CHICAGO | General Developments

[aaron38]

^^^Whats that going in next door to Flats, on the left?

[Fvn]

Originally Posted by aaron38

^^^Whats that going in next door to Flats, on the left?

The Bentham
https://www.benthamchicago.com/

[aaron38]

How does that meet the party wall? What a misleading rendering.

[emathias]

Just because of the discussion about gentrification and River North, I thought I'd mention there's a 1969 film named A Dream of Kings, starring Anthony Quinn set in Chicago and about a Greek family that lives in River North, depicted in the film as pretty rough around the edges. The main family lived in a flat that seemed to be about where the current Walgrees at Clark and Ontario is. Additional location shooting was in the Fulton/West Loop area and in Edgewater.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by aaron38

^^^Whats that going in next door to Flats, on the left?

Originally Posted by Fvn

The Bentham
https://www.benthamchicago.com/

Originally Posted by aaron38

How does that meet the party wall? What a misleading rendering.

Which "left"? Which rendering? It would be helpful if you used cardinal directions instead of relative directions.

The Bentham isn't yet under construction. I'm not sure what you're actually asking about.

[the urban politician]

Has anyone posted this yet?

https://chicago.curbed.com/2018/1/31...pment-woodlawn

I really like how the city is partnering up with developers to promote TOD around the Cottage Grove/63rd St stop.

If successful, this can show us that TOD does not necessarily lead to gentrification. And that could be a win politically for continuing to promote it.

[Mr Downtown]

^Did you link the story you meant to? No mention of the city in the linked story. Also no mention of TOD or of residential units—much less of how "gentrification" will be prevented. In fact, reading between the lines, it's doubtful the building can even be saved without a huge public subsidy.

And "gentrification" is something your sig championed as the hope of the cities just last week.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by Mr Downtown

^Did you link the story you meant to? No mention of the city in the linked story. Also no mention of TOD or of residential units—much less of how "gentrification" will be prevented. In fact, reading between the lines, it's doubtful the building can even be saved without a huge public subsidy.

And "gentrification" is something your sig championed as the hope of the cities just last week.

I did, but I was also referencing other developments around this same L stop by POAH, which includes a TOD.

I'm assuming the city is in support of all this because you can't get much done in this town without the local Alderman's backing

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by Mr Downtown

And "gentrification" is something your sig championed as the hope of the cities just last week.

This is correct. Gentrification is a wonderful thing. Where did you get the idea that I, personally, changed my mind about that?

[Jibba]

Originally Posted by harryc

Jan 30

Granted, this is Marriott doing their best au courant architecture, but the outcome isn't bad. The palette of grays among the various materials could be more harmonious, but the big grids of large windows sit nicely on top of the two stories of brick (and the wraparound window detail is nice), and the double-height common space will have a nice glow at night that will be a welcome beacon of human activity on that stretch of LaSalle.

[ardecila]

Yeah, I really like the way this one came together. It's just simple and handsome, especially the large panels in the windowless area (Trespa?). I'm guessing the construction cost was pretty low by downtown standards, too, judging by the cinder-block core and the fast timeline.

Would like to see more buildings in this vein.

[LouisVanDerWright]

I was also going to complement this little hotel. That's how midrises should look, not the ground floor parking condo crap we see in the West Loop.

I really like how it buries the Midas in the middle of the block which will essentially destroy that parcel's viability for auto oriented business. It's amazing how much auto oriented business feeds on itself, without large open vistas, all of the sudden that Midas disappears into the background and becomes much more difficult for their customers to locate. At a certain point I feel like these changes snowball and become self perpetuating. That will ultimately be what collapses the remaining auto-oriented bubble of McDonalds, Portillos, Gas Station, Rainforest, and Hardrock. At some point it will be so hemmed in that people will stop driving there as a destination and those businesses will be forced out.

[Rizzo]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Yeah, I really like the way this one came together. It's just simple and handsome, especially the large panels in the windowless area (Trespa?). I'm guessing the construction cost was pretty low by downtown standards, too, judging by the cinder-block core and the fast timeline.

Would like to see more buildings in this vein.

Any time I see facade substrates with rigid Fiberglas insulation, I’m a bit more hopeful in facade design that something nice will be over it, vs someone specifying some off the shelf complete system....precast, window walls, sandwich panels.

[Mr Downtown]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

I really like how it buries the Midas in the middle of the block which will essentially destroy that parcel's viability for auto oriented business.

Do you think auto owners are too stupid to use the phone book (or modern electronic equivalent) when they need to find a muffler shop?

[Swicago Swi Sox]

Originally Posted by Mr Downtown

Do you think auto owners are too stupid to use the phone book (or modern electronic equivalent) when they need to find a muffler shop?

I had to use that Midas the other day (sputtering + check engine light on my way into work) and used the aforementioned modern electronic equivalent to find it. I did notice that they will need to re-work their sign due to this new building, as now it awkwardly hidden. Anyway, they were very nice and the price was not as horrible as I expected given the lack of options in the area...

[moorhosj]

Originally Posted by Mr Downtown

Do you think auto owners are too stupid to use the phone book (or modern electronic equivalent) when they need to find a muffler shop?

Then why do any stores have signs?

[Mr Downtown]

^So you can find them when you get close.

[The Lurker]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

I'm assuming the city is in support of all this because you can't get much done in this town without the local Alderman's backing

You mean the local alderman's hacking

[KWillChicago]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Yeah, I really like the way this one came together. It's just simple and handsome, especially the large panels in the windowless area (Trespa?). I'm guessing the construction cost was pretty low by downtown standards, too, judging by the cinder-block core and the fast timeline.

Would like to see more buildings in this vein.

Agreed. I just wish they would have bought out that ugly Midas next to it and extended the building longer. I wish more gas stations and crap stores in the city would follow this hotel. Those large windows are boss. I'd like to see one of these at a corner of halsted and randolph.

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by Mr Downtown

Do you think auto owners are too stupid to use the phone book (or modern electronic equivalent) when they need to find a muffler shop?

Do you think that every customer finds this store via smartphone or do you think some non zero portion of their clientele is only aware that such services even exist downtown because of the sign? Im 29 and I've never googled "muffler shop" or "oil change". I go to a jiffy lube by my house because I saw it once and now I always go there. If it weren't in an auto sewer hell hole where I could see the sign like half a mile away I probably would have gone somewhere else.