CHICAGO | General Developments

[harryc]

April 24

cIMG_8429 by Harry Carmichael, on Flickr

May 1

cP1090473 by Harry Carmichael, on Flickr

cP1090477 by Harry Carmichael, on Flickr

cP1090576 by Harry Carmichael, on Flickr

[Randomguy34]

I'm still confused how Rush said this will finish in 2022 when they're already halfway to topping out. Does it take a full year for medical equipment to be installed?

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by Randomguy34

I'm still confused how Rush said this will finish in 2022 when they're already halfway to topping out. Does it take a full year for medical equipment to be installed?

Modern hospitals are incredibly complex infrastructure wise. The plumbing, electrical, and gas lines alone will take about twice as long as a normal project. Then consider the fact that it will have oxygen, suction, air lines, data, etc to every room plus a commercial kitchen for food service plus all the back of house functions of a hotel and you can start to understand what goes into a facility like this. I mean even the showers are wired with emergency buttons and every room has a bathroom and then a hand sink in the bedside area. There's more plumbing in a building like this than just about any other construction type.

The main Rush tower is even more awesome, it has all sorts of crazy capabilities like being able to make whole floors go negative pressure or convert to pandemic management wings. They actually built that building with exactly this Covid situation in mind. A friend of mine is actually a nurse on one of the Covid floors and would tell us for years about their epidemic preparedness drills and the magic abilities of the building. Now all of that capability is fully deployed. That's not something that is quick and easy to build.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

Modern hospitals are incredibly complex infrastructure wise. The plumbing, electrical, and gas lines alone will take about twice as long as a normal project. Then consider the fact that it will have oxygen, suction, air lines, data, etc to every room plus a commercial kitchen for food service plus all the back of house functions of a hotel and you can start to understand what goes into a facility like this. I mean even the showers are wired with emergency buttons and every room has a bathroom and then a hand sink in the bedside area. There's more plumbing in a building like this than just about any other construction type.

The main Rush tower is even more awesome, it has all sorts of crazy capabilities like being able to make whole floors go negative pressure or convert to pandemic management wings. They actually built that building with exactly this Covid situation in mind. A friend of mine is actually a nurse on one of the Covid floors and would tell us for years about their epidemic preparedness drills and the magic abilities of the building. Now all of that capability is fully deployed. That's not something that is quick and easy to build.

Except that this is not a hospital that they are building, unless I’m mistaken. It’s an ambulatory care center, which means it should not require quite as much of these things.

[maru2501]

where does that fit in with the large master plan over there?

[harryc]

May 30

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by maru2501

where does that fit in with the large master plan over there?

Just a small part - Rush is only one of three hospital systems in the IMD, and they're sort of a reluctant participant.

In fact, the IMD master plan never called for expansion east of Ashland - Rush just decided to do that because it was easier to kick tenants out of the apartment complex there and tear it down than it would be to shuffle departments around on the existing campus west of Ashland.

Also, I didn't realize they are building both a bridge over AND a tunnel under Ashland. I guess that explains the lane closures and pits they've been digging at Ashland/Harrison.

[sentinel]

Former Michael Reece site master plan is now online:

https://www.chicago.gov/content/dam/...ion_050420.pdf

[harryc]

May 1

318 N Carpenter by Harry Carmichael, on Flickr

[harryc]

May 1

Chicago | 345 N Morgan by Harry Carmichael, on Flickr

[harryc]

May 3

Chicago | Belmont / Sheridan by Harry Carmichael, on Flickr

Chicago | Belmont / Sheridan by Harry Carmichael, on Flickr

Chicago | Belmont / Sheridan by Harry Carmichael, on Flickr

[BuildThemTaller]

Wow that corner of Belmont and Southport looks great! It's a huge improvement over that suburban experience there just a few years ago with the drive-thru bank and strip mall-esque building on the northwest corner.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by BuildThemTaller

Wow that corner of Belmont and Southport looks great! It's a huge improvement over that suburban experience there just a few years ago with the drive-thru bank and strip mall-esque building on the northwest corner.

???

What “strip-mall-esque” building are you referring to?

[BuildThemTaller]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

???

What “strip-mall-esque” building are you referring to?

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.9397...7i13312!8i6656

There was a one-story building filled with suburban shops and restaurants, like Flattop Grill. There wasn't a parking lot, but it was seriously underutilized for the location. It always struck me as strip mall kind of space.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by BuildThemTaller

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.9397...7i13312!8i6656

There was a one-story building filled with suburban shops and restaurants, like Flattop Grill. There wasn't a parking lot, but it was seriously underutilized for the location. It always struck me as strip mall kind of space.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by BuildThemTaller

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.9397...7i13312!8i6656

There was a one-story building filled with suburban shops and restaurants, like Flattop Grill. There wasn't a parking lot, but it was seriously underutilized for the location. It always struck me as strip mall kind of space.

Usually we call these "taxpayer" buildings, and there's nothing wrong with them. In fact, I think they are a huge positive for the city since they provide cheap space for independent businesses and they do not waste any valuable space for parking. Seriously, look at past street view images and you can see a karate dojo, a knitting store, a burger/hotdog place, a dentist, a chiropractor, a hair salon, a Middle Eastern restaurant, and a pizza place. Flat Top is the only chain. Every other one is an independent business, in just one small building over a 10-year period.

The new building fills the intersection, which is nice I guess, but it only has one retail space which will likely sit vacant because the rent is too high, or lease out to a boring tenant like a bank. 2/3 of the ground floor is given over to indoor parking which is just an utter waste of space.

If you care about vibrant cities, then you need to look past appearances and focus on the function of buildings in the economy.

[BuildThemTaller]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Usually we call these "taxpayer" buildings, and there's nothing wrong with them. In fact, I think they are a huge positive for the city since they provide cheap space for independent businesses and they do not waste any valuable space for parking. Seriously, look at past street view images and you can see a karate dojo, a knitting store, a burger/hotdog place, a dentist, a chiropractor, a hair salon, a Middle Eastern restaurant, and a pizza place. Flat Top is the only chain. Every other one is an independent business, in just one small building over a 10-year period.

The new building fills the intersection, which is nice I guess, but it only has one retail space which will likely sit vacant because the rent is too high, or lease out to a boring tenant like a bank. 2/3 of the ground floor is given over to indoor parking which is just an utter waste of space.

If you care about vibrant cities, then you need to look past appearances and focus on the function of buildings in the economy.

I do care about the urban fabric and I respectfully disagree with your position. Should there be taxpayer buildings? Sure. But not at a major intersection like this. Context is key.

A one-story building up or down Southport is totally fine and fitting with the neighborhood. But that spot, across the corner from Schubas and walkable to many busy commercial corridors needed something more dense than a one-story building and a rotating collection of business that couldn't stay open for more than 3 months. You refer to banks as a boring tenant. We need banks, and local ones like Byline. I'd rather a trendy mom-and-pop shop or restaurant open up there, but those businesses need a bank nearby to survive. Maybe the rent was too high in that building?

[ardecila]

It's just a shame when we lose buildings like this. No new building can possibly deliver this kind of fine-grained, dense concentration of independent shops and businesses - at least, not without going full-on Singapore or Hong Kong and building a huge mall.

The ground floor of any new building in an American city gets eaten up for other uses; parking is the biggest, but even if you can do TOD and cut the parking you still need a trash room, mail room, bike storage, loading dock, fitness room, sprinkler room, electric closet, stairwells, etc.

If you can manage to squeeze one or two retail spaces in despite all that clutter, congratulations... now you've got to find tenants. But even if you want independent businesses, your bank or your investors are still gonna want to see certain rent levels and ideally a "national credit" tenant (i.e. a chain). The only independent businesses who can open in these places are those with A++ credit scores, deep pockets and moneybags investors of their own. Forget about minority or immigrant-owned businesses. Jane Jacobs had it right when she said new ideas need old buildings... not just any old building, but those that can be rented at low rates with few limitations and used in a flexible way.

Also, turnover is to be expected with places like this, and it's not a bad thing. Businesses either succeed and move on to bigger/better spaces, or fail and clear space for the next new idea. Having that first rung on the ladder for new businesses is important, but it seems like a lot of neighborhoods have wiped out the first three rungs entirely.

[Darude_Sandstorm]

Originally Posted by bcp

As far as strip malls go in Chicago..I'll take that old one anytime over the inverted version (an L shape with parking in the front and curb cuts...barf)

I'd post a link but we all know them too well

Well said.

[harryc]

May 2

Chicago | 7152 W North by Harry Carmichael, on Flickr

Chicago | 7152 W North by Harry Carmichael, on Flickr