Last Chance to Dance, Before Chicago Gets a New 102-Story Skyscraper
Are you tied of being cooped up for the last 18 months? Before we all get locked down again because certain of our chain-smoking co-workers won’t get vaccinated, “because I care about what I put inside my body. Can I borrow a cigarette?”, now is your last chance to cut a rug at the future site of Tribune Tower East. The space behind Tribune Tower in July, 2021. (Courtesy of Streeterville Spy Mike.) Streeterville Spy...
You Are Now Free to Fly Over Navy Pier
The days of old people being bodychecked into traffic by yoga moms with double-wide strollers are in the past. At least on North Lake Shore Drive. The Navy Pier Flyover is officially open for all of your walking, jogging, running, biking, and general sweating needs. The Navy Pier Flyover in May, 2020. (Via the Office of Alderman Brendan Reilly.) Until now, getting from Ohio Street Beach to DuSable Harbor involved navigating a dark,...
Trib Condos Creep Closer to Completion
The effort to transform the Tribune Tower into a passel of fancy-schmancy condominiums continues on the edge of Streeterville. And form outward appearances, things seem to be drawing to a close. One thing you learn from observing urban construction for 40 years is that a project’s completion status can often be divined by perceiving how tidy the construction site is. The Trib Tower’s construction site has gotten notably...
Hotel Tower Planned For 150 East Ontario. Again.
If at first, or second, or third, or fourth you don’t succeed, try try again. That seems to be the motto of the lonely loam at 150 East Ontario Street, which has been trying to sprout a skyscraper since the height of Gold Coast fashion was leg warmers, scrunchies, and chunky Kenneth Jay Lane jewelry underneath your Freezy Freakies. March, 2021 rendering of 150 East Ontario. (Via the Office of Alderman Brendan Reilly.) The...
New Hotel Opens on Navy Pier
Since the South of France is not going to happen for you this Spring, maybe it’s time to consider a little post-COVID staycation action. To that end, a new hotel, called Sable at Navy Pier has opened — you guessed it — at Navy Pier. And unlike those gasthauses that proudly proclaim “Mag Mile” in their titles even though they’re actually half way to Sheridan, this hotel is actually on Navy Pier. Image of Sable...
Trib Tower Condo Progress Fuels Speculation
It’s been 18 months since we last showed you the back side of Tribune Tower. Back then, the venerable skyscraper was being gutted by skid steers, and a tailings pile of bricks and sorrow was growing in the parking lot facing North Cityfront Plaza. Tribune Tower under construction in March, 2021. (Courtesy of Streeterville Spy Jody.) Today, we see a very different scene, according to these photos that Streeterville Spy Jody...
Trib Tower Rock Tally Down to 149, As One Piece Moves to the Suburbs
Eight years ago, we received an e-mail from a teacher asking for a list of all of the stones embedded in the facade of the Tribune Tower. Neither she, nor we, were able to find a full list on the internet, so we spent half a day wandering around what was then the home of the Chicago Tribune, jotting down the rocks. The resulting article, listing all 149 rocks, is now our fifth-most-read article, with over 13 million views. Tribune...
Chicago Skyscraper Developers Adjust to Work-From-Home Era
We love working from home the way a Sox fan loves a bar fight. But not everyone has the luxury of a private balcony from which they can watch a hawk disassemble a pigeon on the roof of the Bankers Building during a Zoom meeting. Some Chicago developers are making changes to their buildings in order to make them more attractive to those who find themselves suddenly without offices or classrooms. The latest is NEMA Chicago, the...
Shocking Developments at Navy Pier. If You’re a CTA Bus.
Some people are content to ride out the COVID-19 pandemic working from home in their sweatpants. Others crave returning to the office. Sometimes because this much family time is too much family time, or as a co-worker recently confided in a Teams meeting — paying for his own coffee is getting really expensive. If you’re among those who plan to resume shaving and bathing soon, you may return to work on a Chicago Transit Authority...
The Biggest Tourist Attraction in Chicago (and Illinois) Will Close
Navy Pier, which has delighted millions of tourists and local for a quarter of a century will soon be shut down. Even to joggers. The non-profit that runs Navy Pier has announced all of its operations will shut down temporarily after Labor Day. Navy Pier (Courtesy of YoChicago!) Yes, it’s virus-related. But no, it’s not about the refusal of some people to social distance on the lakefront or the questionable mask etiquette...
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Fulton River District In Line For Another Skyscraper January 30, 2022 -
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