CHICAGO | 655 W Monroe Street | 36 FLOORS | FT

[Ahoi]

655 W Monroe Street. Rendering by HOK and Juan Gabriel Moreno Architects

https://chicagoyimby.com/2022/06/joh...loop-gate.html

[Ahoi]

https://chicagoyimby.com/2022/07/com...loop-gate.html

[Randomguy34]

From the highrise thread

Originally Posted by Klippenstein

I couldn’t find this video anywhere else.

655 Madison has a snazzy new video on the John Buck Company twitter.
https://twitter.com/thejohnbuckco/st...VDcRRLAxdBMnRw

[rivernorthlurker]

Originally Posted by Randomguy34

From the highrise thread

Awesome vid. I really like this project. I'm especially hoping that it can be a catalyst for more development in the area as it's perfectly situated in a weird dead zone that's walking distance to both the Loop and Fulton Market.

[gebs]

Originally Posted by rivernorthlurker

Awesome vid. I really like this project. I'm especially hoping that it can be a catalyst for more development in the area as it's perfectly situated in a weird dead zone that's walking distance to both the Loop and Fulton Market.

Spot on. I work not far from here and the walk to Fulton Market is so boring.

[thegoatman]

it's a dead zone because of the Kennedy. The further away you get from highways in this city the more vibrant it is.

[gebs]

Well, the image above shows why. There's a huge swath where there's a vacant lot to the west (the lot in question) and Presidential Towers' parking slab to the east.

[left of center]

Nice! Let's box in the Presidential Towers so they cannot visually harm anyone's views anymore!

Originally Posted by thegoatman

it's a dead zone because of the Kennedy. The further away you get from highways in this city the more vibrant it is.

Another reason why decking over the Kennedy, even partially, would be a great idea. Simply reducing the traffic noise and smell of exhaust would do wonders for the immediate area.

[ithakas]

I noticed this plan to cap a block of the Kennedy, which appears to be connected to this development (though perhaps not still in the plans):

https://www.esadesign.com/portfolio/madison-park/

Obviously this would be a great improvement over what's there, but I wonder if this patchwork approach might prevent a more cohesive Kennedy Cap in the future.

[BrinChi]

Originally Posted by ithakas

I noticed this plan to cap a block of the Kennedy, which appears to be connected to this development (though perhaps not still in the plans):

https://www.esadesign.com/portfolio/madison-park/

Obviously this would be a great improvement over what's there, but I wonder if this patchwork approach might prevent a more cohesive Kennedy Cap in the future.

Wow had no idea this was in the works, and I hope it's a serious proposal! While doing more than one block would be ideal, it's better to do this for one block and see how it turns out. Hopefully it's a success and a catalyst for more in the near future!

[Randomguy34]

Frustrating to see that the rampways would be kept. Visually it's an improvement, functionally this isolates the park rather than integrates it with the street level

[Handro]

Originally Posted by ithakas

I noticed this plan to cap a block of the Kennedy, which appears to be connected to this development (though perhaps not still in the plans):

https://www.esadesign.com/portfolio/madison-park/

Obviously this would be a great improvement over what's there, but I wonder if this patchwork approach might prevent a more cohesive Kennedy Cap in the future.

Maybe a block at a time is the only way to conceivably get this done.

But this looks like more of a design exercise than part of an actual proposal?

[ardecila]

Great, another podium park isolated from street level, just like BMO Tower or River Point. This is not a neighborhood park, it is a corporate front yard. At least it seems to meet the street on the Monroe side.

I guess this could work if they also do the block north of Madison, and bring the park back down to street level at Washington. Then put a pair of pedestrian bridges over Madison.

[kolchak]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Great, another podium park isolated from street level, just like BMO Tower or River Point. This is not a neighborhood park, it is a corporate front yard. At least it seems to meet the street on the Monroe side.

I guess this could work if they also do the block north of Madison, and bring the park back down to street level at Washington. Then put a pair of pedestrian bridges over Madison.

I have been to the park at River Point several times and I really love it. Access isn't all that hard. I have also seen a lot of tourists there.

[left of center]

Not sure how else they could do this without a podium, given that the on/off ramps still need to exist. They could have the park street level, but then you would have frequent gashes in the park space in order to accommodate the ramps.

Certainly we could get rid of some of the ramps (there are on/off ramps for almost every block in a 5 block stretch between Lake and Adams), but that might cause some pretty bad traffic backups during rush periods that IDOT would want to avoid.

[left of center]

Originally Posted by Toasty Joe

Good. Seems the only way cities can get ambitious transit proposals to become reality these days is for traffic to get bad enough (Seattle, LA, etc). If you choose to drive downtown, you risk the traffic that comes with it, just as transit riders risk delays, ghost buses & trains, etc.

And theoretically, if downtown becomes less hospitable to cars, more people will utilize our (currently underutilized) transit and/or choose to live in areas that are well-served by existing transit, creating more pressure for new transit options.

I don't disagree, but keep in mind the city is trying very hard to get people back into downtown, after 2.5 years of partial/full WFH. I doubt there is much political appetite to make driving into the city more difficult for these suburban office workers.

Ideally, we would want that additional transit capacity to already be in place already before we start the much needed work of removing excess highway ramps/infrastructure from the core.

[ithakas]

Originally Posted by Toasty Joe

If they're serious about getting people downtown again, city leadership should prioritize removing/capping infrastructure between the Loop and two of our cities greatest assets: the lake and West Loop (one of the hottest neighborhoods in NA right now with no signs of stopping). If this building helps move that agenda forward, that'd be a success despite its blandness as a structure. Commuters aren't going to save downtown, Chicagoans are.

Agreed. The city should already be pushing to build a street level Kennedy cap park that encompasses multiple blocks and removes some of the mid-block highway ramps that are dangerous for pedestrians (and frankly, were designed when there was a fraction of the foot traffic).

I know it's somewhat wishful thinking given that we can't even get traffic lights installed north of Fulton Market, but I think it would become a sort of Millennium Park west just by virtue of its location, even without the Gehry or Plensa accoutrement.

Can we get some of that infrastructure bill money?

[left of center]

Originally Posted by ithakas

Can we get some of that infrastructure bill money?

IL will get a good amount for sure, but it would be a heck of a lot easier if the state had a lot of transit matching funds already in place. We may get passed up for project funding by other states who already have their portion of funding ready to go.

[ardecila]

Don’t get rid of ramps, combine them. Instead of direct ramps to every street, build a surface 4-lane boulevard on part of the cap like they did over the Big Dig in Boston. Everybody gets off at one larger ramp and proceeds at grade to whichever street they want to turn on.

[moorhosj1]

Originally Posted by left of center

IL will get a good amount for sure, but it would be a heck of a lot easier if the state had a lot of transit matching funds already in place. We may get passed up for project funding by other states who already have their portion of funding ready to go.

Did the massive Illinois Infrastructure bill not put these funds into place? If I remember, the $45 billion spending plan was only for 6 years. That means the new funds (from gas tax and other vehicle fees) should be available for matching other projects around 2025.

Is it the difference between "infrastructure funds" and "transit funds" that puts us behind?

https://www2.illinois.gov/cdb/Pages/...Spotlight.aspx