Could you fill me in a bit on the K station project. So is this project in the west Loop neighborhood? Are they building a complete cap over the highway similar to what occured in Columbus?

 

K-Station is actually in the Fulton River Neighborhood which is directly west of River North...though just south of what's normally considered the WL.  The cap over the freeway was built quite a long time ago.  For awhile, they've just parked trailers and equipment over top of it.  What they are doing now is cantilevering parts of the building over the cap to join up with the Halsted viaduct.

 

K-Station...or Kinzie Station is a huge complex of buildings by the same developer, all of varying style, size and height, and residential type.  The project also includes some retail and a full grocery store. 

 

These buildings have been elevated in future anticipation of Chicago getting light rail

 

Future Light Rail ROW

 

If it weren't for the fencing or gates, you could almost walk all the way to Navy Pier through the basements of these buildings Hopefully someday they'll build it.

 

I've received development news from my Alderman on continuing conversion of Esquire Theater and tear down / rebuild of two neighboring properties.  The two walkups it will replace are interesting in some ways...architecturally not that great since they've long been stripped of their character.  So as long as Oak Street maintains a balance between new and old structures, I think the replacement option will be ok.  Just don't make it a habit.

 

New renderings released

http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=fn8xeqcab&v=001Xj-HQOIjbAU1LdUSLg7GFRFJnIg4Mkch_nvzPk74DZfJG2C-rtey7Xrm0T_TU88Zk3amAM7-SKMpGI3tXLSR8BsZ7QEx179Nj_NmITrqYho%3D

Wow, I haven't followed the construction of Coast in a while and it is looking fabulous. It's amazing how good it's bare concrete structure looks. I love how simple it appears in the renderings. Behind Aqua I'm expecting this to be my favorite tower in LSE. Hopefully I'll be able to get back to Chicago soon and check all these projects out. It has been nearly three years which is way too long.

Thanks for checking out the thread!  I love Coast too. It's unbelievable how fast it's moving.

 

 

Photos from Sunday

 

500 N LSD

 

Tri-Hotel

 

 

AMLI

 

 

 

 

 

K-Station

Here's some quick phone pics from today

 

Ronald McDonald and Optima

The white building being renovated to the left is part of the construction too...obviously to preserve side views for as long as the highrise is standing.

 

 

 

 

Coast and a television filming(?)

 

Bonus

Coast at LSE / The New East Side

 

AMLI River North

Could you fill me in a bit on the K station project. So is this project in the west Loop neighborhood? Are they building a complete cap over the highway similar to what occured in Columbus?

 

K-Station is actually in the Fulton River Neighborhood which is directly west of River North...though just south of what's normally considered the WL.  The cap over the freeway was built quite a long time ago.  For awhile, they've just parked trailers and equipment over top of it.  What they are doing now is cantilevering parts of the building over the cap to join up with the Halsted viaduct.

 

K-Station...or Kinzie Station is a huge complex of buildings by the same developer, all of varying style, size and height, and residential type.  The project also includes some retail and a full grocery store. 

 

These buildings have been elevated in future anticipation of Chicago getting light rail

 

Future Light Rail ROW

 

If it weren't for the fencing or gates, you could almost walk all the way to Navy Pier through the basements of these buildings Hopefully someday they'll build it.

 

 

NorthAndre, there used to be a rail line operated by the Chicago North Western Railway which, essentially, ran along the north bank of the river.  It crossed the North Branch and went under the Merchandise Mart-providing direct access for freight.  There was a small yard, known as "State Street yard" underneath the IBM building.  The tracks continued under the Sun-Times building where boxcars of newsprint were spotted for unloading.  The tracks also went under Michigan Avenue on the north side of the Wrigley building.  They continued past the south side of the base of the Tribune Tower and of course there was a siding there when the Trib was printed on site.  The line terminated out on Navy Pier but also served North Pier on its way and ran down the right of way of Illinois street on its way there. 

 

I can't help but wonder if there is some vertical easement by which buildings built above this former RR ROW must abide.  Perhaps Union Pacific, the corporate successor to the CNW still owns the Right of Way in order to be able to cash in on selling air rights for new development.

^ I'm pretty sure the city owns ROW now.  It wouldn't make much sense for the rail companies to continue holding onto that land since it's becomes a liability at that point and has no future in freight.  There's been RFPs as recent as 2010 but no further action...or it's just been shelved for now.  The Kinzie Street Railroad bridge still does have operational capacity despite that its controls and drive mechanics have been decommissioned.  Since it's a city landmark, it should see continuing inspections and maintenance when critical.

 

Here's a shot of 500 N. LSD.  I would have gone outside to take this, but it was too damn cold

 

I can see a tiny sliver of my office.  LOL

It's like front and center lol

Northandre not to bring this off topic but really quickly... what kind of camera do you use?  your night pictures are amazing! 

I use a Nikon D7000 and then other times my iphone.  But I get around to many of these places on my longboard, so it's kind of risky to carry the D7000.

 

Here's a shot from today of 500 N LSD.  Compare and contrast to the picture above

Oak Street Mall directory updated with the Esquire Theater info part of the package.  Looks fantastic!!  I took photos of the progress on Friday and I'll try to get them posted.

 

http://cwchicagoretail.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/EsquireTheatre-APRIL-19l.pdf

So long parking lots!! Make way for towers!!

 

625 W Adams & 645 W Madison

CurbedChicago

Here's how the glass on Coast is shaping up.  Kind of like Aqua, though the balcony railings are supposed to be glass so this should look pretty sharp.

 

 

 

360 Hubbard Still doing foundation work

 

Here's what 360 Hubbard will look like

http://chicago.curbed.com/archives/2011/10/06/rendering-for-360-w-hubbard.php

 

Optima Chicago has gotten above the double decked portion of Illinois

 

And here's what optima will look like

http://chicago.curbed.com/archives/2011/11/10/david-hoveys-streeterville-debut.php

I'm diggin' all that new stuff.

Thanks Chris.

 

Blommer Chocolate Factory plans expansion.  More surface lots wiped out!!

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chi-blommer-chocolate-hosts-firstever-press-tour-talks-expansion-20120509,0,6393538.story

Chicago's worst freeway interchange gets a study for rebuild.

 

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-04-23/news/chi-circle-interchange-reconstruction-idot_1_circle-interchange-study-aecom

 

This interchange would require a challenging redesign.  It could benefit from two lane ramps, and shallower curves.  The best way is to probably build a huge stacked, converging interchange so that you get very large turning radii.  Knock out the Morgan exit ramps and shift them to Aberdean which will be a busier commercial street in coming years.  Hopefully the Circle Interchange project would justify the CTA rebuilding or renovating the Halsted Station which looks pretty sad right now.

 

What the hell, I've done nothing to update this thread lately and there's been tons of construction excitement and proposals!  All the last updates show the buildings all squatty!  Time to make my rounds.

 

Here's some phone shots of K-Station the other day

 

 

Quite a dramatic effect driving up the Kennedy, should be better when its done.  Working the Fulton river area I kind of wish more of the Kennedy next to the Loop was capped though.

 

That and the light rail to Navy pier would be nice, this whole part of town is really disconnected from a lot of stuff.

I had to go inspect a project site the other day.  Couldn't help but take some pics out the windows.

 

Coast of Lakeshore East Dev

 

500 N LSD

 

Optima Chicago

It's got more podiums than an IKEA!

Such is the case in a city with high numbers of car ownership.  They all got to be stored somewhere.  Developers seem to love that they can get that extra height as opposed to under ground construction.  The city requires way more parking in these buildings that is needed.  For the high cost of parking downtown, there's a huge supply of empty spaces.. entire floors of parking decks...that are empty.

I believe it. 

Demolition as part of a major overhaul of the Wilson Station in Uptown.  The project will cost $200 million.  Expanded space for business and wider platforms and new track configurations and additional exit / entrance to Sunnyside for Target and Aldi.

 

Demolition of buildings beneath the tracks should begin early next spring.

 

Existing Station House

 

What the new Station house will look like:

glenviewcreek.com

Hey NorthAndre--

 

I'm interested in your (and other Chicagoans') impressions of the new Ronald McDonald House.  I saw a few pictures of it a page back but wonder how it fits with the neighborhood now that it's open. 

 

I know that chunk of Grand was a little gritty and run down, sandwiched between the Navy Pier stuff and Michigan Ave, so I wonder if the development of this House has helped bridge that.  I've heard an insider report that the new House is beautiful, but looking for a citizen's view of it.

Hey NorthAndre--

 

I'm interested in your (and other Chicagoans') impressions of the new Ronald McDonald House.  I saw a few pictures of it a page back but wonder how it fits with the neighborhood now that it's open. 

 

I know that chunk of Grand was a little gritty and run down, sandwiched between the Navy Pier stuff and Michigan Ave, so I wonder if the development of this House has helped bridge that.  I've heard an insider report that the new House is beautiful, but looking for a citizen's view of it.

 

Overall I'm happy with it. It's no marvel of architecture but it shouldn't be expected. Its purpose is to provide a comforting environment to the families inside and not draw attention to the outside. However the warm red brick was a welcome splash of color in a neighborhood full of glass towers.

 

I should also point out they have control over the next door properties. They've essentially preserved the last shreds of fine grain commercial activity in Streeterville. I think that deserves a huge applause but I'm not sure many people care or have ever noticed.

 

I think the biggest issue on grand is building the plaza deck and new stairs. Right now the city is arguing with private building owners over who should repair double decked sidewalks. Seems like no one wants to claim responsibility.

^^^I always thought that if uptown could get its act together (with the new alderman) the spot where the Popeyes is would make a great spot for a bar. 

Hmmm, I don't really picture a bar scene on that particular stretch of few blocks.  Further up toward the Uptown theater...yes.  But the Wilson station is in an area with a retail vibe.  The addition of Target and Aldi reinforce that commercial spirit.  Considering this structure will be linked to the main station house, it will probably be fast food or grocery store related.

Formerly Known as Waterview is now 111 West Wacker.  The tower was originally supposed to be 1040' at 90 floors but work stopped and the construction kept the building skeleton frozen at 27 floors.  It was legally declared "abandoned" shortly later.  The structure is intact and undamaged, but will require modifications for an entirely new design.  Here's what the new design will look like.  As of this week, construction work will finally return to this site.

 

Related Midwest

 

Waterview back when it had a crane on top.  The city threatened to sue concerned the crane could collapse any day and it was eventually removed.

I dig it.

Considering that I live here I probably should be posting in this thread a bit more often ;-).

 

I just learned that a new 11 story building is coming in at the Polish Triangle on Division street where historically there was a grand old theater, but more recently it has been a Pizza Hut.  Walgreens tried to develop the site into a suburban style store, but the community pushed back and this is what's coming in its place:

 

http://www.wickerparkbucktown.info/content-arts/11-story-development-ashland-division-wicker-park?A=SearchResult&SearchID=2879061&ObjectID=5120298&ObjectType=35

 

http://news.eastvillagechicago.org/2012/03/pizza-hut-no-more-division-ashlands-new.html

 

Kind of an ugly building, though the 11 story mural on the west side is really cool.  I hope that this is just the thing that the Polish triangle needs to be revitalized - while the neighborhood is decent its surprisingly dead for the intensity of the district - its kind of a quiet counterpart to the 6 way intersection at Damen/Milwaukee/North a few blocks to the northwest.  Note how parking is handled.

Thanks for the update.  As far as I'm aware, construction on Pizza Hut Tower began this week.

 

So in Chicago area transportation news looks like the O'Hare tollway bypass is moving along

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-tollway-to-spend-771-million-on-i90-and-elginohare-bypass-in-2013-20121025,0,6470826.story

 

You can see the undeveloped right-of-way along Thorndale where this will go.

http://goo.gl/maps/rBW7p

 

 

In CTA news, I present more detailed renderings of the Wilson Station at Uptown Update:

http://www.uptownupdate.com/2012/10/new-wilson-station-renderings-available.html

 

So does this mean your going to be actually able to get to Elgin or O'hare on the Elgin-O'Hare Expressway?

So does this mean your going to be actually able to get to Elgin or O'hare on the Elgin-O'Hare Expressway?

 

Quite possibly!

 

Renovation of the Fulton Market Cold Storage Building begins.  Joe Zekas over at YoChicago took some great photographs

http://www.flickr.com/photos/yochicago1/8180483234/#

^-I think the results of the new EL station are really causing that whole area to take off - went on a work outing to Belly-Q and saw all kinds of new stuff opening up along Randolph in the West Loop.  Its nice because I work here now, and its a pretty spartain neighborhood (how can so many buildings hold so little).

 

I'm kind of glad this is at least a shell of an older brick building and not yet another white glass and steel skyscraper.

 

Construction of a new Chicago Convention Center on the NW side

SSP

 

- 17 Floor Starwood Element, 321 Rooms

- 19 Floor IHG Hotel Indigo, 209 Rooms + Staybridge Suites, 154 Rooms

- 14 Floor Hyatt Place, 148 Rooms + Hyatt Summerfield Suites, 148 Rooms

- 995 Total Rooms

- LEED Platinum

- 4 Floors of Conference space totalling 290,000 SF

- 1,720 Space robotic/automated parking garage

- $734 Million project cost

- Largest hotel green roof in the country with nearly 1 acre of green space

- Miniature Golf Course on the Roof

- To be completed January 1, 2014

 

Currently Under construction

 

Discuss....

 

Meh, it captures my interest but I still think "in 30 years..."

North Andre, is this an expansion of McCormick place, or a new convention center (or an expansion of the Rosemont CC)?

Neither, though closer to Rosemont, here is the approx location:

 

https://maps.google.com/?ll=41.986199,-87.834481&spn=0.00185,0.004753&t=h&z=18

 

From:

 

http://chicago.curbed.com/archives/2012/11/20/the-other-trihotel-995room-development-breaks-ground-near-ohare.php

 

Its still technically in the City of  Chicago, not sure on the neighborhood, but one of those semi-suburban ones at the fringes of the city with mostly 1950s architecture.

It's in Chicago's Norwood Park.

 

Definitely in direct competition with the Akoo And Stephens Centers, hotels, and that mall thing further down the street in Rosemont.

 

Regardless it's a benefit for the city and the drab towers that were there are being demolished for this project

Thanks guys.

Regardless it's a benefit for the city and the drab towers that were there are being demolished for this project

 

Agreed.  The only issue I see is maybe providing easier direct connection to the Blue line like the offices on the other side.

Regardless it's a benefit for the city and the drab towers that were there are being demolished for this project

 

Agreed.  The only issue I see is maybe providing easier direct connection to the Blue line like the offices on the other side.

 

Yeah that's one of my concerns too.  I suppose you could run a shuttle to the blue line since this complex is made of 3 hotels and the convention center.  If the Cumberland station was longer in the eastern direction they could have possibly done a skybridge connection.  The only physical connection to the property I see is a 10' wide sidewalk and landscaping. 

Demolition of Hunt Club is planned to begin days following their New Years Party and a new bar and restaurant will be constructed

 

New Design:

http://blog.chicagoarchitecture.info/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/374.jpg

Clark and Division / Clark and Lasalle New station entrance and extension. 

 

From 42nd Ward website

Anything is better than that nasty pee-smelling cesspool now. What an crappy stop. Bum central.

I know it's terrible.  Technically Clark and Division is my most convenient stop, but I get off at Chicago for the past two years.  Once I got off at Clark and Division and I swear they were spraying everything down with some caustic acid.  The vapors burned my throat and eyes.  I was like, damn this is what it takes? 

 

Technically the whole system architecture is a failure.  The stations were antique design even when they were built.  They had things like columns, narrow stairways, separated mezzanines, and stair enclosures.

 

It was until the 60's that deep-tunnel innovation was perfected.  You then started seeing column free stations, floating mezzanines and stairs.  In such configurations, one security guard or station attendant could monitor fare and train platforms from one point.  There were no places for people to hide or sleep. 

And where on earth are all those street people coming from? There might be some projects on Division west of that, but nothing in theimmediate area. And it's the freaking Gold Coast of all places.

 

My guess is some of the Wilson and Lawrence bums/mentally ill/street people/rehab center and halfway house residents/etc make the trip there, at least the ones who aren't wheelchair bound (cause there sure isa lot of that too) but still, what the hell is going down in/around that station? The only physical confrontation I've had in the city is with some unstable fellow who wouldn't stop harassing me and my roommate at night. And of course, it's not like there's an ounce of security anywhere.

I think there's a shelter down the ways on Clyborn and that flophouse right there at the corner.  While the total number of rooms isn't much, if only a small fraction of the residents were near the stop loitering it would be a decent sized crowd.

 

The proximity of that housing + very cheap fast food joints + convenience stores that sell alcohol + Jewel that sells alcohol and has a coinstar machine + proximity to a very rich neighborhood + proximity to busy subway stop I guess make the perfect storm for a panhandler hangout. 

 

Generally all the people there are harmless and rarely harass anyone.  Just kind of stand around and exist.  But some individuals are mentally ill and it's very sad.  Someone needs to give them assistance and treatement.  Even if they have access to a warm bed in their own room, it's only just a small part of the solution.  Standing outside all day in a cold Chicago winter is not healthy for anyone.

 

But there's nothing wrong with banning people form loitering around subway stations.  It doesn't matter if it's a group of homeless or rich people.  Keep the area around stairways clear of people so we can get where we need to go.