, it has a parking floor, but it looks like it might be well blended in)
- Zero curb cuts (unless you count Couch Pl, which is practically an alley)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Randomguy34
|
420 N May looks impressively tall for being that far west, but I suppose that if they build the new west loop Metra station it'll be conveniently close to it. And I'm glad they're keeping the facades along May Street, even if it's only as a facade-ectomy.
357 N Green is interesting in that they're talking about a pedestrian & bike connection from Green to Halstead. That sort of connection would be great to have since there's a 4 block gap between Hubbard and Fulton where there's no route east or west that both crosses and connects to Halstead, I just wish it could be continued all the way east to DesPlaines (it seems like a real planning failure that there are going to be two buildings with bridges between Halsted and the Jewel on DesPlaines, but afaik they're each private and for those building's residents only).
And obviously if this would really block the HSR corridor, that would also be a planning failure that should be prevented. One potential building's design decisions can't be allowed to dictate an entire regions' transportation planning.
I notice they're planning on knocking down the part of 401 N Morgan (aka Morgan Manufacturing) at the NE corner of Morgan and Kinzie which currently houses the Tabu restaurant and replacing it with green space and a fountain. I think I might prefer they leave that to maintain the street wall on Kinzie and avoid knocking down any more of that old factory building than they already did to create Morgan Manufacturing. They could still build their tower over the parking lot as planned and have room for a smaller green space.
And if they want to get creative with additional public space, they might look at lighting and decorating those mid-block private "existing ancillary access" tunnels under the Metra tracks to make them an attractive pedestrian route through the development (somewhat like the "mews" or "paseo" other nearby developments are trying); I think Morgan Manufacturing sometimes does things like that on a temporary basis for events already.
Taken together, I like a lot of aspects of these developments, and am excited for how much is planned on Kinzie. That street is transitioning from mostly vacant lots and single story industrial to mostly towers at a wild pace if everything planned gets built.