Chicago Spire Replacement Not Dead Yet
Yesterday we told you that 42nd Ward Alderman Brendan Reilly decided that Related Midwest’s two-tower plan for the space that failed to become the Chicago Spire is a non-starter. The alderman had a fair number of rather significant problems with the plan for 400 North Lake Shore Drive, including traffic, security, the big honking podium, and the mere existence of a hotel. Fortunately, the height of the towers in the project...
Alderman Spikes 1,100-Foot-Tall Chicago Spire Replacement
In a blocking move that would make Hakeem Olajuwon say, “Oh, snap!” 42nd Ward Alderman Brendan Reilly pulled on his Bulls jersey, reached up with political hand spread wide, and blocked a planned supertower in Streeterville. The project in question was 400 North Lake Shore Drive, a pair of skyscrapers at the site of the long-dead Chicago Spire, and the even longer-dead Fordham Spire. If you don’t know what either of...
O, My — Combo Tower to Finish Lakeshore East Puzzle, Expand Pedway
If you’ve ever spent a rainy winter’s eve listening to gospel music on a distant AM radio station, drinking Mr. Pibb out of a Mason jar while putting together a Nancy Drew jigsaw puzzle from Goodwill because your girlfriend left you and took both the dog and the TV remote, then you know the satisfaction that can be found in finally fitting that last cardboard squiggle in place, sealing the edges with your index finger, and...
Devs Try To Get Union Station Project Back On Track
Remember back in June when plans to redevelop Union Station came out and you were all, “Haven’t we been to this dance before?” Well, you were right to be skeptical. Riverside Investment and Development, and Convexity Properties are back with a new redevelopment plan for Union Station. A move necessitated by 42nd Ward Alderman Brendan Reilly, who roundfiled the previous proposal. In that plan, a seven-story glass...
![Revised Lakeshore East Plan is More Green and More of the Same [updated]](https://www.chicagoarchitecture.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/lakeshore-east-parcels-i-j-k-and-l_43440748345_o-240x240.jpg)
Revised Lakeshore East Plan is More Green and More of the Same [updated]
The proposal to erect three new skyscrapers in the northeast corner of Lakeshore East took another step forward tonight. At the second public meeting about the project from Magellan Development and Lendlease, a revised plan received acknowledging nods, and not much else. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. When the first iteration was voilàed last July, few credible people had anything bad to say about bKL...
♫ Lakeshore East / It Has a Plan / I-J-K-L-O ♫
Channel your inner four-year-old, and sing along. Lakeshore East, it has a plan I – J – K – L – O And to this plan, were drawn some NIMBYS I – J – K – L – O With a “view” “view” here And a “school” “school” there Here a critic, there a critic Everyone’s a civic cynic Lakeshore East, it has a plan I – J – K – L...
Near North Firehouse Plan Returns as a 29-Story Office Tower
The 2017 plan to replace the Chicago Engine Company 42 fire station with a skyscraper is back in play. At a public meeting last week, Friedman Properties unveiled its more fully-realized notion for the space — a 29-story office tower designed by Goettsch Partners. The fire station won’t go away. Instead, a new 29,000 square-foot fire station will be incorporated into the new skyscraper, making the firefighters of 42 house...
New Downtown Chicago Fire Station Comes With a Big Question Mark
Chicago has explored a number of public/private partnerships in recent years. Things like putting libraries inside apartment buildings, and tea houses in parks. Now one of the city’s downtown fire stations may be the next city facility hop on the bandwagon. In a remarkably detail-free e-mail to his constituents, 42nd Ward Alderman Brendan Reilly announced that the Engine Company 42 building at 444 North Dearborn Street may be...
More Residential Development Coming to the Heart of Chicago’s Gold Coast
The ever-changing face of Chicago’s Viagra Triangle district is changing once again. Once known for seedy strip clubs, then more respectable clubs, then trendy night clubs and restaurants, it is slowly becoming a place where people want to stay for more than a few hours. Earlier this year, the Viceroy Hotel opened its doors inside the skin of what was the old Hotel Cedar. A couple of years earlier, the old Sutton Place Hotel...
Three Years Later, a River North Skyscraper is Redesigned and Reproposed
It’s been a little while since the last proposal for a residential skyscraper in River North. But things are starting to roll again. In an e-mail to constituents, 42nd Ward Alderman Brendan Reilly announced that 353 West Grand is in play again. You may remember that address as the former home of the Clark and Barlow hardware store. It’s been a little over a year since we last wrote about this property. Back in April of...
