Agreed, but is that not retail at the base of this tower? There appears to be display windows at street level.

^Yeah, there is. The entire ground floor will probably be devoted to retail.

South of Roosevelt, it is safe to say that a new Mag Mile is being developed. It should be interesting to see this area evolve

Japan investors buy 181 W. Madison tower
Money flow into U.S. assets more diverse

By Thomas A. Corfman
Tribune staff reporter
Published November 25, 2005


Japanese investors and financial institutions became a symbol of the free-spending follies of the commercial real estate market of the late 1980s, paying top-dollar for prominent properties whose values collapsed just a few years later.

They're back again, just as downtown office prices once more appear to be peaking.

In what could be the first high-profile Japanese investment in downtown Chicago in nearly 15 years, a fund managed by a newly formed company called DECT Corp. has a contract to acquire 181 W. Madison St., a premier Central Loop office skyscraper, according to people familiar with the transaction.

The exact sources of Japanese capital for the deal could not be determined, but DECT has agreed to pay a top-dollar price of about $307 million for the 50-story tower, sources said.

The 940,000-square-foot building, which was designed by architect Cesar Pelli, is owned by a German fund that is managed by Prudential Real Estate Investors, a unit of the New Jersey financial-services giant.

Representatives of Prudential and real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle Inc., which is handling the sale, declined to comment. Executives in DECT's New York office could not be reached for comment.

DECT, which is virtually unknown within real estate circles, is being advised by Toronto-based Redcliff Realty Group Inc., which manages a $1 billion portfolio for a variety of investors, including Canadian pension funds, sources say. Executives at Redcliff could not be reached for comment.

Real estate experts see the transaction as another sign of the diverse flow of foreign money into the American commercial real estate market, where Australian and Irish investors have recently joined longtime players from countries such as Germany, England and the Netherlands.

"We're getting capital from all sides now," said Robert White Jr., president of Real Capital Analytics, a New York research firm.

Although Japanese investment in U.S. real estate is predicted to rise, experts say it won't come close to the heady 1980s, when Japanese real estate firms, insurance companies and banks spent an estimated $300 billion nationwide snapping up prominent properties such as Rockefeller Center in New York and Pebble Beach Resorts in California.

Not a rerun

And despite some concerns about real estate prices, experts don't predict a rerun of the early 1990s, when a downturn in both the Japanese and American economies, combined with a crash in the real estate market here, produced a particularly painful result.

"It has taken them 12 to 13 years to get over that hangover," said Mark Grinis, a real estate partner in the New York office of Ernst & Young LLP who specializes in the Far East.

Despite the scarcity of new acquisitions, Japanese firms are still one of the largest overseas owners of commercial real estate in the U.S.

For example, Chicago-based Orix Real Estate Capital Inc., a unit of the U.S. subsidiary of Tokyo financial-services firm Orix Corp., is a well-established developer, having completed projects totaling more than 16 million square feet of space. And many Japanese financial institutions have remained active lenders on large properties.

But this time around Japanese investors are more cautious in making deals, Grinis notes. And like many investors Japanese buyers are banking on the increased sophistication since the late 1980s of the commercial real estate market, which avoided a downturn after the 2001 recession.

"With the evolution of real estate as a much more institutional asset class, you can come in at many different levels of the risk curve," Grinis said.

Most Japanese investors have preferred to invest in funds that in turn buy stock in real estate investment trusts, including American REITs, he said.

Several factors also are contributing to the growth of investment here, including Japan's strengthening economy. And a 2004 tax agreement has provided additional encouragement. Although prices here are at relatively high levels, average yields are higher than on similar transactions in Japan, experts say.

Total Asian investment in top-quality, so-called core real estate assets in the U.S. this year has more than doubled, to $1.3 billion, compared to all of 2004, according to Real Capital.

Inflated total

But this year's total is inflated by a $1 billion deal involving San Francisco's Bank of America Center. A Hong Kong group acquired the trophy property to reinvest its portion of the proceeds from a $1.76 billion sale of a New York site. Some observers say the quick reinvestment was driven by tax considerations.

Yet even including that unusual deal, Asian investment in 2005 is far below the $7.6 billion spent this year by Australian companies, or the $3.6 billion spent by Germans.

Although the deal involving 181 W. Madison would be the first Japanese purchase of a major downtown Chicago property in years, seasoned observers say the deal isn't a sign that the market will be flooded by new capital.

"This is a unique twist to the foreign interest in our real estate market here, but I don't see it as a paradigm shift, where Germans and the Dutch and the Australians all go away," said Tony Smaniotto, senior vice president in the investment properties group of CB Richard Ellis Inc., which is not involved in the transaction.

The 181 W. Madison deal is not the first acquisition of a downtown office building by an Asian investor in recent years, experts note.

Last year, on behalf of an unidentified client, New York-based Loeb Partners Realty acquired Michigan Plaza, 205 and 225 N. Michigan Ave., for a reported $280 million. The investor was Sir Joseph Hotung, a former director of the parent company of Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corp., sources say.

The largest tenant at 181 W. Madison is Northern Trust, which has 344,000 square feet, or nearly 37 percent of the building, under a lease that expires in 2020, according to research firm CoStar Group.

But 181 W. Madison is an example of the rise, fall and potential rise of Japanese real estate interests here.

DECT's price of about $325 a square foot is substantially more than the roughly $267 a square foot that the German investment fund paid for it just three years ago. But DECT's price is less than the $385 a square foot, including fees and bonuses, that a Japanese insurance company paid for the 50-story tower in 1990 when it was completed. In 2001 Yasuda Mutual Life Insurance Co. unloaded the building for just $255 a square foot to billionaire investor Marvin Davis. He held it for about a year before selling to the Germans.

In 1988 Tokyo real estate company Shuwa Corp. paid $318 a square foot for 123 N. Wacker Drive, according to a report by real estate firm NAI Hiffman. That same year Meiji Mutual Life Insurance Co. acquired a majority interest in Three First National Plaza, 70 W. Madison St., in a deal that valued the property at $291 a square foot.

----------

tcorfman@tribune.com

South of Roosevelt, it is safe to say that a new Mag Mile is being developed. It should be interesting to see this area evolve

I also wonder what sort of affect it'd have on neighboring (less affluent) neighborhoods (North Kenwood, etc). Hopefully all those express ways won't keep progress from moving south.

^If the effects of Mag Mile needs to be roll on South Michigan Ave, there must have "Starbuck effects". The concept is when the Starbuck outlets are set up there, other retailers with good reputations will follow.

Other types of retailers should never be established at all are liquor stores, discount electronic stores, currency exchanges, bank branches with 24-hours ATM, any store that sell Lotto tickets, fast-food places, auto dealership, and loan predatory offices.

I really wonder what kind of stores a South Michgan Ave would have. Probably Gap, Express, White Hen Pantry, a Starbucks, Walgreens, maybe a Banana Republic and H&M and Old Navy. Probably the kind of stuff cluttering State Street now.

http://homepics.realtor.com/image3/http/chicago/listings/large/056/05166101.jpg

This building is (or will be?) at 1025 N. Dearborn. It seemed like a pretty interesting project architecturally, but may have flown under the radar due to its relatively small size. Does anyone know about this project? I found this at realtor.com. Very expensive units -- $2 million or so.

Yes, they're luxury townhomes I believe. I might have posted larger images of it before. It will be next to 30 W. Oak.

http://img437.imageshack.us/img437/5809/oak25qm.jpg

^ Do you know who is the architect? Are they at the proposal stage or under construction?

I can't say that I'm entirely thrilled with this. There's no room, in my opinion, for there to be four-story structures located in the middle of downtown Chicago.

There better be a 30+ story tower on top of that thing.

Geoff: I would tend to disagree. I like the idea of streetscape that includes buildings of varying heights and varying densities. Sure, skyscraper canyons like LaSalle Street can be wonderful, but variegated heights are probably preferable generally. First, there's the issue of light. The densest parts of Midtown Manhattan are covered in shadows. Second, there's the issue of the skyline. I'm not crazy about the Midtown Manhattan skyline because its just too dense; without a little space between buildings, the composition of the skyline lacks sufficient balance. I think one of the reasons Chicago's skyline is the best in the world is the fact that it is fairly spread out.

Also, one must consider the views from the towers themselves. From towers in canyons, its difficult to see very much.

Now, I would prefer that most new buildings in River North (aside from, say, religious bulidings like the proposed Orthodox Jewish center) be at least 7 floors, with retail frontage on the street and other uses above. But these townhouses look architecturally interesting so I'm giving them a bye on that.

Edit: I just realized that I'm probably arguing against a straw man here, as you were not arguing that buildings need to be, say, 20 + floors high, only that you'd rather not see 4-story buildings. Point taken.

I agree with you Chicagolover. I think contrast of heights and diversity are a plus not a minus. Vacent parking lots or stand alone parking decks are much more of a conern to me then any low rise resendtial. I would actually think it would be cool if more scrapers downtown had more residential/retail wrapped around their bases (of course to be downtown they would have to be of the best quality).

Even though it is impossiable now I would like it no building downtown was more then 4 blocks away from a small park or plaza that is at least a half block or half acre long. In many cases we have that now but I think it only adds to vibe of downtown and pleasentness of it if the more small outdoor refuge areas people have that are a very short walk from their office or home. Grant Park does this for much of the east loop but the west loop and some areas of river north could use a few plots like that. Real highly developed street level gardens or very developed art squares that breaks up the continuity of the street. Places like that can give even the most vibrant and buzzing areas a sense of neighborhood and distictness.

What's currently occupying this space?

From Chicago Crain's webpage:
Crane crunch crimps contractors
by Abby Gallum (issued 11/24/2005)
http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/1032/crain8pp.gif
Soaring skyline squeezes supply, pushing rental fees to new heights
John Martello has the toy that nearly every high-rise builder wants this Christmas: a 300-foot tower crane.
Without tower cranes, developers couldn't complete many of the condominium and office buildings they've planned for downtown Chicago. After five years of booming construction, and with nearly 30 new high-rise projects on the drawing board, the pace of building has raced past the supply of cranes, sending rental rates up as much as 25% in the past year. That's good news for Mr. Martello, who rents cranes for a living.
"It's almost like shooting fish in a barrel," says Mr. Martello, general manager of Cleveland-based Central Contractors Service Inc., which expects to have about 20 tower cranes up in Chicago by yearend.
CRITICAL ISSUE
A medium-sized, 22-ton-capacity tower crane that cost $12,500 a month in 2003 now rents for about $22,000, Mr. Martello says. And with the tight supply, some contractors are leasing cranes two to three months before they use them and eating the extra cost, just so they don't get caught without a crane when construction begins. That cost is especially painful as contractors deal with rising material expenses and try to ward off a slowdown in condo sales.
"It is a very critical issue right now," says Pierre Cowart, project executive for Leopardo Construction, a Hoffman Estates-based contractor that's building two South Loop condo projects. "There's a lot of pressure on the (condo) market in general to keep sale prices at the same level. You can't pass along price increases."
The crane shortage isn't likely to get less critical anytime soon. Condo developers started marketing 28 new downtown buildings this year, up from 24 in 2004, according to Appraisal Research Counselors, a Chicago consulting firm that tracks the condo market.
Making matters worse for builders, the crane market is national — equipment rental companies move the giant machines around the country — and is sure to feel the effects of massive reconstruction projects in Louisiana and Mississippi. Already, Chicago contractors must compete with other thriving construction markets, especially Florida.
"If you can get $20,000 (a month) for a crane in Florida or you can ship it here (and get) $12,000, everybody's going to send it to Florida," says Paul Urbanski, Central's sales manager.
TALL CRANE COMING
Unlike boom cranes that move on crawlers, a tower crane is fixed to the ground or to the building being constructed. As a project rises into the sky, the crane will rise with it, as construction crews add additional sections. In early December, for instance, Morrow Equipment Co. LLC, a Salem, Ore.-based company that rents out about 500 tower cranes worldwide, will erect its second tower crane at the Trump International Hotel & Tower construction site on the Chicago River. That crane will eventually rise to 1,386 feet.
With projects like that under way all over town, it's no wonder that Central Contractors says its revenue is up about 30% this year. Five years ago, Central didn't rent tower cranes. Today, cranes are the company's fastest-growing business.
And while the price increases have stung contractors, crane rents still generally remain a small percentage of a project's total cost. The bigger problem is availability. Most contractors used to be able to line up a crane in 60 days, but that's not possible anymore, says Michael Regal, Morrow Equipment's Midwest sales manager.
"If you want to rent a crane for April, you should be signing it up in November," he says.
http://img463.imageshack.us/img463/1756/crain33ho.gif
http://img463.imageshack.us/img463/1912/crain28yd.gif

Hotel condos' value hard to figure at ground floor
Projects with rental options are all around, but future is uncertain

By Kathy Bergen
Tribune staff reporter
Published November 27, 2005


Luxury hotel proposals are popping up in Chicago like so many desert flowers after a long drought, and it seems almost every developer is betting on the same virtually untested concept: hotel condominiums.

At least 12 downtown projects will include hotel condominiums, which are rooms or suites sold to individuals, who have the option of placing them in rental pools when they aren't using them.

More than 2,100 of these pricey dens will be marketed here over the next five years, mostly to affluent Baby Boomers looking for a second or third home.

None of the units have come to market yet, so there is no test case. And looking elsewhere in the nation doesn't help much, either.

"There is very little track record," said Pat Ford, president of Lodging Econometrics in Portsmouth, N.H.

And so a grand gamble is getting under way.

For the trend to succeed long-term, there will need to be a winnowing out of the weaker contenders, a deep and renewable pool of well-heeled buyers, as opposed to short-term speculators, and a sustained recovery in downtown luxury-hotel business.

Other factors could derail the vision as well, among them rising interest rates or a pullback of tax deductions allowed on second homes.

"I have my doubts that all the projects will be built or that all will be successful," said Arthur L. Buser Jr., managing director at Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels. "There will be some that are winners, and some that are last-to-the-party, or not as well done, or only half sold out. ... There will be some failures."

The proliferation of proposals stems from hotel developers' continuing difficulties in obtaining more traditional financing.

"Occupancy and room rates have not recovered sufficiently," noted Ford.

With a condo-hotel project, the developer "gets an opportunity to use other people's money," he said.

And those other people, namely the hotel condominium purchasers, generally don't have the same expectations for return on investment as would a typical financier, noted Buser.

"An individual owner would like a profit, but doesn't necessarily need one," he said. "But he does want a place."

Willing to be patient

It's certainly true that some buyers are willing to take the long view on investment return. Attorney James M. Duggan is buying a one-bedroom suite at the proposed Elysian Hotel, primarily as a weekend getaway spot to share with his wife and secondarily as an investment.

"Up front, I'll be in the red, but I'll be having a great time downtown," said Duggan, a Lake Forest resident who is a principal at Handler Thayer & Duggan LLC. "I think I'll be cash-flow positive within five years."

And he expects the value of the unit to appreciate over time.

Other prospective buyers in the Chicago market view the transactions strictly as moneymaking opportunities.

Real estate broker Viju Patel is paying $389,550 for a one-bedroom unit at Hotel 71 at 71 E. Wacker, which is being redeveloped as the Solis Chicago Hotel Condominiums.

Because she is an early buyer, she hopes to see substantial appreciation in the value of her unit, enabling her to sell within three years or so.

She likes the proximity of two luxury hotel-condominium projects: the Trump International Hotel & Tower, under construction across the river, and the Shangri-La Hotel, proposed for 111 W. Wacker.

Those properties will add cachet to the Solis, whose room rates will be a little less stratospheric, said Patel, a South Barrington resident who is a partner with Keller Williams Success Realty.

"Some of the Trump units have doubled in value over the last two years," she noted.

"I think the Solis property will appreciate a lot initially, once the facelift is done," she said, adding that a high-end, brand-name spa may be among the amenities.

The companies selling hotel condominiums generally steer clear of touting their investment potential, said attorney David Neff, co-chairman of the lodging and time-share practice at Piper Rudnick Gray Cary.

"If they are viewed as investments, then you have to register the offerings as securities," he said. Most companies prefer to avoid this extra layer of administration and expense.

Still, many hotel condo buyers have dual financial goals: to recoup most, if not all, of their mortgage and maintenance costs from rental income, and to see price appreciation whenever they choose to sell their units.

Realizing the first goal may be difficult, some observers say, given hefty monthly condo assessments and fees layered atop mortgage payments and real estate taxes.

Monthly assessments and fees could run as high as $2,000 at the Trump project, at the ultra-luxurious end of the spectrum.

Hotel condominium operators "will need to get pretty aggressive on room rental rates and occupancy levels in order for buyers to come out whole on these deals," said Gail Lissner, vice president with Appraisal Research Counselors.

"With the more expensive units, it will take a while until Chicago reaches room rates high enough to provide a return on the investment," said Ted Mandigo, a hotel consultant based in Elmhurst.

The greater potential, Lissner believes, lies in price appreciation on the units over time.

Two have seen growth

In fact, prices for units at the Trump or the Elysian have appreciated significantly in the two years since these early-bird projects were announced.

At the Trump, units are priced between $815,000 and $3 million-plus, compared with $559,000 to $1 million-plus two years ago. At the Elysian, asking prices top out at $925,000, compared with $700,000 in 2003.

Whether prices remain on an upward trajectory in Chicago remains to be seen.

Consumer choices will be expanding, as more newly announced projects begin marketing. So far, only six of 12 downtown projects have been actively selling.

And some of the existing upward momentum is likely attributable to speculators, who typically comprise an estimated 25 percent of hotel condo buyers.

"When they feel the party is over and stop buying, 25 percent of the buyers disappear, and it's a much thinner market," Buser said.

Other experiences

One of the few cities with any extended history in this niche is Vancouver, which saw overbuilding in the 1990s.

"People bought on projections that properties would continue to ramp up, and it didn't happen," said Buser, of Jones Lang LaSalle. Prices fell, leaving unit owners in limbo until the market recovers.

In contrast, Miami has seen torrid price appreciation lately, so much so that some developers have broken contracts with potential buyers in order to resell units at higher prices, leaving some irate former customers on the sidelines, noted Mandigo.

"To me, the units in Chicago are not quite as strong an investment," he said, citing weaker room rates, the bitter winters and a substantial supply of hotel rooms in the suburban market.

"The hotel condominium flurry really has been at the luxury end of the market," said Scott Steilen, principal at Warnick & Co., a hotel advisory firm. "And I think there is a legitimate question of whether this market is deep enough to absorb all that luxury lodging supply,"

That said, some projects will pan out better than others.

"This is still location-driven," Steilen noted.

And investors should remember they are buying a piece of a hotel.

"Look at how the chain is doing, find out about the management company and its track record," said attorney Neff.

For Patel, who is buying a unit at the Solis, this was key.

She likes the fact that West Paces Hotel Group LLC, which will manage the hotel condominiums, is headed by Horst Schulze, a Ritz-Carlton veteran.

And buyers should keep in mind that ownership and management companies can change, and that new regimes can institute new ways of operating.

In 2003, the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians purchased the 660-unit Grand Traverse Resort and Spa in Acme, Mich., and later that year announced plans for an extensive renovation program.

For the first time, owners of the resort's 234 hotel condominiums were asked to participate in a uniform refurbishment plan, with costs ranging as high as $40,000, a hefty sum given that many units are valued at around $100,000.

"There was a complete owner revolt in October 2003," recalls David Boyer, a Chicago attorney who owns one of the units.

Two years and many hard feelings later, the two sides appear to be approaching the possibility of detente.

The owners have "agreed the initial plan was too ambitious and are allowing the condo board to be part of the think tank," said Michael Mysliwiec, a Michigan lawyer who is president of one of the condo associations.

"Rather than a divorce between the owners and the condo association, I'm working to patch things up," he said. "I don't know if I'll succeed, but I'm trying."

Oh how much fun it will be when we see that tower crane up in the sky. And then next door another one for Waterview. And hopefully a few more for Intercontinental, Mandarin, Lakeshore East, and Fordham Spire :)

From Chicago Sun-Times' David Roeder
Letter has club members exercised
November 30, 2005

Could owners of the Lakeshore Athletic Club at 441 N. Wabash be planning to bow out to make room for a new high-rise? That's what some club patrons thought after they got a letter from club management inviting them to take their business to another location.

General Manager Laurence Kaiser told members they are now free to use the Lakeshore club at 333 E. Ontario in addition to the Wabash location. Described as a "dual membership" benefit, it also could be a way to clear out customers and make the Wabash site easier to close.

The letter produced a buzz that spread to the real estate community. Near North developer William Marovitz said he's heard from several callers asking about the site's potential availability. He said a residential high-rise, not hotel or office, makes the most sense for the site, which is a few doors north of the Trump Tower project.

The club sits on land leased from Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. "I would certainly like to talk with them," Marovitz said. Kaiser did not return calls.

Wrigley spokesman Christopher Perille said the lease on the property runs "at least a couple more years, and there have been some discussions about extensions or renewals" for the club. Some real estate executives speculated Wrigley could use the site to build its own modern office space to hold what can't fit into the famous Wrigley Building.


THE BEITLER BEAT: While J. Paul Beitler's proposed 2,000-foot tower for TV antennas on Chicago's lakefront spurs debate and speculation, he's involved in a smaller-scale project that appears to be far more certain. Beitler has issued sketches of what he calls his North Avenue Gateway project just west of the Kennedy Expressway.

Touted as setting a new standard in commercial design for Bucktown and Wicker Park, the estimated $100 million project calls for separate buildings anchored by a bank and a car dealership. The third building would be a seven-story, 23-unit condo project. Beitler hired architect Daniel Coffey to produce a flashy modern design.

Construction is due to start in the fall. While Beitler hasn't announced tenants, he has been negotiating with the Fletcher Jones chain to install a Mercedes-Benz dealership. All the parking for the complex will be underground.


WHAT'S BEING BUILT: There's a building under construction at 3800 S. King that represents a case of religious faith in action. The planned eight-story building will be a 122-unit supportive living center for seniors. Its backer is South Park Baptist Church, 3722 S. King, whose reverend, E.R. Williams, is acting on a vision of affordable housing for seniors.

Called Pioneer Gardens, the project is across the street from a 20-story building for seniors developed by Williams' late father. A spokeswoman for Pioneer Gardens said about 20 of the 122 units have been reserved. Plans call for an opening in February.

Meanwhile, visitors to the United Center are noticing construction on land a couple of blocks away. It's the start of what's envisioned as 764 mixed-income housing units on the former site of the Henry Horner Homes public housing complex, bounded by Hermitage, Lake, Oakley and Washington.

Sixty units are being built in what's billed as the project's City Flats phase. They'll be grouped as seven, three-story walk-ups. Developer Richard Sciortino, president of Brinshore Development LLC, said more than 75 percent of the units have been sold. Prices on what's left range from $248,800 to $310,800.

Also under construction at the site is a 113-unit mid-rise building that includes subsidized and market-rate units. The aim of the project is to bring professionals side-by-side with former tenants of the Horner project.

HOT PILLOW JOINT: The marketing agents for the condo units at the Amalfi Hotel, 20 W. Kinzie, are promising something, but I'm not sure what. The Web site for the sales effort includes these words emblazoned on a section about the building's amenities: "We don't ask. We won't judge and most importantly, we never tell." So should somebody call the sales office or the cops?

CALENDAR NOTE: Thursday's brown bag lunch program sponsored by Friends of Downtown is about architecture of Chicago's churches. The free event starts at 12:15 p.m. at the Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington.

DOING THE DEALS: Represented by CB Richard Ellis Inc., Inforte Corp. leased 16,000 square feet at 500 N. Dearborn in a relocation and expansion of its corporate headquarters. Currently at 150 N. Michigan, Inforte expects to be in the new space in January. ... Morton's Restaurant Group leased 8,100 square feet at 707 Skokie Blvd., Northbrook, which by next fall should be home to the sixth Morton's restaurant in the Chicago area. Baum Realty Group represented Morton's. ... A 25-unit apartment building at 3045 W. Fullerton sold for $3.1 million in a deal brokered by Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Brokerage Co.

Interesting about the club. I would rather see Wrigley expand its office space, instead of a new residential. There is (and will be more) residential in that area, but new office space wont be as in demand.

That was a great article. Lots of information. I agree with LA1. It'd be nice for Wrigley to have a nice new and fancy office building for expansions BUT they shouldn't move out of their HQ building no matter what. I'd hurt someone before I see the best skyscraper in Chicago gutted for condos.

That was a great article. Lots of information. I agree with LA1. It'd be nice for Wrigley to have a nice new and fancy office building for expansions BUT they shouldn't move out of their HQ building no matter what. I'd hurt someone before I see the best skyscraper in Chicago gutted for condos.

Yeah, remember that Tribune article over the summer? It actually hurt me to read that... Imagine balconies on the Wrigley Building. :sly:

^That would be disgusting. I would hope Mayor Daley and the city council would prevent that. Afterall, it would need approval and I doubt that would ever happen.

Harry Caray's to bail out Trader Vic's
December 3, 2005

BY DAVE HOEKSTRA Staff Reporter Advertisement

Holy Mai Tai!

Harry Caray's Restaurant Group is stepping in to own and operate a new Trader Vic's Restaurant Boathouse and Bar after the current location closes Dec. 31 in the basement of the Palmer House Hilton.

"We want to move as quickly as we can," Harry Caray's president, Grant DePorter, said Friday. "The time frame could be six months to a year. We're looking at one current restaurant we would convert, which would speed things up." Trader Vic's will stay in Chicago. The Magnificent Mile and River North are likely locations.

The late "Trader" Vic Bergeron and Caray were kindred spirits. Bergeron invented the rum-laced Mai Tai. Caray never liked to wear a tie. "We've always loved the Trader Vic's concept," DePorter said. "It seemed like a no-brainer for us. It's been undermarketed, and we'll update it a little bit." As part of the franchise agreement, Harry Caray's will bring along the current restaurant's bamboo, dimly lit shell lamps and original tree-carved tables.

Did DePorter ever see Caray hoist a Mai Tai?

"I have to ask Dutchie [Caray, his wife] on that one," he answered. "Remember, he had 300,000 alcoholic drinks in his lifetime, so the odds of him not having a Mai Tai would be pretty low."

BVictor posted scans of these for 535 N. St. Clair before. I found some nicer, clearer versions:

Click for full size
http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/5323/5353jv.th.jpg (http://img526.imageshack.us/my.php?image=5353jv.jpg)
http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/5456/53527ju.th.jpg (http://img526.imageshack.us/my.php?image=53527ju.jpg)

You can see a bit more of the base in the first one. I really look forward to this project, as it is one of the few forward-thinking designs in a long time.

Federal campus upgrade planned
Meetings to address the Dirksen options

By Thomas A. Corfman
Tribune staff reporter
Published December 6, 2005

Federal officials on Tuesday will unveil options for an expansion of the downtown courthouse and office complex, a project that would likely cost more than $550 million and take years to complete.

At two public meetings, officials with the U.S. General Services Administration will present plans that could include construction of as much as 1.5 million square feet of office space on a site along State Street between Adams Street and Jackson Boulevard. The site is adjacent to the Everett M. Dirksen U.S. Courthouse, 219 S. Dearborn St., a 30-story structure designed by Mies van der Rohe.

The mammoth project could be a boon to State Street, replacing a dreary stretch where the most prominent stores are McDonald's and Payless ShoeSource, real estate experts say. But the federal proposal also raises concerns that sterile office buildings would stymie the southward expansion of retail redevelopment along the street.

"It is unlikely that someone from the private sector is going to come along to make that kind of investment," said Michael Shields, an executive vice president with Chicago-based Northern Realty Group Ltd. "But the decisions that are made on this block are critical to the momentum that the street has enjoyed for the last several years."

Federal officials vow to build around the historic Berghoff Restaurant, 17 W. Adams St., built in 1872 and located between the site and the Dirksen building. But the block has several unique, but not landmark, structures whose future is now in question.

And the GSA, which has given heightened attention to building security, is also studying how to incorporate retailing into the complex.

Yet city officials acknowledge that this is one land-use game where the Daley administration doesn't hold all the aces, because the federal government isn't bound by local ordinances.

"We both understand that it is in everyone's interest to work together," said Constance Buscemi, a Planning Department spokeswoman.

One card in the administration's hand is a vacant, city-owned property at 208-212 S. State St., the only parcel the federal government doesn't control.

"We're optimistic and certainly hopeful that we will come to agreement sometime in 2006," said J. David Hood, the GSA's assistant regional administrator.

The federal government's plans to acquire the site have been known since February, when the government notified property owners.

The project, the first expansion of the South Loop's federal campus in nearly 15 years, is designed to meet the long-range space needs of the government, which currently leases about 1.1 million square feet of space in privately owned downtown office buildings.

The U.S. courts and various agencies also occupy nearly 2.3 million square feet of space in three buildings: Dirksen, built in 1964; the John C. Kluczynski Federal Building, 230 S. Dearborn St., built in 1974 and also designed by Mies; and the Ralph H. Metcalfe Federal Building, 77 W. Jackson Blvd., built in 1991 and designed by Joseph Y. Fujikawa, a Mies disciple.

Those government-owned buildings are fully occupied, but space isn't expected to become tight until 2009, according to a report by the Chicago office of real estate firm Staubach Co.

The GSA is studying whether it can meet its needs while preserving two terra-cotta structures on the site: a 21-story office building at 220 S. State, and a vacant, 15-story building at 202 S. State designed by Holabird & Roche.

"We know the city is very interested in our attempt to preserve 202 and 220," said Hood, adding that federal law also requires a study of alternatives to demolition.

One option would be a narrow, midrise office building that would connect the two older structures into a single building totaling about 377,000 square feet of space.

The GSA's other scenarios include various combinations of these plans:

- At the corner of Jackson and State, an office building that would range in size from 12 stories and 300,000 square feet to 46 stories and 1.1 million square feet.

- Replacing the terra-cotta structures with a 36-story, 900,000-square foot structure.

- Two towers, each 31 stories and about 750,000 square feet.

- A single building along State Street that would range in size from 1.36 million square feet to nearly 1.5 million square feet, which could allow for the preservation of 202 S. State.

And the GSA has moved more quickly than it planned on a retailing study.

"We chose to accelerate the development of that based on the comments we received from the city," said Hood.

As a security measure, federal plans also include closing West Quincy Street between State and the Dirksen building. A more lively landscaped plaza would take its place, Hood said Friday during the first public meeting on the GSA's plans.

The government controls the 1.3-acre site after reaching purchase agreements with the owners of four parcels, at a total cost of $22.4 million, and filing eminent domain lawsuits to take title to three properties.

The eminent domain cases include 202 S. State, where a proposal for a hotel conversion ended in foreclosure earlier this year; and 10 W. Jackson, owned by a partnership that includes Chicago developer Klaff Realty LP. In court, the government said those parcels are worth nearly $14 million.

The public meetings Tuesday will be held in the conference center of the Metcalfe Building at 10:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

----------

tcorfman@tribune.com

Nice. Hopefully they'll preserve the buildings in any scenario.

Yes. If I understand correctly, the City controls the land between the two old buildings and can use that to "manipulate" the government. I am glad they will close down Quincy Street. More green! And hopefully they will put some retail in the development other than a Taco Bell or Walgreens. With the development of State Street, the federal campus would break up the flow of the street.

BVictor posted scans of these for 535 N. St. Clair before. I found some nicer, clearer versions:

Click for full size
http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/5323/5353jv.th.jpg (http://img526.imageshack.us/my.php?image=5353jv.jpg)
http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/5456/53527ju.th.jpg (http://img526.imageshack.us/my.php?image=53527ju.jpg)

You can see a bit more of the base in the first one. I really look forward to this project, as it is one of the few forward-thinking designs in a long time.

I really like all the greenery. The right side looks like a vertical greenhouse. What if they put a small "grove" of pine trees on the roof? I think that would top it off nicely and take "green roofs" to the next level...

Condo tower back on track on S. Michigan

December 7, 2005

BY DAVID ROEDER SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST

The parking lot that is the 1000 S. Michigan site is one of the largest gaps in the streetwall that serves as a backdrop for Grant Park. But development plans are on track for the site now that it has new owners.

Oak Brook-based Renaissant Development Group LLC, where veteran builder Warren Barr is president, has purchased the site from a group headed by Guy Gardner, who secured city approval to build there but never could line up financing. Barr will pursue Gardner's objective of a 40-story, 350-unit condo tower designed by Chicago's DeStefano and Partners Ltd.

Barr declined to comment on terms but a source said the entire development site, which includes parcels on Wabash that could be built on later, went for $43.8 million. Its value was enhanced because Gardner, even as he was struggling to pay lenders, managed to get his plans through a long and expensive zoning process.

A sales office will open on the site by late January and construction could begin in October, Barr said, adding that he's evaluating "two or three'' proposals for construction loans. He said he hopes to make a positive impact on the southern end of the Historic Michigan Boulevard District.

The project could generate sales leads for another deal Barr contemplates in the same neighborhood at 830 S. Michigan. Barr has shown community groups plans for a 70-story condo tower that would be built behind an eight-story former YMCA at that location. He said the scope of that project is still under discussion with the city.

The former Y would be preserved because it's viewed as integral to the landmark streetwall.

For the new construction at 1000 S. Michigan, Barr said the DeStefano design makes ample use of terra cotta to make it fit with adjacent structures that date from the early 20th century.

Under Gardner's ownership, the project's sales team reported that buyers reserved 240 units with nonrefundable deposits. Barr said he's going through those deals to see which are solid and has confirmed 150 so far. The discrepancy reflects the project's drawn-out nature and not any dishonesty by the seller, Barr said. "They've been very open with us throughout this process. Their word has never been a problem,'' he said.

Gardner, who could not be reached for comment, has been involved in several small-scale projects but was new to the high-rise game. He's part of the family that used to own Chicago's Soft Sheen hair care firm.

Despite having financial headaches over 1000 S. Michigan, Gardner apparently gets a hefty profit from the sale. Property records indicate his partnership acquired some of the parcels included in the development for just $4.8 million in 1998.

Barr also gets zoning authority for two 32-story buildings on Wabash. They would contain about 323 units and would be built if demand warrants.

The law firm DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary advised Barr. The sale short-circuits a strategy of selling the property through sealed bids.

INLAND 'STEAL'? Inland Real Estate Group of Cos. Inc. said it bought what it thinks is the largest apartment complex in the suburbs, the 1,156-unit Stonegate Apartments at 440 Gregory Ave., Glendale Heights, for $70.5 million. The complex consists of 33 two-story buildings spread across 66 acres and has an occupancy of more than 90 percent.

An Inland spokesman said the company is "exploring all options'' for the property, including conversion to condos. The sale was large enough to directly involve Inland Chairman Daniel Goodwin and Vice Chairman Joe Cosenza in the bargaining.

Property records indicate the seller, an affiliate of Alliance Holdings, bought the complex in June 2003 for $64.7 million. Inland said Alliance bankrolled a $4 million renovation. Given that, the sales price seems low.

CONDOS NEAR O'HARE: RDM Development, which is raising its profile as a condo converter, has acquired the 427-apartment complex at 902 Ridge Square Dr., Elk Grove Village, for $37 million. The eight-building complex is being marketed as a condo project called the Terrace of Elk Grove Village.

RDM partner Robert Mosky said the units are going for $105,000 to $150,000, positively cheap to anyone used to downtown prices. But he said he's also managing to undercut competition in the northwest suburbs and that the project was well-maintained by the previous owners, an affiliate of the Archstone-Smith Trust.

'BIG BOX' BONANZA: Home Products International, which sells consumer products such as plastic storage bins and ironing boards to the big-box retailers, has signed a 10-year lease for a 205,000-square-foot building at 5501 S. Archer, part of the Midway Business Center. Paine/Wetzel Oncor International and Epic/Savage Partners/TCN Worldwide were brokers in the deal.

WHAT'S GOING UP: Construction has started at 30 W. Erie, where Schillaci Birmingham Development Inc. promises a 13-story condo building with two units per floor. Prices start at $1.1 million.

DOING THE DEALS: Elmhurst-based North Development Ltd. sold a fully leased 25,000-square-foot warehouse at 1201 W. Lake to investor Noel Bushala for around $2.6 million. CB Richard Ellis Inc. assisted. ... In a relocation from 120 N. La Salle, the Gallup Organization leased 17,000 square feet at 111 S. Wacker, with the help of NAI Hiffman.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0512070168dec07,1,7084460.story?coll=chi-business-hed

Beacon to buy 200 S. Wacker tower

THOMAS A. CORFMAN
Published December 7, 2005

In a bet on the continued demand for West Loop office space, Boston real estate investment firm Beacon Capital Partners LLC has a deal to acquire 200 S. Wacker Drive for more than $121 million.

Beacon, whose principals are longtime investors in the local market, has agreed to pay between $160 and $165 a square foot for the building, sources said. The total price would be between $121 million and $125 million, based on 756,600 square feet of space.

A Beacon spokesman declined to comment. Executives with the seller, New York investment house Morgan Stanley, and its real estate adviser, CB Richard Ellis Inc., could not be reached for comment.

Built in 1981, the 40-story structure is 87 percent leased, according to research firm CoStar Group. But the price is regarded as aggressive because of the expected defection of two key tenants: Chicago online travel firm Orbitz and a unit of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., which combined have 144,000 square feet.

The deal comes less than a month after Beacon disclosed that it was putting up for sale its most recent Chicago acquisition, 222 S. Riverside Plaza.

Kuwaitis gain toehold: Developer Alter Group has sold a 90 percent joint venture stake in three suburban office buildings to Kuwait-based Global Investment House in a deal that values the 402,882-square-foot portfolio at $7.1 million.

The deal is the first investment for a $100 million American real estate fund sponsored by the Investment House and advised by Chicago investment manager Heitman LLC.

Included in the transaction were Corridors I and II in Downers Grove and a 102,882-square-foot building in suburban Washington, said James I. Clark III, managing principal of Entrust Realty Advisors, Alter's finance affiliate.

Entrust also arranged a $53.4 million loan issued by Lehman Brothers.

Changing Fortune: Fortune Brands Inc. is moving its headquarters from Lincolnshire to the Corporate 500 Centre in Deerfield, where the consumer products company's Jim Beam Brands has signed a long-term lease renewal, said Mark Delph, real estate director for Fortune.

As a part of the deal, Jim Beam increased its space by 15 percent, to 130,000 square feet, in one building at Corporate 500, while the headquarters staff will occupy 35,000 square feet in another building.

The office complex at 500 Lake Cook Rd. is owned by Equity Office Properties Trust. CB Richard Ellis advised Fortune.

Suburban scene: The occupancy rate for the suburban apartment market held steady during the third quarter at nearly 96 percent, the highest level in more than two years, but landlord concessions rose sharply, according to a report by Appraisal Research Counselors.

Median net rents, not including concessions, were virtually unchanged at $1.02 a square foot but should increase 6 percent to 8 percent over the next nine months, said Ron DeVries, a vice president at the Chicago firm.

But 51.1 percent of the 225 apartment complexes surveyed are offering concessions, an increase from 44.3 percent during the second quarter.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0512070012dec07,1,1907104.story?coll=chi-business-hed

Record sales price for Buck tower
111 S. Wacker tops $400 a square foot

By Thomas A. Corfman
Tribune staff reporter
Published December 7, 2005

Chicago developer John Buck Co. has closed on the sale of its newest skyscraper at 111 S. Wacker Drive to a German investment fund, surpassing a 15-year-old price record that once seemed unbreakable.

DIFA Deutsche Immobilien Fonds AG last week purchased the 1 million-square-foot tower, which was completed in June and is 85 percent leased. Tenants include accounting giant Deloitte & Touche LLP, law firm Lord Bissell & Brook and printing giant R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co., Buck Co. confirmed. An announcement is expected Wednesday.

The price is $410 million, or more than $400 a square foot, sources said. The Chicago office of Eastdil Realty Co. advised Buck, which will continue to manage the skyscraper.

On a per-square-foot basis, the price is the most paid for a downtown office building, surpassing the $385 a square foot paid by a Japanese insurance company for 181 W. Madison St. in 1990, when sales prices last peaked.

But the square-foot price of 111 S. Wacker is boosted significantly by a 389-car garage, unlike the top-dollar office buildings of 15 years ago.

"When you take that into account, you really bring the pricing in line with those record-setters in the Japanese era," said Kent Swanson, chief financial officer of Buck Co., who declined to comment on the price.

Despite inflation, many real estate experts doubted that the 181 W. Madison price ever would be surpassed, especially in light of the slow growth of downtown office rents.

But experts say the sustained surge in commercial real estate prices is the result of several factors, including low interest rates, which boost buying power; the weak performance of alternative investments, such as stocks; and growing international ownership of trophy properties, which has increased the competitiveness of bidding.

"The reality is that we are in a new pricing paradigm," said Bruce Cohen, chief executive of Chicago real estate investment firm Cohen Capital LLC.

The deal had been expected since September, when the Hamburg-based firm signed a contract to buy the 51-story tower. DIFA manages a $17.35 billion portfolio, with 220 properties in Europe and North America.

"The stable cash flow in combination with the rent growth potential at this premium site make the acquisition ... a highly attractive investment," said Reinhard Kutscher, a member of DIFA's management board.

Rapidly rising construction costs have driven up the price of constructing a similar tower, and DIFA's return, or capitalization rate, is better than comparable investments, Swanson said.

"From the standpoint of replacement cost and from the standpoint of capitalization rate versus U.S. Treasuries, they have a vastly better deal than was made in the late '80s," he said.

Huge pools of capital continue to drive up prices, said veteran Chicago developer Marvin Romanek.

"Money comes down to supply and demand. It has never been more complicated than that," he said.

Who's King of Chicago?
Stephane Fitch, 12.26.05

Donald Trump finds himself in a price--and bragging--war with Ritz-Carlton founder Horst Schulze.
This year Donald Trump did something nobody else has dared to try: He bet that usually stingy Chicagoans were just as willing as New Yorkers to overpay for a pied-à-terre downtown. And he was right. Trump broke ground on a 90-story, $600 million condominium-hotel on the Chicago River and soon gleefully jacked up his prices from $600 per square foot to $1,000 and higher for many units--startling real estate agents and delighting everybody who bought in early. Trump still has 225 of 750 condos left to sell; the building won't open until 2007.

But now he's up against a competing project right across the river, headed by celebrated Ritz-Carlton founder Horst Schulze. Schulze and his development partner, Robert Falor, are spending $125 million to convert a 46-year-old, 454-room, 39-story hotel to a condo-hotel and reopen it under a new flag: Solis. They're undercutting Trump's prices and promising to deliver this summer, a year ahead of him.

A 530-square-foot unit in the Solis, with furniture, 42-inch flat-screen televisions, marble bathrooms and views of the Chicago River (and Trump's development), was selling for $400,000 in December, roughly half what Trump was getting for the equivalent unit. "By the time Trump opens, I've got the customer[s], and I'm not going to lose them," Schulze crows.

"We have no competition," declares Trump, who doesn't deign to mention Schulze by name. "They all come in and say, 'Hey, let's outbuild Trump.' But we have the best location, the best building and most of all, we have the Trump brand." And, at the moment, a 30% vacancy rate.

December 12, 2005
By Alby Gallun

Speed bumps for hotel/condo plan
As nearby Westin objects, developers face another obstacle: an X-rated shop
The planned development on Hubbard Street will tower over Te Jay's Adult Books, which the owner refuses to sell.
An existing hotel and nearby adult bookstore are complicating the plans of developers Albert Friedman and Richard Stein as they try to launch a major hotel/condo project on a prime River North parcel.
The developers are catching flak from the owner of the nearby Westin River North Hotel, who has complained to the city that the mixed-use project would include 525 hotel rooms, more than the 340 allowed under an existing planned development agreement. In August, former Commissioner of Planning and Development Denise M. Casalino signed off on a request by the developers to increase the room count.

A lawyer for Tishman Hotel Corp., which owns the 424-room Westin, has outlined his client's objections in a letter to the city, noting that the Westin must okay the development agreement. He says a lawsuit to block the project isn't out of the question. The development, planned for a five-acre parcel bounded by Dearborn Parkway and Kinzie, Clark and Hubbard streets, would be a block away from the Westin and north of an office building planned by the same developers.

"There's too many hotel rooms in the area," says the attorney, James M. Kane. Neither Mr. Friedman nor Mr. Stein returned calls seeking comment.

The pair face a different situation with Te Jay's Adult Books. The owner of the store at 53 W. Hubbard St. refuses to sell to make way for the new project, forcing the developers to build around it. Plans filed with the Department of Planning and Development in September show the store sandwiched between the proposed 291-foot hotel and 496-foot condo tower.

The shop's proprietor declines to explain why he won't sell.

"Me and Al (Friedman) have an understanding that it's not for sale and Al respects that, and being the kind gentleman that he is, he doesn't insult me with an offer," says the proprietor, who declines to give his name, standing next to a rack of X-rated DVDs.

Adult Book store, how classy. Oh well, maybe he'll change his mind when construction crews are right next to him.

Ok so the Westin is complaining because the new hotel would have more then 340 rooms but they have 424 themselves. That really doen't make sense.

Do you think they will try and sell the bookstore as an amenity to the new buyers since it will be right down stairs?

^lol. Can't the city ordinance this "bookstore" out of the way? ( I can't believe they get away with putting "bookstore" in their name." Hmm.. no schools really close though to justify that... :(

Condos stake claim as 1st choice for downtown Chicago living
By John Handley
Tribune staff reporter
Published December 11, 2005

By staying put, 24-year-old Eric Worley has become part of a trend: people buying residences in downtown Chicago.

His reasoning?

"It's cheaper to own than to rent," said Worley, a trader at the Chicago Board of Trade. "That's on a monthly cash-flow basis, after the down payment," he said.

Worley paid more than $300,000 in November to purchase the 16th-floor unit he had been renting at Grand Plaza, whose 37-story west tower at 545 N. Dearborn St. is converted to condominiums.

In 2000 Chicago ranked No. 1 in the country in the proportion of downtown residences that were owner-occupied, at 40.7 percent, according to a recent Brookings Institution report based on U.S. Census figures. In 1970 Chicago's downtown homeownership rate was a mere 4 percent, the report said.

Parallel figures aren't available for 2005, but the number of housing units in downtown Chicago has soared to 80,000 from 60,000, and the proportion of owned units to rental ones has, too, said Gail Lissner, vice president of Appraisal Research Counselors in Chicago.

Appraisal Research defines the downtown area as being bounded by North Avenue, 22nd Street [Cermak Road] and Ashland Avenue. The Brookings study defined downtown's western boundary as Halsted Street. In 2005 rentals amounted to 25 percent of the 80,000 units, Lissner said. The number of rental units dropped in the last five years, from 22,200 to 20,500, she said.

Why the boom in buying?

Downtown is taking off because it is a bargain compared with other world-class cities, said Ronald Shipka Sr., principal of Chicago-based Enterprise Cos.

"A lot of people buy here because prices are $200 to $500 a square foot," said James "Jake" Geleerd, principal in Chicago-based Terrapin Properties, which owns Worley's building. "That same size unit may be $2,000 a square foot in New York."

That figure might even be $2,500 in midtown Manhattan, off Central Park--not on it, Lissner said. So Manhattan home prices are about 2 1/2 times those of downtown Chicago, and Boston's are about twice our price, she said.

Low interest rates have contributed to affordability everywhere, falling from an average of 8.05 percent in 2000 to 5.83 percent in 2003 before climbing to 6.32 percent as of last week, according to Freddie Mac.

"Low interest rates have been enticing to first-time buyers," Lissner said. "Most renters look at condos as the entry to homeownership--the most affordable way to get their foot in the door. These young buyers are upwardly mobile, affluent and see the benefits of homeownership."

Empty nesters

Empty nesters, another large segment of the downtown market, prefer to buy rather than rent, she said. "They may be looking at a condo as an investment, as portfolio diversification. Or, they may buy a unit for their kids."

Shipka, who said 34 percent of his company's buyers are empty-nesters, cited other factors in downtown's favor. "Downtown has become more livable and vibrant." He added that "the Asian [immigrant] market" represent 13 percent of buyers.

While all areas shared in favorable interest rates, Chicago has had some advantages: large tracts of former industrial and railroad land to build on south of the Chicago River and a diversified economy that offered well-paying jobs while other industrial Midwest cities lagged.

The city has both promoted the growth and benefited from it. Condos and apartment buildings bring in more property tax revenue than does fallow land.

Neighborhoods that make up the downtown district saw hefty property assessment increases from 2000 to 2003, the last year the city was reassessed.

According to a study by the Cook County assessor's office, assessments increased a median 35 percent on the Near North Side, 36 percent on the Near South Side and in the South Loop, and 81 percent on the Near West Side.

"The condo and housing boom in downtown has had a dramatic impact on property values throughout Chicago," said Laurence Msall, president of the Civic Federation, a voter and tax watchdog group. "Probably the richest area in property values is the Central Business District and north of the Loop. That has increased in value and as a result the tax paid from those properties has increased dramatically faster than commercial, industrial or other types of property within the city," he said. "The boom also has had significant benefits in security issues downtown, ranging from greater usage of public transit--improving the perception of safety--and more downtown activity after the business day is over."

The route to downtown Chicago began in Italy for Gino Di Nallo, 60, and his wife, Germana, who came to the city 30 years ago. They have lived in 26 locations, and plan to move in 2007 to a two-bedroom condo at Avenue East, a 133-unit building under construction at 160 E. Illinois St.

Less turnover

"I've been researching buying versus renting," said Di Nallo. "I didn't want to pay rent the rest of my life. A condo makes you feel more at home. There's too much turnover in a rental building, and every year they raise the rent 3 to 5 percent," though he noted that real estate taxes and condo assessments can be deterrents to buying.

For now the market shares Di Nallo's preference for buying.

Lissner says 3,300 new condo units are projected for delivery in 2006, while only 892 new apartments are now under construction in two buildings.

She added, though, that the supply of downtown rentals may be larger than figures would indicate because of the "shadow rental market--investor-purchased units in new condo buildings. These rentals could be about 20 percent of new units. Nobody knows for sure.

"But brokers tell me there has been less interest from investors in the last quarter. Interest-rate creep and bubble talk in the press have had an impact on investors," she said.

Worley, the trader, said he constantly monitors prices of downtown properties and "I see buying as not a big risk. Chicago hasn't been affected by a price bubble. If there's a downturn, it will not be a bad correction."

James Kinney, president of Rubloff Residential Properties in Chicago, said the decline of rentals has not been by choice. "Because of the strong condo conversions of rental buildings, apartments have been disappearing," he said. "There are very few new rental buildings coming on the market. Those that do are converted soon after construction."

He said more than 60 percent of high-end renters are considering buying within two years.

However, if there is a glut of new condo buildings downtown, the tide could shift to rentals, Kinney said. "Some say the rental buildings of tomorrow are the new condo buildings of today," he said. "We saw that happen in the '70s and early '80s, when condo sales dropped."

Charles Huzenis, president of Chicago-based Jameson Realty Group, predicts that developers may soon slow the pace of downtown projects because of the rise in construction costs and the cost of money.

Downtown digs

Chicago has the highest rate of homeownership in its downtown area of any major city in the U.S., according to a recent study based on Census 2000 data. It may be because housing prices in Chicago are cheaper compared with cities such as New York.


DOWNTOWN HOMEOWNERSHIP RATES
For 2000
Chicago 40.70%
Lafayette, La 35.60%
Denver 35.50%
Austin, Texas 35.10%
Miami 34.30%
PhiladelphiA 33.20%
Norfolk, Va. 31.00%
Charlotte 30.20%
Baltimore 27.00%
Indianapolis 26.90%
Source: The Brookings Institution Chicago Tribune

^lol. Can't the city ordinance this "bookstore" out of the way? ( I can't believe they get away with putting "bookstore" in their name." Hmm.. no schools really close though to justify that... :(

^HEY! Where am I gonna get my porn?

anouther artical along the same lined as the one posted by chi coruscant:

Dec. 10, 2005, 5:16PM
Homeowners migrate to downtown Chicago
Area has highest buyers' rate of all major U.S. cities


By JOE CARROLL
Bloomberg News

Troy Steele slashed his daily commute to four minutes from two hours when he bought a downtown Chicago condominium last month blocks from his job trading soybean futures. He says his new home may turn out to be his best trade.

Steele reckons the two-bedroom unit he bought for $300,000 in a rehabilitated warehouse on South Michigan Avenue will soar in value, given demand for residential space around Chicago's downtown.

"We bought it for the upside potential — and the convenience," says Steele, 28, a LaSalle Futures Group broker who had lived in Naperville, 30 miles to the west.

Traders, attorneys and other professionals boosted the home ownership rate in downtown Chicago to 41 percent, the highest of major U.S. downtowns, according to a study released last month by the Washington-based Brookings Institution.


Warehouses available
Chicago gained its advantage in the 1800s as stockyards moved from downtown and were replaced with warehouses suitable for future rehabbing — instead of the factories that filled city centers like Detroit.

Surging demand for high-rise condominiums, townhouses and renovated industrial structures in Chicago in the past few years has triggered a frenzy of building by developers such as Cleveland-based Forest City Enterprises, the largest publicly traded U.S. commercial real estate company, says Constance Buscemi, a spokeswoman for the city's Department of Planning and Development.

"Downtown 20 years ago was a place you went to go to the doctor and then you went home," Buscemi says. "Now downtown is a much more vibrant place with museums, eateries, a thriving theater district."


Population will double
Chicago's downtown home ownership is rising faster in this decade than in the 1990s, and the area's population will more than double to 165,000 by 2010 from 73,000 in 2000, estimates Ron DeVries, vice president of Appraisal Research Counselors, a Chicago-based real-estate appraiser. He says the estimate takes into account any slowing in U.S. housing demand in coming years.

In Chicago, 18,181 of the downtown's 44,638 housing units were owned rather than rented as of 2000, according to the Brookings Institution study, which analyzed the most recent U.S. Census Bureau data from 45 cities. Lafayette, La., had the second-highest downtown home-ownership rate at 36 percent, followed by Denver, Austin and Miami. Cincinnati had the lowest rate, with just 15 of its 1,512 downtown units owner-occupied, or 1 percent.

In the five years since the 2000 Census, Chicago and U.S. homeowners have been relocating to downtown areas, says the study's author, Eugenie Birch, who teaches city planning at the University of Pennsylvania's Penn Institute for Urban Research in Philadelphia.


Shorter commutes
Most of the increase in downtown living results from buyers eliminating long commutes, Birch says.

Downtown homeownership across the U.S. doubled to 22 percent between 1970 and 2000, the Brookings Institution study shows. Chicago's downtown population grew 39 percent in the 1990s, the fastest in the U.S., even as the overall population of the city declined 13 percent, the analysis shows.

Not everyone is thrilled with the surge in Chicago's downtown home ownership. Landlords have been converting properties to condos because sale prices have risen faster than rents, forcing low-income renters to pull up stakes, says Rob Breymaier, president of the Chicago Area Fair Housing Alliance, a group of 30 fair-housing associations.

Most of those priced out of their former neighborhoods have been black or Hispanic, he says.

http://www.nearwestgazette.com/1205-Newsbriefs.htm

Redevelopment for Blackstone

(12/5/05) - The City Council is considering a redevelopment agreement for the vacant Blackstone Hotel at 636 S. Michigan Ave.
Under the plan, the historical features of the 22-story hotel would be preserved and enhanced. An additional 12,000 square feet of meeting space would be created. The barbershop and art hall would be restored, and the 327 guest rooms would be completely rebuilt with upgraded amenities.
Built in 1908, the Blackstone was for many decades Chicago's premier luxury hotel. It has been vacant since 1999.
Developer Sage Hospitality Resources LLC expects the project to cost $112.2 million. The City would provide up to $18 million in tax increment financing assistance.

-edit- wrong thread

I don't think anyone has posted a rendering of 1 East 8th, now a vacant lot with a temporary sales center structure.

This building appears to address the street superbly. Lots of glass and two-story "bank-like" columns.


http://mlsni.com/photos/property/386/05352386.jpg

Not bad. Not bad at all.

The website for the building at 1 E. 8th is www.oneplacecondos.com by the way. There is an ad in the November 4th Gazette for it... 2BR, 2BA from $249,000. The units come with balconies too. Sounds like a good deal... The floorplan looks like approximately 32' x 22' with an 11' x 5' balcony (Approximately 800 SF). That puts it at about $315 a SF. It is kind of a weird setup (10' x 11'-4" bedrooms, 12'x21'-4" kitchen/living room). You have to walk through the kitchen which is a corner of the great room once you get in and then through the bedrooms to get to the bathrooms.

That corner REALLY needs to get filled in. I hope 1 East 8th starts construction soon. Any word on sales?

Well, I looked up units at www.realtor.com. They do not show a lot of listings. It looks like the lister is www.cacciatoreharper.com. They list 7 units of the 96 unit building (not sure if that means 89 are sold). They had a couple 1BRs around $207,000 and 5 2BRs starting from $259. But the date shown in their listings is 2007. Sounds encouraging.

Speaking of that intersection, when is the Pacific Garden Mission's planned move and when is Jones going to develop the lot at the Northwest corner of State and 8th?

NEW CONSTRUCTION

Published December 12, 2005


The following construction projects are coming up for bid. Listings include project city, name of project, address, description, start date and project value. Complete bidding details and contact information can be found at BidClerk.com.

COOK COUNTY

Chicago--Superior Street residential building, 110 W. Superior St., 117,500-square-foot residential complex, January, $9.4 million.

Chicago--Bebe Sport, 835 N. Michigan Ave., 3,000-square-foot tenant improvement, January, $150,000.

Chicago--Sheridan Road apartment complex, Sheridan Road and Pratt Boulevard, 6-unit apartment complex, January, $450,000.

Chicago--La Estancia, 2753 W. Division St., 70,000-square-foot mixed-use development, March, $17 million.

Cicero--Kerasotes Theaters, Ogden and Cicero Avenues, 64,500-square-foot movie theater, January, $3 million.

Northbrook--Bocce-Bowling Center, Willow and Landwehr Roads, 3,000-square-foot recreational building, April, $300,000.

Streamwood--Rydin Decal Manufacturing Facility, East Avenue and Buttitta Drive, 50,000-square-foot manufacturing facility, March, $1.1 million.

Tinley Park--National City Bank, 80th Avenue and 160th Street, 5,500-square-foot bank branch, December, $600,000.

DUPAGE COUNTY

Bloomingdale--Jameson's Charhouse, Schick Road and Gary Avenue, 8,442-square-foot restaurant, February, $900,000.

Lombard--St. John's Church & School, 215 S. Lincoln Ave., 47,000-square-foot elementary school, February, $5 million.

Villa Park--Wildfire Harley Davidson, 120 W. North Ave., 1,000-square-foot retail store addition, December, $85,000.

LAKE COUNTY

Kildeer--Carter's, Quentin Connection, 4,401-square-foot clothing store, January, $250,000.

Lake Barrington--Industrial Avenue Auto Works, 28155 W. Industrial Ave., 1.85-acre auto dealership, January 2007, $300,000.

Long Grove--The Studio of Long Grove, 360 Historical Lane, 100-seat restaurant addition, February, $500,000.

MCHENRY COUNTY

McHenry--Patriot Estates Townhouses, Crystal Lake and Bull Valley Roads, 4-unit townhouse development, February, $400,000.

Woodstock--Woodstock Station, First and Clay Streets, 197-unit mixed-use development, January, $30 million.

http://www.nearwestgazette.com/1205-Update.htm

Riverside Park bought by Japanese firm

(12/5/05) - Silence now shrouds the once highly touted Riverside Park residential and retail complex in the South Loop involving 62 acres bounded by Roosevelt Road on the north, 16th Street on the south, Clark Street on the east, and the Chicago River on the west.
Rezmar Corp. unveiled detailed plans for the complex in late 2003 and early 2004, with Ikea expected as an anchor with a 330,000 square foot store. Ikea management later decided not to open a store at the site, however.
At the time, the City was working on issues such as parking and traffic flow and ways of alleviating traffic congestion. Riverside Park was to be built in phases, according to Rezmar Corp. plans, starting with the retail portion followed by approximately 4,000 residential highrises and mid-rises.
Rezmar recently sold its interest to a Japanese conglomerate, and City and Rezmar spokespersons suddenly are tight-lipped about the development.
“There are no plans pending or any definite information at the City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development,” stated Constance Buscemi, spokesperson for the department.
Alderman Madeline Haithcock’s office also has no information about the status of this project or the property. Numerous calls to Rezmar were not returned.

when is Jones going to develop the lot at the Northwest corner of State and 8th?

"Northwest" corner of State and 8th? Which development are you referring to here?

http://www.nearwestgazette.com/1205-Update.htm

Riverside Park bought by Japanese firm

(12/5/05) - Silence now shrouds the once highly touted Riverside Park residential and retail complex in the South Loop involving 62 acres bounded by Roosevelt Road on the north, 16th Street on the south, Clark Street on the east, and the Chicago River on the west.
Rezmar Corp. unveiled detailed plans for the complex in late 2003 and early 2004, with Ikea expected as an anchor with a 330,000 square foot store. Ikea management later decided not to open a store at the site, however.
At the time, the City was working on issues such as parking and traffic flow and ways of alleviating traffic congestion. Riverside Park was to be built in phases, according to Rezmar Corp. plans, starting with the retail portion followed by approximately 4,000 residential highrises and mid-rises.
Rezmar recently sold its interest to a Japanese conglomerate, and City and Rezmar spokespersons suddenly are tight-lipped about the development.
“There are no plans pending or any definite information at the City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development,” stated Constance Buscemi, spokesperson for the department.
Alderman Madeline Haithcock’s office also has no information about the status of this project or the property. Numerous calls to Rezmar were not returned.
this only makes my point stronger in my thread--> thread (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=288713)

Sorry... 8th Street is Polk Street West of State... The Northwest corner of State and Polk. Right now there is an empty parking lot, followed by the Mission and then Jones College Prep running North to Congress. North of Congress is Library Tower condominiums to be opened in 2008. The Mission is planning a move to 14th and Canal (I am pretty sure) to much opposition of that community. Jones College Prep is planning $20M in renovations including a pool, gym, and new library. I know there is a lot of politics involved right now. I had not heard anything in a while though and I know the Mission residents are still hanging around State Street.

I had read somewhere that a European invester bought the land and that the plans were still proceeding. I also read that Rezmar was still involved in the development somehow. I cannot imagine the plans changing because of the amount of money I heard was paid to Rezmar. Interesting...

Sale near for South Loop project site
Development stalled amid O'Hare scandal

By Thomas A. Corfman
Tribune staff reporter
Published September 30, 2005


A European conglomerate headed by a controversial Iraqi-born billionaire is close to buying a 62-acre South Loop site whose owners include developer Daniel Mahru and prominent Democratic fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko.

About 4,600 residential units and 670,000 square feet of retailing have been proposed for the site at Roosevelt Road and Clark Street.

But it has been stalled after Chicago officials found that a Rezko-owned company improperly operated Panda Express restaurants at O'Hare International Airport that were supposed to be controlled by a minority-owned firm under the city's set-aside program.

The sale could set the stage for the development, called Riverside Park, to move forward again.

The buyer is General Mediterranean Holding SA, whose chairman and chief executive is Nadhmi Auchi, sources said.

Auchi is a British businessman who in 2003 was convicted in a French court in connection with an oil company kickback scheme. Auchi, fined more than $1 million, filed an appeal of the case, according to published reports. The status of the appeal could not be determined.

That same year, the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq awarded a cellular phone service contract to Orascom Telecom Holding SAE, an Egyptian company in which Auchi has a stake. U.S. officials are investigating allegations of impropriety and Auchi's role in the bid process. Orascom and Auchi have denied any wrongdoing.

General Mediterranean Holding is based in Luxembourg, with offices in London, and has business interests in banking, hotels, construction and real estate.

A company spokesman said he was unaware of the Chicago transaction. In an e-mail message, Charles Panayides said General Mediterranean "has always sought to make investments predicated on the principle that they not only bring GMH a fair return but effectively and transparently contribute to the well-being of the people of the host countries."

Rezko is chairman and Mahru is chief executive of Chicago development firm Rezmar Corp. A spokesman for the company declined to comment.

Rezko, a Syrian immigrant, has significant business holdings aside from Rezmar, including a restaurant company that operates fast-food franchises. The controversial Panda Express restaurant contracts were canceled in July.

Three years ago, a Rezmar partnership acquired the site, paying $67 million.

In 2003, Ikea dropped plans to be the anchor retailer for the project, a sharp setback for Rezmar. Instead, Ikea opted for a Bolingbrook location, where it just opened its second Chicago-area store.

Rezmar had been seeking a tax increment financing grant of up to $140 million from the Daley administration.

Discouraged about prospects of winning the subsidy, Mahru has been urging Rezko to sell the project for several months, sources said. But Rezko apparently believed that the City Hall logjam would eventually be broken.

The project has been a financial drain. Earlier this year, Rezmar's principals used money from General Mediterranean to pay off a lender on the project, New York investment bank Lehman Brothers, sources said.

The sale of the South Loop site to General Mediterranean is expected to be completed in stages, but would leave Rezko and Mahru without any ownership interest, sources said. Mahru may stay on as a consultant, sources said.



I suppose this sale may have gone poo-poo and it was sold to the Japanese firm. I'm glad that the city would rather force the hand to give the project to foreigners instead of our own, despite their track record.

CHICAGO, Dec. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Last week's sale of 1000 S. Michigan, a
development site approved for 656 luxury condominiums across from Grant Park,
is believed to be the largest single-asset sale in downtown Chicago ever
brought to market via real estate auction, according to Steven L. Good,
chairman and CEO of Sheldon Good and Company Auctions LLC, which brokered the
sale.
A pre-auction bid by Oak Brook-based Renaissant Development Group forced
the cancellation of the sealed bid auction, which had a deadline of Dec. 14.
Ultimately, Renaissant paid nearly $44 million for the 1.6-acre
development site, which includes city approval for three condominium towers of
40, 32 and 32 stories; architectural plans; and sales contracts for 240 of the
301 units in Phase I. The seller was an investment group led by Chicagoan Guy
Gardner.
"Preemptive auction sales occur about 20 percent of the time. But with an
opportunity as rare and desirable as this, and with the national interest
generated by this auction, it's not surprising that a buyer wanted to step up
and take this property off the market rather than facing the challenges of
other competitive bidders," said Good.
"By using the auction process to market 1000 S. Michigan, we were able to
create a very competitive environment and a deadline that forced an aggressive
move on the part of the buyer. In this case, the race ended before the
deadline, but the seller was happy with the result, the buyer was happy with
the result, and the process confirmed that real estate auctions are an
extremely effective way to sell one-of-a-kind and difficult-to-value
properties," added Good.
Headquartered at 333 W. Wacker Drive in Chicago, Sheldon Good & Company is
the nation's largest real estate auction firm for residential and commercial
properties, having sold some 40,000 properties approaching $9 billion in
value.

^-- that is pretty wild. I hope the plans for the site move forward as they were originally intended.

1000 S. Michigan is 2 1/2 blocks away from my condo. Some people say that there is too much development in the South Loop, is say the more development in the South Loop the better!

I never understand why people get afraid of development in Chicago's centre.

Can someone explain it to me?

... anyone?

It's simple. People are concerned about their investments. The more supply, the less demand. They figure the more condos that go up near them, the less theirs is worth - and to some extent, that is true. But, what they're forgetting is that density also increases desirability. People want to live in a vibrant neighborhood, so, the more permanent residents and the more permanent businesses that are in a neighborhood, the more desirable that neighborhood becomes.

I think most people fail to look that closely at it and simply see the surface effects of more units = less demand.

^
Agreed.
Think positive!

From yesterdays plan commission meeting.

618-630 West Washington (350')
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/12/422611.jpg

https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/12/422612.jpg

Flair Tower
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/12/422614.jpg

Michigan Avenue Tower II
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/12/422617.jpg

Thank you, BVictor!

618-630 W Washington looks a bit weird. It is not ugly. It is not stunning. It is just weird.

618-630 West Washington could be pretty cool. Reminds me of a lot of the really zooty modern buildings going up in the Netherlands. A bit of Delta-esque modernism in the West Loop would be a good thing. Could be very diggable.

- edit

I'm a little happy and sad about the Grant Park thing. On one hand I'm for more greenery and to make Grant Park look unified, on the other it's sad to see part of Chicago's railroad legacy gone. But I suppose that's more of a sentimental thing, especially if it serves no purpose other than to look gritty.

- edit

I'm a little happy and sad about the Grant Park thing. On one hand I'm for more greenery and to make Grant Park look unified, on the other it's sad to see part of Chicago's railroad legacy gone. But I suppose that's more of a sentimental thing, especially if it serves no purpose other than to look gritty.


^Yeah, but it's not like the trains will be gone. They'll just be where they belong--underground. Personally, I think it would be cool to ride the commuter rail and for a large chunk of it (through Grant Park) to be a subway. Subways are cool in one way--they keep you away from the noise and activity of the city, and when you finally emerge from underground, you're like WOW!

One of the great things about cities like Chicago and NYC are their enormous complexity--that is what gives them their charm. The fact that you can have multi-level roads or underground trains and garages with a beautiful park with trees above is the sign of a truly sophisticated city--and that only comes from man's great engineering genius. Leaving those Metra trains out in the open may be a nice view to the past, but it doesn't really say "global" and "sophisticated" like having them underground would

Great news about the JHC.

Has anyone seen the "Visionary Chicago Architecture" exhibit at the Graham foundation. I'm thinking about trekking out to see that one. I would love to see Jahn's sail/LED concept for northernly isle.

I may have seen pictures but I want to venture down there and see it for myself. If anyone does go, try and take nice pictures please.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0512180493dec19,1,1705913.story?coll=chi-business-hed

Chicago--McKinley Gardens Townhomes, 32nd Street and Western Avenue, 69-unit townhome development, December, $4.9 million.

Chicago--1000 S. Michigan condominiums, 1000 S. Michigan Ave., 350-unit condominium development, October 2006, $100 million.

Chicago--Union Station mixed-use, 300 W. Adams St., 1.2 million-square-foot mixed-use development, October 2006, $120 million.

Chicago--La Estancia, 2753 W. Division St., 70,000-square-foot mixed-use development, March 2006, $17 million.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/business/cst-fin-garage19.html

http://www.suntimes.com/output/business/cst-fin-garage19.html
GE division plans Loop residential building
December 19, 2005

BY DAVID ROEDER AND FRAN SPIELMAN Staff Reporters Advertisement

A division of General Electric has filed plans to build a 44-story residential tower on an empty lot at 215 W. Washington, where one of the city's oldest parking garages was torn down in recent months.

The plans were contained in a zoning application filed by parking garage operator InterPark, which has a contract to buy the land from a family trust. Sources have said the sales price is around $11 million.

Charles Murphy, senior vice president at InterPark, said it's not known if the proposed 335 units will be sold or rented. Also under discussion with the city, he said, is the size of the building's parking component.

Murphy said the Chicago architectural firm Solomon Cordwell Buenz & Associates Inc. will design the building. Murphy wouldn't commit to a construction timetable, but said he hopes for "some progress" at the site later in 2006.

InterPark is part of General Electric's commercial finance arm. It has occasionally been involved in developing mixed-use buildings that contain a parking component.

Murphy said InterPark might agree to include a residential developer as a partner in the project.

The property is in the center of the Loop and just over a block from City Hall. It's across the street from two former Illinois Bell buildings that were successfully converted to condos in the 1990s.

The old Hotel LaSalle Garage used to occupy 215 W. Washington. It was a throwback operation where customers had to hand their keys to valets because it only had a single ramp for storing and retrieving cars.

The architectural firm Holabird & Roche designed the garage to look like an office building of the time.

I'm a little happy and sad about the Grant Park thing. On one hand I'm for more greenery and to make Grant Park look unified, on the other it's sad to see part of Chicago's railroad legacy gone. But I suppose that's more of a sentimental thing, especially if it serves no purpose other than to look gritty.

I wouldnt worry about the railway being completely covered up. I think they will try to cover up the major sections (SW corner, MP area) and leave the rest open as is. But this is really good. I think with the success of MP it is driving Grant Park to improve as well. Its the front yard of Chicago and it should be one of the best parks in Chicago.

I also see Petrillo Band Shell being removed and placed somewhere in the south end of the park, maybe some roads closing, and an overall improvement to the facilites.

If you look at the longterm siteplan for downtown, they show Petrillo being removed and replaced with baseball diamonds. I recollect that the diamonds just north of Roosevelt Road at Columbus were not in the siteplan. It looked like they downsized on the number of fields.

Chicago--Union Station mixed-use, 300 W. Adams St., 1.2 million-square-foot mixed-use development, October 2006, $120 million.

What is this? Did I miss these news?!

Developers Eye Smaller Units for $70M Condo Tower
By Mark Ruda
Last updated: December 19, 2005 07:20pm

http://www.globest.com/news/437_437/chicago/141262-1.html
CHICAGO-Smaller units appear to be the way to go for new developments in the South Loop. At least, that's the experience for developers of a $70-million, 268-unit building at 1400 S. Michigan Ave.

Skokie developer Jacob Bletnitsky's 1400 S. Michigan LLC includes partners in another condominium at 1250 S. Michigan Ave., a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units. The partners saw resistance from the market to the larger units, says partner Alex Vaisman, who adds Appraisal Research Counselors also suggested a mix heavy on smaller units.

As a result, new plans call for 60% of the 29-story building at 1400 S. Michigan Ave. to be one-bedrooms, up to 850 sf, priced from $200,000. The rest will be mostly two-bedrooms, averaging $350,000, with a smattering of 3,500-sf penthouses projected to run about $1 million.

"These developers have just finished 1250 S. Michigan so they have experience in this market," says attorney Caroline Nash, who represents the developers. "They are very confident in this market."

Plans approved last year called for 210 units in a 24-story building. A 25% increase in the building's size was achieved with a bonus for a $432,317 contribution to the city's affordable housing fund. Unchanged in the new plan is the 9,000 sf of ground-floor retail space as well as an Art Deco and modern urban design.

Vaisman says his group hopes to break ground in August, anticipating 80% of the units could be pre-sold by then. After two months of marketing, Vaisman says the development team has signed contracts for 130 units. However, the team needs to buy the southernmost piece of the parcel needed to create the 34,311-sf site, according to a filing with city planners.

"We've been working with the developer for over a year and we're familiar with the development team," says Bonnie Sanchez-Carlson, president and executive director of the Near South Planning Board. She notes the 303 parking spaces are more than one per unit. "We commend them on that."

^
1250 S. Michigan is my building, aka Michigan Ave. Tower. I own a 2 bed 2 bath on the 12 floor, which I'm currently renting out, and I must say my renters love the place (they are from London). It is a very sexy building. The developer's name is Franklin and Giles. The building was constructed by Walsh. I'm pretty sure 1400 south will be a great building as well.

From GlobeSt

Jones Lang LaSalle Raising $300M for Office Tower
By Mark Ruda
Last updated: December 20, 2005 09:17am

Mesirow Stein Real Estate Inc. has begun raising money to build its 1.1-million-sf, 40-story office building at 351 N. Clark St., which they will co-anchor with Jenner & Block. The developer has hired Jones Lang LaSalle to raise more than $300 million needed to construct the building north of the Chicago River.

“The financing options available are truly global in today’s market,” says Jones Lang LaSalle managing director Bart Steinfeld, leading the capital-raising effort with Dave Hendrickson of the company’s real estate investment banking team. “The availability of capital is abundant. In fact, we expect there to be more capital available in ‘06 than there was in ‘05--and 2005 was a record year.”

Mesirow Stein Real Estate and law firm Jenner & Block are combining to take 700,000 sf, leaving Jones Lang LaSalle to lease the remaining 400,000 sf in the building between Clark and Dearborn streets, south of Kinzie Street. In addition, plans for the building include 30,000 sf of retail space. Construction is expected to be completed in 2009.

-------------------------

http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/4820/351nclark7je.jpg

^^That is what I found on Lohan Anderson's site for this project under "news."

"The striking design by Lohan Anderson has been carefully shaped and placed to maximize tenant views in all directions as well as maintain view corridors for adjacent neighbors. The exterior of the building will be clad in an articulated, state-of-the-art glass and stainless steel curtain wall which will give the building a distinctive character by day and night. Another key feature of the design is a private motor court area at the south side of the building which will provide a dramatic entrance to the office building."

http://www.suntimes.com/output/roeder/cst-fin-roeder21.html

December 21, 2005

BY DAVID ROEDER SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST Advertisement

City officials are closing in on a property deal with Coca-Cola Co. that would have two salutary results: bringing jobs to a neighborhood that needs them, and providing expansion space for a packed high school.

A source said Coke is close to signing a lease for the sprawling factory at 1401 N. Cicero that once was occupied by cosmetics manufacturer Helene Curtis. Coke then would consolidate distribution centers in Chicago and Niles after completing a $7 million renovation on the factory, said the source, who described the following scenario:

The decision would allow Coke to vacate property at 1424 W. Cermak, where it hems in Benito Juarez High School. The company also would leave a building at 7400 N. Oak Park in Niles.

That would mean about 275 jobs being consolidated in the city, while Juarez gets space to grow, assuming the city and Coke can strike a bargain for the property. An executive at Coke could not be reached, and a spokeswoman for the city's Department of Planning and Development declined to comment.

My source said financial details, including a subsidy under the tax-increment financing program, remain to be worked out but that Coke is committed to the project in principle.

Helene Curtis' owner, Unilever, closed the 376,000-square-foot distribution center on Cicero in 2003.

IN ORBITZ: Travel Web site Orbitz and its corporate parent, Cendant Travel Distribution Services, have agreed to lease 145,000 square feet at Citigroup Center, 500 W. Madison, starting in mid-2006. The operation will relocate and expand from 200 S. Wacker.

Orbitz.com and allied brands such as CheapTickets.com and Lodging.com have consolidated jobs in Chicago. A company spokesman said it is continuing to hire topflight technology staff.

Transwestern Commercial Services and MB Real Estate were brokers in the deal.

FANCY FOOTWORK: Chicago's Joffrey Ballet has completed a deal with Smithfield Properties LLC to own two floors in a new condo tower being built at the northeast corner of State and Randolph. Joffrey will own the third and fourth floors, which it will use for offices and rehearsal space. Terms were not disclosed.

As a result, the building will be called Joffrey Tower, which should help market the condos to the culture crowd.

PLANNING TO PLAN: Builders who keep an eye on the state Legislature have wondered about the new Regional Planning Board, an agency that's supposed to get Chicago area towns talking to one another about smart development and job creation. Will it be effective? Will it insert itself in local zoning decisions? Will it be anti-growth?

From what I've seen, the builders shouldn't have much to worry about. Taxpayers, however, might have gripes. The board held a "retreat'' Dec. 2 at the University Club of Chicago, issuing a report on the proceedings that was "facilitated,'' not written. It talked about "vision elements,'' "vision statements'' and "SWOTs,'' or strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats to the whole enterprise. All agreed that the chief threat to the new board is not enough money and not enough staff.

It hasn't done anything yet, and already it doesn't have enough money with which to do it.

This board, appointed by the Chicago mayor and local county board chairmen, is supposed to combine functions of the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission and the Chicago Area Transportation Study. Each agency has about 40 people, yet there's a three-year phase-in period for the merger. J.P. Morgan and Bank One didn't take so long.

HAVE SOME BUBBLY: The holidays just wouldn't be the same without the annual greetings from the real estate public relations firm Taylor Johnson Associates. This year, its list of stories the media overlooked the last 12 months all have one topic in mind, as you can tell from these excerpts:

"Dip in housing prices reported after Greenspan orders 'frothy latte' at D.C.-area Starbucks."

"California, Las Vegas and Miami secede from the United States to form their own country, Bubblandia, where housing prices will never, ever, ever go down.''

"President Bush shrugs off prospect of a drop in housing prices, saying, 'Who cares? The White House is a rental and I've got three years left on my lease.'"

So Merry Christmas, everyone, or whatever it's called at your house. And to the developers, remember the less fortunate, like your tenants and co-investors.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0512210165dec21,1,3283361.story?coll=chi-business-hed

Citigroup Center finds room for Orbitz

By Thomas A. Corfman
Tribune staff reporter
Published December 21, 2005


The joint venture that owns Citigroup Center has signed a lease with online travel agency Orbitz Inc., the first big deal since a recapitalization armed the West Loop tower with new financial firepower to win prospective tenants.

Orbitz and other brands in Cendant Corp.'s consumer travel division will take 145,000 square feet of space in the prominent building at 500 W. Madison St., which is connected to the Ogilvie Transportation Center.

Cendant's consumer travel division, which includes CheapTickets.com and Lodging.com, is moving from 200 S. Wacker Drive, where it has about 100,000 square feet of space. Cendant's online travel workforce here has bulked up since it acquired Orbitz in a $1.25 billion deal 13 month ago.

"While other acquisitions have driven business out of Chicago ... Orbitz will continue to be a leading technology company in this city," said Mitch Truwit, who became president and chief executive of Orbitz after the acquisition.

Orbitz becomes the second-largest tenant in Citigroup Center after the namesake financial-services company, which has 233,300 square feet.

The deal is a key step in a revival for the 1.5 million-square-foot tower, which was built in 1987 but saw its vacancy rate fall to 32 percent in June despite a costly renovation by longtime owner General Electric Co.'s pension fund.

Orbitz, which was advised by real estate firm Transwestern Commercial Services, considered more than 20 West Loop office buildings.

John Murphy, executive vice president with MB Real Estate Services LLC, which manages the building, said the selection "validates our assertion that this redeveloped Class A office tower provides superior economic efficiencies for the tenant."

The turnaround began in June when a firm representing German investors acquired a 50 percent interest in the building from the GE pension fund. Cash from the deal, together with new loans totaling $245 million from New York investment bank Lehman Brothers, provided fresh capital for leasing expenses and to build out office space.

For example, as a part of the 17-year lease with Orbitz, Citigroup Center is assuming some of Orbitz's cost of getting out of its existing lease at 200 S. Wacker, sources said.

Orbitz could terminate its Wacker lease in 2009 by paying about $2.5 million, but that cost could be cut by subleasing the space, sources said.

Once the turnaround is complete, Citigroup Center's cash flow is predicted to increase 60 percent, to $25.9 million, according to a loan summary. The tower's value would rise to $430 million, compared with $370 million when the joint venture deal was struck

The building's next three largest tenants--the federal government, software company SSA Global Technologies Inc. and financial printer Bowne & Co.--combined have about 224,500 square feet.

The new office building on Clark will have 30,000 sq ft retail? Man that is a blessing.

Kind of a reiteration of what Victor told us:

From www.chicagojournal.com :

12/21/2005 10:00:00 PM Email this article • Print this article
West Loop tower gets green light
New highrise would mix office space with condos

By MAX BROOKS, Staff Writer


The West Loop will soon host a new 31-story story mixed-use high-rise at Washington and Des Plaines, following the approval of the plan by the Chicago Plan Commission last week.

Tim Sullivan, of the Cornerstone Group 70, LLC, the developer that is spearheading the project, said last week that he expects a groundbreaking for the tower to take place this summer and for the building to be completed by 2008.

The building, he said, will cost somewhere in the ballpark of $80 million, though some details about who will be financing the project remain to be resolved.

According to a presentation made to the Plan Commission by Kathy Caisley, a representative of the Department of Planning and Development, plans call for the building to include 190 condo units, 39,000 feet of office space, 394 parking spaces and retail on the building’s first floor.

The developers are building beyond the 7 floor-to-area ratio (F.A.R.) specified in the plot’s downtown district zoning by contributing $181,000 to the city’s affordable housing fund and providing a green roof on its seventh floor, where the tower switches from parking space to offices and grows significantly more slender. The tower will reach to 350 feet, well above the 155-foot limit standard in the zoning code.

Eric Sedler, president of the West Loop Community Organization, said it was within the developer’s rights to build such a tower and didn’t foresee a problem with its height.

"We recognize that, as we make our way west from the Loop, that there are going to be buildings that are going to be very high and very dense. We think it’s basically appropriate that there be a tapering of height and density in that area between Wacker and Halsted," Sedler said.

The inclusion of office space in the building, he said, boded well for the neighborhood’s vitality in the hours when most condo residents would be at work.

"There’s certainly value in having more people in the Near West side during the day," Sedler said.

Sedler said the hope for a well-designed building trumped most other issues neighborhood residents might have with the tower.

"Our overriding concern is that these projects be elegantly designed and that they turn out to be successful," Sedler said.

To that end, at least one Plan Commission member offered his endorsement of the building’s design, in which a glassy column rises from one side of the more opaque, 7-story base of the tower.

"I think this is one of the most interesting buildings we’ve seen in a while. I wish there were more like it," said 42nd Ward Ald. Burt Natarus, after the Plan Commission unanimously approved the building.

I am lazy to find the River North development (if any) thread.

Commission Endorses $61M Multifamily Tower for River North
By Mark Ruda
Last updated: December 21, 2005 04:48pm

http://www.globest.com/news/439_439/chicago/141349-1.html

CHICAGO-A 182-unit multifamily rental tower will rise at 212 W. Erie St., but not at the expense of a River North loft building and three-story commercial property. The $61-million project will incorporate the six-story Huron Lofts at 217-35 W. Huron St. as well as the 5,500-sf Flair House.

Plan commission members Thursday endorsed the 350,000-sf project, including a density bonus increasing the total square footage of the development by 47%. In addition to rezoning, city officials are recommending an increase of 70,000 sf in exchange for Niles-based Newport Builders Inc.’s $1.4-million contribution to their affordable housing fund.

The 27-story building will include 210 parking spaces. “What’s there now is a vacant parking lot,” says 42nd Ward Alderman Burton Natarus. “They’re not very zany. They’re not very architecturally pleasing.”

On the other hand, Natarus is among those impressed by Joseph Antunovich’s design for the tower, as it complements the buildings remaining on the site. “This is a great Antunovich match,” Natarus says. “He’s creating a landmark here.”

Like other recent Downtown multifamily projects being launched or redrawn, units in Newport Builders’ will be on the smaller side, Antunovich says. More than half of the units will be one-bedrooms at about 850 sf, with another 10% being 600-sf studios. The remaining 35% of the mix will be 1,200-sf two-bedroom units, Antunovich adds. “They’re generally smaller units, but we think that’s the market,” he says.

The Huron Lofts already includes 18,741 sf of retail space. Newport Builders will add 12,480 sf with development of the apartment tower

good news.

http://www.crainschicago.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=18949

Appeals court rules against Draper high-rise--again

Chicago-based developer Draper & Kramer Inc. has lost another round in its long-running court battle to build a 30-story condominium tower along Lake Shore Drive in the Gold Coast.

In its fourth ruling in the case, the Illinois Appellate Court on Wednesday upheld a Cook County Circuit Court judge’s ruling that Draper & Kramer did not have a “vested right” to build the high-rise at 1320 N. Lake Shore Drive even after the city rezoned the site in 1999 to ban the development. The project has faced heavy opposition from Gold Coast residents.

The appeals court disagreed with the developer’s argument that it had a right to build on the site because it had already spent more than $300,000 on the project before the city downzoned the property. The court took issue with Draper & Kramer’s cost estimate, determining that the developer spent only $36,300 before it became apparent that the project was in peril.

Draper & Kramer “is certainly not an entity for whom $36,300 could arguably be considered a substantial expenditure,” the court said. “Based on the evidence presented, we cannot say that the circuit court’s finding that (the developer) failed to establish that it incurred obligations or expenses substantial enough to give rise to a vested right.”

Draper & Kramer executives and the firm’s lawyer were out of the office and unavailable for comment.

IBM Building going condo, too?
Owner mulls residential redo as two major office tenants head for the exits


The owner of the landmark IBM Building is considering joining the growing ranks of downtown office buildings that are converting in whole or in part to residential condominiums.

After losing its two largest tenants, and with the office market in a deep slump, landlord Prime Group Realty Trust would likely find it easier to sell condos than lease commercial space in the 52-story tower, one of famed architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's most celebrated buildings. The high-rise is 32% vacant after the departure of IBM Corp. Law firm Jenner & Block LLP, which leases 22% of the building, moves out in 2010.

http://www.***************************/random/og010206o.gif
Condo buyers at the IBM Building would live next door to Donald Trump's new skyscraper, which will block most east views but bring the neighborhood more restaurants and retail and another health club.



Prime Group would start out by redeveloping vacant space on the lower floors into condos, with the option of converting the rest of the tower later on, say people familiar with the plans. Jeffrey Patterson, CEO of the Chicago real estate investment trust, did not return calls.

APPEALING OPTION

Amid a booming downtown condo market, condo conversions have become an appealing option to office landlords with big chunks of vacant space. After the largest office tenant at 900 N. Michigan Ave., WPP Group PLC, relocated to another building, the landlord, an affiliate of JMB Realty Corp., decided to convert the vacant space into 48 luxury condos (Crain's, March 21). A conversion is also in the works at 55 E. Monroe St., which is losing its second-largest tenant, law firm Seyfarth Shaw LLP.

Yet the IBM Building, on the Chicago River at 330 N. Wabash Ave., would be the most prominent downtown office building to go condo. It's lost some of its cachet as the West Loop, with its proximity to the train stations, has become a more attractive location for office tenants.

"I think it's a challenging location" for office space, says Todd Lippman, an executive vice-president in the Chicago office of broker CB Richard Ellis Inc.

POTENTIAL SELLING POINT

Prime Group plans to spend more than $100 million to renovate the building and remove asbestos, costs that will be difficult to recoup by leasing office space.

Condo buyers would live next door to Donald Trump's new skyscraper, which will block most of the IBM Building's east views but will bring more restaurants and retail and add a health club.

The IBM Building's architecture could be a selling point. "For the people that love Mies, it might have an attraction," says residential broker Tricia Fox.

http://www.***************************/random/og010206p.gif

Metropolitan Tower is only 48% sold? That's disappointing, considering it's one of the easiest to spot from Grant Park.

New Construction from the Chicago Tribune

Chicago--MoMo, 151 N. State St., 32-story mixed-use building, March, $19.19 million.

Chicago--Center on Halsted, 4630 N. Halsted St., 55,000-square-foot mixed-use complex, April, $5.5 million.

I think the problem with Metropolitan Tower is the damn construction delays. They've been working on that fucker for like four years. They probably had a lot more units under contract at one point and people simply got sick of waiting. Given its location, if they ever get their asses in gear and finish the rehab, it will sell quite quickly, I would imagine.

Ah man, I don't want the IBM building to go residential!

When did IBM leave the building---and where did they go?

It is only a matter of time before the river is a barrier between residential and office. The same could be said about State/Wabash and Congress St. It seems office is shifting into the West loop towards the train stations even more and more.

^ But recent proposed office buildings are north of the river..

Pottebaum -- I don't want IBM to go condo either. That sort of conversion really symbolizes the failure of the Chicago office market to grow. IBM moved to the new Hyatt Center, I believe.

^ It better not go residential... If it does, that would be a bad omen for its terra cotta neighbor...

Its not a failure of the office market in Chicago, but merely represents the shift in concentration of offices in different sections of Chicago. Three new large office buildings were built on Wacker Drive last year and they have excellent vacancy rates. Offices are consolidating in the loop and still expanding west. And it is not like the loop is completely saturated... new office buildings are going up (i.e. the 3 on Wacker, 1 S Dearborn, Bank One Center, B37, the UBS Tower, and the new federal buildings going up). Not many of the loop buildings are converting with the exception of the buildings near Millenium Park (East of State). Again, I consider the loop between the Eisenhower and the River. Also, about a dozen office buildings ranging from 16-42 stories have either been built or proposed in the last 5 years in the West loop. The office market has never been better downtown. Office buildigns are being bought at record prices. I, personally, am excited at the new attitude towards Chicago... it used to be where businessmen commuted to work and went home afterwards and now is a great place to live, work, and play. This attitude is making Chicago the greatest city in the world.

^ You can't ignore the fact that the office market is incredibly soft. Demand for new office towers is being created by blue-chip tenants desiring top of the line spaces who leave big gaping vacancies in their wake. Its common knowledge that job growth in the Loop has been mediocre at best, and that demand for office space is not improving. Granted, some other cities are grappling with high office vacancy, e.g. Houston and Minneapolis, but some cities are now improving dramatically from previous lulls, e.g. San Francisco. Projections for Chicago's office market are not good. This is something to be worried about, I think.

Like you, I'm very excited about the downtown residential growth -- impressive relative to the nation, as confirmed by the recent Brookings report.

Still, we should be cautious about being polyanna about the situation, paying attention to the bad as well as the good.

ChicagoLover i'll somewhat agree with PrintersRowBoiler. im not at all conserned with the office vacancy rates its a mer reaction to the growing numbers of relocating businesess from the loop to the west loop. the vacant buildings like any smart business are adapting to the reality and change of the markets. They realize that they are in what’s becoming a stronger residential location than a business location and there a adapting to there environment by going condo. Were not loosing businesses really its just that were seeing a strong change in the markets and were seeing the transformations and all the things that come along with it like vacant office buildings rates on the rize, tenants moving , new buildings going up, condo conversions on the rize, hotel conversions, etc. That’s the diferance Between the Chicago market and other cities. While there vacancy rates are diminishing or holding well, our city although at face value is losing were actually growing in leaps and bounds far more even than these average cities. I like PrintersRowBoiler am very excited about this all. In the end i thinc well have an realy strong business and residential cores. once the buildings stop going up and the businesses all made there moves and all the east loop buildings have been converted. thats when youll see the vacancy rates go down. but to me the numbers were seeing now are very deceving.

There was a nice article about the $20 million renovation of Meis' Federal Center

http://lynnbecker.com/repeat/fedplaza/fedplaza.htm

http://www.crainschicago.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=18991

120 S. Riverside to be renamed CDW Plaza
Technology firm boosts lease space to 252,000 square feet

Technology firm CDW Corp. today said it plans to lease additional office space at 120 S. Riverside Plaza and consolidate its two downtown sales offices into one, making it the building’s largest tenant.

CDW also received naming rights in the deal, with the property to be called CDW Plaza.

The firm will now occupy 252,000 square feet after bringing together space at both 120 S. Riverside Plaza and 10 S. Riverside Plaza.

Building owner Trizec Properties Inc. also said today that another tenant, law firm Arnstein & Lehr LLP, renewed its lease and added 10,000 square feet, bringing the 22-story building to full occupancy. Terms of the leases with the law firm and CDW were not disclosed.

“This has been a really complicated, really emotional, really sensitive deal,” says Nancy Fendley, vice president of leasing at Trizec, who worked on the transaction with CDW. “We had to come up with some creative mechanisms for meeting their needs.”

Ms. Fendley said CDW had been considering a move to the Sears Tower, a move rumored in the real estate industry for some time. CDW said it looked at several downtown locations, but would not comment specifically on the Sears Tower. A call to owners of the Sears Tower were not returned.

Trizec sweetened the CDW lease by offering the company signage inside and outside the building, including at the entrance to Union Station, according to Ms. Fendley.

CDW Plaza and 10 S. Riverside are identical buildings, both with 685,000 square feet of office space and designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. The 10 S. Riverside building is more than 90% leased, according to Ms. Fendley. Arnstein & Lehr now occupies 94,000 square feet at CDW Plaza. The building’s largest tenant after CDW is consultancy Hewitt Associates Inc, with 73,000 square feet, followed by law firm Welsh & Katz Ltd., with 50,000 square feet.

CDW’s corporate headquarters remains in Vernon Hills, where the company just signed a lease for a new three-story building at 300 N. Milwaukee Ave., immediately north of its existing office. Founded in 1984, the company sells information technology products to corporations. CDW has 4,100 employees.

Trizec is a Chicago-based real estate investment trust (REIT) and one of the largest owners and managers of office space in the U.S, with 37 million square feet in seven major cities. The company owns 2.4 million square feet of office space in Chicago, including the two Riverside buildings, 2 N. LaSalle and 550 W. Washington.

^ Hmm... I thought that had already happened, but maybe CDW is leasing more than they had originally planned to?

I think alot of the problems w/ the Central Loop's office market have also to do with downsizing and the relatively weak economy of the past 4 years (housing market aside). However, I think there are two potential positive influences that may change the situation.

1) The economy, over the past year, has certainly shown signs of leveling off and even improving slightly... things certainly couldn't get too much worse than they had been as of late.

2) As residential desirability and growth continues to turn downtown into an even more thriving place to live; more and more people are going to begin refusing the reverse-commute and many businesses that left the City in the preceeding decades may be forced to return in order to keep the best talent at their disposal.

Of course, I'm no economist and this is all merely conjecture, but, on the surface, it certainly seems feasible enough to me that these factors could turn into a real boon for a struggling market.

^i certainly hope so! tell those businesses to get ther ass back were they belong! Downtown!

Developer, condo group quarrel

THOMAS A. CORFMAN
Published January 4, 2006


Developer Christopher Carley, who has proposed the nation's tallest building, has a problem closer to earth: a lawsuit by the condominium owners of his recent eight-story Gold Coast development.

The condo association of 65 E. Goethe St. filed a complaint last week in Cook County Circuit Court, alleging more than 25 instances of improper construction or maintenance.

Carley said he has already agreed to make about three-quarters of the repairs, and has been negotiating over the rest with the association.

"We'll get it to their satisfaction," said the chairman of Chicago-based Fordham Co. The complaint does not specify damages. Carley said the amount in dispute is about $100,000. Weather has delayed some repairs, he added.

In July, Carley proposed a 115-story condo/hotel tower to be designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava on a site along the lakefront at the Chicago River. The next month, investors in another Carley project, the Fordham at 25 E. Superior St., filed a suit charging that construction costs were misrepresented.

Carley said he hopes that case will be dismissed. But "sophisticated lenders" who are considering the Calatrava tower won't be affected by either case, he said. "It's part of being a large development outfit," he said.

Golub buys studios: As expected, Golub & Co. has completed the purchase of the historic Streeterville studios of WBBM-Ch. 2, with plans for construction of a 750-unit apartment complex after the CBS affiliate moves in late 2007 to its new home on Block 37, said Michael ******, president of the Chicago development firm.

Golub has formed a development joint venture with Boston-based Halcyon Ventures, which was formed in 2004 by former principals of AEW Capital Management LP, a frequent financial partner, said Lee Golub, executive vice president with the developer.

Crate & Barrel leaseback: New York investor Lloyd Goldman has completed a $40 million sale/leaseback deal for the Northbrook headquarters of Crate & Barrel Inc., according to property records filed last month. Goldman is best known as the lead financial partner in plans to rebuild the World Trade Center site.

The housewares retailer had been seeking a long-term agreement for the 159,500-square-foot building at 1250 Techny Rd., with an initial annual rent of $2.4 million, not including taxes and operating expenses.

The transaction allows Crate to free up capital, said a spokeswoman, who declined to comment on the financial terms but said the company signed a 20-year lease.

Chicago-based U.S. Equities Realty LLC and New York-based Sonnenblick-Goldman Co. represented Crate.

Vacancy rate movement: The vacancy rate for newer, Class A office space is moving in opposite directions in the city and the suburbs, according to a report by real estate firm CB Richard Ellis Inc.

The suburban Class A vacancy rate fell to 16.1 percent during the fourth quarter, compared to 17.6 percent a year ago. During the same time frame, the downtown Class A vacancy rate rose to 16.7 percent from 14.1 percent.

One difference is new construction, which has continued downtown, driven by large tenants willing to pay premium rent for new towers, said Lisa Konieczka, a CB senior vice president.

The firm represented Vernon Hills-based CDW Corp., which, as expected, said Tuesday it would consolidate its downtown offices at 120 S. Riverside Plaza, increasing its downtown space by 75 percent, to 252,000 square feet. The building, constructed in 1967, is owned by Trizec Properties Inc.

...and along the lines of our latest topic of discution.....

Office Condos Put to the Test in Chicago

By ROBERT SHAROFF
Published: January 4, 2006
CHICAGO, Jan. 3 - Two projects under way in the Loop, the downtown central business district here, are testing the waters for office condominiums, a growing segment of the commercial real estate market in cities like Atlanta and Phoenix but one that is still relatively unknown in the Midwest.


The two test cases are the Garland Building and 211 West Wacker; both are older Class B office buildings in prime downtown locations.

The Garland, a 259,000-square-foot structure that dates from 1914, is at the corner of Wabash Avenue and Washington Street, opposite Marshall Field's downtown flagship store. The building is also a block from Millennium Park, the new $475 million lakefront attraction that is credited with revitalizing the east Loop.

The second, 211 West Wacker, is an 18-story 158,751-square-foot structure on a broad boulevard parallel to the Chicago River that has challenged LaSalle Street as the city's financial center in recent years.


The Garland is being developed by two local firms - FIC Development Group and L. J. Sheridan & Company - while 211 is being developed by Ameritus Corporate Real Estate Services.

"Office condos are a very new idea in Chicago," said Tim Farrell, president of FIC Development. "But the simple theory is that the sum of the parts is greater than the whole."

Bert Scherb, a principal with Ameritus, said, "None of us really know what we're doing here, but we're learning fast."

Of the two projects, the Garland is probably more intriguing, if only because of its current tenant base. The building, which is 84 percent leased, probably has the city's highest concentration of medical professionals outside of a hospital: a total of 240 doctors representing 52 different medical specialties. "It's basically a one-stop shop for medical services," Mr. Farrell said. "The only thing we lack is a surgery center"

FIC's parent company, the Financial Investments Corporation, a privately owned real estate equity fund, acquired the Garland in 1998 and is midway through a $15 million renovation that includes installing new elevators, restrooms and a rooftop cooling tower.

FIC has divided the building into 175 units ranging from 300 square feet to just under 15,000 square feet. Depending on their location in the building - some of the upper floors have excellent views of Millennium Park - the units are priced from about $200 a square foot to about $340.

"Research tells us that in most condominium conversions, 10 percent of the existing tenants choose to buy their units," Mr. Farrell said. "But we think our opportunity is different. We're hoping for 50 percent conversions."

One early buyer is Maria Gracias, a dentist who moved in about 15 years ago and has a 2,100-square-foot office on the 18th floor.

"I remodeled five years ago and invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in the build-out," she said. "If I move, I have to leave all of that behind."

The second building, 211 West Wacker, was in a far more precarious state when Ameritus bought it last year.

"The building was 66 percent leased and on its way to 50 percent," Mr. Scherb said. "The issue for us was, How do we differentiate our vacant space from all the other vacant space in downtown Chicago?"

The answer, he added, was condos. "This is a little bitty building," he said. "The floors are only 8,750 square feet. But it's perfect for small, stable service companies who want to stabilize their facility costs."

Office condominiums are a particularly good fit for nonprofit companies and associations, he added, because such outfits receive substantial real estate tax deductions. "It can make a huge difference - up to $10 per square foot in downtown Chicago - in their occupancy costs," he said.

So far, the company has sold 14 of the building's 34 units, including one to Prevent Blindness America, a nonprofit association. Prices are roughly comparable to those in the Garland Building. "We keep gently raising prices because we don't know what the top of this market is in Chicago," Mr. Scherb said.

The city's real estate community is closely monitoring the progress of both projects. Office vacancy rates in downtown Chicago are a little more than 18 percent, the highest in more than a decade. In a market with about 120 million square feet of office space - the second-largest concentration of office space outside of Manhattan - that translates to more than 20 million square feet of empty space.

"There's a vibrant market for trophy buildings right now," said John Goodman, executive vice president and regional manager of Studley, a national tenant representative firm with offices here. "But it's not the same for Class B buildings, particularly the ones with high vacancy rates. So developers are looking at them and thinking, Rather than spend the money it's going to take to lease them, why not sell some of the raw space at a good price?"

On the tenant side, he added: "It's a chance for small operators to own space in downtown Chicago, something that has traditionally been very difficult. So condos work well for both parties."

According to Emporis, Avenue East's construction is on hold.

Does anybody know what the deal is with that?

http://www.midwest.construction.com/2005/12/01/MC_12_01_2005_p17-02.asp
From Midwest Construction


Cover Story - December 2005

Top 2005
111 S. Wacker Drive
Project of the Year: Overall
(12/01/2005)


The 53-story 111 S. Wacker Drive office is aimed at large tenants who are seeking open floor plans, data and communication services, dedicated power and cooling systems, a conference center and fitness facility.


The office floors provide 50- and 60-ft. column-free spaces between the core and exterior wall. The 40-ft. column spacing at the perimeter provides for planning efficiency and flexibility.

The office was designed with an emphasis on sustainability and to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environment Design certification from the Washington, D.C.-based U.S. Green Building Council.

Sustainable design initiatives include reusing the existing caisson and foundations from a previous building, green roof, high-performance glazing, high-insulating building envelope, high-efficiency chillers and digitally controlled HVAC and lighting systems.

The project has been submitted to the Green Building Council for LEED certification. If is achieves certification, it will likely be the first high-rise in the country certified with the Gold rating, LEED's second highest.

Focus on Flexibility

The 111 S. Wacker office focuses on flexibility, efficiency and economy for tenants.

Each office floor was designed to be free of interior columns. The floor plan features re-entrant northwest and southwest corners, with perimeter columns held back, to provide six column-free corner offices on each floor.

The plan maximizes exterior views of the skyline and interior daylighting. Tenant amenities include a 10,000-sq.-ft. fitness center and a comparably sized conference center.

A 389-stall parking garage provides public parking as well as tenant-reserved spaces, with direct elevator access to mid- and high-rises floors.

The typical floor enclosure expresses the column spacing with stainless steel column cladding that increases in width, symbolically indicating the increased loading as columns carry the loads to the foundations.

Between the columns, the building is enclosed with a curtain wall system of stainless steel, V-shaped mullions that complement the vertical expression of the column cladding. The mullion spacing is decreased at the parking floors to minimize the visual impact of the opaque glazing.

Has Major Mat

The site previously housed the USG Building, which was constructed in the 1960s and torn down more than 12 years ago, but the structure's basement walls were still in the ground.

A 100-sq.-ft. monolithically poured, 10-ft.-thick mat was poured to use these elements. The existing foundation walls were bermed with a high-density CA6 and rubble mix, and a soldier pile and lagging system was put in around the foundation mat.

This stabilized the earth and reduced the cost of a retention system. Using the existing elements not only saved costs but also satisfied LEED criteria for building reuse.

The street level appears to be open and spacious, although the footprint of the upper floors occupies almost the entire site.

The feat was accomplished by diagonally transferring the 40-ft. column spacing as it passes through the parking levels to 80-ft. column spacing at grade. This column transfer is visually expressed in the facade of the parking levels.

The lobby's openness is further enhanced by the cable-supported, water-white, nonreflective glass. The glass wall allows the indoor and outdoor areas to be perceived as a single, continuous space.

Inside the lobby, the concrete core is clad with a profiled, white Carrara marble that contrasts against a solid wall of red Rossa Verona enclosing the lobby on two sides.

Floor and ceiling patterns reflect the parking ramp above, creating a rhythm. The lobby's floor pattern extends beyond the glass enclosure, emphasizing the continuity of the interior and exterior space.

Cable Concerns

The building's structural frame was designed to resolve the reactions of the cable wall system.

The cables were prestressed up to 60,000 lbs. to reduce the wall deflections required by the radial glazing geometry. The structural framing of the parking levels was suspended from the 12th level between the V-shaped column transfers that slopes in two directions.

The warped parking floor plates were connected to the sloping columns and hangers. The radial access ramp was also suspended from the third floor, providing the curve geometry for the lobby and cable wall enclosure.

As the entire superstructure below the 12th floor was suspended, the contractors were required to temporarily shore the hangers. Extremely tight deflection criteria was needed to be maintained through the entire pre-tensioning, shoring and construction sequence as required for the scheduled installation of curtain wall panels and cable wall glass.

At least two major tenants have leased space in the building, accounting firm Deloitte & Touche and law firm Lord Bissell & Brooks.

The jury said, "The 111 S. Wacker Drive lobby is striking. It almost floats on its piers. Sept. 11 really threw them a curve ball, but they were able to incorporate increased security.

"Several things are impressive about the building. The LEED certification will probably be Gold. They're transferring loads. The parking is really cool. The net walls are arresting, and there are so many of them."



Key Players

Developer:
The John Buck Co., Chicago

General Contractor:
Bovis Lend Lease, Chicago

Architect:
Lohan Caprile Goettsch Architects,Chicago

Structural Engineer:
Magnusson Klemencic Associates,Seattle

HVAC Design-Build:
Hill Mechanical Group, Chicago

Electrical Design-Build:
Gibson Electric, Oak Brook

Lighting Design:
Cosentini Lighting, New York


111 S. Wacker Drive
Cost: $275 million

The 52-story 111 S. Wacker Drive tower in Chicago's West Loop features more than 1,000,000 sq. ft. of office space.

Two major tenants have leased space, accounting firm Deloitte & Touche of the 12th through 28th floors and law firm Lord Bissell & Brooks of the 41st through 52nd levels.

The building also includes 4,000 sq. ft. of retail and 485 parking spaces.

The tower has a cable wall system from the street level to the third floor, thereby providing a transparent look to the ground level.

The cable wall features about 70 cables that span approximately 50 ft. from the plaza level to the third floor.

At 1-in.-thick, the cable is a smaller diameter member than aluminum or steel mullion and does not interrupt the glass facade.

Each cable is stressed to a specific design tension, depending on the location, span and wind loads. The tensioning stiffens the cables, permitting them to handle positive and negative wind loads.

As each cable was tensioned and force was applied to the cable, the building t both the plaza and third-floor levels deflected slightly due to the applied loads.

Timing the cable wall installation was important, because structural components had to be in place before tensioning could begin.


Below Grade Work

A solid foundation already existed more than two stories below ground.
Bell caissons and the four foundation walls supporting the U.S. Gypsum Building, the previous structure on the site, were sound.

But a problem was the caissons had supported the building that was only 20 stories and on a 45-degree angle.

The only way to reconcile the new geometry to that of the old building was to add caissons. Old and new caissons were tied together through the use of a giant mat slab that was laid in a monolithic pour.

The existing foundation walls were bermed with a high-density CA6 and rubble debris mix, and a solider pile and lagging system was installed around the foundation mat to reduce the cost of a retention system.

Above grade, floors three through 12 are a megatruss that supports the building's upper floors. The truss sits on massive 5 ft., 9 in.-dia. columns. Two pipe columns start at the second basemen level and are jointed at street level by four more pip columns that rise up to the third floor.

http://www.midwest.construction.com/2005/12/01/MC_12_01_2005_p17-03.asp
From Midwest Construction

Top 2005
Hyatt Center
Project of the Year: High-Rise Commercial
(12/01/2005)


The Hyatt Center in Chicago's West Loop was started when the Pritzker family decided to develop a new headquarters for its Hyatt hotel chain.


The Chicago-based Pritzker Realty Group and Chicago-based Higgins Development Partners, the co-developer, gave architect Henry Cobb, founding partner of New York-based Pei Cobb Freed Partners, a month to develop a schematic design for a building that would maximize the use of the hemmed-in site and provide a column-free environment.

The site was relatively narrow because of existing buildings nearby. The Hyatt Center's lozenge shape provides maximum floor space with panoramic views.

The tower is composed of full-height glass, textured stainless steel spandrels and polished aluminum mullions. The entrances are also lozenge shaped and lead to halls that provide security screening before visitors move to a two-story-high glass lobby. It is flanked on the street side by live bamboo and on the building side by a bank of elevators.

Securing the Building

The design was intended to accommodate the challenges posed by the post-Sept. 11 world.

Increased security measures often have a negative effect on the experience of entering a building. As a result, the design was intended to ensure that while security measures are met, visitors would not have an off-putting experience.

A broad canopy invites visitors through a glazed vestibule into a 60-ft.-high reception hall with skylights. The elliptical shape dictates that these entries are located at end of the building.

From the reception areas, visitors proceed through low-ceiling foyers where security monitoring takes place.

The space is gently curved and appointed with a grove of bamboo trees on one side to act as a screen near the glazed perimeter. This area provides access to elevator lobbies in the central core.

The result is that the experience engages the occupant while still providing necessary security measures.

The jury said, "The Hyatt Center has a unique identifying massing. The lozenge shape is a unique architectural feature. The team faced unusual structural challenges. Architecturally, the sensitivity to the street level is good, and the architectural details, like the panels, are well done."

Key Players

Owner:
Pritzker Realty Group, Chicago

Developer:
Higgins Development Partners LLC, Chicago

Construction Manager:
Bovis Lend Lease, Chicago

Design Architect:
Pei Cobb Freed Partners, New York

Architect of Record:
A. Epstein and Sons International Inc., Chicago

Structural Engineer:
Halvorson & Kaye Structural Engineers, Chicago

Lighting Design:
Cosentini Lighting, New York


Completion 6: Hyatt Center at 71 S. Wacker Drive
Cost: $225 million*

The Hyatt Center at 71 S. Wacker Drive will house the eponymous hotel chain's headquarters.

Rising on a half block bordered by Wacker, Franklin and Monroe streets, the 1.75-million-sq.-ft. building will soar 49 stories.

Through the sixth floor, Hyatt Center's floor plates measure 50,000 sq. ft., with each of the floors above level six encompassing about 34,000 sq. ft.

A look at a few numbers demonstrates the project's impressive scope.

Covering 1.5 acres, Hyatt Center used about 12,000 tons of structural steel and feature about 65,000 cu. yds. of concrete. The exterior will be made up of about 7,000 unitized curtain wall panels measuring 5 ft. wide by one story - 14 ft., 2 in. - tall.

The site had been home to three buildings, two of which were the Hart Shaffner & Marx manufacturing plant and Kent College of Law. They fell to the wrecking ball in the 1980s, and the parcel had been used as a parking lot in recent years.


Penny's Pick

Penny Pritzker, a member of the family running the Hyatt chain, had stood atop a 50-story Loop high-rise on a bitterly cold day months before the groundbreaking to choose the exterior glass to be used on the Hyatt Center.

Light glass was sought because reflective buildings are not as effective aesthetically.

From a list of 50 glass alternatives, the design team narrowed the search to about a dozen and then a short list of three. A light box - a 3 ft. cube glass panes were slid into - was constructed to compare options. The box's objective was to demonstrate how the glass would look on the side of the building.

It was at this point that the Pritzker family went out on a cold day a block away from the construction site in late 2002.

Owatonna, Minn.-based Viracon was selected as the glass supplier.

A tight timetable was driving the project, and things were done to ensure the schedule was met.

For example, only one crane was required to complete the job, but two cranes were set anyway to ensure the capacity to erect steel.

The delivery and staging of materials benefited from the same careful planning.
Steel, for example, was manufactured in Wolcott, Ind., a two-hour drive from Chicago. When needed, the steel would be loaded on trucks and arrive onsite two hours later, ready for erection.

*Midwest Construction estimate

From Chicago Journal:

1/4/2006 10:00:00 PM Email this article • Print this article
Clark and Polk project gets a major rewrite
•Concord Homes scraps the town homes and moves the towers, but everybody’s happy

By HAYDN BUSH, Managing Editor



A little more than a year ago, the Concord Homes developers proposing a mix of high-rises and town houses near the southwest corner of Clark and Polk found themselves in the middle of a controversy. While their plans received high marks from the South Loop Neighbors community group, the Department of Planning and Development was less than thrilled with the original site plan, which massed high-rises on the southern end of the development near Ninth Street and placed town homes near Polk Street. Similarly, South Loop Neighbors members said they would be opposed to a reconfigured site plan with the high-rises centered near Clark and Polk, saying that doing so would create an unwelcoming urban canyon that would scare off pedestrians.


A year later, Concord Homes has apparently reconfigured the entire development, and the developers are expected to make two stops at South Loop community forums this week to unveil the new plans. While the developers did not return calls for comment this week, members of both community groups and officials with the DPD indicated that they expect to see revamped plans that would scrap the town homes for three high-rises instead. But while the project stalled a year ago, with community groups and DPD trading barbs, at first glance, the reconceived development appears to satisfy all involved.


Constance Buscemi, spokesperson for the Department of Planning and Development, said the developers have yet to show city planners a revised site plan. But Buscemi said the developers have indicated their desire to move the buildings closer to Clark and Polk, while lowering the parking bases of the buildings as well. Last year, city planners lobbied Concord Homes to move the buildings farther north, arguing that the high-rises would fit better into the Clark Street streetwall heading north into the Loop. Buscemi said the changes in the plan, as conveyed to DPD, appear to reflect the city’s wishes.


"The overall design fits better within the urban patterns of area," Buscemi said. "We understand the concept through talking to the developers, but we haven’t seen it yet. We still need to see them on paper."


Dennis McClendon, board member of South Loop Neighbors, said the last plans he saw showed three high-rises of roughly 30 stories in height, with one near the corner of Clark and Polk, one roughly 400 feet to the south, and the third next to the Metra tracks west of Clark Street. While McClendon said he has only seen a site plan, and not actual renderings of the plans, he said he was tentatively pleased with the layout of the development.


"They’re generally well-arranged," McClendon said.


The project, McClendon said, would also include a parking structure of roughly six stories along Polk Street. McClendon said he’s hoping the developers will make allowances to prettify the stretch of Polk Street just west of Clark, which he believes will become a heavily trafficked pedestrian route if a movie theater complex planned near Roosevelt Road is completed. McClendon said he would have liked to see the developers build town houses to help hide the parking garages.


"We’re not terribly worried about the town houses being gone as a product type, but those are a useful way for them to mask parking garages," McClendon said, though he acknowledged that doing so would have made it difficult to fit the other towers into the site.


Matt Wos, a member of the Dearborn Park Advisory Council, said the developers also met with his board, and said the buildings as proposed would not cast large shadows over Dearborn Park, which some residents had been concerned about after seeing the first version of the plans.


"These are really well-planned out buildings," Wos said. "We’ve always been in favor of smart growth."


Concord Homes officials were expected to make two stops this week to unveil the new renderings, starting with a visit to the Dearborn Park Advisory Council after press time Jan. 4, and concluding with a stop at the South Loop Neighbors meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 12 at Grace Place.

Great story! There is not a lot of information out there on this project right now, and I have been trying to keep tabs on this one. I will have a view of this project going up outside my condo. I hope they do "prettify" Polk Street. I think the city should make that a standard with any development or use TIF money for aesthetics so that everyone can benefit from it.

I am wondering I know the loop ...Chi CBD has the second largest commercial space in the nation after Manhattan .....but what are the numbers for comparison sake??

My favorite current bait-and-switch project... Prentice Women's Hospital.

http://img250.imageshack.us/img250/4631/prentice02.jpg

http://img250.imageshack.us/img250/2228/prentice01.jpg

http://img250.imageshack.us/img250/3118/prentice03.jpg

http://www.globest.com/news/448_448/chicago/141752-1.html

Office Market Doldrums Expected to Linger Downtown
By Mark Ruda
Last updated: January 6, 2006 09:35am
http://www.globest.com/newspics/chicago3.jpg

CHICAGO-While the rest of the US office market is in danger of having its recovery short-circuited this year, slow job growth and new construction will likely stymie any comeback attempts here this year, especially Downtown.


“With additional new space coming online and tenants consolidating into smaller, more efficient spaces, there will be further negative absorption ahead,” predicts Grubb & Ellis Co. national director of market analysis Robert Bach.


Bach notes four million sf of new space could be added with plans for three new buildings in the West Loop and River North submarkets by 2009. Already, recently completed buildings were supported by anchor tenants looking for a prominent position in trophy properties, rather than market fundamentals, he adds. “The number of contiguous blocks of space 100,000 sf and larger will increase to 46 within the next two years,” Bach predicts.


On the other hand, construction is minimal in the suburbs, where the outlook is a bit more promising. “Discipline on the part of developers with regard to spec buildings is showing early signs of paying off,” Bach says. “Overall suburban vacancy rates will decrease slightly if no major construction commences.”

Geoff-- why 'bait and switch'? Is this project on hold?

No, it's not on hold. Just not what we were promised. When the rendering was originally released a few years ago, I remember the sweeping convex facade that faces Fairbanks being composed of all glass. Now, they've stripped all that away and left us with just the very northeastern corner being glazed. Of course, there's windows along the rest of the facade, but, nothing along the lines of what I expected.

^ actually, its pretty close to the rendering, i don't see how this one is a bait and switch. you may not be happy with the results, but it's not like the rendering lied.

http://skyscraperpage.com/gallery/data/554/6324prentice_womens_hospital.jpg

Well, that isn't the original rendering. I was looking all over for it this morning and I couldn't find it; but, I distinctly remember the rendering that was given a few years ago and the whole curve was glass.

Is it this one?

http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/5862/expprojectsmainimage940rc.jpg
:?

Why must we expect everything to be glassy all the time?

Since when was glass so damn attractive?

This isn't Dallas, Texas--it's Chicago

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=19072

Jones Lang LaSalle wins bidding to redevelop Union Station
by Alby Gallun

(Crain’s) — A joint venture led by Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. has won the bidding to redevelop part of Union Station into a hotel, condominiums, office and retail space.

Jones Lang LaSalle and a company headed by two former executives at the Chicago-based real estate firm plan to redevelop about 500,000 square feet of vacant former railroad offices in the West Loop building and build an 18-story tower on top of it. The project would cost about $250 million.

Amtrak, which owns the building at Clinton, Canal, Jackson and Adams streets, has agreed to enter into exclusive development negotiations with the Jones Lang LaSalle joint venture. An Amtrak spokesman declined to say when the agreement expires or identify other parties that participated in the bidding.

Completed in 1925, Union Station was supposed to include a high-rise under the vision of its original designer, famed architect Daniel Burnham. Mr. Burnham’s successor firm, Graham, Anderson, Probst and White, completed the building’s design after Mr. Burnham’s death in 1912.

Jones Lang LaSalle is teaming up on the project with Youssefi-Scott Development Co., a development firm founded by Hossein Youssefi, a former Jones Lang LaSalle executive, and Stuart Scott, the firm’s former chairman and CEO.

“Our goal is to perpetuate Burnham’s historic vision for Union Station and at the same time create a state-of-the-art, mixed-use facility that includes office space built for the 21st century,” Mr. Youssefi said in a statement.

I hope this is good.

Why must we expect everything to be glassy all the time?

Since when was glass so damn attractive?

This isn't Dallas, Texas--it's Chicago

Concrete is attractive? Especially for a Hospital?

Jan. 09, 2006
By Alby Gallun


Jones Lang LaSalle wins bidding to redevelop Union Station
(Crain’s) — A joint venture led by Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. has won the bidding to redevelop part of Union Station into a hotel, condominiums, office and retail space.

Jones Lang LaSalle and a company headed by two former executives at the Chicago-based real estate firm plan to redevelop about 500,000 square feet of vacant former railroad offices in the West Loop building and build an 18-story tower on top of it. The project would cost about $250 million.

Amtrak, which owns the building at Clinton, Canal, Jackson and Adams streets, has agreed to enter into exclusive development negotiations with the Jones Lang LaSalle joint venture. An Amtrak spokesman declined to say when the agreement expires or identify other parties that participated in the bidding.

Completed in 1925, Union Station was supposed to include a high-rise under the vision of its original designer, famed architect Daniel Burnham. Mr. Burnham’s successor firm, Graham, Anderson, Probst and White, completed the building’s design after Mr. Burnham’s death in 1912.

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Related Article Topics | Related Industry News
Jones Lang LaSalle is teaming up on the project with Youssefi-Scott Development Co., a development firm founded by Hossein Youssefi, a former Jones Lang LaSalle executive, and Stuart Scott, the firm’s former chairman and CEO.

“Our goal is to perpetuate Burnham’s historic vision for Union Station and at the same time create a state-of-the-art, mixed-use facility that includes office space built for the 21st century,” Mr. Youssefi said in a statement.

^How exactly would that work?

I hope they don't screw anything up...

They build on top of it? There were some renderings I posted some pages ago about this that were designed by Lucien Lagrange.

Edit: In case I didn't post it:

http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/4348/unionstation1tf.jpg

Thank god you reminded me TUP... for the last little while I thought this was Texas. I have absolutely nothing against concrete as long as it's done right (see: Contemporaine). The problem is, I'm pretty sick of every single Northwestern Med building looking exactly like the last. I'm all for some elemental consistency from one structure to another to ensure people understand their connection, but, the degree to which these NU buildings look cookie-cutter is completely unnecessary.

Also... spyguy... that wasn't the rendering I was thinking of... in fact, I've never even seen that one before! Thanks for posting it though :)

A little more on the Union Station project:

http://globest.com/news/450_450/chicago/141836-1.html

Union Station Topper Plan Rises Again
By Mark Ruda
Last updated: January 10, 2006 05:55am

Jones Lang LaSalle and two former executives of the real estate firm are the latest to attempt to bring Daniel Burnham’s vision for Union Station to its long-awaited fruition. Amtrak subsidiary Chicago Union Station Co. is giving Jones Lang LaSalle and its partner, Youssefi-Scott Development Co., a chance to strike a $250-million redevelopment deal that would add an 18-story tower atop the 80-year-old railroad terminal.


Most recently, Prime Group Realty Trust proposed a $200-million mixed-use project that would have added 180 condominiums, 400 hotel rooms as well as 500,000 sf of office space above the Union Station’s Headhouse Building. Before the REIT’s financial crunch derailed the project, it had hired architect Lucien LaGrange, who ironically had drawn up plans about 20 years earlier for another developer before Tax Reform Act of 1986 torpedoed US real estate markets.

Burnham’s designs included a tower above the station, but he died before the station was completed. Jones Lang LaSalle has been involved in the redevelopment of two other buildings designed by Burnham, Symphony Center in Chicago and Union Station in Washington, DC.

“Our goal is to perpetuate Burnham’s historic vision for Union Station and at the same time create a state-of-the-art, mixed-use facility that includes office space built for the 21st century,” says Hossein Youssefi, whose company also includes Stuart Scott. “Union Station will be an architectural jewel as we extend the Burnham Chicago tradition to the West Loop.”


Bounded by Clinton, Canal, Jackson and Adams streets, Union Station already is Metra’s busiest commuter rail station, serving 120,000 passengers a day in addition to more than 6,000 Amtrak riders. The Jones Lang LaSalle partnership envisions preserving the Great Hall, exterior and rooflines. The redevelopment is not expected to affect Amtrak and Metra operations, but would convert 500,000 sf of vacant railroad offices into new uses.

WOW, those rendering of Union look VERY intriguing.

Concrete is attractive? Especially for a Hospital?

^Well concrete certainly can be attractive.

I just don't see why everybody thinks that everything has to be 100% glass to be attractive any more. I think everybody is a bit fed up with the River North tan concrete boxes that we got in the late 90's and now there is a stigma.

If you ask me, the current design for the Prentice Hospital says "Chicago" more than any 100% glass structure does. And this is coming from somebody who loves modern architecture and wants Chicago to be at its leading edge.

They build on top of it? There were some renderings I posted some pages ago about this that were designed by Lucien Lagrange.

Edit: In case I didn't post it:

http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/4348/unionstation1tf.jpg

^The buildings pictured above look like 2 completely different designs. Kind of harkens back to the Harold Washington Library with its classic facade on 3 of its 4 sides but modern-looking on 1 side

I think the 3rd rendering is just a cross section of the building so you can see the atrium more clearly, not really an opening on one side, although I can't be sure.

From today's Sun-Times. Will anybody be able to make it to that meeting highlighted in bold?

New housing, shopping eyed for South Loop

January 11, 2006

BY DAVID ROEDER SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST Advertisement



Developers have long-term goals for up to 2,000 new housing units, a shopping center and a 16-screen movie theater in the South Loop, according to insiders who have seen plans drafted for community groups.

The property runs northwest of Roosevelt and Clark, site of a Target store. The vacant parcels are divided among several interests, including Concord Homes, Amli Residential, Centrum Properties and the construction firm Walsh Group.

The Centrum piece fronts on Roosevelt east of Wells and would include a megaplex that Kerasotes Theatres has signed a letter of intent to operate, said Dennis McClendon, development chairman of South Loop Neighbors. The civic group has invited the developers to discuss the projects at a meeting tonight. It's scheduled for 7 p.m. at Grace Place, 637 S. Dearborn. Their representatives declined to comment or could not be reached.

ELYSIAN FIELD: There have been a few bumps and detours on the development road for David Pisor, president of Elysian Worldwide Chicago LLC, which wants to build a high-class hotel at 11 E. Walton. But the site has been cleared, and Pisor said he expects to head to City Hall for a building permit in about seven days. With luck, he'll be able to break ground on the 60-story building in the spring.

Since ending a partnership with Michael Reschke, Pisor has brought in partners for their cash and construction know-how. The majority owner of the venture is Atlanta-based Arcapita Inc., and Chicago's Golub & Co. joined for a minor equity stake and as construction manager.

Pisor said 70 percent of his units have been sold and all financing is in place. The building promises 185 hotel units, which are among the first in Chicago to be sold to investors, and 51 private, richly appointed residences.

Golub, meanwhile, has become exceedingly busy in its own right. The company is into heavy marketing on 345 E. Ohio, a planned 49-story apartment tower it calls the Streeter. It has closed on the purchase of the CBS studios at 630 N. McClurg, although a high-rise project there is at least several years off. And Executive Vice President Lee Golub said the company wants to buy downtown office buildings. Early in 2005, it bought 225 W. Washington for about $100 million.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0601110028jan11,1,3611049.story?coll=chi-business-hed

A windfall for Wacker tower's quick seller

Thomas A. Corfman
Published January 11, 2006

Zeller Realty Corp. is working on a deal to buy 300 S. Wacker Drive from the New York investment firm that bought the tower just a few months ago, in a transaction that reflects differing views of the West Loop office market.

Chicago-based Zeller would pay $91 million for the 512,000-square-foot building, roughly $11 million more than Broadway Real Estate Partners LLC paid in August for its first Chicago acquisition, sources said.

While Zeller is betting on a resurgence in the market, Broadway may have a more bearish view, and likes the quick profit. Zeller is still conducting due diligence research on the deal, sources said.

Robert Six, senior vice president with Zeller, declined to comment.

Check in the mail? After signing a contract for 181 W. Madison St., DECT Corp. has failed to make a required multimillion-dollar earnest money deposit, raising questions about whether the little-known firm backed by Japanese money can complete the $307 million deal, sources said.

Kazuyuki Fukushi, DECT's chief executive, declined to comment. The firm has told insiders it would finance the transaction with a loan from Tokyo-based Aozora Bank Ltd.

For the time being, the seller, Prudential Real Estate Investors, a unit of the New Jersey financial-services giant, continues to work with DECT. A Prudential spokeswoman declined to comment.

Amid the uncertainty, DECT's other $300 million deal, buying 311 S. Wacker Drive from Chicago-based Walton Street Capital LLC, is on hold, sources said. DECT did not sign a contract for that building.

Citigroup Center lease: In a little-noticed deal, the U.S. General Services Administration has taken 92,900 square feet of space at Citigroup Center, said John Murphy, executive vice president with MB Real Estate Services LLC, which manages the building.

Under the 10-year lease the Education Department will occupy nearly 85,000 square feet of the space at 500 W. Madison St., a slight increase from its current location at 111 N. Canal St., a GSA spokesman said.

The Education Department, which will move next January, has cut back its space needs, and the remaining space may be subleased or taken back by the landlord, the spokesman said.

REIT expands offices: First Industrial Realty Trust Inc. has expanded its offices by half, to 66,000 square feet, as part of a 12-year lease extension at 311 W. Wacker Drive that kicks in later this year, said Gregg Witt, senior vice president with CB Richard Ellis Inc., which advised the Chicago real estate investment trust.

Rents inch up: The meager improvement last year in the vacancy rate for top-quality, so-called Class A office space was matched by rents, according to a report by tenant representative Studley Inc.

Average asking rents, including taxes and operating expense, rose 1 percent, to $29.37 a square foot, during the last year. Asking rents are "list prices" and do not include the value of incentives, such as build-out expenses and free rent.

"Concessions are still, in general, Costco-product sized," said Richard Schuham, executive vice president with Studley, referring to the retailer known for its bulk sales.

Although downtown is showing signs of reviving, with strong leasing activity last year, asking rents are well below the peak of nearly $34 a square foot in 2001. Meanwhile, the amount of available office space, including sublease space, fell to 18 percent during the fourth quarter from 18.5 percent during the year-earlier period, Studley says.

Warehouse space: The North American unit of Royal Philips Electronics has signed a five-year lease for a 307,300-square-foot warehouse at 220 Medinah Rd. in Roselle, said Thomas Barbera, a vice president with Trammell Crow Co., which represented the landlord, CenterPoint Properties Trust.

Not much higher

Landlords' asking rents for top-quality downtown office space showed scant improvement during the fourth quarter, compared with the same period in 2004.

FOURTH QUARTER
SUBMARKET 2005 CHG 2004
West Loop $28.98 2.0%
LaSalle St $28.62 4.0%
Central Loop $34.01 5.5%
Michigan Ave. $28.20 2.5%
River North $28.48 2.0%
South Loop $33.59 -3.7%
Total $29.37 1.0%
Source: Studley Inc.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0601110025jan11,1,2431398.story?coll=chi-business-hed

Tower sale completed

Tribune staff, wire reports
Published January 11, 2006

As expected, a joint venture of two Chicago firms, GlenStar Properties LLC and investment partner Walton Street Capital LLC, completed the purchase of 55 E. Monroe St., a 50-story tower in the East Loop, in a $239 million deal. Office tenants in the 1.6 million-square-foot building were told about the closing in a memo distributed on Dec. 23 by New York's Tishman Speyer Properties LP, the building's former manager and co-owner.

Chicago-based real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. represented the seller, a venture that included investors advised by German syndicator GENO Asset Finance GmbH, a unit of Citigroup Asset Management. The GlenStar/Walton St. venture plans an eventual residential condominium conversion of as much as the top 14 floors of the bulky structure. Two Chicago firms, Pappageorge/Haymes Ltd. and Goettsch Partners, are likely to be the architects for the residential redevelopment.

Crap! I would like to go to that meeting tonight cuz the development is kitty-corner to my new condo... but I have to go to the Hawks game... Is anyone planning on attending?

..

Wow. Thanks for the summary and attending. Sounds pretty cool to me.

Here's an article:

http://chicagojournal.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=60&ArticleID=1238&TM=5611

The skinny on Clark and Polk gets mixed reviews
Concord Homes would build 1,000 condos in three thin high-rises

By MAX BROOKS, Staff Writer

Though the most vocal opponents of the Concord Homes plans for three thin high-rises at Clark and Polk made occasionally strident protests during an unveiling of the development at the Dearborn Park Advisory Council Jan. 4, the overall reaction from the neighborhood residents in attendance was mixed.

While Concord Homes had originally called for a mix of town houses and towers that would have brought just fewer than 300 new units to the area, the new blueprints more than triple the size of the project by replacing the mix of buildings with three high-rises that will contain just more than 1,000 units and nearly as many parking spaces, according to Concord Homes attorney Bernie Citron.

"[The Department of Planning and Development] said they preferred more slender towers," Citron said, explaining that the design would minimize the impact of the new development on the views and light levels of those living across the street and residents in nearby Dearborn Park, just a block away.

He said a revised cost-benefit analysis based on the current market and more stringent infrastructure demands on the site had forced Concord Homes to add more units to the site.

The towers, according to plans presented at the meeting, would be scattered across the site in checkerboard formation.

The first tower to be built would rise 30 stories above Polk near Clark over six levels of parking that would extend back toward the railroad tracks to the west. The second tower, also the development’s tallest at well more than 300 feet, would rise 35 stories over four stories of parking at the eastern end of the lot. A final tower would come 32 stories from the ground at the corner of Clark and a new, one-block-long stretch of Ninth Street that Concord Homes will be required by the city to build, Citron said.

Though several of those in attendance expressed minor concerns with aspects of the plan—fears about the city’s future plans for Ninth Street and an increase in traffic, worries about how the development would interact with a tower proposed by Terrapin Properties just across Polk Street to the north—the most vocal criticism came from Peter Ziv, a member of the board at the Folio Square building, 124 W. Polk, that stands across Polk Street from the Concord Homes site.

Ziv paced before the crowd after the developer’s initial presentation, doing his best to inject passionate resistance into the meeting.

"This does not have to happen, and I suggest we fight this hammer and tong," Ziv said.

Citing the Department of Planning and Development’s 2003 Near South Community Plan, Ziv said the increase in traffic the building would bring to Polk Street opposed the document’s call for Polk Street to remain a pedestrian throughway.

"Do you think another 1,000 cars coming down Polk Street every day is appropriate?" he asked.

But Citron, along with Luay R. Aboona, a traffic consultant from Transportation and Parking Planning Consultants, said they expected half or fewer of the residents to use their cars to commute to work on a daily basis, explaining that many buyers in downtown condo towers typically move to the area so they won’t have to commute and want a space only to store their car to use it for weekends and errands. Citron also argued that the construction of Ninth Street heading west from Clark did not mean the city plans to extend it east through Dearborn Park. At 66 feet across, the new block of Ninth Street would be wide enough to accommodate traffic running both ways.

"If we didn’t have to build [Ninth Street], we wouldn’t," Citron said, addressing the concerns of some of those in attendance that the city has its eye on extending Ninth Street to the east through Dearborn Park.

Citron also took issue with Ziv’s assertion that the upsizing of the plans represented a "bait and switch," saying that the developer had not yet received approval for any plans and would continue to work with community members and the DPD in preparing its application for the planned development zoning the towers will require. Michael Hernandez, president of the Dearborn Park Advisory Council, said he has been largely pleased with Concord Homes’s efforts to keep the neighborhood up to date.

"Concord has been one of the more active and responsible developers as far as communicating with community groups," Hernandez said.

Additionally, Citron said, Concord Homes would include a green space in the space between all the buildings. In the current formation, the second tower is set back 180 feet from Clark Street, with 200 feet in between the two towers at the extreme north and south ends of the plot.


While the green space would be privately owned and maintained, Citron explained, it would be meant for public use. For example, he said, a dog walker would have no problem cutting from Ninth Street to the town houses along Clark by walking diagonally through the Concord property.

The current plans also call for a private utility drive, accessible off Polk Street, to absorb many of the 975 vehicles for which the plans provide space, with one curb cut along Clark leading to an internal driveway to absorb the rest.

Near the end of the meeting, neighborhood resident Dorothy McKinney offered a deluge of queries that touched variously on plumbing, traffic, views, and flooding, as the members of the development team looked on in frustration and tried to deal with the questions one by one.

The issue of flooding, in particular, produced a visible reaction from the developers, as they nearly tripped over one another to tell McKinney that the towers’ green roofs and accompanying open space would make the site much less of a flooding hazard than its current formation as an asphalt parking lot.

After the meeting, Citron said that initial work on the infrastructure of the site might begin as early as April or May. If the plans are approved, Citron said, construction on the first and northernmost tower would not begin until June of 2007.

Thanks guys, especially Loopy we all appreciate the info that you provided.

Oh, and welcome to the forum Loopy :)

Quick question: that "boulevard" that extends north from Roosevelt and ends in a cul-de-sac. Is it actually a cul-de-sac or one of those T intersections?

..

Remember, this is not typical street planning. Like Riverside Park across the street, the plans call for building a new neighborhood forty feet in the air. And in Centrum's case, I believe that it is also built directly over some rail tracks.

It almost sounds like Park Avenue north of Grand Central Station in New York.

I would call it a boulevard and a very large-radius cul-de-sac.

I don't recall exactly, what Solomon Cordewell Buenz (Centrums Archi) called these features. Remember, this is not typical street planning. Like Riverside Park across the street, the plans call for building a new neighborhood forty feet in the air. And in Centrum's case, I believe that it is also built directly over some rail tracks.

I will try to describe it again: The main feature of Centrum's project is an elevated mixed retail/residential "strip" that is connected to Roosevelt on the South with a wide opening, accomodating traffic and pedestrians, terminating at the North end with the Kerasotes theater complex.

The "boulevard" looked like it would have two lanes in (from Roosevelt), where your choices would be to ramp down to parking or continue on to the theater "cul-de-sac" where you could drop-off or pick-up and continue only by completing the radius and exiting on one of the two lanes out.

This may be a crude analogy, but It might be helpful:

Picture a four-lane access road with a landscaped median with State Place on both sides, River East 21 on the end and three levels of parking below.

Now when the renderings come out you can cite this post as a good example of the weakness of visual memory!

^Hmmm.... Perhaps I am just not visualizing this well, but I'm surprised they would build a cul-de-sac here, since that could cause some access problems. I would make more sense for the street to at least turn right and merge into Clark. Interesting, I just hope it is well-developed and maintains the excellence of other downtown Chicago developments

I like the idea of the cul de sac. I think all traffic from this area should access Roosevelt since a lot of people wont be people that know the streets here well and get confused by trying to get out on Clark and getting lost. Plus, the cars would have to go down 3 stories to get to the same level as Clark. It would be a weird transition. Plus more road to dedicate to the city. I am envisioning a row of townhomes blocking the view of the 3 story parking garage from Clark Street level (Amli Residential) and then the big tower. Would there be a second row of towhomes at the street frontage?

I found this article about the theater (old news but related). Centrum proposes 500,000 SF of retail!

http://ccchronicle.com/paper/citybeat.php?id=1949

Here is another article about the site in general. It shows 370 condos. It sounds like the entire north half (North of 9th) will be residential.

http://www.ccchronicle.com/paper/citybeat.php?id=1509

My question is does the proposed 9th Avenue go under or over the tracks? I would assume over since we are close to the river, but Polk Street does go under.
Just to clarify... that article was misleading about the width of 9th Street. 66' is standard city right-of-way width. It will probably be 28' back of curb to back of curb with sidewalk on either side, unless it has parking. Then it will probably be about 48' wide with 2 8' sidewalks (and the standard 1' on each side between the right of way line and the edge of walk).

That article puts Luay Aboona with the wrong company. He actually works with KLOA. Talking to people I know, I am under the impression that both roads were designed by an architect with little input from a traffic engineer. I am assuming that Luay Aboona was asked to attend the meeting as a consultant because his client anticipated abrasion from some of the neighbors regarding traffic. A lot of times these architects have big eyes and dont think of the technical aspects. I bet the details will change plenty of times before it is built.

The comments from that lady make me mad. They sound like they were stupid comments and probably only made the opponents of the project look stupider and with less merit. I wish I could have been there to help the developer talk about the flooding problems.

- edit

That sucks. A lot.

..

What will it take to make this happen?

^ $$$$

Does anyone know anything about this development: http://www.1555wabash.com

The sign seems to have appeared on the site at some point over the last week. That corner really is ugly so anything would be an improvement, but it would be great to see something that's well done.

Early finish funded for addition at McCormick
West Building speedup for July '07 opening

By Kathy Bergen
Tribune staff reporter
Published January 19, 2006
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0601190103jan19,1,7018931.story?coll=chi-business-hed

The West Building addition to McCormick Place will open eight months ahead of schedule, in July 2007, under an accelerated construction schedule that will boost the cost of the project by $3 million.

"It's a small additional investment to have an additional eight months to bring in business," said Leticia Peralta Davis, chief executive officer of the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, which owns and operates the massive convention center. The speed-up was authorized by the authority's board late last week and was made possible, in part, because of good weather conditions.

Overall, the project will cost $882 million, or close to 4 percent more than the $849 million specified in the construction contract.

About one-third of the additional cost will pay for a storm water tunnel, which the City of Chicago originally had planned to fund separately. And the remaining sum will cover upgrades to high-tech cables for video conferencing and to the piping for steam and chilled water, Davis said.

The add-ons fall within the approximately $52 million available for contingencies, she said.

The West Building, with 250,000 square feet of meeting space and 470,000 square feet of exhibition space, is designed to attract meetings with associated exhibits, rather than trade shows.

Association and corporate meetings tend to be planned several years in advance, but the authority is hoping the accelerated opening will allow it to land some shorter-range corporate meetings.

"It may allow them to slot in a New Orleans conference that couldn't be hosted, or maybe a last-minute booking," said Ted Mandigo, an Elmhurst-based hospitality consultant who tracks the convention business.

But the biggest gain, he said, "is more of a perception, or an image, of an ability to deliver. A reassurance to those who have booked into the new facility."

As to the cost overruns, he called them "very reasonable."

"I've seen a lot worse," he said. "And given that Hurricane Katrina has raised the cost of construction materials substantially, and put pressure on all the labor trades, this is an indication of pretty good management of this construction project."

The project was financed with $1.1 billion in bonds, backed by pier authority taxes on tourism-related businesses, and when those are insufficient, by state sales taxes.

Due to the slump in travel post-9/11, tourism taxes have been insufficient to meet the obligations, and the authority has had to use about $29 million in bond funding reserves to make payments, Davis said. This should bring the reserve balance to less than $1 million when the fiscal year ends June 30. So far, the authority has not had to tap any state sales tax.

The authority is considering refinancing the debt to reduce its annual obligation, but has not pursued that option yet. With the recovery in the travel business, tourism-related tax receipts are trending upward, Davis said.

At this point, she said, it's uncertain whether the trend will boost tourism taxes sufficiently to meet bond obligations in the coming fiscal year.

----------
Kbergen@tribune.com

That's good to hear.

http://chicagojournal.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=60&ArticleID=1266&TM=66533.32

A sneak preview for South Loop theater, shopping plaza
Largely vacant area would be transformed by stores, highrises

By HAYDN BUSH, Managing Editor

For now, the area west of Clark Street and south of Polk Street is largely a holdover of the South Loop’s underdeveloped past, with surface parking lots and empty lots taking up much of the available space in an area that stretches south to Roosevelt Road and west to Wells Street. But an ambitious collection of proposals in the area once known as LaSalle Park would transform the western South Loop into a retail destination, sporting a new movie theater as well as scores of new condos and apartments.

At a Grace Place gathering of South Loop Neighbors on Jan. 11, the developers and architects behind the some of the new plans unveiled them to largely warm reviews.

The largest development in the LaSalle Park area is owned by the Centrum development team, and would be built at the corner of Roosevelt and what will become an extended Wells Street. The Centrum team would create a mixed-use plaza of two-story retail buildings and five-story condominiums. Howard Hirsch, president of the Hirsch Associates architectural firm that is designing the development, said the project would feature a new road heading north from Roosevelt Road into the retail center, which would lead to a small public park. The centerpiece of the plans would be a movie theater owned by the Indiana-based Kerasotes Theaters, and would be surrounded by smaller, destination retail.

Greg Ciambrone, vice president of the Walsh Group, which will construct the project, said the original planned development for the area, which was approved in 2003, originally called for 3,600 condominiums, but that after the success of the Target at Roosevelt and Clark, the
developers decided instead to emphasize retail development, bringing the number of condo units down to 1,800.

"This evolved to be a retail-driven development," Ciambrone said.

Ciambrone added that the development would require the construction of a new stretch of Ninth Street heading west from Clark Street, as well as an extension of Wells Street, which currently peters out into parking lots just north of Roosevelt Road. The mixed-use project mirrors the current plans for the 63-acre Riverside Park area south of Roosevelt Road, though that project is on hold at present.

The Centrum development got largely favorable reviews from the overflow South Loop Neighbors crowd last week, and later this week, South Loop Neighbors president Leslie Sturino said she was pleased to see so much retail planned for the area. Sturino said she was particularly interested by the prospect of a full-service movie theater in the South Loop, which has not had a theater since Burnham Plaza closed in the summer of 2005.

"I think the Centrum proposal is very exciting," Sturino said. "This is going to bring a lot of vitality to the neighborhood."

The SLN gathering also saw the unveiling of plans for a glassy, 23-story rental high-rise proposed for Ninth and Clark, by developer Steve Ross, of 900 S. Clark Associates. Ross, who said the project includes seven for-sale town houses along with 440 apartments, said he expected to market the apartments largely to young professionals and graduate students, with rents starting at $1,160 for the studios.

"It’s less than the Gold Coast, but these are strong rents for this area," Ross said.

The project will include only 270 parking spaces, but Ross said he expected that many of the residents would be carless.

"Our residents will walk to work, and our residents will walk to the Centrum project," Ross said.

The apartments are largely studios and one-bedrooms that are roughly 800 square feet, though 10 percent of the apartments will be three-bedroom apartments.

"There is a significant retail market for larger apartments," Ross said.

One audience member said that while he was impressed by the glassy design of the new building, he worried that renters might not take care of their apartments, and said he would prefer to see condos there. But Ross said that the neighborhood, which recently saw the Printers Square building converted into condominiums, was short on apartment buildings.

"So many rental apartments have been converted into condos," Ross said.

And Sturino said she has long been an advocate of apartment buildings in the South Loop, saying that rentals often introduce new residents to the neighborhood who later end up buying condos.

"I think rental is a very important component of any residential mix," Sturino said. "People can try out a neighborhood and understand how it’s like."

^ I'm lovin it.

A question about Trio:

Looking at the renderings of Trio, it begs a very important question.

The renderings seem to suggest that the retail in Trio will face a rear parking lot. Is this true? I was under the impression that there will be some sort of street entrance to the retail. Can anybody shed some light on this?

The project will include only 270 parking spaces, but Ross said he expected that many of the residents would be carless.

That's the spirit!:cucumber: I like that they're including apartments, too.

I am guessing Trio is the name for the three condo buildings by Concord Homes at Polk and Clark. This is very exciting. The apartments fill a need for rentals in this neighborhood with the loss of Printers Square (356 units). I truly believe this will be the Lincoln Park of the South Side. If this goes to Wells Street, what will happen to the river stretch South of RiverCity?

^^Trio is at 650 West Wayman

- edit

From Columbia College Chronicle Online:

www.ccchronicle.com

Area development rush continues
New theater and retail in plans for new project
Eric Kasang
Assistant City Beat Editor

Mauricio Rubio/The Chronicle
Just south of the Loop lies the future site of several proposed multilevel retail buildings. One plan includes building a 16-screen multiplex cinema.
South Loop residents met with developers on Jan. 11 at Grace Place on Printers Row to discuss proposals to transform a garbage-strewn lot just northwest of the Roosevelt Road Target store into a multilevel residential and retail plaza.

The project site, which lies between Polk, Clark and Wells streets at Roosevelt Road, includes plans for a 16-screen multiplex cinema, tri-level parking and a multilevel residential and retail complex. One of the developers, Centrum Properties Inc., which is working on the property west of the railroad tracks at Wells Street, laid out plans for a bi-level retail storefront with five floors of residential units above.

Centrum Properties architect Howard Hirsch, of Hirsch Associates LLC, explained his idea behind the design, which is known as the Roosevelt Collection. He said that he had a very traditional plan for the space that contained cafes, restaurants and a layout where the retail stores would be accessible by foot to a couple recreational parks. Cascading staircases would link the retail plaza to the parks.

“It’s a very pedestrian-friendly urban landscape,” Hirsch said, adding that people will be able to walk from a park to the retail stores and plaza area.

Although the developers are still seeking approval from the city of Chicago, Hirsh noted that groundbreaking could begin as early as this year. However, the Roosevelt Collection project is still in the early stages of development; building and unit prices have not been determined yet.

AMLI Residential, another Chicago-based developer, plans on building a 23-story residential complex just east of the Centrum Properties project called the 900 South Clark Association, according to Stephen Ross, the executive vice president of development.

Ross said that it will contain 440 luxury rental units with a parking garage on top of it. Seven townhouses will be built near the parking lot so it will not be visible to people. The garage will have a green roof to cover the concrete.

According to Ross, 75 percent of the spaces will be either studio or one-bedroom units ranging from $1,000 to $1,100 per month to rent. Ross expects to attract young professionals and recent college graduates to this new complex.

“There is a demand for rental apartments, especially first-time renters, because there have been more condo unit conversions,” Ross said. He also explained that people want to initially rent because it’s cheaper, and if they like the area, then they’ll probably buy later.

The Walsh Group, a Chicago-based contracting and construction company, which owns the land, started parceling out pieces when Target opened in 2004. Gregory A. Ciambrone, the vice president of strategic investments for the group, said that Target helped push this project forward.

“The catalyst of all this was the development of the Target store,” Ciambrone said, explaining the momentum of other developers getting involved in building on the various plots.

For Dennis McClendon, the development chairman for South Loop Neighbors, a nonprofit community organization, said each new project, along with Target, is one of the many pieces that will complete this construction project.

Although South Loop residents raised some questions during an informal meeting on Jan. 11 about issues ranging from pedestrian accessibility to roadway construction costs to the installation of traffic controls, the developers said final details on construction projects are still being worked out.

For Joevanny Duran, 21, who resides on Chicago’s far South Side but works in the South Loop, the new developments seemed to be good for the neighborhood and not an example of gentrification. He said it would have been bad if other buildings were destroyed for the project.

“I don’t think it’s a bad thing,” Duran said. “It doesn’t harm any neighborhoods,” he said, regarding the project being contained to the vacant lot and not crossing over into other developed areas.

Duran, who has shopped at the Target on Roosevelt Road, thinks that people will visit the plaza and retail stores.

“A lot of people come downtown to buy things—even working-class people,” Duran said.

Bonnie Sanchez-Carlson, the executive director of the Near South Planning Board, said that she hasn’t heard any grievances about the project. She added that this project is going to provide a link for pedestrians from Canal Street to Printers Row. As for people moving from other areas of Chicago to the South Loop, Sanchez-Carlson said that this project will definitely be a draw.

“I think it’s going to be a great development,” Sanchez-Carlson said. “People will continue to come to the neighborhood because of all the commodities.”

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/hotels/2006-01-23-sternlicht-brand_x.htm

Former Starwood chief launches luxury hotel brand

Barry Sternlicht, the former chief executive of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, will launch a new luxury hotel brand called the Crillon, he said Monday.

The brand is being launched by Sternlicht's Starwood Capital Group, which is not related to his previous company. Sternlicht, who founded Starwood Hotels in 1995 and built it into a leading hotel group, left the company in 2004.

Sternlicht's new venture will open European-style Crillon hotels in major cities and resorts throughout the world, it said in a statement.

The Crillon's flagship is the Hotel de Crillon in Paris, which Starwood Capital acquired early this year when it completed its purchase of French luxury brand owner Societe du Louvre.

Crillon hotels will aim for a "one-of-a-kind luxury experience," said the company, competing with Starwood Hotels' upscale St. Regis brand.

-----------------------

They have many cities listed for this hotel, including Chicago.

I also wonder if the Waldorf=Astoria (which is becoming a chain I think) and St. Regis will come to Chicago. I mean, B37 still needs something, as well as Cityfront Plaza and 351 N. Clark project and who knows what else.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0601230006jan23,1,4200875.story?coll=chi-business-hed

New Construction

Chicago--Vetro, 611 S. Wells St., 31-story condominium complex, March 2006, $ 17.5 million.

Chicago--University of Chicago Hospital Pavilion, 57th Street and Cottage Grove, 600,000-square-foot medical pavilion, March 2007, $500 million.

[B]
I also wonder if the Waldorf=Astoria (which is becoming a chain I think) and St. Regis will come to Chicago. I mean, B37 still needs something, as well as Cityfront Plaza and 351 N. Clark project and who knows what else.


Great .... what we really need in Chicago is a Waldorf Astoria right in B37 across the street from macy's around the corner from Chase bank across the river from the St. Regis as 351 N. Clark. Just great.

^^Doesn't bother me. NYC lost those two icons to other companies (like Hilton, Starwood) and they're now chains found around the country.

Not really sure where I should put this. It is a pretty good summary overview of new major developments in Chicago by the the Sun-Times real estate section today. If someone wants to move feel free....


http://www.suntimes.com/output/hlife/hof-news-big27.html

South Side rising again

BY LARRY FINLEY Real Estate Reporter

The South Loop and Near South Side will lead the 2006 parade of new housing in Chicago with more than 8,000 units getting under way.

Three major developments are to begin in the South Loop, with other new projects in the works along the lakefront.

"The South Loop housing market topped all other neighborhoods in 2005, capturing 46 percent of all new-construction condominium and town-house sales through the third quarter, and it looks like the volume might be even stronger in 2006," said Gail Lissner, vice president of Appraisal Research Counselors, which monitors the city housing market.

Other major, new buildings and developments will begin taking shape on the Near West and North sides, as well as neighborhoods such as North Lawndale, West Elsdon, McKinley Park, Old Irving Park/Mayfair and West Rogers Park.

The big projects include several new residential enclaves that are now under way or in the pipeline for the next two to five years:

SOUTH LOOP


Prairie Station District. A $500-million mixed-use residential and retail neighborhood, at 21st Street and Prairie Avenue.
A consortium of developers plan for more than 2,000 affordable and condominiums and town houses, new retail development, health clubs, movie theaters, restaurants and entertainment, according to William E. Warman, partner in Prairie Station LLC.

"Prairie Station is a logical southern extension of the Central Station neighborhood, bridged by the Prairie Avenue Historic District," Warman said. "Our emerging new neighborhood is a stone's throw from the western expansion of McCormick Place."

The eight-story Chess Lofts is a 119-unit adaptive-reuse loft building at 320 E. 21st St. The former recording studio and warehouse was owned by Chess Records in the 1950s and 1960s, Warman said.

Pre-construction prices range from $174,900 to the upper $400,000s, said Ellen Amerikan, sales manager for Garrison Partners, the sales agent. Parking spaces range from $34,500 to $37,500. Initial occupancy is scheduled for spring/summer 2007.

Sales also have opened for the Aristocrat Tower, a 24-story contemporary-style condominium development, plus six town houses, Warman said. The tower is named after Aristocrat Records, an earlier record-company name used by Chess Records, Warman said. The record-company name used by Chess Records, Warman said. The 146-unit new-construction high-rise features units priced from $149,900 to $899,900. The building will have a fitness center, roof-top terrace with grilling area and 24-hour doormen. The sales center is at 2028 S. Prairie Ave. Call (312) 528-1000.

A 225-unit condominium tower is planned at 2028 S. Prairie, Warman said. Plans for later phases also call for a pair of 260-unit condominium towers, plus a hotel and 170,000 square feet of retail space featuring a health club, movie theaters, restaurants and clubs. Eventually, the Prairie Station District and surrounding neighborhood will involve the development of more than 2,000 housing units.

The 96-unit Lakeside Lofts, a five-story new-construction loft condominium is being built at 2025-2035 S. Indiana, within the Prairie Station neighborhood, said co-developer Robert Frankel, partner in Frankel & Giles Real Estate. Prices start at $214,900 to $500,000. Call (312) 663-1500.

To the east, CMK Development is planning a 33-story high-rise with 498 condominium units at 1720 S. Michigan Ave. Prices are expected to range from $179,900 to $499,900. Sales are scheduled to open Feb. 4 from a sales center at 1430 S. Michigan Ave.

New West Realty is heading the joint venture planning 1555 Wabash, a 160-unit new-construction condominium development. The mid-rise will feature 1-bedroom, 2-bedroom and penthouse units. Prices have not been announced. A sales center is scheduled to open in March. Call (312) 922-1555.


The Roosevelt Collection. Centrum Properties is planning this major mixed-use residential development and lifestyle retail center on 14 acres bounded by Roosevelt Road and 9th Street, between Wells Street and the Metra tracks, west of the new Target store. Initial sales are scheduled to begin at mid-year.
The $1-billion Roosevelt Collection plan calls for 1,000 housing units including loft-style condos, two high-rises and more than 420,000 square feet of commercial space, including a 20-screen theater, retail shops, entertainment, restaurants and a major health club.

"About 300 loft condominiums are planned above nationally recognized retail shops in a series of five-story buildings overlooking sidewalk cafes and restaurants on a landscaped grand boulevard and vibrant pedestrian plaza," said developer John McLinden of Centrum Properties.

The Phase I loft condominiums and retail space would be elevated on the same level as Roosevelt Road and built on top of a 1,800-car parking garage.

"The shopping boulevard at the Roosevelt Collection would flow into a grand staircase leading down about 30 feet to a 3-acre public park," McLinden said.

A 30-story high-rise with 300 condominiums overlooking the park also is part of Phase I. Some 400 residential units in loft buildings and a 40-story high-rise are planned in Phase II which is targeted for completion in five years.


Riverside District. The initial phase of the Riverside District, a proposed mixed-use new neighborhood on the south side of Roosevelt Road between Clark Street and the Chicago River is expected to be launched in mid-2006 by a newly formed development team called Heritage Development Partners LLC.
Plans call for retail space, restaurants and other commercial uses as well as 4,600 residential units, from studio apartments, mid-rise and high-rise condominiums and lofts, to town houses and mansion row houses.

The $2.5-billion venture will utilize the 62-acre tract of undeveloped land along the south branch of the Chicago River south of Roosevelt Road to 16th Street and east to Clark Street, according to Alexandra Korompilas, director of sales and marketing for Heritage Development Partners, LLC.

The housing will range from the $200,000s to more than $2 million, including about 300 town houses starting in the $600,000s.

Some of the residences will be built over more than 700,000 square feet of retail space. Later phases will include mansion row houses and a series of mid-rises and luxury high-rise towers, each containing about 300 residences. Call (312) 328-1300. NEAR SOUTH SIDE


Eastgate Village. A total of 350 housing units are planned in this multiphase development just south of McCormick Place on the west side of Martin Luther King Drive from 25th to 26th streets. The developer is Mercy Developer LLC, a joint venture of Fogelson Properties, Cleveland-based Forest City Enterprises and New West Realty.
It includes town houses, condominiums and a 12-story seniors rental building with 180 units on 10 acres of land formerly owned by Mercy Hospital. The condos are planned in a 12-story to 15-story building, a rehabbed building and in three-story town-house-style buildings offering duplex and simplex floor plans. Condos and town houses are expected to be priced from the mid-$200,000s to $450,000.

Sales are expected to begin in early summer for a 40-unit condominium rehab to be called Cambridge Place at Eastgate Village. Call New West Realty at (312) 683-0660.

WEST ELSDON


Park Place Homes. This $70-million residential development of 211 single-family homes, town houses and 6-flat condominiums is planned around a 1-acre park at 51st Street and Lawndale Avenue near Midway Airport.
"With nearly 12 acres of land, Park Place Homes will be one of the largest residential developments to be built on the Southwest Side in 50 years," said developer Ted Mazola, of 5007 Lawndale Corp. and New West Realty.

Plans call for single-family houses with 2,000 to 2,700 square feet of living space, and town houses with 1,800 to 2,400 square feet of space. Condos will have 1,150 to 1,600 square feet. Sales are scheduled to begin in the summer. Call (773) 735-7533.

BRIDGEPORT


A major, new loft conversion is planned for Bridgeport at the former Spiegel clothing warehouse, at 1038 W. 35th Street. The project is yet another conversion by Dubin Residential, which is busy marketing its new Shoemaker Lofts, a former Florsheim shoe factory, at Belmont and Pulaski.
The Bridgeport conversion, as yet unnamed, is expected to open in May. It will have six stories with 155 lofts, with views of downtown and U.S. Cellular Field. Amenities will include a fitness center, doorman service and rooftop deck.

Located at 3963 W. Belmont Ave., the six-story Shoemaker Lofts has 175 lofts, measuring 810 to 1,625 square feet and base-priced from the low $200,000s to the mid $400,000s. Lofts include 1- and 2-bedroom designs (some with dens), 1 to 2 baths and balconies. Heated parking is available. The building will have doormen, fitness center, business center, meeting and community room and a rooftop deck and garden. Visit www.mydubin.com or call (773) 283-5638.


MCKINLEY PARK


The McKinley Park neighborhood continues to be a focus for new housing on the Southwest Side.
McKinley Gardens town houses, at West Bross Avenue and South Western Avenue, will feature eight buildings with a total of 69 units. They will have approximately 1,800 square feet of living space with 3 bedrooms, 2-1/2 baths, private patios and balconies, granite countertops and 1-1/2-car garages. Some will have bay windows and garden plots.

Completion is scheduled for spring of 2007. McKinley Gardens, LLC is the developer, with PPKS Architects Ltd. and Klein Construction Services Inc. participating.

McKinley Park Lofts is a condo development of about 163 units at 2323 W. Pershing (at Western, across the street from McKinley Park itself). Prices start at $159,000 for a 1-bedroom unit, up to $368,000 for the 2-bedroom with den. Granite countertops and stainless steel appliances are standard.

The project includes renovation of an existing building plus the addition of three new floors, according to Nicole Greifenkamp, vice president of marketing for the Habitat Co.

McKinley Park Lofts, 2323 W. Pershing, Chicago. McKinley Park Development LLC and the Habitat Co. Brokerage Division, (773) 523-2323.



PRINTERS ROW


Concord Homes is expected to begin sales later this year for a new-construction multifamily development at the southwest corner of Clark and Polk. The name and details have yet to be announced for the new building, which is still in the approval process.

LOOP

The 55 East Monroe high-rise office tower, at Monroe Street and Wabash Avenue, is due to have its top 14 stories converted to condominiums.
The 50-story building will be completed in two phases. The lower levels will remain office space, with enhanced retail and a new residential entrance scheduled for the ground floor. The redevelopment will take advantage of the strong residential market near Millennium Park, according to the new owners, GlenStar Properties LLC/ Walton Street Capital LLC. Pre-sales are expected to begin in May.



NEAR WEST SIDE


Roosevelt west of Western. A yet-unnamed, 245-unit development is planned on an 8-acre vacant site at the northwest corner of Roosevelt Road and Campbell Street.
The development has been approved by the City of Chicago Planning Commission for a mix of residences, including single-family homes, duplexes and three-flat and six-flat condominiums.

The condominiums will range from $260,000 to $300,000 for approximately 1,150 to 1,300 square feet. The duplexes will start in the high $300,000s for a 1,600-square-foot two-story residence, and the single-family homes, with more than 3,000 square feet, are expected to be priced in the high-$500,000s.

The developer is Roosevelt & Campbell LLC, a joint venture of MCL Companies and Brownstone Companies. Sales are expected in early April on the site at 2500 W. Roosevelt. Call (312) 321-8900.


NORTH LAWNDALE


Heritage Homes of West Village. This development will have 100 condominiums and town houses on 1.6 acres of former city land in the 700 block of South Kedzie.
Ground breaking for the $21 million development is scheduled for early spring.

"This high-quality mixed-income development will help revitalize the West Side community and supply newly constructed housing," said developer Ted Mazola, a principal in New West Kedzie LLC.

Plans call for two-story and three-story town houses and two-flats. They will have 1- to 3-bedrooms, 1 or 2 baths and 760 to 1,800 square feet.

Pre-construction base prices will range from the $140,000s to $385,900, according to Cindy Molitor, sales manager for New West Realty. The residences will range from $115,900 to about $150,000, she said. Call (312) 491-1930.



RIVER NORTH


Silver Tower. Construction will begin this spring for Stonegate Development's Silver Tower, a 39-story contemporary building that will rise above the lower River North streetscape.
The tower, at 303 W. Ohio, will offer 230 condos, with 1, 2 and 3 bedrooms, 1 to 2 baths, and balconies. Prices start from the $260,000s.

Most of the units will have large balconies, floor-to-ceiling windows, stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, marble master baths, high speed Internet connections and hardwood floors.

There will be retail on the ground floor, with parking on the next several floors and the condos above that. There will be a 24-hour fitness center and a 10th floor "Sky Lobby," in addition to a rooftop garden and a dog run. Silver Tower is at 303 W. Ohio. Call (312) 595-0900.


NEAR NORTH


The first residents soon will be moving into Concord's 15-story Parc Chestnut, at Franklin Street and Institute Place.
The new construction will have 261 units. The remaining condominiums are priced from the low-$400,000s. A variety of 2-bedroom floor plans remain, and one 3-bedroom-plus-den penthouse, ranging from 1,215 to 2,060 square feet. One to two indoor parking spaces are included in the base price.

Interior features include 10-foot ceilings, granite kitchen countertops, cultured-marble bath countertops, ventless gas fireplaces and hardwood floors or carpet. Homes are pre-wired for high-speed Internet,

Building amenities include a 24-hour doorman, valet, dry cleaner, fitness facility, business center, bicycle room, multipurpose/party room and storage units.

The sales center is at Institute and Franklin. Call (312) 654-0626 or visit www.ConcordHomes.com.

GOLD COAST


The Raffaello condominium-hotel, at 201 E. Delaware, will turn over its first units to the owners at the newly renovated 18-story building just off of Michigan Avenue.
All 175 rooms will be renovated as part of the condominium-hotel plan and will be sold fully furnished, with prices in the $200,000s to more than $1 million. Owners will then have the option of living at the hotel full- or part-time, or of putting their unit into the rental program for general hotel guests.

Owners and guests will have access to all of the services of the upscale hotel, including the concierge, fitness center, spa, and restaurant. For more information, visit www.crescentheights.com.


Maple Tower, at 1035 N. Dearborn, will start move-ins at the 27-unit luxury condominium. The 20-story building has one or two units per floor, with 2 to 4 bedrooms and sizes of 2,000 to 4,645 square feet.
Amenities, include a wood and stone lobby, 24-hour doormen, heated garage, exercise room and individual storage spaces.

The units have oak floors, carpeting, gas fireplaces with marble surrounds and hearths, custom-built wood bookcases, solid core doors, sound insulation, individual heating and air controls and laundry room with full-size washer and dryer.

Prices range from $899,000 to $3 million.

For information, call (312) 642.1245 or visit www.jdlcorp.com.


OLD TOWN


Parkside of Old Town. A 760-unit mixed-income development is planned near Old Town on nearly 20 acres bounded by Division, Larrabee, Oak and Cleveland streets, according to Parkside Associates LLC, the development consortium.
The development team consists of Peter Holsten, president of Holsten Real Estate Development Corp.; Kimball Hill Urban Centers, and the Cabrini-Green LAC (Local Advisory Council) Community Development Corp.

Parkside of Old Town will be made up of 50 percent market-rate for-sale and rental housing, 20 percent affordable for-sale and rental housing and 30 percent rental housing for current and returning Cabrini Green residents, according to the developers.

In 2001, the development team of Holsten Real Estate and Kenard Corp. completed North Town Village, a 261-unit mixed-income development at 1401 N. Halsted. Call (312) 337-5339.


WEST ROGERS PARK


Regent Park and Park Plaza. This two-phase residential development planned for up to 270 single-family houses, town houses and condominiums at 6600 N. Kedzie, along the North Shore Channel of the Chicago River.
Preview sales are planned for February from a sales center in a "spec-built" home at 3134 W. Wallen, according to the developer, Brownstone Properties.

Up to 30 single-family homes, priced in the $1-million-plus bracket, will be built on lots measuring 30, 45 and 60 feet wide. It also includes 20 luxury 3-bedroom condominiums in five new-construction four-flat buildings. Sales of the condominiums are expected to open in April 2006. Park Plaza, the second phase, calls for 60 new-construction town houses priced from $200,000 to $400,000.

Sales on the three-story town houses are expected to begin in early summer. It also includes a 160-unit condominium conversion with prices ranging from about $200,000 to $350,000. The six-story condominium buildings were built in the early 1980s. Sales are expected to begin in June.


OLD IRVING PARK--MAYFAIR


Mayfair Crossing. C.A. Development is planning a 26-home development called Mayfair Crossing on a former industrial site on Kilpatrick Street, on the border of the Old Irving Park and Mayfair neighborhoods.
C.A. Development is developing the Residences of Old Irving Park, 70 single-family houses in the 3800 and 4000 blocks of North Kilbourn.

Only eight homes remain in the second phase and seven in the next phase, with 4 or 5 bedrooms, 3-1/2 baths and 3,400 to more than 4,000 square feet, plus 2-car garages. Prices start at $719,900. Call (773) 777-8910 or visit www.cadevelopment.com.

- edit

[url]
Does anyone else think there should be a Chicago Retail/Economy thread to put this kind of stuff in?

Yes.

I know BVictor already mentioned this before, but now they have a website too.

The Huron Club (http://www.thehuronclub.com)

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/16/huronclub5nv.jpg
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/9940/huronclub21yj.jpg

The website claims 28 floors

INSIDE INFORMATION

NEW CONSTRUCTION

Published January 30, 2006


The following construction projects are coming up for bid. Listings include project city, name of project, address, description, start date and project value. Complete bidding details and contact information can be found at BidClerk.com.

COOK COUNTY

Calumet City--Superior Oaks apartments renovation, 1229 Superior St., apartment complex renovations, March, $75,000.

Chicago--Riverside District, 1200 S. Clark St., 62-acre mixed-use development, September, $200 million.

Chicago--Kenwood condominium conversion, 6101 S. Kenwood Ave., 7-unit condominium conversion, February, $800,000.

Chicago--University of Chicago Wyler inpatient units, 5837 S. Maryland Ave., hospital addition and renovations, March, $2 million.

Chicago--Block 37 retail building, 108 N. State St., 400,000-square-foot mixed-use building, February, $200 million.

Evergreen Park--Evergreen Park retail center, 95th Street and Maplewood Avenue, 8,200-square-foot retail building, April, $700,000.

Midlothian--Meadow Station apartments, 14525 S. Pulaski Rd., apartment complex renovation, March, $75,000.

Oak Park--Ridge Art renovation, 21 Harrison St., 1,200-square-foot retail renovation, March, $50,000.

Orland Park--Eden Salon & Spa, 9500 143rd St., 2,300-square-foot salon, February, $100,000.

Skokie--Evanston Golf Club clubhouse, 4401 Dempster St., new clubhouse, March, $1 million.

University Park--Fairway Club Estates, 25500 Old Monee Road, 194-unit residential subdivision, February, $53.5 million.

Willow Springs--Willow Springs funeral home, to be announced, new funeral home, March, $1.3 million.

DUPAGE COUNTY

Glen Ellyn--Pennsylvania Avenue mixed-use, 360 Pennsylvania Ave., 3-story mixed-use building, June, $350,000.

Lombard--Yorkbrook Condominiums-phases II & III, 2020 Saint Regis Drive, residential development, January, $5 million.

Naperville--Edward Hospital addition, 801 S. Washington St., 60,000-square-foot hospital addition, April, $12 million.

Oswego Village--Meijer, U.S. Highway 34 and Douglas Road, 200,000-square-foot retail store, February, $9 million.

West Chicago--Menards-Phase III, 220 W. North Ave., 15,000-square-foot garden center, February, $1.3 million.

Wheaton--Reber Street residential development, 201-207 Reber St., 256-unit residential development, February, $20 million.

KANE COUNTY

Aurora--Ace Hardware manufacturing plant, 2160 Molitor Rd., 72.28-acre manufacturing complex, November, $24 million.

Aurora--Wal-Mart, East Indian Trail and North Farnsworth Avenue, 203,819-square-foot retail store, April 2007, $15.7 million.

Aurora--White Oak West business park, Molitor Road and Felton Street, 47-acre business park, $20 million.

Carpentersville--Carpentersville retail, 27 S. Western Ave., 11,000-square-foot retail center and bank, March, $3 million.

Elgin--Trinity Chase subdivision, 3150 U.S. Highway 20, residential subdivision, May, $5 million.

LAKE COUNTY

Deerfield--National City Bank, 401 Lake Cook Rd., 3,500-square-foot bank, April, $400,000.

Gurnee--Nike Factory Store, 6170 Grand Ave., 5,000-square-foot shoe store, February, $250,000.

Mundelein--Mundelein Community Bank, 1110 W. Maple, bank tenant improvements, February, $900,000.

MCHENRY COUNTY

Crystal Lake--Randall Road Animal Hospital, 435 Angela Lane, 2,500-square-foot animal hospital, June, $350,000.

Crystal Lake--Congress Station retail center, Congress Parkway and Exchange Drive, 18,000-square-foot retail center, May, $2 million.

WILL COUNTY

Beecher--Montalbano Homes, 400 residential units, February, $40 million.

Bolingbrook--Precious Pets crematory, 530 W. Boughton Rd., 12,192-square-foot pet crematory building, March, $1.4 million.

Romeoville--Pollmann building, Airport and Weber Roads, 25,000-square-foot industrial building, February, $1.1 million.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/business/cst-fin-dean30.html

Palmer House Hilton gets new manager
January 30, 2006
BY JAVEEN CASTILE Business Reporter

Just a snippet:

As manager of the Palmer House Hilton, Lane will be responsible for overseeing a $100 million renovation of the hotel. The project includes an expanded retail center, more restaurants and redecorated guest rooms and conference rooms.

Planned Transformation Includes Renovated Condominium-Hotel Units and a
Revitalized Pump Room

Partnership Includes Mid-America Development Partners, The Harp Group and
Portfolio Hotels and Resorts

CHICAGO, Feb. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- The Fordham Company today announced the
acquisition and redevelopment of Chicago's famed Ambassador East Hotel,
located at 1301 N. State Parkway in Chicago's Gold Coast neighborhood. The
complete transformation of the classic 1926 hotel will include exquisite
condominium-hotel units designed by Laurie Miller and a revitalized Pump Room.
Financing was provided by Fremont Investment and Loan.
"With an incredible team in place that has their fingers on the pulse of
design, culinary treasures, exciting entertainment and high-end hotel
management, we will re-establish the Ambassador East as one of Chicago's
finest destinations," said Christopher Carley, chairman of The Fordham
Company. The property will include one of Chicago's finest spa and fitness
centers and a new indoor pool, subject to city approval. "By beautifully
appointing every room and leisure area in the Ambassador East, its elegance,
charm and legacy will be restored and rebranded immediately as a new classic."
The Fordham Company, a leading developer of the most exclusive and
prestigious residential buildings in Chicago, including the planned Fordham
Spire by Santiago Calatrava, the beautiful eight-story 65 E. Goethe, the
award-winning Fordham at 25 E. Superior and the Pinnacle at 21 E. Huron, has
begun taking reservations for the distinguished condominium-hotel units at the
Ambassador East. They range in size from approximately 300 to 1,500 square
feet, and prices range from $275,000 to $1,400,000.
Carley has established an outstanding partnership with a seasoned
management team for the redevelopment project, including:

-- Chicago, Ill.-based Portfolio Hotels and Resorts, led by Helmut Horn,
president, who also served as general manager of the Ambassador East
during its height of popularity, and Graham Hershman, COO. Portfolio
manages destination resorts and urban hotels, and provides asset
management and consultation services for owners and investors.
-- Oak Brook, Ill.-based Mid-America Development Partners, LLC, led by
David P. Bossy, president, and Michael D. Firsel, principal and CEO.
Mid-America is a full-service real estate development firm committed to
creating functional, attractive developments that enhance their
surrounding communities.
-- Lombard, Ill.-based The Harp Group, led by Peter G. Dumon, president,
and Timothy G. Franzen, senior vice president. The Harp Group
specializes in hospitality and retail development and brands itself as
a "value creation enterprise" that strives for uniqueness in every
project.


The Ambassador East Hotel has become a part of the Preferred Hotel Group,
which features worldwide premier hotels, including The Peninsula Chicago and
Hard Rock Hotel Chicago. The Ambassador East is rich in Chicago tradition. For
nearly 80 years, movie stars have called it their home away from Hollywood and
dined at the hotel's famed Pump Room. The Ambassador East has been the setting
for many movies, including Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest and My Body
Guard.
The Fordham Company is currently accepting inquiries from prospective
purchasers at its Sales Center, located at 15 E. Huron in Chicago, Ill. Office
hours are 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Friday; 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Saturday; and
noon-5 p.m. Sunday. For more information on purchasing a unit or to schedule
appointments, please call 312-587-0660, log onto the Ambassador East condo
sales Web site at http://www.ambassadoreast.net or visit

http://www.nearwestgazette.com/News/newsstory_e.htm

South Loop community to be on development ‘center stage’ in 2006

By Marie Balice Ward

More than 20 developments are on the drawing boards or further along in the development process in the South Loop, said Dennis McClendon, Chicago historian and member of the South Loop Neighbors group, at a recent meeting and presentation.

Three developments of particular interest will be situated south and west of the Dearborn Park/Printers Row communities in the South Loop. They consist of a trio of residential towers by Concord Homes, an expansive retail/ residential development by Centrum Properties Inc. named the Roosevelt Collection, and a rental residential structure by 900 South Clark Associates

Retail/residential complex

The Roosevelt Collection, by Centrum Properties Inc. with owners/ seller the Walsh Group, is being designed by lead architect Hirsch Associates LLC as well as the architectural firm RTKL. Representing the Walsh Group at the South Loop Neighbors meeting was Gregory A. Ciambrone, vice president, strategic investments.

This mixed-use development will encompass the area from 1000 south to Roosevelt Road and from Clark Street to Wells Street. Two elevations are planned, explained Howard M. Hirsch, AIA, president of Hirsch Associates. The plan features a “grand boulevard” in the center of the property, flanked by two stories of retail space with five stories of residential units above them. Twoway vehicular traffic will be permitted on the boulevard.

Retail space will total about 400,000 square feet, of which 20% to 25% will be occupied by a multiscreen cinema. Plans also include restaurants and cafes in addition to stores. Lisa J. Balis, senior vice president of retail development at Centrum Properties, explained her firm is seeking a mix of local, regional, and national stores, “including some of the same stores currently on Michigan Avenue,” she said. Parking will accommodate a ratio of three cars for every 1,000 square feet of retail space, she added.

Residential units will total 1,000. Hirsch said this figure represents only about 50% of the residential units allowed by the City for this site, resulting in less density than in many developments.

“It will be a very pedestrian friendly urban environment,” said Hirsch. Besides the boulevard, those on foot will make use of staircases, elevators, and a bridge to the cinema complex. Groundbreaking may begin in late 2006.

Rental highrise on Clark

The rental residential development by 900 South Clark Associates will encompass 440 residential units, of which 75% will be studios and one bedroom units, explained Stephen Ross of Amli Residential. Solomon Cordwell Buenz is the architect.

This rental property, to be located south of a condominium development by Concord Homes, will be set back about 25 feet from Clark Street and sport 23 stories with a “green” (environmentally friendly) roof. Other features are a courtyard-like open area in the center and parking decks at the building’s rear. The expected buyer profile for this rental property, Ross explained, is young professionals with no children who work downtown. Other amenities include a dog run, fitness center, internet café, theater room, and rooftop activity center. The design also calls for approximately seven townhouses, although plans are extremely preliminary, Ross said, and currently are being reviewed by the City.

A need for rental properties is apparent, Ross said, as several rental buildings recently have converted to condominiums, including the large River City complex in the South Loop.

Tower Trio met with opposition

At a Dearborn Park Advisory Council meeting, Concord Homes (recently acquired by Lennar, a major national development company) presented its plans for a major condominium development at Polk Street and Clark Street. The three towers will add 1,000 residential units to the area, and the structures will be staggered on the site to allow for views and light.

Planners have set aside a substantial area for a park. Bernard I. Citron of Schain, Burney, Ross & Citron Ltd., attorney for the project, said each tower will be about 35 stories or 300 feet high. The plan, which is being reviewed by Alderman Madeline Haithcock and the City, explained Citron, also calls for substantial infrastructure work, including extending Ninth Street in accordance with a City request. The extension will not align directly with the current Ninth Street, however, Citron explained. Designs will be developed subsequent to site plan approval by the City.

Peter Ziv, a board member of South Loop Neighbors and a member of the Folio Square condominium board, voiced concerns about this project. At the January 4 meeting, he said, “back on July 1, 2004, the project was presented to the Folio Square association where 280 units were announced to be situated on this site. This number has been tripled between that date and today.”

To ease Folio Square opposition, developers are planning a green roof to create a more aesthetic view for residents of the Folio Square building and help absorb rainwater, Citron explained.

Ziv countered, “This project violates the original South Loop Plan. And, Polk Street was never intended to be a main thoroughfare. This project along, with the one by Terrapin, will create an atrocious ‘canyon’ effect on Polk Street.” Ziv also advised meeting attendees of a website detailing information about opposition to the project, www.polkstreetcanyon.com, and a petition also opposing it that has garnered 600 signatures. Ziv reiterated his sentiments at the South Loop Neighbors’ meeting on Jan. 11.

In reply to Ziv’s statements, at the January 4 Dearborn Park Advisory Council meeting Citron said, “Circumstances have changed [since July 2004]. Traffic pattern studies are underway. We have found that 50% of area residents do not drive to work.” The City’s zoning allows for the 1,000 units, he added. Matt Wos and Michael Hernandez of the Dearborn Park Advisory Council expressed the group’s appreciation for Concord’s presentation and willingness to field questions from the community and actively seek community participation.

The development process for this project still has far to go, following meetings with Alderman Haithcock and the City Planning and Development office. Among the necessary steps, Hirsch explained, are public hearings, zoning committee meetings, and ultimately review/approval by the full City Council.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0602060110feb06,1,1448350.story?coll=chi-business-hed

NEW CONSTRUCTION

Published February 6, 2006

COOK COUNTY

Chicago--Riverside Park, Roosevelt Road and 16th Street, 62-acre mixed-use development, January 2007, $1 billion.

Chicago--Tides at Lakeshore East, 360 E. South Water St., 607-unit apartment building, March, $60 million.

NEW CONSTRUCTION

Published February 6, 2006

COOK COUNTY

Chicago--Riverside Park, Roosevelt Road and 16th Street, 62-acre mixed-use development, January 2007, $1 billion.
[/b]

Has anybody seen this?


8/10/2005 10:00:00 PM
Rezko allegations stall Riverside Park
River fronts and minority fronts don’t mix in the South Loop

By HAYDN BUSH, Staff Writer


With 63 acres of never-developed land, the area stretching southwest from the corner of Roosevelt and Clark comprises the city’s only greenfield. The land, bounded by Roosevelt Road, the St. Charles Railroad line and the Chicago River, was created when a stretch of the South Branch of the Chicago River was straightened in the 1930s. Since then, the anomalous area a mile from the Loop has played host only to trees, weeds, and squatters. And an ambitious proposal by the Rezmar development team to redevelop the land into a mix of high-end retail and 1,400 new homes may end up dead in the weeds, thanks to the legal troubles of Rezmar co-founder Antonin Rezko.

Rezko was accused earlier this year of managing two Panda Express outlets at O’Hare that were purportedly owned by Crucial, Inc. under the leadership of Jabir Herbert Muhammad. The contracts were initially awarded through the city’s minority contracts program, and Rezko withdrew his interest in the restaurants after the city announced its investigation.

Rezmar has sought nearly $140 million in Tax Increment Financing funds to help install sewers, set up electricity, and build roads in the forlorn area, and city officials have heretofore declined comment on whether the allegations that he set up Crucial, Inc. as a front company would impact the Riverside Park bid.

But DPD spokesperson Connie Buscemi said Wednesday that the city Planning Department is convening with the city’s Law Department to determine whether Rezko’s connection to the Panda Express outfits will sink Riverside Park. Rezmar officials did not return calls for comment this week.

"We’re working with the Law Department and evaluating it," Buscemi said. "Whenever developers make a request for public money, economic disclosure statements must be filed. Those may have an impact on the final outcome."

Buscemi acknowledged that the massive seed money required to develop the 63-acre site—which has no roads, sewers or electricity and until recently was home to squatters—will ultimately, require public funding, Riverside Park notwithstanding.

"We always knew that infrastructure costs for developing land would require city assistance," Buscemi said.

South Loop Neighbors President Leslie Sturino has mixed feelings about the possible Riverside Park delays. While she’s concerned by the allegations against Rezko, Sturino pointed out that the Riverside Park plan has been universally hailed by South Loop community groups for its plan to develop one of the last chunks of vacant land near downtown.

"Somebody that has demonstrated some abuse of the public trust shouldn’t be anywhere near public money," Sturino said, adding that "it’s a shame not to see an excellent project like Riverside Park go through."

When Rezmar released an updated site plan earlier this year, highlights included a 12-story, Art Deco-style building at the center of the retail development, and a public square at 13th Place and LaSalle Street. The company had been seeking high-end retailers from outside of the United States for the storefronts, Rezmar spokesperson Judi Fishman said earlier this year. The first phase of development was to have included 1,100 residential units, in a mix of condominiums and lofts above the new storefronts.

Eventually, the Riverside Park development would proceed south with a mix of a mix of townhouses, high rises and a new riverfront park beyond 14th Street. The project would also include a new bus service on the freshly constructed stretch of South Wells Street.

Does the notice to bid show they are proceeding with the project?

WRT The Tides: $60 million seems low for an apartment building with 607 units... Am I missing something?

..

- edit

Hyatt is considering the Hancock building? Why would they use Bietler as the developer and not Pritzker Realty? That is surprising with the Park Hyatt Chicago across the street as well. I think Bietler is blowing smoke up everyones asses again.

Never going to happen. Is it just me or is anyone else worried about this massive influx in hotel rooms. I mean I can count 6 super high end hotels off the top of my head that will all be in the downtown vicinity within the next three years. Not just cheap Hiltons but top of the line $400 a night base room rates so whose going to fill them...?

Developers Eye West Loop, East-West Corridor for Office-Condos
By Mark Ruda
Last updated: February 9, 2006 08:55am
http://www.globest.com/news/471_471/chicago/142801-1.html

CHICAGO-A 48-year-old West Loop office building, across the street from Sears Tower, is getting an $18-million makeover, part of a conversion to office-condominiums. Meanwhile, CD Real Estate Development LLC plans to build 119,000 sf of office-condominiums mostly from the ground up on 17 acres on Diehl Road near Interstate 88 in Naperville.

Mercantile Financial Center, LLC paid $16.7 million for the 230,064-sf building at 250 S. Wacker Dr. last year from another limited liability corporation. Mercantile Financial Center, LLC is renovating the building’s facade, replacing windows, adding terrazzo flooring in the lobby as well as a fitness center in an attempt to lift the their property from class C to class A status. They plan to sell office-condominiums ranging from 2,841 sf to 18,114 sf at prices starting at $221 per sf. In addition to office-condominiums, the renovated building will include 15,348 sf of ground-floor retail space, which can be divided into two or three units.

Plans by local developers Charles Podczerwinski and Denice Gierach call for 14 buildings, ranging from 5,000 sf, with units ranging from 1,200 sf to 7,000 sf. An existing 26,000-sf building will be renovated. Grubb & Ellis senior vice president Michael Fortuna and associate Brett Ratay will handle sales of the office-condominiums.

In a recent report on the office-condominium phenomenon, Grubb & Ellis national director of market analysis Robert Bach and PNC Real Estate Finance senior analyst Elizabeth Ptacek noted the concept is in nascent states in Downtown Chicago. Nine buildings totaling one million sf are going to the office-condominium concept, they report, but only one of them is 100% sold. Recently launched projects include conversion of the 290,000-sf Garland Building at 111 N. Wabash Ave., bought by FIC Development Group late last summer for $24 million.

A zoning change notice has been posted on the office building just north of 18th St. on the west side of Prairie Ave. that indicates that a developer proposes to build 2 highrises and some townhomes on the lot totaling over 500 units. Does anyone know who the developer is?

..

A zoning change notice has been posted on the office building just north of 18th St. on the west side of Prairie Ave. that indicates that a developer proposes to build 2 highrises and some townhomes on the lot totaling over 500 units. Does anyone know who the developer is?

It's for 1600 Museum Park

https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/01/431505.jpg

As mentioned below, it will be coming before the planning commission next week. It's only 1 highrise though. At least as far as I know. I'll post more information after the meeting as to whether there's more than one highrise for that particular application.

Not sure where to put this but I thought it intrasting. I think its a good idea...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-060209heliport,1,4742735.story?coll=chi-news-hed

No Meigs? How about a heliport?
3 years after lake airstrip bulldozed, city OKs new site

By Jon Hilkevitch
Tribune transportation reporter
Published February 9, 2006, 10:40 PM CST


Chicago will open a heliport on the lakefront just south of Navy Pier this spring for use by police and fire helicopters, other emergency first-responders and some private choppers, under a city plan approved by the state and federal governments, the Tribune has learned.

The city's resumption of aviation access to downtown comes almost three years after Mayor Richard Daley, saying he was protecting the Sears Tower and other high-rises from a possible terrorist attack by a bomb-laden light plane, ordered his infamous midnight raid to demolish Meigs Field.

A single helicopter landing pad with one parking spot, officially dubbed the Chicago Helistop, is expected to open as early as April, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation. The helistop, smaller than a traditional heliport that accommodates multiple copters, will be at the marine safety station near the mouth of the Chicago River on a concrete platform in Lake Michigan known as South Pier.
"Particularly after the 9/11 attacks, a location close to the center of the city is critical for Chicago and critical for all of us to be able to respond quickly in an emergency," said Susan Shea, director of aeronautics for the Illinois Department of Transportation.

IDOT and the Federal Aviation Administration recently approved the helistop after it passed an inspection for restricted landing areas and an FAA airspace safety study that examined possible conflicts between the helistop and Midway Airport and Children's Memorial Hospital, which has its own helicopter landing pad.

No obstacles expected

Zoning changes providing the final clearance for helicopter operations to start are expected to go before the City Council in a few weeks, officials said, adding that no major objections are expected.

Helicopters will approach and depart the helistop over the lake, officials said, minimizing noise affecting lakefront residences and the Streeterville neighborhood and eliminating safety concerns about helicopters flying over downtown skyscrapers.

The city's decision to build the helistop, on Park District-owned land even closer to downtown than Meigs was, appears to signal that Daley no longer thinks a landing facility near downtown would increase the terrorist threat.

But the mayor said the need to protect Chicagoans from an attack has not gone away. When asked Thursday about President Bush's disclosure of a purported terrorist plot to crash a plane into a skyscraper in downtown Los Angeles in 2002, Daley said: "We have not changed. I can go out and get a two-engine plane, get in it and fly any place in America except over Disneyland."

Early on March 30, 2003, under floodlights and escorted by police, bulldozers carved large "X's" into the single runway at Meigs on Northerly Island, a move that Daley said was necessary to protect the downtown from menacing small aircraft.

Meigs, which for 55 years was used mostly by private pilots and business people who appreciated the airfield's proximity to downtown, also had seven helicopter pads used by the U.S. Coast Guard, the Fire Department marine rescue unit, nearby hospitals and the public.

"The city's new helistop shows that Meigs was closed under false pretenses," said Josh Levy, spokesman for the Friends of Meigs Field, a booster organization for the former airport.

Levy, a private airplane pilot, said there is still a need for a downtown landing facility to accommodate fixed-wing aircraft.

The city is fighting a $33,000 civil penalty imposed by the FAA for failure to provide 30 days' notice before closing Meigs. The Daley administration is transforming that property into a nature sanctuary and entertainment site.

300 flights a month

About 300 flights are expected per month at the helistop, the city said, although the numbers could increase depending on how many private helicopters use the facility.

The helistop will be primarily for helicopters operated by the city's Police and Fire Departments, the Coast Guard, the military, hospitals and other emergency-assistance agencies, said city aviation spokeswoman Wendy Abrams. The dimensions of the touchdown and liftoff area will be 40 feet by 40 feet.

But some privately owned helicopters will be permitted to use the landing and takeoff pad to help the city defray the costs of operating the helistop, she said.

The Coast Guard, the Chicago police marine unit and the Illinois Department of Conservation police will retain their offices in a building next to the pier, city officials said.


The Fire Department's rescue helicopter, which was relocated to 95th Street at the lakefront after the city closed Meigs, will use the new helistop, but the fire chopper will continue to be based on the South Side, officials said.

The Police Department, which began operating its own helicopter in January, said the helistop will support the bird's-eye view used in police patrols, tactical surveillance and homeland security missions.

"We deploy aerial missions every day, and the helistop will help us respond more quickly to reports of missing persons, foot and vehicle pursuits, as well as helping officers on the ground during large public events like the Taste of Chicago," police spokeswoman Monique Bond said.

City officials estimated the cost of upgrading South Pier, near DuSable Harbor, for the helistop at $50,000 to $70,000. The existing concrete pier will be painted orange and white to outline the landing pad and parking place; lighting will be installed for night and low-visibility operations; weather-reporting equipment will be added and a windsock installed.

Private helicopter operators will be required to pass stringent background checks and air-defense security procedures before being allowed to use the helistop, Abrams said.

Minutes from the Loop, the landing and takeoff pad could prove extremely popular with local VIPs and companies seeking to ferry executives by helicopter to downtown from Chicago-area airports.

The helistop potentially could be used by the Secret Service to shuttle the president from O'Hare International Airport to downtown, removing the need for long presidential motorcades that tie up traffic on the Kennedy Expressway.

Chicago-based Boeing Co., which keeps its Midwest-based corporate jets at Gary-Chicago International Airport, was studying the concept of a downtown heliport even before it agreed to move its headquarters to the city.

Boeing surprised by deal

But Boeing officials said they were not aware of the city's helistop plans.The only public notice about the helistop was in a legal ad published late last year in the classified section of a suburban newspaper, according to IDOT documents.

The South Pier location for the helistop was Chicago's second choice. City aviation officials first wanted to build a helicopter pad on top of McCormick Place, but the logistics did not work out, officials said.
Tribune reporter Gary Washburn contributed to this report.

jhilkevitch@tribune.com

It's for 1600 Museum Park

https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/01/431505.jpg

As mentioned below, it will be coming before the planning commission next week. It's only 1 highrise though. At least as far as I know. I'll post more information after the meeting as to whether there's more than one highrise for that particular application.

I don't think the notice I saw is for 1600 Museum Park. It's posted on the office building on the west side of Prairie. I think this is a separte development altogether.

i dont remember seeing this one before. interesting design. not sure if it realy works for me.

How big is the office building they are replacing to build 1600 Museum Park? I'm assuming its just a few stories.

interesting design. not sure if it realy works for me.

I think this design is very beatiful in its suddle lines progressing outward from the building. It seems to be a very modern and sophisticated departure without looking as though it will be outdated in 5 years.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0602110213feb11,1,1991064.story?coll=chi-newslocal-hed

Natarus calls for more heliports in city
Published February 11, 2006

Chicago's decision to build a heliport downtown should be expanded to other sites, an alderman influential on transportation issues said Friday

Ald. Burton Natarus (42nd), a longtime advocate of building more helicopter landing and takeoff pads in the city for use by emergency personnel and commercial shuttle operations, praised the Daley administration's move to open the Chicago Helistop this spring on the lakefront just south of Navy Pier.

The Tribune reported Friday that the helistop, large enough to handle one helicopter at a time, has won approval from the state and the Federal Aviation Administration. It will be used primarily by police, fire and military helicopters, but it also will be made available to companies to fly employees to and from downtown.

- edit

^ It's good to see something like that reutilized instead of demolished

^ Yea, I would hate to see North Pier demolished (same with the Post office or C.C.Hospital).

As far as the heliports I think they are a great idea. Cities like Tokyo, Sao Paulo(especially), and New York make good use of them. Some VP's and CEO's just don't want to take the EL, Metro, or dive on the Kennedy from Lake Forest or Barrigton and unfortuanatley you have to cater to them to attract those types on a personal basis. Just as long as they keep away from the flying over downtown and have strict security measures on commercial helicopters dealing with both pilots and riders.

Interesting, I always assumed River East Plaza was condos. I hope they keep most of it office space because I dont forsee more office development in that area for a long time (if ever).

nothing really new, but an ok article...

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-down12.html

News
Downtown becoming a home show
February 12, 2006

BY DAVID ROEDER AND SANDRA GUY Staff Reporters


Fresh from a record year for condominium sales, downtown Chicago is proving irresistible for retailers more accustomed to building near suburban rooftops. They're now scrambling for land within the city's man-made forest.

Each high-rise stands as a treasure of disposable income to the big-volume grocers, hardware stores and discounters who are staking claims on the downtown dollar. The retailers' arrival signals a new phase in the central city's evolution as a place where people live, not just work.

Four large-scale stores -- three groceries and a Home Depot -- plan openings by 2007. The size of the Home Depot, planned for the southeast corner of Roosevelt and Jefferson, will rival what the hardware chain builds in the suburbs. The groceries are Dominick's, Jewel and Whole Foods.
They will join other stores that have opened on downtown's fringes and topped sales expectations. One example: the Gordon's Ace Hardware at 440 N. Orleans in River North. John Venhuizen, director of business development at Ace Hardware, said the store beat the typical first-year performance for an Ace Hardware by 25 percent. The store is three times the size that Ace, a co-op chain, typically builds in a city neighborhood.

The success of a Target on Roosevelt Road has induced other big-box retailers to scout the territory. Costco, a warehouse club that competes with grocery stores, wants a site in the South Loop for a huge 135,000-square-foot operation, said a report by the property brokerage Mid-America Development Partners.

A Costco real estate spokesman could not be reached for comment.

12,000 new homes over next 3 years



Downtown is changing at a dizzying pace. The central city, from the Gold Coast down through McCormick Place, logged a record 8,162 home sales in 2005, said a report issued last week by Appraisal Research Counselors Ltd. The total is nearly a third higher than the 2004 sales figure the firm reported.

Gail Lissner, vice president of Appraisal Research, said the brisk sales have caused developers to plot more high-rises due in 2008. In the pipeline are about 4,000 new homes annually for the next three years, she said.

That also would be a record pace. Whether the projects are realized depends on factors including the course of interest rates and job growth.

But the projections show that, barring economic calamity, the population of the city's core will continue to rise. Census data crunched by the city's Planning Department show that within the area bounded by Division, Roosevelt, Halsted and Lake Michigan, the population has increased from 46,820 in 1970 to 70,137 as of the 2000 census.

Housing starts indicate the census number should be steaming past 90,000 by 2010.
With that prosperity comes maturity, and a growing concern that downtown's changes aren't altogether positive. Its new character as a bedroom community, albeit with the bedrooms stacked high, promises clashes with its clamorous and gritty side.

Politicians adjusting

Think of last week's City Council vote ordering street musicians to cut the volume of their performances, and banning them from part of the Michigan Avenue shopping district. Ald. Burton Natarus (42nd) advocated the crackdown to answer complaints from residents who couldn't stand the constant noise filtering up to their living rooms.

Also, Mayor Daley has proposed a crackdown on bars that hold the city's late-hour liquor license until 4 a.m. More than a third of those bars are in Natarus' ward, which includes the downtown and Near North Side.

Daley wants to require the bars to hire security and add outside cameras and lighting, all to curb complaints that the businesses spawn crime and general nuisance in the wee hours.

"People want to sleep at night,'' Natarus told the Sun-Times, adding, "We're getting more and more people living downtown. We have to start making these types of adjustments."

Certain things were tolerated when downtown's identity was defined by working and partying. But increasingly, its priorities look more like a suburb's with a focus on police protection, taxation and services such as schools and parks.

School buses a harbinger of change


A major downtown development called Lakeshore East is striving for the well-rounded neighborhood effect by including a school and playground in its acreage north of Grant Park.

From his perch in the 400 E. Randolph building, Walter Stunard can see how downtown has gone domestic. He notices it in the school buses that now visit the islandlike group of skyscrapers on that street early each morning.

Stunard, a real estate agent at Rubloff Inc., himself grew up in a downtown with fewer families in its midst. Today, he's raising two children in the same place, and they join about 20 compatriots each morning waiting for the bus to Ogden School.

Other buses cruise the block to pick up children going to private schools.

"This has become an excellent location for many families,'' Stunard said. "You've basically got a park across the street from your building'' and a short walk to Lake Michigan.

Grocery shopping used to be less convenient, he said, but now it's relatively easy to drive to the stores on the Near South, West and North sides. Stunard said he's pleased that a Treasure Island, with more boutique appeal than Jewel or Dominick's, will open near his building.

Loss of workers can hurt businesses



For other parts of downtown, residential growth can be a paradox. As a street loses jobs and replaces them with homes, there can be less life on the street, hurting merchants who expected something better.

Chuck Levi, proprietor of one of the oldest businesses in the Loop, the Iwan Reis & Co. cigar store at 19 S. Wabash, has watched as old office buildings around him have been scrubbed of grime and reborn with condos or hotel rooms.

"When you get these conversions, they can take a lot of people off the street," Levi said. "An office building creates a lot of foot traffic, hundreds of people every day who work there and visit, and obviously these people have totally disappeared."
Levi is the fourth-generation owner of a store that dates from 1857. He said he's seen little new business attributable to residential growth. The expansion he's noticed has a surprising source.

"Our mail-order business is doing more with people in the suburbs that have had their offices moved out of the Loop," he said.

Levi has learned that for some merchants, residential growth downtown can be a broken promise. In part, that's because many of the new condos are not occupied by full-time residents.

Some units -- insiders estimate 20 percent or more -- are sold to investors, people who hope to cash in on a quick resale. Others are sold to wealthy people who use them sporadically or to retirees who spend the winters someplace warmer.

It's a fact of life that doesn't hurt local governments, which still get tax revenue from condos whether they are occupied or not. But it can mean less benefit than meets the eye for a cleaners or a restaurant that expected a neighborhood trade.

Levi's store is on a block of low-rise buildings that recall the Loop of the 1920s. But the block, part of the Jewelers Row landmark district, will soon be riven by a construction project that will add a 71-story building behind three buildings immediately south of Iwan Reis.

Is Levi bitter about that? Hardly. The Northbrook resident likes the idea of having a place next door to go home to on occasion. "I'm thinking of buying there myself," he said.

droeder@suntimes.com

sguy@suntimes.com

Also, to add to the artilce, here is a map of future retail, schools, other businesses, homes...
http://www.suntimes.com/popups/FTR/images/downtownmap_021106_550.jpg

I dont agree with the boundaries of downtown. North Avenue should be a border-the Gold Coast is a residential part of downtown. If another city outside of NYC had the Gold Coast, they surely would include it as downtown.
Im guessing that is another 30,000 or 40,000 people right there, at least.

Halsted? That leaves out West Gate, another residential downtown area. I would say Ashland, or Damen. Most people I know include the Medical Center as the downtown area. So many people work there.

Roosevelt? That leaves out all the growth in Central Station and beyond.
It has to be 55. America's (or the Worlds) biggest convention center outside of downtown? Thats sounds stupid.

I wonder what the REAL numbers for downtown are. Im guessing its close to 150,000 in 2006. That being said, it is impressive that 70,000 live within those limited borders in 2000.

^
I totally agree with you.

Pretty cool article. It'll be really interesting to see downtown's transformation into a residential area. Hopefully the change will be for the better.

I agree with you too, LA. Once you pass those parameters, then you no longer feel like you're actually in downtown.

Wasn't sure where to post this.

For those of you who are interested, there is a Media Player video of the next (and final) phase of redevelopment of the former Cabrini Green site. It seems to maintain good density as well as fitting into the streetgrid quite well as opposed to the earlier generation of "inward-oriented" developments.

Click below:

http://www.thecha.org/housingdev/cabrini_green_homes.html

Re: CHA redevelopment. I'm not crazy about the fences surrounding the townhouses. Other than that it looks OK, but nothing special.

According to ChicagoArchitecture.info there is a new skyscraper in the works. They dont have any renderings as of yet, but its called Aqua or something like that and they're aiming for 80 - 85 stories. Does anyone else know anything more about this?

According to ChicagoArchitecture.info there is a new skyscraper in the works. They dont have any renderings as of yet, but its called Aqua or something like that and they're aiming for 80 - 85 stories. Does anyone else know anything more about this?
Check out Frankie's info on the Lakeshore East thread; it looks like the "Aqua" is the Gang building slated for the site across from the Fairmont Hotel.

John Buck is looking to create another LEED office tower. I think we've heard little snippets on this project, but lets see what happens.

Eco-friendly builders starting to grow
February 20, 2006
BY DAVID ROEDER Business Reporter

http://www.suntimes.com/output/business/cst-fin-green20.html

In Chicago office development, "going green" has a double meaning. It's about environmental friendliness, yes, but especially the color of money.

Builders of offices have discovered that with a little thought and upfront expense, their structures can get an ecological seal of approval. They say that tenants with large appetites for space, the law and accounting firms whose leases usually launch such buildings, are starting to demand it.
...

Swanson said Buck is again going for the gold rating for a potential office building at 155 N. Wacker that it currently is shopping to users. "It's getting to the point where if you're not LEED, you won't have the anchor tenants you need to start the building," he said.

Re: CHA redevelopment. I'm not crazy about the fences surrounding the townhouses. Other than that it looks OK, but nothing special.

^ Fences around townhouses aren't new--you can see them pretty much everywhere in the city. Lets not make the horrendous mistake of confusing a gate in front of a townhouse with a "gated community"

From the real estate section in today's Tribune website:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/classified/realestate/realestate/chi-0602260450feb26,0,6345539.story?coll=chi-classifiedrealestate-hed This refers to Lexington Park which will span on Cermak Road from Michigan to Indiana Avenues.

An Ireland-based developer will tap into Chicago's condo market, building a 333-unit project in the city's Near South neighborhood.

________________________________________________________________
http://www.chicagotribune.com/classified/realestate/realestate/chi-0602260452feb26,0,7131973.story?coll=chi-classifiedrealestate-hed This reference to Huron Loft and Flair Tower.

A 27-story condo tower planned for the River North neighborhood, at 212 E. Erie St., is being designed to complement historic architecture in buildings surrounding it.

Lexington Park
http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/6055/lexingtonpark4hw.jpg

mabey someone here knows.
iv noticed this crane as im driving on the 90/94 right around Fulton street and halsted (if i were to have to guess on the location.) the crane is erected on the west side of the highway. its only been up for a few months now so im curiouse what the constructin is for?what development is going up there? thanks for your info

mabey someone here knows.
iv noticed this crane as im driving on the 90/94 right around Fulton street and halsted (if i were to have to guess on the location.) the crane is erected on the west side of the highway. its only been up for a few months now so im curiouse what the constructin is for?what development is going up there? thanks for your info

It's 740 Fulton. http://www.thrushrealestate.com/html/740fulton.htm

I don't think these were ever posted.

757 Orleans - 22 stories
http://img506.imageshack.us/img506/3332/orleanspic32ue.jpg

The Emerald- 12 stories
http://img506.imageshack.us/img506/6071/banner1069xq.jpg

Lexington Park
http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/6055/lexingtonpark4hw.jpg

^ Yeah, that's a development that Victor took snapshots of at a Plan Commission meeting a few months ago. There are better photos somewhere, but it would take some effort to find them..

Also, there is a new 40 story condo tower proposed for 664 North Michigan Avenue. This is the location where the Terra Museum used to be. I don't have a rendering yet, but here is the website.

http://www.theresidenceschicago.com/

^will the street level be reserved for the high-end retailers? I hope they do.

Does anyone know what, if any, buildings exist on the site of the proposed Lexington Park condo? From Google maps, I see a large vacant lot on the corner of Michigan and Cermak and what looks to be an old 3 or 4-flat on the Indiana corner. From maps.a9.com, it looks like the old 3-flat is pretty rundown and is being torn down, which means it was torn down(?)

For some reason, whenever I see balconies on a building, I feel it 'cheapens' the design. (Marina City is the obvious exception to this.)

So then you guys don't like the Intercontinental tower proposal, as I think that has balconies too.

Doesn't the Fordham Spire have them also?

I believe so. I think it was Shawn who went to one of those community meetings and mentioned of them. I'm sure they'll be much more hidden than any normal balcony though.

So then you guys don't like the Intercontinental tower proposal, as I think that has balconies too.

Well, I actually really love that tower.

I dunno... I guess I don't like when the balconies draw attention to themselves?

Does anyone know what, if any, buildings exist on the site of the proposed Lexington Park condo? From Google maps, I see a large vacant lot on the corner of Michigan and Cermak and what looks to be an old 3 or 4-flat on the Indiana corner. From maps.a9.com, it looks like the old 3-flat is pretty rundown and is being torn down, which means it was torn down(?)

The Cermak-Indiana Flats were torn down last year. The rest of the empty lot used to be the Lexington Hotel (hence the name of the new development), site of Geraldo Rivera's infamous opening of the empty Al Capone vault. The only remaining buildings on the site are a couple of very small buildings (former site of the Velvet Lounge and a fast food restaurant), which have closed/moved on. The site is basically a clean slate waiting to be built on at this point.

Here's the larger image
http://img365.imageshack.us/img365/2606/6646lu.jpg

And the weird base
http://img365.imageshack.us/img365/4963/664base4rj.jpg

nice! i like the top!

Why is that base weird? It's just not modern. I like the ornamentation.

Isn't that the base of the current building next door ? Is that building going to be incorporated into the new development ?

^664 N Mich kinda looks like a shorter version of Park Hyatt without roof. It would much better if it is located on LSD or South Mich Ave near the Columbian and four-towered OMP site.

Dominick's wants slice of the high-end market
New city store puts emphasis on easy, fresh prepared foods

By John Schmeltzer
Tribune staff reporter
Published March 3, 2006

The Dominick's store opening Friday in Chicago's Streeterville neighborhood--the chain's first new store in three years--is not your typical grocery store.

For one thing, there's the wine selection: a half-bottle of Grgich Hills Violetta, for instance, sells for $69.99.

For another, there's the carving station: You can get prime rib carved to specification for $12.99 per pound on Sundays, with different cuts of meat offered each day.

The upscale offerings are part of Dominick's new "lifestyle store" strategy. The approach takes dead aim at Whole Foods, which has been skimming more customers off the high end with its River North and Gold Coast stores.

In the new Dominick's, prepared foods and specialty products are given center stage rather than relegated to the side as is done at typical grocery stores.

"This is all about the Chicago downtown experience," said Don Keprta, president of Dominick's, who on Thursday was leading tours of the 50,000-square-foot store at 255 E. Grand Ave. Downtown grocery store openings are a rarity. It's been four years since Jewel-Osco opened its store at State and Ohio Streets.

Continued here:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0603030283mar03,1,1378238.story?coll=chi-business-hed

Isn't that the base of the current building next door ? Is that building going to be incorporated into the new development ?

I'd assume so, although the current building is sorta Neo-Parisian and the new one is Art Deco... Even still, what a knockout proposal.. :drool:

Here is a new and completely different rendering of 757 Orleans:

http://wibiti.com/altthumbs/hpmain/414/125414.jpg

It's just peachy for infill :)

Holy moly - I like it, except for the parking podium. Sigh.. the things we give up for density.

It has a finished quality about it that other modern res-towers don't seem to have. I blame it on the fact that everyone forgot Sullivan's analogy of the skyscraper to a column (decorated base, unremarkable middle, and final top).

Also, there is a new 40 story condo tower proposed for 664 North Michigan Avenue. This is the location where the Terra Museum used to be. I don't have a rendering yet, but here is the website.

http://www.theresidenceschicago.com/
im gonna start a new thread about this one , i hope you dont mind

I am surprised it escaped our radar:

GSA Assembles Land for Major Expansion

By Mark Ruda (03/16/2006 www.globest.com (http://www.globest.com/news/496_496/chicago/143904-1.html)
Last updated: March 16, 2006 10:19am

CHICAGO-The city is selling a 12,500-sf building at 212 S. State St. to the US General Services Administration for $2.15 million, the last piece to the acquisition puzzle for a 1.5-million-sf expansion of the federal government’s Downtown office campus. The GSA is considering several options, including identical office towers on the 200 block of South State Street, in an expansion that could take 20 years to complete and depends heavily on federal budget negotiations.


Expansion will be east of the current federal campus, which includes the 1.2-million-sf Dirksen Federal Building at 219 S. Dearborn St., 1.1-million-sf Kluczynski Federal Building at 230 S. Dearborn St. and 711,000-sf Metcalfe Building at 77 W. Jackson St. The General Services Administration’s public building service, which serves as the federal government’s property manager, already has bought six other properties as part of a $53-million acquisition program.


“We have concluded we need to expand the federal center,” says GSA assistant regional administrator David Hood. He adds that it is “unprecedented” for the federal government to commit to a $53-million property acquisition program ahead of a final development plan.


The city has owned the 4,400-sf site and three-story building since 2000, but redevelopment plans stalled because of an inability to acquire historic buildings to the north and south, says Terri Haymaker of the Department of Planning and Development. The building at 202 S. State St. needs work on the façade, while the interior has been gutted, Hood says.


City officials want the federal government to keep retail tenants on the first floor of any redevelopment and expansion projects, Haymaker says. Hood says leases already have been extended with retail tenants for five years or more.

I'm a little hopefull about this project. In other cities newly constructed federal buildings are actually designed by good architects.

SSP's vote for the top 3 CHICAGO 700+ foot proposals (http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=101532)

Dudes, SteelyDan is holding a poll for top 3. This is for SSP members. If you want to vote, register at www.skyscraperpage.com

in regard to the federal building wat is expected height wise? do any of you think it has the possibility of being a 700+ ft building ? i remember the sq. footage was fairly large for the area of the lot

Something like a tower or two of around 35 floors IIRC.

Well, the buildings on that block of State all contain the City's highest zoning designation (dx-16) which basically puts no limits on height or bulk of structure... so, zoning certainly won't be an issue.

Downtown Vancancy Update....

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0603290213mar29,1,4196295.story?coll=chi-business-hed


Vacancies down: In a sign that a recovery in the downtown office market is under way, demand for space is increasing, pushing down vacancy rates to their lowest level since the fourth quarter of 2004, according CB Richard Ellis Inc.

"It may be two steps forward, one step back, but I think there is a positive trend," said tenant representative Jeffrey Liljeberg, a CB senior vice president.

There is a shrinking number of vacant spaces with premium views that are at least 50,000 square feet in size, particularly in the West Loop, Liljeberg said. "We are going to see some pressure on pricing because the landlords can afford to ask for higher rents," he added.

200 W. Monroe lease: National Education Servicing LLC has leased 21,677 square feet of space at 200 W. Monroe St., moving from Lincoln Square, said tenant representative Studley Inc., which represented the student loan company. National currently has about 14,000 square feet at 2412 W. Lawrence Ave., which is owned by Corus Bank.


Space gets tighter 4th Qtr 2005 1st Qtr 2006 VACANCY RATES West Loop 17.5% 15.1% Central Loop 13.2% 13.2% East Loop 17.7% 18.2% N. Michigan Ave 13.5% 13.7% River North 25.2% 20.7% Downtown Market Total 16.0% 15.1% DEMAND FOR SPACE* Class A buildings 23,585 373,187 Class B buildings 43,868 276,102 Class C buildings 69,328 -86,840 Downtown Market Total 136,781 562,449 *As measured by net absorption, change in amount of occupied space, compared to prior quarter. Buildings graded according to quality. Source: CB Richard Ellis Inc.

At least it's getting better.

The Park Monroe (http://parkmonroe.com/home.asp) website is up now. These are the condos that will be on the top floors of 55 E. Monroe.

There really isn't anything on the website but I have a brochure for it (I work in the building and they handed them out). Some details:

- 1, 2 or 3 bedroom homes as well as some two-level penthouses

- 900 to 2500 square feet

- rooftop sundeck, pool and fitness center

- private lobby, elevators and parking

It should also be noted that each residence wil have its own private balcony. They have a picture of the exterior of the building and the top floors look really weird with the balconies. It looks like there may be some significant structural changes necessary to the facade for these homes.

A model is supposed to open in the building sometime this summer.

Downtown Vancancy Update....

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0603290213mar29,1,4196295.story?coll=chi-business-hed

Vacancies down: In a sign that a recovery in the downtown office market is under way, demand for space is increasing, pushing down vacancy rates to their lowest level since the fourth quarter of 2004, according CB Richard Ellis Inc.
John Buck has been obviously right all along. Last year, he announced his intention in developing a 50-stories high-rise office tower on the corridor of Randolph and Wacker (I think). His announcement drew ire from other developers who are worried about Buck's proposals would make office space market even softer.

It should also be noted that each residence wil have its own private balcony. They have a picture of the exterior of the building and the top floors look really weird with the balconies. It looks like there may be some significant structural changes necessary to the facade for these homes.
that fucking sucks. i really like the clean and sleek modernist facade of mid-continental plaza as it exists now. balconies are going to seriously fuck that all up.

too bad.

About the vacancy rate issue... As some of you guys know, I often have expressed concern about the vacancy rate in downtown office space. The rate has gone as high as 16% (or about 18% counting sublease space on the market), which is high historically, and high compared to other US cities. I have become increasingly concerned when Chicago's rate didn't decline, even though high rates in several other cities in the US have declined. I know some of this is due to the new construction, but some of it is due to the lack of job growth in the CBD.

I was encouraged today to hear the news that vacancy rates are down according to the latest quarterly report from CB Richard Ellis. (There seems to be a discrepancy between the Tribune and the Sun-Times in the reportage of the CBRE report. According to the Trib, total vacancy across the 5 downtown submarkets is 15.1%, down from 16.0% in the 4th quarter of 2005. According to the Sun-Times, the total vacancy rate is 14.5%, down from 15.5% "at the end of 2005.")

Its hard to know how to interpret these numbers. How much is the decline due to a shrinking overall amount of office space in the 1st quarter of this year due to condo conversions, and how much is the decline to net positive leasing activity? Did the space at 55 East Monroe come off the market this quarter or earlier? What about the space at 900 North Michigan? I wish I had more specific numbers for this stuff. Why am I so interesting in leasing activity? Well, I think its a really good barometer of Chicago's economic growth.

Chicago Lover... a part of the article that is not clear is the breakdown by area:
This is even more promising. The West loop and River North went down significantly. The Central Loop remained the same even with some new buildings. N. Michigan Avenue and East loop went up... these two areas are turning more and more residential and these numbers actually indicate that the trend from office to condo is being driven by the OFFICE market, not necessarily the residential market. With the conversions in these two areas, there is a large demand of residential demand in these areas. With JHC, IBM, and Wrigley/Tribune thinking of going condo, these numbers will improve.

4th Qtr 2005 1st Qtr 2006 VACANCY RATES
West Loop 17.5% 15.1% << Very promising.
Central Loop 13.2% 13.2%
East Loop 17.7% 18.2%
N. Michigan Ave 13.5% 13.7%
River North 25.2% 20.7%
Downtown Market Total 16.0% 15.1%

Have others heard that the owners of IBM Plaza are contemplating a conversion of that property to residential condos? (This was mentioned in a Grubb & Ellis report about the real estate market at the end of 2005.) Oh dear God, please no balconies on Mies' landmark.

Yes, I remember hearing about that. JHC was planning on going partially hotel I thought? Like a Hyatt or something....but I will have to hunt down whoever makes the decision to convert Wrigley into condos. That's a loss I will not take.

that fucking sucks. i really like the clean and sleek modernist facade of mid-continental plaza as it exists now. balconies are going to seriously fuck that all up.

too bad.

It is hard to tell from the picture but it looks like the balconies are flush with the facade. This would help keep that sleek look but would require some structural changes.

They have some displays set up in the lobby which also include some brochures. Stop on in and check it out...

I was looking at buildings on emporis when i came across what is the current proposal for 500 N Lakeshore drive, where the 2000ft communications tower was suppose to be built. I'm real happy that its not by the way. The new plan calls for a 58 story building. I have no other info right now, but here is the link to it on emporis:

http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=229913

Yeah, that's the Perkins + Will proposal from LR. Hopefully they'll start marketing it soon, as I'm sure it'll be a great looking building.

Wasn't sure where else to put this:

from home.businesswire.com

April 03, 2006 12:37 PM US Eastern Timezone
Canyon Johnson's Sale of Shops at State Place Marks Revitalization of Chicago's South Loop Area; Original Development Group Sells Retail Center and Public Garage to BlackRock Realty
CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 3, 2006--Three years after beginning the redevelopment of Chicago's former police headquarters, Canyon Johnson Urban Funds (CJUF) and three of Chicago's most respected real estate firms -- Mesirow Financial Real Estate, Inc., Near North Properties, Inc., and Northern Realty Group, Ltd. -- have sold the Shops at State Place. This retail center and public garage is part of a large mixed-use development in Chicago's South Loop. New York investment manager BlackRock Realty purchased the property consisting of 61,796 square feet of retail and a 156-car garage.


The property is located on the entire block of South State Street between 11th and Roosevelt Road, the former address of the Central Police Station and Courts Building.

In 2003, Canyon Johnson/State Street Partners demolished the existing building and developed State Place, a 243-unit condominium building, with ground floor retail and an enclosed private parking garage. Today, State Place has sold all but eight housing units, and the retail space is 85 percent leased, with retailers including Walgreen's, Fitness Formula Health Club and Spa, Coldwell Banker Real Estate, Charter One Financial, H & R Block, Verizon Wireless, Hair Cuttery and Benchmark Medical.

"This sale demonstrates that State Place and the surrounding community are thriving," said Bobby Turner, Managing Partner of Canyon Johnson Urban Funds. "As investors in urban areas, we look for exactly this type of opportunity to turn a dilapidated building into a high-quality mixed-use development that transforms the neighborhood."

Canyon Johnson Urban Funds is a partnership between Canyon Capital Realty Advisors and Earvin "Magic" Johnson's Johnson Development Corporation. The Funds' investment strategy is to identify, enhance and capture value through the development, redevelopment, acquisition and repositioning of urban real estate. In addition to meeting its investment objectives, Canyon Johnson provides and fosters economic opportunities for the underserved residents of the urban neighborhoods in which it invests.

"The Shops at State Place will have a positive effect on this diverse community for many years to come. We're confident that this will stimulate more positive development in the area and enhance the community's overall value. That's what Canyon Johnson is all about," said Earvin "Magic" Johnson, CJUF Partner.

"We are very pleased that we were able to identify and acquire a property to create a vibrant retail center for the community," said Michael Tobin, managing principal, development for Northern Realty Group. "State Place is successful for not only the developers, but also the City of Chicago, the retailers and the neighborhood."

For seventy years the property was the site of Chicago's police headquarters. At the time of the demolition it held a run-down thirteen-story building.

"We were very concerned that State Place match the neighborhood in terms of architecture and historical feel," said Jim Loewenberg, President of Loewenberg Associates and Near North Properties. "We're proud to have created a street scene that is representative of the flavor of the community and highlights the exciting commercial and residential growth of the South Loop area."

Situated in one of Chicago's most historically significant neighborhoods and located near Grant Park, the museum campus, major expressways and mass transit, State Place occupies a setting unsurpassed in terms of location, access and neighborhood amenities.

"State Place was a very complex redevelopment project because it was designed to meet a multitude of community needs in the South Loop," said Mike Szkatulski, Senior Managing Director of Mesirow Financial Real Estate. "What today looks like a seamless mixed-use development has many important features including critical access to public transit, high residential density, significant ground floor retail and public parking."

Canyon Johnson and State Street Partners were represented in the transaction by CB Richard Ellis' Chicago Shopping Center Investment Team of George Good, Rich Frolik, Robert Mahoney and Bill Wright.

About Canyon-Johnson Urban Funds

The Canyon-Johnson Urban Funds (CJUF) are the country's largest private real estate funds focused on the development of urban properties in underserved neighborhoods. A joint venture between Canyon Capital Realty Advisors and Earvin "Magic" Johnson's Johnson Development Corporation, the funds were formed to identify, enhance and capture value through the development and redevelopment of real estate in densely populated, ethnically diverse urban communities. The Funds' objectives are to seek current income and capital appreciation and, in addition to meeting investment goals, the funds are committed to providing for and fostering economic opportunities for the residents of the urban neighborhoods in which CJUF invests. With nearly $1 billion in committed equity capital, the funds are positioned to facilitate more than $4 billion in development and revitalization in major U.S. metropolitan areas. To date, projects have been undertaken in Atlanta, Baltimore, Brooklyn, Chicago, Cleveland Heights, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Milwaukee and San Diego.

About Mesirow Financial Real Estate, Inc.

Mesirow Financial Real Estate, Inc. provides broad real estate expertise based on over 30 years of success in the industry. The firm is known for successful high-quality public/private place-making at every scale, including major urban redevelopment projects and suburban mixed-use projects. In addition to State Place, other recent residential projects include: 58-acre University Village consisting of town homes, condominiums, lofts and single-family homes in Chicago; the six-acre Deerfield Village Centre; the redevelopment of the 1,200 acre Glenview Naval Air Station in Glenview and the former army base of Fort Sheridan on Chicago's North Shore.

Mesirow Financial Real Estate, Inc. is part of the Mesirow Financial family of companies that make up a diversified financial services firm headquartered in Chicago. Founded in 1937, the firm is independent and employee-owned with nearly $30 billion in assets under management, advisory and custody, and more than 1,000 employees in 29 offices across the country and in Puerto Rico. For more information about Mesirow Financial, visit our Web site at www.mesirowfinancial.com.

About NNP Residential

NNP Residential continually sets new standards for the urban residential experience. The Chicago-based company has won acclaim among residents, residential managers, investors and developers as one of the nation's most innovative residential real estate firms. NNP Residential has directed the most impressive apartment leasing and marketing projects in Chicago over the past decade.

Its wide range of management, start-up, and marketing services reflects the diverse expertise of the company's founder, veteran Chicago real estate executive James Loewenberg. NNP Residential excels across the board, constantly exceeding expectations.

In addition to State Place, projects include One Superior Place, Grand Plaza and The Park Millennium. The most recent project, Lakeshore East, is a $4 billion, 28-acre mixed-use community rising where the Chicago River meets Lake Michigan. The plan allows for up to 4,950 residences, a lush 6-acre public park, 2.2 million gross square feet of commercial space, 1,500 hotel rooms, 770,000 square feet of retail and a proposed elementary school.

About Northern Realty Group, Ltd.

Formed in 1987, Northern Realty Group specializes in the retail leasing of, and consulting on urban mixed-use properties. Since that time, the company has represented building ownership in leasing the retail component of numerous major mixed-use projects in the Chicago metropolitan area, including Citigroup Center/Metra station, 600 North Michigan Avenue, The Leo Burnett International Headquarters, Sears Tower, Park Hyatt, Chicago Title & Trust Center, AT&T Corporate Center/USG Building, the Renaissance Chicago Hotel, and the Park Evanston Tower.

In 1997, the company made the strategic decision to capitalize on the development expertise of its principals, and to add professional staff with multifamily property operations, and mixed-use development expertise. The result is an ongoing effort to acquire and reposition underutilized real estate of various property types where significant hidden value can be accessed. To date, this new business effort has generated more than $160,000,000 in completed work, with another $250,000,000 in various stages of development. Northern, and its investment partners, own apartment communities containing more than 1,000 rental units, 125,000 square feet of suburban office buildings and more than 100,000 square feet of urban retail.

"We were very concerned that State Place match the neighborhood in terms of architecture and historical feel," said Jim Loewenberg, President of Loewenberg Associates and Near North Properties. "We're proud to have created a street scene that is representative of the flavor of the community and highlights the exciting commercial and residential growth of the South Loop area."

Oh, puhll-eeeeeeze! Like Loewenberg really concerned about the architecture and historic feel??? :sly:

http://www.suntimes.com/output/roeder/cst-fin-roeder05.html

From Roeder's blurb:

LIGHT HOUSE: Here's one building that should have a fancy lighted crown. Don't know if it'll get one, though. It's a new 45-story high-rise due to be considered April 20 by the Chicago Plan Commission. A partnership affiliated with General Electric Co. has proposed the condo and parking garage for 215 W. Washington.

GE wants to power into the market with 345 dwellings and 348 parking spaces apart from those the residents require. That's because the building replaced one of Chicago's earliest multilevel garages. A spokeswoman for the partnership said it is close to a deal with the city on rezoning terms.

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Source


April 05, 2006
By Alby Gallun


Children's Memorial moving to Streeterville
(Crain's) - After lengthy search for a new home, Children's Memorial Hospital has decided to move to Streeterville from Lincoln Park, its home since 1882.

Aiming to build a larger, more modern facility, the hospital had considered relocating to a site within the Illinois Medical District on the city's West Side, one on North Elston Avenue and, more recently, the site of the current New City YMCA near Cabrini-Green.

But the hospital's board voted to move to Streeterville, President and CEO Patrick M. Magoon and Chairman Peter S. Willmott said in a letter the employees Wednesday.

"The Streeterville location offers us the best opportunity to realize our vision, which is to advance among the top tier hospitals that are transforming pediatric healthcare," they wrote.

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"It is clear that when one looks at the leading children's hospitals, they are located on the campus of a top tier medical school. This proximity allows us to leverage our critically important partnership with Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine."