Results tagged “construction”

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"

Even as the two-story penthouse has been sold, construction on the Spire has been halted for the time being. Officials blame the slowing economy for the halt but say condo sales continue and that the building will still be completed by 2012 as scheduled. For now, it remains just a hole in the ground, kind of like that fort I meant to build in my backyard when I was 10 years old. [via Gapers Block]

Good news for commuters. Finally. After 7 years of “now leasing” signs in Metra’s Ogilvie Transportation Center, the concourse under the tracks will begin to see construction on a “European-style” market.

[50th Ward resident Hugh Devlin]...told the committee that he wanted to note the multiple political donations to his alderman from the Banks law firm and from the project architect's. State records show more than $3,000 in donations to Stone from Samuel Banks.

Continue reading "This Just In: Developers More Powerful, Connected Than Average Residents"

House Speaker Mike Madigan, speaking to the press at the Illinois State Fair, said yesterday that he may actually consider leasing the state lottery to pay for a capital construction plan. "Over the last few days in the House of Representatives, we've had two very productive meetings concerning a potential lease of the state lottery, where the proceeds of that lease would be used for a capital construction program," Madigan said.

We were biking over to Montrose Beach last weekend and crossed under LSD at Lawrence. We saw what seemed to be a new set of struts, supports and ironwork under there and thought, "Good. Someone's doing something about these bridges." (We were in Minneapolis a week before I-35W collapsed last year. Drove right over it. We pay attention to these things now.)

If you haven't been keeping up with Chef Laurent Gras' blog charting the progress of his build out of the old Ambria space, you should. It's a fascinating read that gives readers an intimate perspective of both Gras and the ongoing construction.

We've never been huge fans of the phrase “Chicago has two seasons: winter and construction." We prefer to think of it as winter and awesome or winter and street-festivals, but we also can’t help but agree.

If you've ever wandered past the ever-under-construction mass of steel and concrete at the corner of State & Kinzie, that's the Museum of Broadcast History, the same group that put out the list of Top 125 American Political Broadcast Moments earlier this week. And, being as that lists are made to be pulled apart, dissected, shredded and argued over, who are we to get in the way of such rich tradition? There are some entries...

Looks like Blago's at it again. State legislative leaders are meeting again tomorrow to continue working on transit/casino/construction/dick-wagging, with the plan to head back to Springfield next week for--all together now--a special session. Maybe they could have a Very Special Session in which we learn about molestation or suicide or teen pregnancy. Blagojevich met with three legislative bigwigs today, but Mike Madigan wasn't one of them. Schedulig conflicts, says Madigan's camp. Never RSVPed to...

Who knew a heap of debris could be so beautiful? "Urban Renewal" by the New No. 2....

Transit funding has stalled yet again, this time with the added bonus of absurdity: Blagojevich wasn't even in Springfield during the special session vote. No, he was at the Blackhawks game. The vote was 57-53 in favor of the moving gasoline money around plan--except the bill needed 71 votes to pass. And even if it had passed, Emil Jones had said it would die in the senate. So what we're looking at is a...

Hearts all across Chicago were broken last January when Zephyr closed its doors. We walked past its former space a few days ago and wouldn't you know, construction workers were busy building what looked to be another restaurant. Alas, it won't be Zephyr 2.0 but rather an Irish-style bar and restaurant (pictured), opening in March 2008 (to their best estimate). The workers didn't know what it was going to be called. New York Times writer...

At this point writing about the CTA's "Doomsday scenario" is like beating a dead horse. We know what's at stake if they don't get the funding before Sunday. Our inbox, and those of thousands of Chicago Card holders, are full of messages from Ron Huberman matter-of-factly stating such. All this means that our eyes are on Governor Blagojevich and state lawmakers heading down to Springfield last night to hammer out a possible last-minute solution to...

It's T-minus four days until "Doomsday I," and the storm clouds are gathering. Mayor Daley held a press conference at a bus stop yesterday, announcing that "This is do-or-die time." State legislators aren't in session right now, and won't be until Friday — gaaaah! cutting it close, guys! — but Mike Madigan thinks he can get his bill calling for a tax increase to fund transit through the House and the Senate. Madigan needs...

With the ongoing and impending budget crisis at CTA on the brink of exploding, it nearly slipped our minds that the full Dan Ryan expressway re-opened for business, after nearly two years of construction.

We're hot off a solid 48 hours in New York for the annual CMJ Music Marathon, so not only are we hyped for live music again, there are also a TON of bands on the road home from the conference making stops along the way in Chicago. Without further ado, here's a glimpse at the shit ton of good shows this week: Rogue Wave is touring both in support of this fall's Asleep at Heaven's...

Of the grassroots congressional campaigns this season, Mark Pera's race to unseat 3rd District Congressman Dan Lipinski is among the more notable. According to the Pera campaign, they out-raised Congressman Dan Lipinski during the 3rd quarter, $100,000 to $75,000. Even more telling was where the money came from: Pera's nearly 850 contributions came from individual donors, while just one of Lipinski's 74 contributions was from inside the district ($100 from a single contributor in Brookfield)....

It almost plays like a plot from a trifling summer movie: The Illinois Medical District wants to build a new biotech building on the Near West Side. The kicker is, they want to build it in the same spot as a current Little League baseball field. In a letter dated Sept. 25, Medical District counsel states that the Chicago Park District must remove all improvements from Livingston Park, at Lexington and Leavitt, so that construction...