787-Foot-High Hopes Dashed in Streeterville

This wasn't supposed to happen.  This lot on the corner of North Fairbanks Court and East Ohio Street was just a parking lot when I moved to Chicago.  Then the parking lot was torn up and a big pit made for the construction of a 787-foot-tall, 58-story residential skyscraper called 560 North Fairbanks.  Then the housing market collapsed, and the pit was filled in, smoothed out, and given a nice fresh coat of asphalt.  Now we're right back where we started when I moved to Chicago six years ago.  Except that the hot dog hut that used to squat in the corner of this lot is gone.  And we are all poorer for it.

Quickie: New Tower for Oak Park Nixed

According to Crain's Chicago Business , the proposed 14-story tower to be built near the intersection of Lake Street and Harlem Avenue in Oak Park is off.  Like so many other projects, this one looks like a victim of the bad economy.

R.I.P.: Park Michigan

It's game over for the Park Michigan.  We hear that the svelte tower that was supposed to rehab the old YWCA on Michigan Avenue at 9th street (official address is 830 South Michigan Avenue) is dead.  The idea was to rehab the historic Y and add the condo tower behind it in order to make the project profitable.  But it's just not happening and the property is up for sale again.

In the end, what killed it?  We're not sure.  We're hearing two possibilities -- significant structural deficiencies in the YWCA, and pressure from the so-called "community groups."  You know the ones -- the NIMBYs who have got their view and won't let anyone else have one.

So instead of getting these:

• Landmark tower
  
• Hundreds of new residents
  
• Millions of new tax dollars
  
• New grocery store
  
• New ground floor retail
  
• New restaurants
  
• Preserved YWCA building
  

The South Loop gets to keep these:

• Abandoned, unsound YWCA building
  
• A surface parking lot
  

Good job, NIMBYs.