CHICAGO | Marriott Marquis McCormick Place | 444' | 40 FLOORS - Page 12

BVictor1 · #**221** Posted **Jun 3, 2014, 4:54 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardecila

Screw the skybridge. I hate those things. All it would do is turn Cermak into an attractive but deserted auto sewer. We need pedestrian activity on the street, not all-weather connections.

For the tower I was referring to, any skybridge would have been across Indiana as the McHugh proposal is west of MP.

harryc · #**222** Posted **Jun 5, 2014, 12:24 AM**

Site for new data center

This could be landmarked as the worst reclad in the city.

This is what will be preserved [edit] wrong block - wrong project.

hawainpanda · #**223** Posted **Jun 18, 2014, 8:31 PM**

Has this project been cancelled? Why is it listed as cancelled in the diagram link?

thewaterman11 · #**224** Posted **Jun 19, 2014, 3:53 AM**

^ This project is very much alive. It's quite strange that the diagram maker would think it's been canceled; Rahm is really banking on making that whole area north of McCormick Place into a destination for business travelers and even more conventions, and this hotel plays a huge role in that.

brian_b · #**225** Posted **Jul 7, 2014, 2:32 PM**

All open land on the arena block has had fencing (with mesh to reduce visibility / catch dust) up for a few weeks. I noticed this weekend that a construction trailer is now on site - not sure how long it's been there. But over the last week or so, vehicles have been parked inside the fenced off area during the day. I suspect that it is prep work for moving the Rees house, which I think was scheduled to happen at the end of this month.

I also noticed that the old building at the southeast corner had a sign up saying no public parking - which has been its sole function for years. I'm not sure if that was just for this weekend, however. But I suspect that perhaps it is serving as a parking structure for prep workers.

If my memory serves, demolition on the hotel block also begins this month - I think the data center folks want to start ASAP but I haven't seen any visible activity yet.

LouisVanDerWright · #**226** Posted **Jul 7, 2014, 4:46 PM**

Can we change this thread title to include the Arena and Data Center? This is like a mini little LA Live and we should probably have a single thread for all these components.

stevevance · #**227** Posted **Jul 13, 2014, 11:56 PM**

It looks like there's some more movement. The Harriet F. Rees House at 2110 S. Prairie Ave. is going to be moved. A building permit was issued July 11 to remove the front porch and curb, store it nearby, in preparation for the whole house move. The Rees house has been landmarked since 2012 and is also on the National Register of Historic Places.

The image is from the Cook County Property Info website.

ardecila · #**228** Posted **Jul 14, 2014, 12:26 AM**

Glad to see that moving forward. It's a shame they couldn't do that for the interlocking tower at River Point.

brian_b · #**229** Posted **Jul 24, 2014, 4:57 PM**

Not sure if this was mentioned in another section, but the Rees house is now scheduled to be moved on Aug 22.

BVictor1 · #**230** Posted **Aug 20, 2014, 5:26 AM**

XIII · #**231** Posted **Aug 20, 2014, 7:06 AM**

So...
Shorter and with a fraction of the interesting design features. This got value engineered to hell.

Make no little plans, I guess...

UPChicago · #**232** Posted **Aug 20, 2014, 4:05 PM**

Looks much shorter than 576 Ft.

SamInTheLoop · #**233** Posted **Aug 20, 2014, 4:19 PM**

For anyone who attended the meeting last night - was an expected construction start date given for either the hotel or the event center? I had noticed that in the past several weeks, both projects were soliciting bids on Walsh's site (surprise, surprise - Walsh lined-up to be landing very large public/quasi-public agency projects).........preliminary work to begin late this year? Or not until early 2015??

wierdaaron · #**234** Posted **Aug 20, 2014, 4:47 PM**

Handoff April-May 2017.

ChiTownWonder · #**235** Posted **Aug 20, 2014, 6:20 PM**

On the bright side it seems like it will look good at night

r18tdi · #**236** Posted **Aug 20, 2014, 8:57 PM**

Redesign shown in the latest rendering stinks.

J_M_Tungsten · #**237** Posted **Aug 20, 2014, 9:17 PM**

Idk, I actually think it looks nice. Yea, shorter, but it's the South Loop; barely. It should help to increase foot traffic and connect the 18th-and-south area better with the north. During large events at least.

It was an interesting move to change the main facing outer walls. A lot of people are going to have amazing lake views or west views. The corners on the north end are going to have some unbeatable views of the city, the lake, and the expansive west. I believe the old location had the main walls facing north and south. A lot more city, lake, and west views.

lu9 · #**238** Posted **Aug 20, 2014, 10:12 PM**

I'll reserve judgement until I see a better rendering.. but for now it looks to me like it belongs on the Vegas strip, maybe in City Center...

Yorkie · #**239** Posted **Aug 21, 2014, 12:52 AM**

..Holy "crap" that does stink!!..

Ch.G, Ch.G · #**240** Posted **Aug 21, 2014, 2:11 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by BVictor1

The images above were taken by me of the renderings presented.

Gensler is the architect of the tower.

I know someone(s?) expressed their belief (in retrospect, maybe it was hope mistaken as belief?) that these renderings were mostly meant to convey the design's massing. Nope. It says something, though, that the design is so bland that it can be confused for a massing model.

In light of the news, I think ardecila's comment is worthy of reposting:

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardecila

Yeah, this new hotel design sucks and reeks of value engineering. It's like theWit's bigger, dumbed-down Vegas cousin.

So accurate.

This is disappointing; Gensler is capable of good stuff. The initial design held so much promise. I'm sure value engineering played a role, but I don't think Gensler deserves a pass: it really looks like they just gave up.