Blog

By Ellen Shubart, Class of 2006

On April 12, CAF sponsored a panel discussion, held at Coast, on the topic “Lakeshore East at 15”. The four panelists were:

• James Loewenberg, architect and co-chairman of Magellan Development, developer of the project;
• Adrian Smith, architect, partner in Smith +Gill, at the time of the creation of Lakeshore East, designer of its master plan;
• Benet Haller, former City of Chicago Planning Department (there doing the initial approvals for Lakeshore East), now transit planner for the county
• Tom Kerwin, principal of bKL Architects, architect of record for Wanda Vista, and primary architect for Lakeshore East buildings Coast, Lot O building, and GEMS Lower School Building I and Upper School Building II, currently under construction.

While each gave his views about the development between Michigan and the lake, the river to Randolph Street, they also considered why this development succeeded while its predecessor, Illinois Center, did not.

Each panelist made a 7-minute presentation and then answered questions. Initially, Magellan took possession of the property in 2001. It was the section of the Illinois Center development made into a golf course because of the lack of sales on the remaining 29 acres of land. Adrian Smith filed the master plan for the development in 2002, when he was still working for SOM. The property has been developed using a “one project at a time” philosophy, with many buildings completed including Aqua (Jeanne Gang, Studio Gang, architect), Lancaster, Shoreham, Tides, Regatta, 340 on the Park (Solomon Cordwell and Benz), Coast (bKL Architects) and the family market buildings with Mariano’s, III Forks Steakhouse, service operations (nails, physical therapy, etc.), Subway and Eggy’s restaurants, and the Ming Hin Chinese restaurant on Randolph Street.

The following is a synopsis of that discussion.

James Loewenberg:

• Characterized the site through history from when it was used as a trans-shipment location; terminus for the Illinois Central Railroad
  • 1929: Randolph St. was extended east
  • 1984-6: Removal of Lake Shore Drive’s S curve
  • 1986: Installation of the golf course
  • 2001: Magellan took possession. The golf course had been created to avoid taxes. The tax for open space (golf course) was $70,000 vs. $10 million for developed property
  • Lakeshore East is a mix of rentals and condos
• Loewenberg noted that throughout the process, Magellan kept to Adrian Smith’s master plan. (Note that the plan will change with the development of Lots JKL still to be done in the northeast section of the property.) Benet Haller noted that you have to credit the continuous ownership for the success of Lakeshore East. He cited all of the complications involved – including the multi-level nature of the project (Wacker Drive, Randolph St. Stetson and Water Streets), the deep foundations needed for the buildings, the road connections, etc. Continuous ownership made it easier.
• In answering a question, Loewenberg noted the firm worked with Charles E. Smith Real Estate Development of Washington, DC. This firm developed the Crystal City in DC, a development over rail yards, exactly what Magellan was proposing.
• To another question: Loewenberg credits Sears Tower (note he doesn’t use the term Willis) with “screwing up” the office market in Chicago, which adversely affected the Illinois Center plan. With Sears taking in offices that formerly were only on the east side of the city, the office broke open, lessening demand all over the city. Despite the fact that Illinois Center included plans for residential units, it expected to live off office rents.
  • To make the plan for the new Lakeshore East work, developers had to “go to dirt. The idea of a plinth was the sticking point. Illinois Center is on a plinth, or platform, increasing the cost of construction exponentially. Infrastructure costs declined by $17 million with the decision to go to the ground, which really what made the plan work.
  • Initially Magellan (Loewenberg and his partner J. Carlins) planned for the development on a 12-year schedule; the financial institutions said they had to go to 14-years. Due to the real estate recession of 2007, construction continues. But things perked up; quickly after the recession. Aqua’s condos were 90% sold when it opened in 2009.
  • The success of the project is due taking it “one project at a time”, including building the roads one stretch at a time. They did it in pieces rather than in one fell swoop.
• Loewenberg expected to close the deal in 60-90 days. Instead, it took close to three years to close the deal. Among other things they needed to clean the property of thorium contaminants left from its industrial past.
• Smith put together what everyone called “a Bible” for each parcel, with materials and street location. They are still using his “books” to create the plans for each building. The large parcel offered the opportunity for different products – rentals, condos, shops.
• Completing the park before the buildings made people “believe in us,” Loewenberg said.
• The garage structures then became the base for the roads that ran above them. Buildings were constructed as the roads were finished so “they fit together like a fine Swiss watch.”
• One of the things that Loewenberg stressed that shadows from the different buildings would never affect the park, per the plan. Vista, with its 406 condos and 192 hotel rooms, will be a good neighbor (despite a questioner’s calling it a “behemoth.”) Loewenberg agreed with Kerwin, as both talked spoke about the taller, slender towers-trend around the world. To them, these super-talls have less of an impact than the shorter, squatter buildings that create canyons. Create density, but keep it slender. That is what is envisioned in the new plan for Lots JKL on the northeast corner.

Adrian Smith

• Told a convoluted story about himself and his wife visiting the Buckingham (360 Randolph) and being told that the condos facing south sold easily while the ones facing north did not. He thought of how to design a building just to the west (where 340 on the Park is now) to have almost all south-facing condos for better sales. When he attempted to buy the property, he was told it was the total of 29 acres (that was Loewenberg’s figure, not 25 acres) was for sale only to one buyer. It would not be sold piecemeal.
• The original Fujikawa master plan included a 6-acre park running linearly through the development from east to west. Smith totally redid the plan, locating the park in the center, ringed by low-rise buildings on the first level and then high rises. It was Smith’s idea to make the 6-acre park into a rectangle and, more importantly, put it at grade or “at dirt”level.

Benet Haller

• When Metropolitan Structures, the developer of Illinois Center, was trying to sell the remaining 29 acres of their property, they first went to Richie Stein, a developer of note at the time, but he refused. Magellan bought the property and went along with Smith’s ideas of the park at grade, ringed with low-rise buildings.
• The Fujikawa Plan showed that residential development was to be east of Illinois Center, an expansion of the west section, which was primarily for offices.
• Haller said that when you compare and contrast a number of developments in the downtown over the years, they get different grades, based on the criteria:
  • Is it part of downtown?
  • Is it integrated into the street grid?
  • Is there transit accessibility?
  • Does it provide a park(s)?
  • Are there public amenities
  • Based on these criteria he gave Lake Shore East an A. It is part of downtown and the downtown Pedway; it integrates the street grid (pretty much), It has the park on dirt (which saved $50 million because they didn’t need to construct a platform), and it is over a transit station. While at first glance the development does not appear to be permeable from the west (along Columbus it looks like a solid wall), it is permeable. Pedestrians can get through it to the park and to the other buildings.
  • Re the other developments: Kinzie Station got a B grade; River East, a B; Central Station C because it is very difficult to get around on the east side; and Dearborn Park a decided F because it cut itself off from the city. He also wanted to include 78 but no one even knew what the term meant and the topic sort of got lost.
• In explaining Lakeshore East’s success, Haller mentioned the special assessment that was approved to pay for infrastructure projects like roads, street network, etc. It was similar to the procedures to use assessments to pay for alleys in the city. Each Magellan parcel was assigned a certain percentage of the assessments. The city’s Board of Local Improvements allowed the city to bond it and “front finance.” That meant Magellan got money almost immediately and began paying off their debts early. Loewenberg lauded Haller for getting through this complicated process. Those residents owning units in Lakeshore East still pay those assessments.
• Haller also talked about the Central Area Plan, the focus of the city’s planning department at the time. The idea was to bracket Grant Park with Aon and Blue Cross and Lakeshore East on the north, the Michigan Avenue Streetwall on the west, and Central Station on the south.

Tom Kerwin

• He explained that Lakeshore East hit the “sweet spot” of the world-wide trend of people moving back to cities.
• Each parcel fits together, but each has its own intricacies
  • For instance, connections between buildings vary
  • Uses of the buildings vary. GEMS, a school, needed sunlight inside the lower levels, while other buildings only had garages at that level that didn’t need natural light.
  • The strength of the plan is in it flexibility; that’s what made it work.
• Coast: with 47 stories and 500 units, was the first project that went up after the real estate crash. Yet it was very successful and leased quickly.
• GEMS: the lower school is complete, and Phase II now under construction. Both buildings use color. The upper school/Phase II is more vertical than the lower school. The lower school is unique with a outdoor rooftop cafeteria.
• Vista will be an iconic building. While a member of the audience later called it a Behemoth, everyone on the panel thought a super-tall building in the Wacker Dr. street wall was just fine. Benet Haller also said he thought putting up some of the tallest buildings in Chicago at the intersection of the lake and the river/Lots JKL in Lakeshore East would be “just right.” (Kerwin said he would not talk about those parcels because plans are being revised per the alderman’s request.)
• Parcel O, next o Aqua, will be two hotels and apartments. It is in the approval process.
• Kerwin lauded Magellan and the Carlins family for their commitment to mixed-use construction.
• Parcels JKL: No new information. They are reworking the plans with the alderman and community input. All he would say is that there will be tremendous amount of open space on the property.

At the end of the evening someone asked where Chicago fits into the great cities of the world and their skyscrapers. Haller called Chicago “unique.” Smith talked of how density came to the city when transportation came. Tall buildings because central to the development of this city, which is true around the world today. He cited his own design for the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, where he says it plays as the center.

Finally, the evening ended on a forward note. Loewenberg noted that through the years of development, demand for parking has dramatically declined. Aqua, he said, has two levels of parking that are unused. The developer is looking for new uses. Kerwin added that in the past parking floors had low ceilings but now they are being developed with high ceilings because the chances of being converted to other uses is quite high.

In addition to the nitty-gritty of the development, among the things I learned included that the streets are named: Upper Wacker, Lower Wacker and Lowest Wacker – it is not Upper, Middle and Lower. Please remember. I assume it is the same on Randolph and/or Columbus.