Controversial Streeterville Hotel Bypassing City Hall, Moving Forward
There are lots of construction projects proposed around Chicago, and lots of them are opposed by neighborhood groups for one reason or another. But never before have we seen a building so hated that it actually spawned its own anti-building web site. Tishman Realty is trying to replace the old Museum of Contemporary Art building at 237 East Ontario Street with a limited service hotel. The big bone of contention with neighbors has...
Ontario Street Tower Crane Makes its Smashing Debut
“What’s that?” you say. “Don’t tower cranes generally erect things rather than smash them to pieces? You’re confusing a tower crane with a wrecking-ball crane.” You got us there. We were having some fun with our words. In actuality, what recently appeared in the sky above 228 East Ontario Street in Streeterville is the tower crane tasked with helping create the new SmasHotel. To wit,...
Big Permit Signals Next Step for 228 East Ontario Construction
At the end of August, we let you know there were finally signs of life for the SMASHotels project slated for 228 East Ontario in Streeterville. That breath of fresh hotel air came in the form of a tower-crane permit. And now, a permit has been issued to put that crane to work. FOUNDATION ONLY FOR A TWENTY-ONE (stories? We’ve heard 22, and 20.), 195 ROOM HOTEL WITH BASEMENT AND ASSOCIATED SITE WORK AS PER PLANS How big is a...
Another Sliver of a Hotel Slotting Into the Gold Coast
We knew a new hotel was coming to the Gold Coast/Streeterville borderlands, but what was unveiled today wasn’t exactly what we were expecting. We’d heard previously through a web site that solicits money from rich foreigners, especially Chinese, to invest in American real estate that a Marriott Autograph Chicago was planned for 224 East Ontario Street. Now, according to 42nd Ward Alderman Brendan Reilly, it’s...
Status Update: RIC’s Place
For the first time in a long time, a medical skyscraper is going up in Streeterville that doesn’t have the name “Northwestern” on it. The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago’s new tower, called the Ability Institute, is rising at the corner of East Ontario Street and North McClurg Court. It’s the former location of the CBS building where in 1960 the world’s first televised presidential debate took...
Is Michigan Avenue About To Get a 50-Story Hotel?
As real estate developers position themselves for an economic recovery, more and more mothballed Chicago projects are being pulled out of the back of the closet, shaken out, stretched, and tried on to see if they still fit. The latest project to come back to life smelling of grandmother’s house may be the 50-story hotel tower planned for 150 East Ontario Street. Loop Spy Ryan was doing some Christmas shopping on the Magnificent...
New Downtown Hospital Slims Down To Court Neighbors
The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago’s new hospital plan has lost some weight, and gained some fans. The RIC is moving from its current tower at 345 East Chicago Avenue to a new building to be erected two blocks away at 630 North McClurg Court, formerly the location of the CBS Building. When the plans were first presented to the public five months ago, there was little opposition. Neighbors expressed the usual concerns about...
Status Update: McClurg Court Center Retail
The new retail space at McClurg Court Center (600 North McClurg Court) is really starting to take shape. The ground floor spaces of the two towers are being gutted and are being replaced with some snazzy-looking retail space. Five new small stores are being created along Ontario Street, joining the two existing stores there. Seven new stores are going in along Ohio Street, and one massive new store space is being carved out at the...
Status Update: Northwestern Memorial Hospital Outpatient Care Pavilion
Northwestern Memorial Hospital’s latest construction project is moving along swiftly. The Outpatient Care Pavilion (240 East Ontario Street) will be a 25-story medical and office building that’s roughly 30% parking. It is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2014. Like all new Northwestern projects, it has the two thing people living in Streeterville hate: Skywalks that suck the life out of what is supposed to be a...
Little Opposition to R.I.C.’s New Hospital Tower in Gold Coast
A few days before the Thanksgiving break, a public meeting was held to explain the new skyscraper that the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago wants to build at 630 North McClurg Court. If that address sounds familiar, it should. It’s the former location of the CBS building, and if you hated this past election for what our political process has become, it all started in that building. But that’s a story for another time. In the...
