CHICAGO | General Developments - Page 1402

Via Chicago · #**28021** Posted **Mar 30, 2015, 5:43 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by emathias

I agree. It'd be perfect to commission work from outsider artists like Mario Gonzales, Jr., Chris Silva, Ish Muhammad, Tewz, etc.

Jeff Zimmerman has done cool stuff around town too

LouisVanDerWright · #**28022** Posted **Mar 30, 2015, 6:57 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrisvfr800i

Yeah, but that applies to all of Chicago. Nothing looks good with a mount of dirty snow piled in front of it. A public art installation would be nice as a part of the green space...(cue the Che Guevara/Cesar Chavez mural.)

Any decent landscape architect would incorporate evergreens or ornamental grasses that stand til spring into this design. Too many streetscapes in Chicago unrealistically address our climate which can be easily solved by using plants that actually belong here. Dogwoods, native grasses, pines, spruces, etc. All look fantastic in the winter, especially after a fresh snow. If all you plant is petunias and roses in Chicago your garden is going to look like shit 6 months a year

marothisu · #**28023** Posted **Mar 30, 2015, 7:33 PM**

Building untouched since the 1970s in the heart of WP on Milwaukee Ave is about to undergo a renovation to turn into 20 apartments. 1422-26 N Milwaukee, same building as Brooklyn Industries, Lomography, etc. Supposed to be unaffected by this luckily. Former owner says he had them boarded up for so long because he didn't want to be a landlord (too much work). However he still rented out to ground level retail/commercial.

http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20150...s-sell-for-42m

bcp · #**28024** Posted **Mar 30, 2015, 7:40 PM**

that's great news..there are a number of buildings in this condition on Milwaukee, and Division to a lesser extent.

marothisu · #**28025** Posted **Mar 30, 2015, 7:42 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by bcp

that's great news..there are a number of buildings in this condition on Milwaukee, and Division to a lesser extent.

Yeah. Like the one Reckless Records is making into their megastore around there.

chrisvfr800i · #**28026** Posted **Mar 30, 2015, 7:47 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

Any decent landscape architect would incorporate evergreens or ornamental grasses that stand til spring into this design. Too many streetscapes in Chicago unrealistically address our climate which can be easily solved by using plants that actually belong here. Dogwoods, native grasses, pines, spruces, etc. All look fantastic in the winter, especially after a fresh snow. If all you plant is petunias and roses in Chicago your garden is going to look like shit 6 months a year

There is so much store-front retail in that area. That the developer isn't automatically inserting more retail in this design is a good thing...but yes, it all should work with the climate.

moorhosj · #**28027** Posted **Mar 30, 2015, 8:39 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrisvfr800i

There is so much store-front retail in that area. That the developer isn't automatically inserting more retail in this design is a good thing...but yes, it all should work with the climate.

The direct area where these buildings will be has almost no store-fronts. There is a huge parking lot, empty lots and a dollar store in the immediate vicinity. If you are building something like this on Milwaukee Avenue, it should include retail.

r18tdi · #**28028** Posted **Mar 31, 2015, 2:11 AM**

Don't you just hate it when you attend a private high school in an affluent neighborhood and you just want to shoot hoops at the local public elementary school but you can't because the school is building a state-of-the-art expansion so children don't have to take classes in the boiler room anymore?
It's like such a BUMMER you guys!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jSINN9m830

johneboy96 · #**28029** Posted **Mar 31, 2015, 3:04 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by r18tdi

Don't you just hate it when you attend a private high school in an affluent neighborhood and you just want to shoot hoops at the local public elementary school but you can't because the school is building a state-of-the-art expansion so children don't have to take classes in the boiler room anymore?
It's like such a BUMMER you guys!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jSINN9m830

Hahhahahah thats my friends brother.. and although i agree with you, he goes to my school and i find this a lil bit condescending

aaron38 · #**28030** Posted **Mar 31, 2015, 3:12 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by marothisu

Former owner says he had them boarded up for so long because he didn't want to be a landlord (too much work).

20 apts x 12 months x 40 years = 9600 rent checks he could have collected but didn't. Jeez, hire a property manager, give them half. Still come out ahead. That's crazy.

emathias · #**28031** Posted **Mar 31, 2015, 4:40 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by aaron38

20 apts x 12 months x 40 years = 9600 rent checks he could have collected but didn't. Jeez, hire a property manager, give them half. Still come out ahead. That's crazy.

Yeah. I don't understand that sort of thing, either. I mean, for big corporate-owned places, they'll set high rents and wait for someone to bite because their high finance strategy is to use that rent to boost the sale price, but for small-time owners, even just missing a few months of rent hits their bottom line in a tangible way. For example, I'm an active Airbnb host and I know that renting my listing for less than the max market rate is better than having even just a few empty nights caused by missing a booking because some other listing undercut me.

On a related topic, I was thinking about corporate-owned vs. small-time owner buildings and their impact on neighborhoods. People often talk about how corporate-owned places prefer national chains, which dillutes the flavor of neighborhoods and makes them more similar instead of creating the diversity that makes cities nice and the focus is often just that the corporate owners try to maximize rent. But this also often means empty storefronts for long periods of time if an area isn't in the most prime area. I don't have proof or anything, but it seems likely to me that the emphasis on corporate owners to maximize resale value by getting high-dollar tenants contributes to long-term vacancies in those sorts of properties as compared to small-time owners.

r18tdi · #**28032** Posted **Mar 31, 2015, 4:48 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by johneboy96

Hahhahahah thats my friends brother.. and although i agree with you, he goes to my school and i find this a lil bit condescending

Huh.

You know what I find condescending? The fact that your "friends brother" is complaining about the lack of progress on CMH when your same friend's mother is responsible for the very lawsuit delaying its development ...while at the same time forcing her awkward kid to make a nonsensical NIMBY video.

munchymunch · #**28033** Posted **Mar 31, 2015, 5:19 PM**

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/reale...ver-north-land

Quote:

A venture of Chicago-based developer Domus Group paid $4.1 million for land just east of Groupon's River North headquarters where it plans a 30-unit condominium development. Domus bought the half-acre parcel at 847 N. Larrabee St., just east of the office building at 600 W. Chicago Ave., according to Cook County records.

Plus 700 north dearborn is for sale.

PKDickman · #**28034** Posted **Mar 31, 2015, 6:16 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by aaron38

20 apts x 12 months x 40 years = 9600 rent checks he could have collected but didn't. Jeez, hire a property manager, give them half. Still come out ahead. That's crazy.

Good grief, do you guys have no sense of history.
Do you imagine Wicker Park, like some urban Athena, sprung fully formed from the City's head and remained unchanged ever since.
In the 60's when the guy bought it and rented the apartments, Wicker Park had yet to weather the Division street riots, white flight and urban renewal.
By the 70's the neighborhood was in free fall and fighting for it's life.
Gentrification was decades away and even the artists wouldn't be around til the middle of the 80's.
And you fault him for not keeping up a bunch of apartments that might have rented for $50 and cost $75 to heat in the winter months

Ryanrule · #**28035** Posted **Mar 31, 2015, 6:29 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by johneboy96

Hahhahahah thats my friends brother.. and although i agree with you, he goes to my school and i find this a lil bit condescending

you hang out with terrible people.

pilsenarch · #**28036** Posted **Mar 31, 2015, 6:38 PM**

Yeah, I kinda consider that video, made by a minor son of that ward's challenger, a form of child abuse...

ChickeNES · #**28037** Posted **Mar 31, 2015, 7:57 PM**

According to Curbed the City is putting up the old Michael Reese site for auction. I'm curious to see who snatches it up.

munchymunch · #**28038** Posted **Mar 31, 2015, 7:59 PM**

I found and article saying that the Nuveen buiding is up for sale by Hines. Hopefully they can put that money back into Wolf Point.

OrdoSeclorum · #**28039** Posted **Apr 1, 2015, 5:01 AM**

Esquire Theater Sold for $176M

OK. Consider me baffled. I don't have a finance degree, but what possible use could this have for 1/9th the price of Willis/Sears? Even if they build a Hancock replica on that site, how is the land there worth nearly two-fifths of a billion dollars?

the urban politician · #**28040** Posted **Apr 1, 2015, 5:04 AM**

^ It's all about the revenue from leases, as well as expenses in maintenance, taxes, and utilities. You should be thinking $$ per square foot, not building size