The only way to get a good view of the Wilson Yard site, unless you live in neighboring Buena Pointe, is from the L. We got a quick shot of the site today. We will let our readers be the judge of whether construction has begun or not. It appears that most of the activity is taking place at the site of the low-income and senior housing, and not the site of the Target which can be seen in the lower photo with the pile of rubble on the left side. Target Corp said they would have more information on the Wilson Yard location at the end of this month. Whoops, the month is almost over.From Crains:
“We are currently still working through the agreements (related to the Wilson Yard project),” the spokeswoman says Friday. “Our real estate team let me know that we'll likely be able to give additional details/updates towards the end of June.”
And in case you have forgotten:
* Costs to deliver 98 units of low income senior rental apartments has increased to $337,000 per unit - nearly double the area median sales price for 1 bedroom, 1 bath condos over the past 6 months.
* Costs to deliver 80 units of low income family rental apartments has increased to $447,000 per unit - greatly exceeding the area median sales price for 2-3 bedroom, 2 bath condos over the past 6 months.
I sent an e-mail to Shiller's office last week to inquire about Wilson Yard. I copied and pasted the timeline from her website and asked if there was a more accurate timeline.
ReplyDeleteI got a phone call about 2 days after sending the e-mail from Michaela (sp?) at her office. Michaela told me that they have not updated the timeline because things have changed so much over the past year, especially the cost of construction materials. That's why Holsten sought out the extra TIF funds. She confirmed that construction on Wilson Yard has officially begun.
I asked if there was going to be a groundbreaking ceremony and she said no. She said that people have waited so long for the project to get off the ground that a groundbreaking ceremony would waste more time when they just wanted to get the construction started. I asked if she knew what the other retail was going to be, she said no. (I did put in a request for a Petsmart or Trader Joes! :)
I also inquired about the movie theater on Lawrence and Winthrop (a block away from me). She stated that it was not looking good. The original plans for the movie theater was for 1200 seats, but that got increased to 2400, then 5000. She said that they could not zone a 5000 seat theater there because it's only a 2 lane street, there would not be enough parking in the building, etc. She said that the movie theater owners were not being very reasonable, but she said that the land developer has been great. She said that there will be some parking/retail there, but it may not be a movie theater now (damnit!).
I do have to point out that Michaela (sp?) was very sweet and friendly. I was really impressed that she took her time and talked to me about the projects in the neighborhood. I know people talk a lot of trash about Shiller, but my first experience with her office was a very positive one. If Shiller or her people read this blog, you all better hold on to Michaela, she's got fantastic customer service skills.
There's nothing to debate; construction has begun. The 'rubble' at the NW side was broken and piled there last week. There's driven sheeting for a structure that faces Montrose.
ReplyDelete... but ... what are they building?
ReplyDeleteOT: I've interacted with Michella a couple of times. As far as I'm concerned, she's the silver lining in the dark cloud (or, black hole) which is the alderman's office.
This is very depressing news on the movie theaters.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know how many seats a theaters like Webster Place or Century Landmark have?
I found a link with that info:
ReplyDeletehttp://cinematreasures.org/theater/385/
It says there are 2,967 seats at Century City. I don't know if that corner could support something as big as Century City, but maybe (if we keep our fingers crossed), there will be a theater owner that is only looking for a 1200 seat theater...it sounded like that orginially was going to be approved.
She did say that a Target was going in there...but I saw that it hasn't been confirmed by Target yet.
Wilson Yard dirt is extremely contaminated. Some areas have levels of lead and arsenic 1000x higher than safe levels.
ReplyDeleteThe City, ignoring public health, has blown toxic dust all over our neighborhood.
Kids and seniors are especially affected by these toxics.
The City has ignored the many formal complaints filed by near-by residents about the blowing dirt and dirt dragged all over the streets and sidewalks.
And what about the poor people who will be living on top of this toxic mess?
Agreed, Michilla has always been responsive to any interacation I've had with her.
Theaters aren't coming to Jim's project on Lawrence. As a lot of stated before the operators only have one or two theaters and it would be surprising for them to get financing in this economy for a theater there. I think the people that pulled out from WY probably know more about the business than the guys that approached Jim.
ReplyDeleteMovie theaters are dying like drive in's did.
I think that will get built only if he gets a top ground floor tennant as well. Such as CVS or a grocery store although I don't know how much traffic that area can handle.