The governing board that runs Amtrak, the federally subsidizedrailroad, is again nearing a decision on a developer for Chicago'sUnion Station. But the pick could wind up as another error that willderail improvements at the landmark building for a few more years.
Sources said Amtrak is leaning toward Lincoln Property Co., whichenlisted the architecture firm Lohan Caprile Goettsch in crafting aplan to put up two towers totaling 1.2 million square feet on top ofthe station. The other contenders are Jones Lang LaSalle andarchitect Lucien Lagrange, who would build half that space in onetower.
The two-tower plan could pay off more for Amtrak, but itsfeasibility is doubtful. It also would require a whole new round oflandmark hearings with city officials. The one-tower plan,originally fronted by Prime Group Realty Trust, already has passedthe landmarks panel and is closer to reality.
However, reality is a hard concept for Amtrak, whose bureaucracyis just as slow as its trains. A twin-tower idea was advanced in the1980s, but Amtrak gets around to the station's redevelopment onlywhen the market turns foul.
SOAKING IN IT: Some 50,000 square feet of retail space in the oldPalmolive Building, 919 N. Michigan, sold for a hefty $57 million.Draper & Kramer, which is converting the building to condos, soldthe space to a trust controlled by Ross Hilton Kemper, an investorin Beverly Hills, Calif.
MONDO CONDO: Chicago's Terrapin Properties closed on theacquisition of the 37-story Grand Plaza West Tower apartmentbuilding at 545 N. Dearborn. A source said the price was upwards of$90 million. A condo conversion is in the immediate works, withpurchase options being offered to current tenants. Sales tooutsiders are expected to start in September.
Terrapin partnered in the deal with Jerry Jaeger. Sellers were ahigh-powered group that includes Joel Carlins, Jim Loewenberg, C.A."Bud" Cataldo, William Marovitz and U.S. Equities Realty's RobertWislow.
PRESERVATION PROTEST: The group Preservation Chicago has struck ablow against Itasca-based Hamilton Partners' plan to plop a 50-story office building on top of the buildings at 29 and 39 S. LaSalle. The group's vice president, Michael Moran, sent a letter tocity planners opposing a zoning change for the project because ofits effect on 39 S. La Salle, known as the New York Life building.Completed in 1894, the building is one of the best remainingexamples of William Le Baron Jenney's work as an innovator in steelframing.
Moran said the "facadectomy," the hollowing out of old buildingswhile preserving their shells, doesn't work in this case. "The wholepoint of the New York Life building is Jenney's steel frame, andthis is what the proposed Hamilton Partners project would be rippingout," Moran said. "That is completely unacceptable."
The plan calls for making the building a boutique hotel. Inreturn for the major surgery, developers would agree to a landmarkdesignation for 39 S. La Salle. Moran's letter makes that sound likepinning a medal on a corpse.
DOMAIN MASTERS: That U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June that saidgovernment can take your home and hand it to a shopping malldeveloper is getting attention in the Illinois General Assembly.Some House Republicans have submitted a bill, HB 4091, that wouldrestrict eminent domain powers to more clearly defined public uses.The bill follows general precepts laid out by the IllinoisAssociation of Realtors, which is expected to endorse it.
Julie Sullivan, assistant director of governmental affairs forthe Realtors, said she believes the bill or one like it will bedebated during the veto session this fall.
DOMAIN MASTERS II: We've all seen urban sprawl in action, butthis must be a first. The industrial brokerage Lee & Associates ofIllinois is distributing a map of the "Chicago metropolitan area"that basically covers the entire northern third of the state. Toshow thriving freight transfer points such as Rochelle, which issouth of Rockford, the map goes almost as far west as Galena. So bydecree, Freeport and Sterling are now suburbs. Look out, Iowa!
HOT PROPERTIES: From a July 22 auction by Cook County PublicAdministrator Michael Ian Bender come surprising clues to propertyvalues. A three-story mixed-use building at 5507 N. Lincoln,appraised at $775,000, sold for $1.22 million. A similar building at2621 W. Lawrence appraised at $1.34 million sold for $1.66 million.And a vacant lot near Lake Bluff appraised at $54,000 sold for$130,000. The properties were part of estates Bender is liquidating.
DOING THE DEALS: For $24 million, Watson Pharma Inc. bought a272,000-square-foot building in the CenterPoint Business Center inGurnee, across I-94 from Six Flags Great America. . . . The@properties brokerage spent $3.57 million for 212 E. Ohio and willmake it its fifth Chicago office.
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