Results tagged “block37”

In spite of yesterday's ruling that stripped control of the beleaguered Block 37 project from its developer, the project will see the first store opening today after the city gave the project the green light, according to Crain's. Today will see the opening the opening of both the pedway and the Steve Madden store. A spokeswoman for the developer, Joseph Freed & Associates, LLC, said they expect two additional stores - Zara and Puma - to open early next week and several more will follow suit by Thanksgiving.

Awesome timelapse video by Joshua Mellin

We've hit the ground running with news this morning already but there was plenty happening over the weekend you might have missed.

Thanksgiving is almost here and with that comes the hoped-for opening date for the beleaguered Block 37 project downtown. And two events this week might go a long way towards determining if the project will manage to open on time as scheduled. First, on Thursday, the project will get the final inspection from the city that would give it the okay to proceed with its opening. But Friday sees the hearing where Bank of America, the main lender on a construction loan, will ask a judge to take control of the project away from developer Joseph Freed and Associates LLC and hand it over to a receiver. According to the Tribune:

We're not superstitious, but we got a kick out of the latest announcement from the beleaguered Block 37 project. The project announced a slew of new tenant signings, totaling 13 in all, an unlucky number for an unlucky project. Among the tenants: Sephora, L'Occitane en Provence, and several local stores including a new spot from the Comic Vault and Chicagoist favorite Bleeding Heart Bakery. Developer Joseph Freed and Associates LLC claims the project will open this Thanksgiving - just in time for Christmas shopping - and be complete by the end of next year. Meanwhile, Freed and Associates are battling Bank of America in that foreclosure lawsuit and a hearing is scheduled for November 20 that could decide whether the opening of the project's underground CTA pedway is delayed. According to Crain's:

• Jury selection began today for Andre Crawford, accused of raping and killing 11 women during the 90's.
• No one was hurt but 12 vehicles were damaged today when a Pace bus driver passed out while driving the bus along it's Oak Park route.
• Block 37, lawsuit, CTA, delay, blah blah blah.

Those of us who've been jonesing for a conveniently located high-end movie theater complete with tableside liquor service and extra-wide, plush seating have been dissed once again. The Trib is reporting that Muvico Entertainment, which was to have opened such an establishment as part of Block 37, actually withdrew from the project back in June. Block 37 in trouble? News to us! Oh well--back to the Brew & View we go.

With the sobering news of Mayor Daley's budget apocalypse beginning to sink in, some in the city council are looking at a Chicago-based casino anew. "All one has to do is drive through those parking lots in Northwest Indiana and see all the Illinois plates,'' Alderman Edward Burke told the Sun-Times. "If those folks are gonna lose their money, they might as well lose it in Chicago." Alderman Leslie Hairston put it more succinctly: "We've got to do something to generate some revenue."

The roller coaster that is the prolonged Block 37 project took a big dip today with the announcement that it's been hit with a foreclosure lawsuit. The suit comes from a group of lenders, headed up by Bank of America. Block 37 developer Joseph Freed & Associates LLC said in a statement, the lawsuit was “a serious breach of trust with the people of the city of Chicago...The suit lacks merit and Joseph Freed & Associates LLC will fight it vigorously."

• In light of yesterday's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, a bankruptcy court judge has once more given the okay for the Cubs to be sold to the Ricketts family.
• If, in a few months, you feel like your copy of the Chicago Tribune is shrinking, you're not imagining it.
• An Indiana National Guard soldier committed suicide in a Muncie, Indiana movie theater last night.

The beleaguered Block 37 project is getting an aerial boost: the project is reported to be in "advanced talks" with Seattle/San Francisco-based Teatro ZinZanni, which describes itself as, "a bewitching evening of European Cabaret and Cirque, Divas and Madmen, Spectacle and Sensuality with Live Music and a Gourmet Five-Course Dinner." According to Crain's, Teatro ZinZanni would set up shop in part of the project's top floor. Chicago-based Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises Inc., already providing food for the Block 37 project's third-floor food court, would provide food service to Teatro ZinZanni. Block 37 also announced the addition of cosmetics shop Sephora to its list of clients.

It's been an up-and-down year for Block 37, from the Apple Store debacle to landing a few high-end tenants. And a Sunglass Hut. The roller-coaster ride continues as Loews Hotels has backed out of an agreement to bring a four-star, 384-room to the project. Loews had bought the rights to the property for $1 and was still seeking financing for the $175 million project, which would have started construction next year for a 2013 opening. According to Crain's:

It's been quite a week for Mayor Daley's favorite change jar: TIFs. The city's new TIF sunshine ordinance went into effect on Saturday (the website that's supposed to list all of the information sucks, oddly enough), the mayor announced that the city will cough up $25 million to help relocated United Airlines into what used to be named the Sears Tower, and Chicago will create a TIF to help build the proposed Olympic Village. Whew! That's a lot of hot TIF action for only seven days.

It might not be Apple, but some actual good news today for Block 37: they've managed to land a Puma store. It'll be the first time all lines of Puma accessories will be under one roof, making it more alluring than, say, the Puma shop on Rush Street. We also get a kick out of the "block-37-richard-daley-urban-renewal" segment of Chicago Breaking News' url.

A month after speculation over an Apple store at Block 37 was the center of a lawsuit filed by another Block 37 tenant, Apple itself announced the location for its newest Chicago store: North & Clybourn. The new store will go up on the site of an old gas station where North, Clybourn, and Halsted all intersect. According to Crain's:

Last time we checked in with Block 37, it was about bad news. This week, however, the project is reporting good news as they've added five new tenants. Popular locally-based clothier Chicago Bigsby & Kruthers will occupy a 9,000 square-foot second floor space. The other four tenants announced are: Swarovski, Starfruit, Tahini and Sunglass Hut. Because nothing says "Chicago's famous Loop!" like sunglasses. Developer Joseph Freed and Associates say more announcements of new tenants will be made in the coming weeks. [WBBM]

Things keep getting worse and worse for the Block 37 project. After money issues and the first tenant pulling out, now more retailers are trying to get out of their contracts. The first blow was an announcement from Apple that they would not be bringing a retail store to Block 37 as had been originally planned. While this was surely a disappointment for the powers that be behind Block 37, it's another store's subsequent pulling out that's causing even more headaches. Now Canada-based Lululemon Athletica Inc., sellers of Yoga wear, are suing to get out of their contract to open a store in Block 37 because they claim they signed the contract with the understanding they'd be next door to an Apple store. Further, Lululemon is claiming that the Block 37 project's developer, Chicago-based Joseph Freed & Associates LLC, committed fraud by telling them that Apple had signed a lease even though that never happened.

The embattled Block 37 project moves onward, in spite of recently losing its first and largest client, David Barton Gym. In fact, developer Joseph Freed & Associates LLC has announced the signing of a new tenant: Anthropologie. The store will be two levels and consist of 12,000 square feet with a street-level entrance. The chain already has six other Chicago stores and "caters to women ages 25 to 40 with a quirky mix of casual apparel, accessories, home décor and shoes."

The troubled Block 37 project seems to have suffered another setback today as David Barton Gym, "the first and largest retail tenant to sign," has pulled out of an agreement to put a 40,000 square foot gym on the top level of the structure. Instead, Barton will be focusing on a gym located at The Roosevelt Collection, a mixed-use project in the South Loop. Said Barton, "Even though Block 37 has suffered a few delays, I do think that the project will be a success in the long term. However, I have instead decided to focus on the Roosevelt Collection project which will cover the region effectively and makes more sense for my growth strategy."

Mayor Daley has proposed a plan for a $12 million subsidy to pay for a new 354-room Loews hotel at the Block 37 site, specifically the southeast corner of Randolph and Dearborn. Tack the new money onto an existing $42.4 million going towards the project.

The new money would partially compensate the block's lead developer, Joseph Freed & Associates LLC, for cost overruns in the construction of a CTA station beneath the property.

Continue reading "More Ca$h For Block 37"

Gourmet grocery Fox and Obel gave Loop-bound foodies reason to rejoice when they announced an outlet on State Street, located in the former Carson Pirie Scott building. Hope you didn't count those farm-raised cage-free organic jumbo brown-shell eggs before they hatched, foodies - Crains reports that F&O has pulled out of that deal, along with Australian surf-gear retailer Billabong. (We're sure that this hurts all those Chicago surfers and aficionados of cargo shorts as well, but we've got a shiny nickel on Loop lunchers being more directly affected.)

New plans were announced today for the "pedway" that will connect the Block 37 mall to the Red and Blue Line Washington stops: Block 37 will be home to the area's only Beard Papa's (video)! Best! Beard Papa's is a Japanese chain of cream puff bakeries that has outposts all over the world; if you like vanilla-y pastries, you are going to plotz.

CTA President Ron Huberman has a plan to right the wrong that is the Block 37 CTA not-at-all-super-station mess: Private investment. Ayeee.

Block 37 is a black hole where money and plans go to die, and when you combine those forces with the CTA's money-guzzling abilities, well, it's the financial equivalent of a a shark riding on an elephant's back, just trampling and eating everything they see. Time to call City Hall for a bail-out.

Get ready for tonight's finale of with this sorta spoof, sorta recap.