Status Update: The Gage Group

  

The Gage Group (18 South Michigan Avenue) is a set of three office buildings designed by Holabird & Roche and Louis Sullivan in 1900 in the heart of Michigan Avenue's architectural cliff wall.  It has been most notable lately because of The Gage restaurant, which is good enough for portly pork and poultry poet Phil Vettel and therefore good enough for you.

The owners recently undertook the renovation of the space next door, and have done an impressive job restoring it to what looks like an authentic 1900's look.  Hopefully it doesn't remain vacant very long.

Status Update: Randolph Tower

The Randolph Tower (188 West Randolph Street) has been under some form of renovation or another since before I moved to Chicago in 2003.  When will it be done?  It's hard to say.  Lots of deadlines have come and gone.  Lots of big plans have been made and unfulfilled.  Just last year the city approved a TIF to help turn it into residences.  Up close, it's a beautiful building.  It's just had a run of bad luck.

A Pattern Developing in the Loop

For the last few months, this former bank location in the Loop has been hidden behind scaffolding.  Now 202 South State Street has emerged from its cocoon, and the result is -- well, rather much like a butterfly.

Windows and doors, even the facade are covered in the most interesting black-and-white design.  The design has even spread to the adjacent building at 212 South State.

I didn't have time to check for posted permits, so if anyone has any idea what's going on, let us know.

Status Update: Northwestern University's Harris Hall

Work continues on the renovation and expansion of Harris Hall (1881 Sheridan Road, Evanston) at Northwestern University.  The building, erected in 1915 is being gutted and retrofitted on the inside, and getting two new expansions on the outside.

The machine you see in the picture was digging a hole, presumably for an expansion foundation, when we snapped this photo.

Work is expected to continue for another year.

Full Details on the Greening of the Sears Tower

While just about every Chicago news organization carried the news yesterday of the plan to make the Sears Tower more environmentally responsible, most of the coverage consisted of painfully short blurbs with few real details.

So here's the complete press release, unfiltered, for you to digest on your own:

--:--

Sears Tower Unveils Sustainable Plan to Transform Tallest Building in Western Hemisphere

Project will significantly reduce energy use and CO2 emissions, spur economic development

CHICAGO, June 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Sears Tower today announced plans for the most significant sustainable modernization projects of an existing building ever undertaken. The project will result in unparalleled energy savings and reduced CO2 emissions to the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, reducing the base building electricity use by up to 80 percent, which includes a combination of energy savings and co-generation. The energy savings equal 68 million kilowatt hours annually or 150,000 barrels of oil every year. The sustainability plans also drive economic development in the West Loop, creating more than 3,600 jobs, and are part of a broader initiative to transform the global icon.

"Sears Tower, an iconic structure that defines the city's skyline, will undergo a groundbreaking transformation that creates economic growth with positive impact on our environment, leaving a lasting legacy for future generations," said John Huston of American Landmark Properties, representing the partnership that owns Sears Tower. "As the stewards of this icon, we take seriously our responsibility to make it relevant and successful, and the changes made and benefits realized through the bold sustainable initiatives at the tower serve as an example that a sustainable future is more than a concept, it is within our reach."

The building, which already meets Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) criteria, will undertake sustainability initiatives above and beyond those used by the United Stated Green Building Council to rate a green building. Modernization strategies, designed by Chicago-based Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture (AS+GG), include:

--  Efficiency improvements to the building's exterior envelope and
      windows. The tower has 16,000 single-pane windows. Sustainability
      plans for the building call for a window replacement and glazing
      program. Strategies to achieve a thermal break of the curtain wall are
      also being investigated. These upgrades would achieve savings of up to
      50 percent of heating energy.
  --  Mechanical systems upgrades in the form of new gas boilers that
      utilize fuel cell technologies, which generate electricity, heating
      and cooling at as much as 90 percent efficiency. Mechanical upgrades
      also will include new high-efficiency chillers and upgrades to the
      distribution system.
  --  The tower's 104 high speed elevators and 15 escalators that will be
      modernized with the latest technology to achieve 40 percent reduction
      in their energy consumption.
  --  Water savings that will be realized with conservation initiatives
      through upgrades to restroom fixtures, condensation recovery systems
      and water efficient landscaping, which will reduce water usage by 40
      percent and save 24 million gallons of water each year.
  --  Lighting that will be upgraded through advanced lighting control
      systems and daylight harvesting, an advanced lighting control system
      that automatically dims lights in tenant spaces based on the amount of
      sunlight entering through the windows. Combined, these upgrades will
      save up to 40 percent of lighting energy consumption.
  --  Renewable energy like wind and solar, and technologies like green
      roofs that will be tested. Wind turbines will be tested to take
      advantage of the tower's height and unique set-back roof areas. Solar
      hot-water panels will help heat water for the building. Green roofs
      that can sustain high- altitude conditions, and that will be among the
      tallest in the world, will be tested to reduce storm water runoff,
      improve insulation, help mitigate the urban heat island effect, and
      provide pleasant vistas for tenants overlooking the areas.

"Buildings are the world's largest contributor to carbon emissions, and therefore the biggest opportunity to address climate change is to retrofit existing structures," said Adrian Smith, partner, AS+GG. "Our goal in the Sears Tower greening project is to create a holistic approach that integrates high-performance building technologies and design strategies for maximum energy efficiency. In the process, we hope to set a benchmark for how high-rise buildings throughout the world can limit their impact on the environment."

"Sustainable architecture in new buildings is important but not enough to address the climate and energy crises facing our world," added Gordon Gill, partner, AS+GG. "We have to apply what we've learned to our existing stock of commercial buildings--especially iconic structures such as Sears Tower, which we hope will inspire similar initiatives around the globe. These will serve as great examples for building owners and managers and can reposition existing building stock to be as competitive as most new buildings or even better."

As an important part of the modernization program, Sears Tower's plazas and retail spaces will also undergo changes. A new park at Wacker Drive and Adams Street will be an inviting public space with landscaping and seating. The Adams Street granite wall will be replaced with an interactive digital display, glass storefronts, and trees, which will be planted to form a landscaped terrace that will add a natural filter for carbon dioxide.

In addition to the most significant energy efficiency renovations ever undertaken on an existing building, another aspect of the transformation is a proposed new, privately funded hotel for the site at Jackson Boulevard and Wacker Drive. The hotel will be designed for a LEED Gold rating, and will become one of the most sustainable hotels in Chicago. The hotel will fill a critical need in the West Loop and provide a much welcomed facility for existing building tenants.

The reduction in energy use and CO2 emissions realized through the sustainability and modernization plans for the tower also brings economic opportunities by creating more than 3,600 jobs. Extending its impact beyond the site itself, the project will feature a dynamic Sustainable Technology Learning Center that is designed to help building visitors and Chicago tourists learn about ways to save energy and money, as Sears Tower serves as a laboratory that demonstrates to the office building industry how a sustainability program can be accomplished.

"The plans for the building bring new activity to the West Loop, and make it even more attractive to current and future tenants who are looking for more sustainable office solutions," said Robert A. Wislow, chairman and CEO of U.S. Equities Asset Management, the management and leasing agent for the tower. "Today, tenants want the buildings they inhabit to be environmentally friendly and more healthy for their employees. They demand sustainable workplaces. They are doing this because it is the right thing to do, has a positive effect on the environment, helps make their employees more productive and is becoming more and more important to their employees."

The cost of construction for the Sears Tower project is estimated at $350 million. A number of private and public financing and funding options are being explored. The majority of the energy savings will be realized in approximately five years and work will start immediately.

"The Illinois Environmental Council supports private and public investments in projects that spur job creation and economic development here in Illinois, while helping to meet the challenge of global climate change," said Charles Jackson, IEC executive director. "The Sears Tower energy sustainability and environmental education project presents a tremendous opportunity for inspiring building owners and the public to aspire to the highest standards of energy-efficiency."

Sears Tower's commitment to energy efficiency is well established. Since 1989, the building has reduced its annual electricity consumption by 34 percent. Since 1984, its energy efficiency improvements have resulted in a reduction of 51 million pounds of carbon emissions annually, or the equivalent of removing more than 4,400 cars from the road each year.

For more information on the sustainability plans for the building, please visit: www.searstower.com/icon.

About Sears Tower

Sears Tower is the premier corporate office building in Chicago, offering more than 4.5 million square feet of office and retail space. Located in Chicago's West Loop at 233 S. Wacker Drive, the skyscraper is easily accessible from the commuter rail stations, highways and all forms of public transportation. Standing 1,450 feet and 110 stories tall, Sears Tower is the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere and an integral part of Chicago's culture. Originally opened in September 1973, it is home to more than 100 different companies, including prominent financial services firms, law firms and insurance companies. Sears Tower boasts spectacular vistas of Chicago, with views that can reach nearly 50 miles on a clear day. Sears Tower also boasts a tremendous infrastructure system, which includes enormous telecommunications capacity and unsurpassed electrical capacity and reliability. The Sears Tower Skydeck on the 103rd floor attracts more than 1.3 million visitors per year.

About 233 S. Wacker Drive, LLC

The building is owned by 233 S. Wacker Drive LLC, a real estate investment group formed in 2004 to purchase the tower. Ownership includes Yisroel Gluck and John Huston, of American Landmark Properties, Ltd., based in Skokie, Ill.; and partners Joseph Chetrit, and Joseph Moinian of The Moinian Group.

About U.S. Equities Asset Management, LLC

U.S. Equities Asset Management, LLC, is a leading full-service commercial real estate firm headquartered in Chicago, with operations in Detroit, Philadelphia, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, and Colombia. The company serves as a strategic real estate advisor to clients throughout the United States and Latin America, providing development, program management, build-to-suit and construction oversight services; asset management and leasing; tenant representation, consulting and advisory services; and acquisition, disposition and financing of real estate assets. The asset management services group provides asset oversight, property and facility management, marketing and leasing and strategic planning to a diverse group of clients. Currently, the portfolio includes more than 400 properties totaling over 24 million square feet of office, retail, institutional, dormitory, facility and residential management services for approximately 50 clients, including 2.5 million square feet of management assignments along Chicago's famous Michigan Avenue.

About Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture

Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture was founded in 2006 in Chicago. AS+GG is focused on the design of high-performance architecture on an international scale. The firm is dedicated to the creation of new paradigms for sustainable development, and uses an integrated design approach that emphasizes symbiosis with the natural environment. AS+GG's architects are expert in a range of building types, including supertall towers, large-scale mixed-use developments, corporate offices, exhibition and cultural facilities, civic and public spaces, and hotels and residential complexes. Currently, AS+GG is involved in more than two dozen projects in the United States, Canada, China, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates.

About the Illinois Environmental Council

The Illinois Environmental Council (IEC) is a 34-year old organization that promotes sound environmental laws and policies, as well as the adoption of environmental best practices in the private sector. Also, IEC provides a forum for environmental advocacy organizations and facilitates a statewide activist network. 

Montgomery Ward Tower Not Gone, Just Hidden

Thanks to Chicago Architecture Blog reader and Chicago Architecture Info Facebook fan Jim Mitch for letting us know about a glaring error in one of our earlier posts, and more importantly -- about a hidden piece of Chicago architectural history.

In February we posted a note talking about the completion of the renovation of 6 North Michigan Avenue . This was one of the old Montgomery Ward buildings and used to have a 10-story tower on top of it capped by a huge pyramid.

In our post, we stated that the tower was taken down and that in the most recent renovation it was not restored.  That's not correct.

Jim points out that the tower IS still there.  It's just hidden.

What happened is that when Montgomery Ward added four floors to the top of the building in the 1940's they partially swallowed up the tower.  Check out the sequence of images posted on Jim's blog, Design Slinger :

Even though there isn't a magnificent tower like before, at least the building's not all that much shorter than before, as we'd originally assumed.

Sadly, the great pyramid cap is still missing from the current building, but what's there is nice and certainly better than lopping off the remaining few stories to even the building out.

Again, thanks Jim!

(Moreover, this is a lesson to all you internet surfers out there -- blogging is not journalism.)

Status Update: The Park Monroe

You can call it the Park Monroe all you want, but to us it's still Mid-Continental Plaza .  The conversion of the upper stories of this office building into swanky double-height condominiums actually appears to have done the building some good.

It's no longer a boing box of grey pinstripes.  The change in form at the residential level gives it an interesting visual cap and helps it stand out more than it did before.

Status Update: Six North Michigan Avenue

It was a slow and tedious process, but the top of Six North Michigan Avenue is finally complete.

It's been shrouded in tarps and scaffolding since at least 2003, probably longer while restoration work was done on its crown and the inside converted from offices into condos.  The shroud came off this winter and the result is pleasing.  It's also nice to see another residential option on Michigan Avenue.

But there are a couple of things that could have been done better.  First, the redeveloper could have come up with a more imaginative name.  Of course, the idea was to cash in on the "Michigan Avenue" cachet, but it would have been nice to somehow incorporate the building's original name: The Montgomery Ward Tower.

Second, it would have been fantastic if the building could have been restored to its pre-1947 condition.  In that year the ten-story tower was taken off the top of the building along with a three-story pyramid roof, similar to the one that used to cap the tower at the Dearborn Street Station.  Seeing 6 North Michigan Avenue in old pictures is kind of startling at first, but it goes well with the Pittsfield Building to the north and the Willoughby Tower across the street.

Another Hotel to Open Soon in River North

Yet another Near North Side flophouse is becoming respectable again.

The old Hotel Wacker at 111 West Huron Street is becoming the Hotel Felix .  Wacker was a pretty nice place when it first opened in the 1920's, but like a lot of the city's once classy hotels, it went downhill as the neighborhood went from residential to commercial to industrial.  Now that the people are back, so's the hotel, though under a different name.

The new "Felix" name isn't specific to any person.  It was chosen just because it's a happy little name that sounds a little like "felicity."  Inside, the building is getting a lot more than a new name.

The building is essentially being gutted and re-built on the inside.  Because of this, the developers (Oxford Capital which also converted the Hotel Cass on Wabash from an S.R.O. into a Holiday Inn Express) are able to make this the first downtown hotel to achieve LEED Silver status.  It does this through a number of innovations, including the use of sustainable and recycled materials when possible, low flow plumbing, compact florescent lighting throughout the property, the use of low VOC paints and carpeting, and having an employee bike room and shower to encourage them to pedal to work.

The hotel will be a "rooms box" meaning, just 225 rooms and a bar -- no conference or banquet facilities.  It was gutted and re-built because if the building was torn down, modern zoning regulations would have only allowed a much smaller building to be erected in its place.

Because of its history, the building's rooms have an unusual and rather small layout.  The furniture has been custom made to take every advantage of the available space.

The developers tried to have the building landmarked, but the city wouldn't go for it.  It was designed by Levy and Klein, the same people behind the Majestic Theater, but that's not enough.

Look for a soft opening on March 1, 2009 to get the kinks out and a grant opening in late April.

In Case You Missed It: Chicago Place mall becoming offices

We didn't mention it here, so in case you missed it: the mall portion of Chicago Place is being turned into offices .

Saks will stay, and the former Talbott's space is still becoming Zara.  And in between the two of them, 11,000 square feet of what used to be the mall lobby will become some other as-yet-unannounced store on Michigan Avenue.  But the rest of the Chicago Place mall is destined to become a cubicle farm.

It will be interesting to see how this is accomplished. The low-impact (and lower cost) way would be to leave the atrium open and have the offices ring it, like the Lloyd's of London headquarters .  But there has been talk in the past of decking over the atrium back when a hotel looked like a better way to go.  We'll see what happens.

Signs of Life at Chicago Place

I wouldn't believe it if I didn't see it, but we have photographic proof that something is actually happening at Chicago Place.

For those of you who don't know, the once not-all-that-bad vertical mall in a prime spot in the heart of the Michigan Avenue shopping district (heck, the food court is within wifi sniffing range of the Apple Store!) is just a husk of its former self.

Chicago's main Saks Fifth Avenue store still functions, as does Talbot's, but that's it aside from the food court way up at the top.  The ground floor is unheated.  The escalators have been turned off.  According to a Sun-Times report, there's just one working elevator to take people up to the delights of Panda Express and what may be the only McDonald's in the developed world that doesn't take credit cards.

For a  years we've heard talk about converting the dead stores into hotel space, or a big box store, but nothing has come to fruition.  Then this happened:

This is a cameraphone snap e-mailed to us by a reader.  It's clearly the former Customer Service desk from back when Chicago Place had customers.  Those appear to be blueprints spread out across the desk.  Judging from the jeans and boots, the men are architects or engineers, not real estate or developer types.

It's not much, but it's the first hint we've gotten in a long time that anything positive might come to Chicago Place.

The high architectural price of Diesel

Everyone knows gas is expensive.  And diesel is more.  But the people running the Diesel store on Rush Street should ask for their money back.

After being closed all Spring and most of the Summer for interior and exterior renovations -- this is what it looks like.  Exposed screws in the facade, and a paint job that looks like it was done by pigeons with the runs.

Maybe it's supposed to look gritty, or industrial, or urban.  But it just doesn't work.  It looks dirty, and it certainly doesn't fit in with the surrounding buildings or the squeaky clean Gold Coast.