CHCAGO | Thompson Center redevelopment | Jahn's MASTERPIECE will be saved!!!!!!!!!!! - Page 10

The Pimp · #**181** Posted **Jul 8, 2022, 6:38 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by r18tdi

Interesting stuff from the developer:

Can Mike Reschke save the Loop?
Hope for a downtown real estate revival rests on the veteran developer's shoulders.
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/comm...n-chicago-loop

Can you please stop posting articles that folks cannot access.

r18tdi · #**182** Posted **Jul 8, 2022, 7:48 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Pimp

Can you please stop posting articles that folks cannot access.

Work harder and make more money idk

The Pimp · #**183** Posted **Jul 8, 2022, 7:53 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by r18tdi

Work harder and make more money idk

Hmmm. As Northwestern physician I kinda thought I was already doing well. I guess not.

MAC123 · #**184** Posted **Jul 8, 2022, 7:54 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by r18tdi

Work harder and make more money idk

Or, and here's an idea, don't.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/thereal...naissance/amp/

Xing · #**185** Posted **Jul 8, 2022, 10:52 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by thegoatman

Most live in Indiana. I mean there's nothing better else to do out there in that wasteland so I get it.

I’m not going to pin this on just Indiana, but these people think living an hour from Chicago and watching the local news is enough for them to be experts online about the city. It’s obnoxious nonsense much of the time.

Mr Downtown · #**186** Posted **Jul 9, 2022, 3:23 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Pimp

Can you please stop posting articles that folks cannot access.

Why are we unable to access the article?

Or do you mean that you're just too cheap to pay for journalism?

MAC123 · #**187** Posted **Jul 9, 2022, 4:10 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr Downtown

Why are we unable to access the article?

Or do you mean that you're just too cheap to pay for journalism?

No. He means we, yes we, are unable to access the article.

Briguy · #**188** Posted **Jul 9, 2022, 8:33 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by MAC123

No. He means we, yes we, are unable to access the article.

I appreciate the links even if they are not accessible to all for free. It's not some sort of powerplay to flex your crains subscription lol. It's probably the most relevant publication to this website forum.

Turns out this is actually a mid 2000s website forum and NOT a federally protected space where everything must be 100% accessible to all.

Mr Downtown · #**189** Posted **Jul 9, 2022, 1:43 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by MAC123

we, yes we, are unable to access the article.

Please explain in what way we're "unable to access the article." What error message do you get?

Or do you mean it in the same sense that we're also "unable to access" the Sunday brunch buffet at the Peninsula Hotel?

Handro · #**190** Posted **Jul 27, 2022, 2:12 PM**

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/comm...hompson-center

Ok, it's official, Google is buying the Thompson Center. Reschke is still going to handle the renovations.

Big news, potentially exciting.

Randomguy34 · #**191** Posted **Jul 27, 2022, 2:12 PM**

Bringing Google to Chicago's Thompson Center

Quote:

In 2000, Google’s Chicago office consisted of two people in River North. Now, that presence has grown to more than 1,800 employees in Fulton Market. And today, we’re announcing we intend to buy the iconic James R. Thompson Center building in Chicago’s Loop upon future renovation, which deepens our commitment to Google’s long-term presence in the city. The cost of the existing unrenovated building is $105 million.

This will support engineering work in Chicago and helps advance the growth of Google’s partners and customers across the Midwest and nationally. It also helps us meet the future needs of our flexible hybrid workforce. By establishing a presence in Chicago’s central business district, we will be getting in on the ground floor of a broader revitalization of the Loop.

The Thompson Center will provide employees with unparalleled public transit access as the only building in the city where six L train lines converge, easily connecting Chicago’s South, West and North sides. Once renovated to a Class A environmentally friendly office building, we anticipate occupying the Thompson Center starting in 2026.

https://blog.google/inside-google/co...ompson-center/

rivernorthlurker · #**192** Posted **Jul 27, 2022, 2:31 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by randomguy34

bringing google to chicago's thompson center

https://blog.google/inside-google/co...ompson-center/

Wow. I guess this whole situation turned out better than expected...

Steely Dan · #**193** Posted **Jul 27, 2022, 2:33 PM**

"And I, for one, welcome our new Google overlords."

But kidding aside, great news for the building, and the Loop in general.

left of center · #**194** Posted **Jul 27, 2022, 2:46 PM**

I dig it. This is a big sign of confidence in the Loop in an era of ghost town CBDs. Hopefully a sign of more investment to come!

rivernorthlurker · #**195** Posted **Jul 27, 2022, 2:47 PM**

Salesforce tower on Wolf Point and now Google in the Loop. Wow things change fast!

west-town-brad · #**196** Posted **Jul 27, 2022, 2:54 PM**

great news on google.

but what happened to the other guy who was going to buy and renovate? did he just get booted?

also google is saying it cost them $100 million but I though the other guy was going to pay like $250 million? maybe that higher number included the renovation?

edit: crains is saying that guy (whatever his name is) is still going to renovate the building for google so I guess he is still involved

ardecila · #**197** Posted **Jul 27, 2022, 2:54 PM**

I'm happy the Thompson Center will be saved, but it's intended as a piece of public architecture, not the local palace of our corporate-tech overlords. I liked the original Reschke plan because the state would move back into the building at the end, but the public spaces could be renovated more creatively.

Now Google is taking the city's grandest interior rotunda, our local PoMo outpost of the Illinois State House, and the state is moving to a buttoned-up corporate tower on LaSalle St where bureaucrats get to hide themselves away anonymously. It's the cheapening of our public space, just like the Old Post Office getting substituted with a lowrise shitbox in the 90s and eventually becoming the local palace of Uber. Or the beautiful concourse of Union Station getting torn down for an ugly office tower and turning the station into a cramped rabbit warren. We get the urbanism we deserve, I guess - it's just sad.

(fwiw, the Harris Bank complex on LaSalle is a great piece of modernism, it's just not public-spirited the way JRTC is)

twister244 · #**198** Posted **Jul 27, 2022, 2:56 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Randomguy34

Bringing Google to Chicago's Thompson Center

https://blog.google/inside-google/co...ompson-center/

Really happy to see this. As others have noted, it sends a strong signal that, despite certain media outlets, downtown Chicago is not crumbling, but is on track to thrive in a post pandemic world.

The building really does seem like it's perfect for Google. Happy to see them invest into it. I wonder if this will have impact to the blocks immediately around it in terms of street level retail/restaurants, etc.

Best outcome for the building IMO.

twister244 · #**199** Posted **Jul 27, 2022, 2:58 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardecila

I'm happy the Thompson Center will be saved, but it's intended as a piece of public architecture, not the local palace of our corporate-tech overlords. I liked the original Reschke plan because the state would move back into the building at the end, but the public spaces could be renovated more creatively.

Now Google is taking the city's grandest interior rotunda, our local PoMo outpost of the Illinois State House, and the state is moving to a buttoned-up corporate tower on LaSalle St where bureaucrats get to hide themselves away. We get the urbanism we deserve, I guess.

(fwiw, the Harris Bank complex on LaSalle is a great piece of modernism, it's just not public-spirited the way JRTC is)

While I understand this concern, one has to wonder if a public remodel option was even feasible here? It would require funding from the city, and they are already heavily distracted by other major projects.

Is it possible Google maintains a small public area for folks to enjoy? One can hope.

left of center · #**200** Posted **Jul 27, 2022, 2:58 PM**

Anyone know if Google will be consolidating all their offices at the Thompson Center, or if they plan on keeping their Fulton Market campus? Considering their exponential growth in the city, I think they might need to retain both for the number of workers they currently have and plan on growing to.

Quote:

As part of the deal, the state will receive $30 million in cash and will get 115 S. LaSalle St. That will be renovated, and state employees will then work from there.

Source: https://blockclubchicago.org/2022/07...ompson-center/

This is an interesting tidbit. How did 115 S LaSalle get involved in this deal? Was this property owned by Google or Reschke? I assume the state will assume ownership of this building and not lease their offices in there. Either way, consolidating offices all in one location would be a good thing for the state, both from a financial as well as operations perspective.