CHICAGO | General Developments

[Chi-Sky21]

Surprised they did not put a light up apple logo in the roof. 8)

[harryc]

A rehab to boutique hotel IIRC
Apr 18


before


after

[BVictor1]

Apple Store

04/21/17

[denizen467]

^ Hmm, it's like somebody crossed a drone with a garden hose ... there's got to be some money in that idea ...

[Randomguy34]

More renderings of the Woodlawn Station, which broke ground on Wednesday, from ArchPaper:




Source: ArchPaper.com

[SolarWind]

October 28, 2016



April 24, 2017

[Randomguy34]

Like Englewood, Bronzeville, Woodlawn gets new grocer: Jewel-Osco

Maudlyne Ihejirika 04/24/2017, 09:11pm

Like many residents of the Woodlawn community on the South Side, Lola Gray has waited a long time to see the community come back up — 19 years, in her case. And on Tuesday, when the city is expected to announce it has lured a new Jewel-Osco grocery store to fill the long-blighted area of 61st and Cottage Grove — further eradicating city food deserts — she’ll be saying, “Hallelujah.”

The 40,000-square-foot grocery with a drive-thru pharmacy is expected to open in late 2018, in an example of the kind of redevelopment radiating in close proximity to the Obama Presidential Center to be built just south of Woodlawn in Jackson Park.
....
The new grocery store targeted for this community, which has long suffered disinvestment, follows the arrival last fall of major grocery chains in two similar communities: Englewood, which saw the historic opening of a new Whole Foods store at 63rd and Halsted, and Bronzeville, which saw Mariano’s open at Pershing Road and King Drive.
....
And a lot has been going on. Emanuel and U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., on Monday announced conceptual plans to revitalize and renovate CTA’s 63rd and Cottage Grove Green Line station and its surrounding area, with visual, architectural and lighting treatments. And last week, Emanuel and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., celebrated the ground breaking for Woodlawn Station, a four-story, mixed-use, mixed-income housing development going up adjacent to the L station. It’s being built with $30.5 million from the federal Choice Neighborhood Grant Fund that helped leverage more than $400 million in private sector investment. It’s a program President Donald Trump seeks to eliminate in his budget blueprint.

http://chicago.suntimes.com/news/lik...er-jewel-osco/

[ardecila]

Go figure... you give a grocery chain a big piece of city-owned land across the street from a major university, and they take the bait? Some shrewd deal-making going on at City Hall... I wonder if they even bothered to charge some rent to Jewel?

Also a little misleading, considering this land was originally part of the failed Grove Parc complex and could have been used to provide more social housing.

Still, a grocery store is probably a good addition to the area.

[LouisVanDerWright]

^^^ Is Jewel paying taxes? Then there should be no issue with the city handing out land for free. Land in Woodlawn isn't exactly going for a premium. What would the city get for this land? Maybe a couple hundred thousand dollars? The tax revenues from sales tax and property tax would probably cover that in a year or at most three or four. That's a pretty good ROI given the economic development, jobs, and intangibles like one less vacant lot, one less food desert, multiplier effects on surrounding demand for redevelopment, etc.

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

^^^ Is Jewel paying taxes? Then there should be no issue with the city handing out land for free. Land in Woodlawn isn't exactly going for a premium. What would the city get for this land? Maybe a couple hundred thousand dollars? The tax revenues from sales tax and property tax would probably cover that in a year or at most three or four. That's a pretty good ROI given the economic development, jobs, and intangibles like one less vacant lot, one less food desert, multiplier effects on surrounding demand for redevelopment, etc.

Completely agree. Plus there is plenty of "social housing" being built in the area.

[left of center]

Great news! Its good to see development jumping south across the midway into Woodlawn.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by left of center

Great news! Its good to see development jumping south across the midway into Woodlawn.

There's actually been new developments in Woodlawn in the last year or so. A few actual developments, a few small multi unit buildings, and a few single family home. Check out the new construction map in my signature to see

[SolarWind]

April 24, 2017

[KWILLSKYLINE]

^^^ I really hope they do something unique and well lit with the apple and riverwalk lighting.

[denizen467]

On the subject of global-caliber flagships ...


Starbucks Roastery coming to Chicago's Magnificent Mile in 2019

Starbucks plans to open a four-level Roastery flagship on Michigan Avenue, its largest space yet for the high-end concept that the coffee giant is rolling out around the world. Executive Chairman Howard Schultz said the company plans to bring its Starbucks Reserve Roastery showplace to the current Crate & Barrel building at Michigan Avenue and Erie Street in 2019.

...

"It's not a coffee store, the essence of it is the theater and romance and something so experiential," Schultz said. Schultz first had the idea for the Roastery stores in August 2009, when he wrote about a plan to create "the Willy Wonka of coffee."

...

At 43,000 square feet, Chicago's is the largest among six Roastery emporiums that Starbucks has announced. The size will eclipse a planned 30,000-square-foot space in China, which had been the largest one announced to date. It will be the third Roastery in the United States, following one that opened in Starbucks' hometown of Seattle in December 2014 and another expected to open in New York in 2018. Roastery stores are set to open in Shanghai this year and in Milan and Tokyo in 2018, the company said.

Schultz said the Chicago Roastery's final design is still being worked out, but he teased what could be a major feature. "The store gives us an opportunity to do something very dramatic with the escalator that will fit with the Willy Wonka theme," Schultz said. ...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...425-story.html

(Hopefully people are already past the shock of C&B leaving, given news stories from the past year or so.) (But I wonder if the Italians will ever get over the shock of Starbucks doing a roastery store in Milan...)

[KWILLSKYLINE]

^^^^^Starbucks^^^^^

At least there's one shop New York doesn't have to one-up us at.

[the urban politician]

What's with the Willy Wonka theme? Will there be Oompa Loompas?

[ithakas]

Four floors of beans and every last one of them will taste burnt, smdh.

I'm glad the building's being saved though! I wonder if Crate & Barrel will end up with another downtown store further west, or maybe even on State?

[ChiHi]

^^^ I guess at least it's not another cell phone mega store again. Figured T-Mobile or Sprint were due up next to further ruin the Mag Mile.

[ardecila]

Doubtful that Crate&Barrel will set up another store. (Although they would be a natural fit near the Merchandise Mart or even in Fulton Market.)

Basically the furniture industry is bifurcating between IKEA (and maybe a handful of other discounters) and high-end semi-custom stuff. .As the middle class has dwindled, there is just less demand for the kind of well-made, mid-priced furniture they used to buy.

Still, it will suck to A) lose one of Chicago's iconic brands from the Mag Mile, and B) to have the landmark-quality building marred by Starbucks' additions. That store is a clear descendant of both Sullivan's Carson Pirie Scott and various buildings by Richard Meier. Even 25 years after construction, it still feels fresh.