For the first time in 14 years, an office tower is going up in Chicago without already having a raft of tenants lined up. Crain’s Chicago Business reports that Hines, Ivanhoe Cambridge, and Chicago’s own Larry Levy are moving forward with their new Fulton River District skyscraper...
Nearby Development I...
posted by Editor
A strip of urine-soaked concrete, and scraggly trees in the heart of Streeterville will remain closer to urban blight than urban paradise for the foreseeable future. Ogden Plaza was reconstructed as recently as 1990 in a design by Lohan Associates. Its centerpiece is a giant clock sculpture by...
Does It Have To Feed...
posted by Editor
In the decade I’ve been writing this blog, posting hundreds of “Slices of Life” from all corners of the city, I have never seen this before. It’s The Spirit — one of the big ships that takes tourists on dinner cruises from Navy Pier. But that’s not Navy...
NATO Flags Displace ...
posted by Editor
As the city of Chicago gets all ready for its appointment with the global spotlight, we’ve noticed a number of changes around town. In addition to the usual barricades being stockpiled in strategic locations, and the disappearance of our Big Mouth solar trash compactors, and the...
Neighbors Want Taller Skyscrapers in Streetervil...
posted by Editor
The new apartment and hotel tower planned for 435 North Park Drive in Streeterville is evolving, and moving closer to reality. Responding to the concerns of neighbors, changes have been made to the as-yet unbranded hotel inside the as-yet unnamed building. For the most part, those changes are minor, and perhaps reflecting the neighborhood’s growing comfort with being the glass tower capital of Chicago, a recent public meeting on the building was actually moved to a smaller space than originally planned, and there was still room to spare. By the numbers, there is little different to note. Parking has been increased from 219 spaces to...
Union Station Hosts National Train Day 2012
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One of Chicago’s most beautiful, most historic, and busiest buildings hosted a major event earlier today. National Train Day is an annual open house event held at Amtrak’s big stations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Philadelphia. It gives train lovers a chance to walk around trains they might never have the opportunity to board, and exposes the wonder of train travel to people who might not have considered it before. The buzz this year was about high speed rail, with several booths and displays detailing the coming midwest high speed rail network, what’s been done so far, and how much longer we’ll have to...
Week Links: May 11, ...
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If you’ve spent any time on the south end of Chicago’s financial district, you’ve probably been asked by someone for directions to the Metra LaSalle Street Station. Grid Chicago has a good write-up about why the LaSalle Street Station is so hard to find. Lanvin is getting...
Slice of Life: Chica...
posted by Editor
What does a Chicago Fire Department boat look like racing to the scene of an emergency? Pretty much the same as a Chicago Fire Department car racing to the scene of an emergency. It turns out that this fireboat is equipped with the same lights an siren as you’d find on a regular fire...
Dismembering Marilyn
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“It’s like that scene on the beach in Planet of the Apes. Except it’s Marilyn Monroe instead of the Statue of Liberty. And it’s her giant fiberglass underpants in the background instead of Dr. Zaius.” If you didn’t swing by Pioneer Court in the last year or...
Wolf Point’s New Skyscrapers to Change Chi...
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Twenty-four hours ago, we thought we’d be writing about the latest on 435 North Park Drive, the new mixed use hotel-on-the-bottom, apartments-on-top skyscraper sundae with a bar for a cherry on the roof. But just an hour before the DRW/SCB/SORE alphabet soup was supposed to boil over in Streeterville, Alderman Brendan Reilly dropped a bombshell in our iPhones: Preliminary specifications for the new Hines development on Wolf Point. Chicago architects joke that every firm in the city has drawn up plans for Wolf Point at one time or another over the years. But it’s a cursed spit of land where somehow nothing ever gets done....
Slice of Life: Michi...
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Our Gold Coast spy was a little out of her zone when she took this photo and sent it to us. It shows a man on East Upper Wacker Drive, painting the Michigan Avenue bridge, the Wrigley Building (400 North Michigan Avenue), and its neighbors. Hopefully he’s using oils and not...
SAIC Opens Neiman Ce...
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If you’ve been down Wabash Avenue in The Loop in the last year or so, you’ve noticed the work being done at number 37. The building is the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Sharp Building, and has been undergoing a renovation both inside and out. Amid much...
Week Links: May 4, 2...
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We haven’t heard much lately about the new hotel that’s going into the former One IBM Plaza building at 330 North Wabash Avenue. The last update we saw was January in the Sun-Times. We know they’ve been busy working on the project because we can see the construction...
Coast Crane Jumps th...
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While you were enjoying Sunday doing whatever it is that you do on Sundays, the team at The Coast (345 East Wacker Drive) was busy raising its tower crane. One of our Lakeshore East spies sent us a picture and you can see the men hard at work in the photo above. The crane is now just...
Iconic Santa Fe Sign...
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If there’s one thing Chicago preservationists hate, it’s signs on downtown buildings. The only thing they hate more is when existing signs on downtown buildings are changed. That’s the prospect being faced at the Santa Fe Building (224 South Michigan Avenue), formerly...
Inside Solomon Cordwell Buenz
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Another Chicago architecture firm has invited us into its offices to give us a look behind the minds that shape our city. Solomon Cordwell Buenz is among the city’s more prolific firms. If you’ve been to downtown Chicago, you’ve seen an SCB building. They’re everywhere. From slender skyscrapers like 50 East Chestnut Street to shorter, but no less prominent, buildings like the Crate and Barrel flagship store (646 North Michigan Avenue). In this first part of our series, we talk with Solomon Cordwell Buenz C.E.O. John Lahey about the history of his firm, and its more recent creations. Editor: Since our readers...
Week Links: April 27...
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It’s been a pretty quiet week. Anyone else ready for Summer? Here’s a few notes: We hear the new Burberry Flagship Store (633 North Michigan Avenue) will open November 11, 2012. There’s a plan to turn the old factory/warehouse at 113 North Green Street in the West Loop...
Slice of Life: Stree...
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What was once a wasteland of warehouses, factories, and canals has quickly become one of the most densely populated skyscraper forests in the region. Streeterville has gone from being a ship captain’s real estate scam into one of Chicago’s best...