Crain’s video highlights the demise of the Armitage Avenue retail corridor.

The Armitage Avenue retail corridor, between Halsted and Racine, has become another casualty due to greedy real estate developers and real estate owners.  With retail rents at an affordable rate, Armitage Avenue was able to attract droves of mom and pop businesses that appealed to, not only Chicagoans, but tourists from around the world.  These boutique shops and low rents made Armitage Avenue one of the most sought after destinations to go shopping and to open up a store respectively. 

But during the residential and retail boom years ago, the owners of the retail spaces were able to jack up rent to a level business owners couldn’t afford.Now that the economy has plummeted, businesses could no longer afford the sky-high rents and now Armitage Avenue is filled with vacant storefronts or banks. 

Take a look at the Crain’s Chicago Business video by clicking HERE!

Public meeting tonight at 6:30PM on plans for Lincoln Park Hospital site.

So tonight is the public meeting to go over plans for the redevelopment of the old Lincoln Park Hospital and its site, located at 550 W. Webster Avenue. The meeting will start at 6:30PM in Lincoln Park High School, located at 2001 N. Orchard Street in Chicago.  Now, if you’ve ever been to a public meeting, especially a meeting that deals with a proposed development, the crazy’s come out like werewolves to a full moon.  I plan on going to show my support for the redevelopment…and of course to take in the spectacle.

Check out the plans with photos by clicking HERE!

I am 100% in favor of the plans for the old hospital for a number of reasons.  I actually think the plans are quite nice and look a million times better than what is currently there.  I also like that the developer plans to re-use the two major buildings and the neighboring (and extremely ugly) parking garage and turn them into something that is actually used and contributes to creating a neighborhood.  Now this is just my opinion, but residents of a major city with high rises all around sound a bit ridiculous when they complain about a 6 and 12 story building and the “traffic” that they will create.  Didn’t the hospital create a TON of noise and traffic when it was open?

Photo courtesy of Crain’s Chicago Business

Photo courtesy of Crain’s Chicago Business

 

New high rise condo planned for Lakeview East and Lincoln Park border!

Thanks to Skyscrapercity user “spyguy” for the three photos!  Rumor, and I mean rumor is that this new residential high rise development is actually two separate buildings called Parkway Point.  The smaller building is rumored to have 50 condos and will be around 114ft tall.  The taller building may have 60 units and will be 150ft tall.  Thankfully, it looks like Parkway Point will include parking which is definitely necessary given the lack of parking already in the neighborhood.

In order for Parkway Point to be built, a courtyard apartment building, another retail building, and a parking lot will need to be demolished.  As much as I love new development, I do have to say that I am slightly bummed because that vintage courtyard building is nice and looks well maintained.  But I bet I’d get over it fast when I see this finished.

Another thing I’m NOT looking forward to are the NIMBY’s that will make this development very difficult to get off the ground.  I have a feeling this will get massively scaled back or won’t ever happen because of neighboring residents “concerns.” 

Does anyone have additional info on this project???  Feel free to share!

Story of the 2009 Market. Lincoln Park 2520 Scaled Down by a Third.

Proposed Lincoln Park condo project scaled down

By Thomas A. Corfman, July 22, 2009

(Crain’s) — Developers of a proposed luxury condominium complex overlooking Lincoln Park are slashing the number of units by nearly a third in a bid to break through the locked-up market for large construction loans.

Ricker-Murphy Development LLC told buyers last week that the number of units would be cut by a nearly a third, to 198 from the 292 previously proposed, in Lincoln Park 2520, a three-building complex proposed for the site of the demolished Columbus Hospital, 2520 N. Lakeview Ave.

As a result, developers plan to lop off eight stories from the tallest building, reducing the height to 33 stories from the 41 stories previously proposed.

“Our opportunity to reduce the scale we believe will actually make us more attractive for not only construction financing, but also more attractive for the buyers” who want a smaller project, says John Murphy, a co-principal in Ricker-Murphy, whose joint-venture partner is the General Electric Co. pension fund.

Although the building will be shorter, the changes would not affect the design by Chicago architect Lucien Lagrange.

But even at a reduced size, the project would likely require a construction loan of more than $200 million to complete. As a result, the venture plans to start work without a loan on the foundation, which alone could take 12 months to finish. A smaller building still could be completed by late 2011, as required by the current contracts with homebuyers.

The shift in strategy comes as Ricker-Murphy faces an Aug. 15 maturity date on a $28.75-million loan on the site held by Bank of America, property records show. Mr. Murphy says talks are already under way for an extension of the loan.

B of A executives could not immediately be reached for comment, a spokeswoman says.

Ricker-Murphy and the GE pension fund are taking an aggressive approach to challenges facing many residential developers, who have instead opted to put their projects on hold.

“The cheapest thing to do is to sit and wait it out,” says developer Harry Huzenis, a principal in Chicago-based Jameson Development LLC. “The type of buyer they have will be there when the market is better.”

With asking prices of $885 a square foot, the project has not been immune from the broad downturn in the condo market, despite its premium location. Sales have stalled at about 50% of the units, a level that was once more than enough to obtain a construction loan. But lenders have become fearful of new condo projects because of deep concerns about weak demand and the glut of units already being built.

By reducing the number of units, the percentage of condos under contract would increase to 74%, from about 50%, assuming the number of buyers does not change, Mr. Murphy says. Reducing the number of units eliminates 29 condos that are already under contract, giving those buyers the chance to walk away and possibly washing out any advantage to the developers….

Check out the full ChicagoRealEstateDaily.com article by clicking HERE!

Old Lincoln Park 2520 Rendering.

Major expansion plans for DePaul University’s Lincoln Park campus. Some plans already approved!

Huge score for DePaul

NO DISSENT | City planners OK new music, theater schools in Lincoln Park

November 20, 2009

BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter fspielman@suntimes.com

DePaul University’s schools of theater and music would finally have the world-class facilities to match their top-notch talent, thanks to a 10-year master plan for the Lincoln Park campus approved Thursday.

Without a word of dissent, the Chicago Plan Commission signed off on DePaul’s ambitious plan to build new schools for theater and music, a new academic center, and to redevelop Fullerton Avenue with a hotel, student housing and market-rate housing.

The project — with a price tag in the hundreds of millions of dollars — calls for closing Kenmore Avenue to vehicles between Fullerton and Belden to improve student safety, add landscaping and create a greater “campus feel.” Spectator stands, new dugouts and press box facilities also are planned for Wish Field.

“Those two schools have some of the finest faculty in the world and some of the finest students in the country. And they’re literally performing in spaces with dropped ceilings and walls that bleed sound,” said the Rev. Dennis Holtschneider, DePaul’s president.

“It’s not where you learn how to play an instrument. It’s not where you learn how to sing. We need a space where musicians [and actors] can be properly trained.”

The new music school won’t come soon enough for clarinet performance major Philip Espe. But it’s still a dream come true.

“I walk into the practice rooms at 10 a.m. any morning. There’s no place for me to practice. I’m sometimes in rehearsal for six hours a day, and there’s no space. It’s incredibly small. The practice rooms are not acoustically sound,” Espe said.

Holtschneider assured the Plan Commission that there would be no influx of students at the already-cramped Lincoln Park campus….

 

To read the full Chicago Sun Times article about the expansion, click HERE!

North/Clybourn Apple Store to be much like the Scottsdale, Arizona Apple Store.

So word on the street is that the new Apple Store, located at North Avenue and Halsted Street, will look exactly like Apple’s Scottsdale, Arizona store.  After I heard this, I immediately Google’d to find the image and sure enough, it looks like it’s true.  You can already tell from the steel frame of Chicago’s Apple Store that, when finished, they will be the same.  Take a look.

If you’ve walked or driven by the new Apple Store, you’ll definitely notice a resemblence.  Too bad I don’t have a picture from here.

 

The new Apple store to play a key role in the Clybourn Red Line station!

Doors will open on the right at the Apple stop

By: Thomas A. Corfman October 26, 2009

The North and Clybourn station on the CTA’s Red Line may become the iStop.

In exchange for Apple Inc. spending more than $4 million to renovate the scruffy station, the Chicago Transit Authority gave the maker of MacBooks and iPhones first dibs on naming rights, if the agency decides to go that route. It’s apparently the first such deal ever by the cash-strapped CTA. Apple also gets the exclusive right to buy all the ad space in the station, at 1555 N. Clybourn Avenue.

The CTA has been considering naming-rights agreements since at least 2005, but the idea is seemingly getting another look as President Richard Rodriguez scrambles to avoid hiking fares and cutting services to cover next year’s projected budget deficit of $178 million. A CTA spokeswoman did not respond to questions.

Cities nationwide are increasingly looking at corporate sponsorships to ease budget woes. The risk to the CTA is that slapping corporate logos on stations could confuse riders and cheapen the city’s image, and make only a small dent in the massive financial problems….

Check out the full Crain’s Chicago Business article by clicking HERE!  From driving by the construction zone, you can see the general design of the store, which is different from the picture below.  So far, I like where they’re going with it but I hope they keep it very light, open, and covered in glass.

Hopefully VERY preliminary plans...

Free wine seminar with Lush Wine & Spirits and Belgravia Group’s Hartland Park Townhomes!

Tonight at 7pm, Belgravia Group’s Hartland Park Townhomes is hosting a complimentary wine seminar in their model home, located at 1721 W. Schubert Avenue in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood.  Lush Wine & Spirits brings the wine and one of their fun and knowledable employees to teach a seminar that feels nothing like a class…well, because it’s fun and I haven’t ever had wine during a class.  Some good food will be there and of course, you can’t beat the free wine can you?  To RSVP give Hartland Park a call at 773-935-0523.

A taste of Latin America at Lito’s Empanadas in Lincoln Park! (5/5 Stars)

I LOVE LITO’S EMPANADAS!  Lito’s, which is located in a small storefront at 2566 N. Clark Street in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood.  I first started making my own empanadas after seeing a recipe in my high school Spanish book…random I know…so when I saw Lito’s open up, I immediately went in to check it out.  If you’re driving by, you may easily miss the restaurant because of its small presence from the street.  Inside, there’s only a small bar with about five stools to eat at making Lito’s good for carry-out. 

Whenever I go, I order one ‘Beef’ which includes ground beef, olives, raisins, potato, tomato and onion ($2.29), one ‘Chicken’ which has chicken, rice, tomato and onion ($2.19) and one ‘BBQ Chicken’ which is made with slow-cooked BBQ chicken and potatoes ($2.29).  One is a snack, two can make me content, but I always get three so I can enjoy my uncomfortable fullness.

According to their website, Lito’s now delivers and caters their empanadas which range from sweet (Choco-Banana), savory (Beef and Rice), and even vegetarian empanadas…all for a pretty awesome price.  I have to give props for their marketing efforts because I constantly see articles on them in places like the Red-Eye and Time Out Chicago.

Proposed residential building to replace an ugly Walgreens at Clark/Diversey/Broadway.

Here are recent plans for a proposed residential building, located at 544 W. Diversey Parkway, at Chicago’s Lakeview/Lincoln Park border.  The current site houses one of a million Walgreens stores so even if Walgreens decides to re-occupy the first floor space, this building will be an amazing change for this busy intersection.  Plus, the possibility of a nice green roof is pretty exciting too.  I don’t have any further information about this proposed building so if anyone knows of ANY information, it would be much appreciated.  Hopefully this gets built soon because I believe the Clark/Broadway/Diversey intersection deserves more buildings like this one.

Proposed building will replace the Walgreens at the lower right side.