Shots Around the Sloop: Fire Clouds

(Hat tip: SR!)

Chicago Magazine Suggests Four Bands to Check-out At this Weekend's Bash on Wabash

The O'My's play Bash on Wabash this Saturday, August 23, at 6:45 p.m.   
PHOTO: RENE MARBAN

Earlier this week we did a post about all of the things going on at the Bash on Wabash.

One thing we didn't spend much time on was the music (mostly because we didn't really know any of them).  Luckily Chicago Magazine did and highlights some of the acts in this post.

Based on their suggestions "The O'My's" seem the most interesting.  They sum it up:

This self-described “band of scoundrels and hooligans” are leading a new generation of local funk and soul nuts (they call it “rock-n-soul"), and go heavy on the Chicago pride. The band has collaborated with hometown heroes ranging from Twista to Chance the Rapper to the Chicago Children’s Choir, so there’s no telling who might pop on stage during their set Saturday evening. Saturday at 6:45 p.m.

So if you're looking for something to do, head on over to the Bash today and checkout some solid music!

Sixpax Moves to Bigger Space at 1234 S. Michigan Suite 200

A reader sends us a email they received about Sixpax moving:

Thank you to all of our loyal Sixpax clients and teachers in the South Loop for all of your support and hard work the past three years. When I opened this business three years ago it was just me - teaching everything! Thanks to the community surrounding me today we have a team of ten and counting.  

I am THRILLED to announce we are moving TODAY (8/13/2014) into a newly renovated permanent home in the South Loop! 

Please visit us at: 1234 S. Michigan Ave. Suite 200 (In the old Universal Studios building above Ma&i Thai)  

Although we are growing into a larger space we are still proud to uphold our intimate class sizes and personalized community feel.  

Stay tuned for news about our grand opening specials, additional classes, and the fourth annual SIXPAXPALOOZA/GRAND OPENING party!

(Hat tip:  JV!)

Prime Real Estate Lots Back on the Market Along the Chicago River

This is a slightly old story, but figured people would still be interested in case they missed it (via Crains):

Lots for Sale both North and South
of the infamous River City (Image via Crains)

Two development sites surrounding the River City residential building along the Chicago River are for sale, both coming out of extended legal battles.  

Chicago-based Millennium Properties R/E Inc. was appointed by a Bankruptcy Court judge to broker the sale of a 1.8-acre site just south of Bertrand Goldberg-designed River City, 800 S. Wells St., between Wells and the river in the South Loop. The property is owned by embattled condominium developer Nicholas Gouletas but has been tied up in Bankruptcy Court since August 2013 in the aftermath of Mr. Gouletas' failed attempt to acquire an almost 3,900-unit apartment portfolio for $950 million.  

The parcel, now used as a parking lot, has zoning in place to develop 282 residential units, said Daniel Hyman, president of Millennium Properties. The land between River City and the Roosevelt Collection mixed-use development to the south is worth $10 million, Mr. Hyman said. An investor familiar with the property estimated it to be worth closer to $7.8 million, or $100 per square foot.

They also mention another smaller lot in the vicinity of these two that is for sale:

Along the east side of River City, a 0.8-acre parcel, also currently a parking lot, was listed for sale less than a month ago by Seattle-based brokerage Colliers International.  

That site, at 817-907 S. Wells St., has an asking price of $6.2 million, or $175 per square foot, according to a Colliers flier.

If you recall we did a post on this lot because a reader thought there might be some action coming.  Apparently that didn't pan out.

(Hat tip:  JJ!)

Looks Like the Sloop Just Got a Little Sexier - Victoria's Secret Coming to Roosevelt Collection

A reader writes:

So noticed new build out at RC. This is just north of the now closed Habadash. Door staff said that it was Victoria Secrets.

People have been suspecting that this would be a prime spot for Victoria's Secret for awhile now (see comment section from an old post we did back in 2012).

After a quick search on the interwebs we found a job posting for Victoria's Secret Roosevelt Collection on Linkedin:

So yeah, looks like this is legit.  We're updating the business counter right now.

And this gives us an excuse to post a video:

(Hat tip: SH!)

Little Free Library in the Sloop @ 1511 South Michigan

A nice little addition the neighborhood (via somnia on the Sloopin message board):

There's a new addition to the South Loop - a Little Free Library located along the sidewalk at 1511 South Michigan Avenue (just south of the physical therapy building in a flower bed).  

Its already getting a lot of use.  Please come take a book and leave a book.  

This is a great opportunity to clean out your bookshelves and share with your neighbors. Help yourself to a book while you drop your old books off.  

Its stocked with books for both adults and children. It was a little low on books this morning, so now is a good time to add some new ones to the library! Enjoy!  

Questions about the Little Free Library? Email SloopFreeLibrary@gmail.com

11th Annual Bash On Wabash Begins Saturday; New Features Include Fitness Programming and Chef's Demonstration Table

It's time for the annual Bash on Wabash and amazingly it's in it's 11th year:

2014 marks the Eleventh Year Anniversary for the “Bash On Wabash” with the goal of bringing neighbors and businesses alike, from near and far, to a festival that showcases the beauty, creativity, history and culture of the South Loop.

This year promises to be a more robust and well rounded fest.  New to the fest is a chef's demonstration table featuring various restaurants around the Sloop and a fitness program including a 5K run on Saturday and a 10 mile bike ride on Sunday.  This will also continue to include musical acts both days and plenty of things to do for kids.

Should be fun!  Look to see you there.

Join Us for Summer at Roosevelt Collection

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Lollapalooza 2014: The Well Oiled Machine

Playing in the mud at Lollapalooza (image via Chicago Sun Times)

This is the 8th time we've been to Lollapalooza in Grant Park and after this last visit a couple things are clear to us:

1. Like the old college adage - we continue to get older, but everyone else stays the same age.  This is also so very true at Lolla.  It's definitely a young mans game...  
2. It's the 10th year it's been in Grant Park and the festival is a well oiled machine now

It's hard to remember the old days when the festival was only two days and was confined to Hutchinson field (the south field of Grant Park) way back in 2005.  Today the festival has morphed into more days (3 days) and a much bigger footprint (extending all the way north to Monroe and west almost all the way over to the train tracks in between Columbus and Michigan) and is just bigger in almost every way possible.

While some may complain that the event takes up so much space for the entire weekend, it really has made the festival better and more manageable.  It seems like most in the Sloop feel that Lollapalooza is still a net positive judging by the recent poll we did:

We would agree.

Hutchinson Field south end of Grant Park
post Lollapalooza (via sun times)

One of the biggest wild cards during the festival isn't the music or the enormous crowds...it tends to be the weather.   It's impossible to control for this and as a result often causes the most angst post Lolla.   This year saw big rains on Sunday which caused some hefty damage (via Sun Times): 

Sections of Grant Park turned into a muddy mess because of heavy rains during Lollapalooza will be cordoned off well into September, thanks to $266,000 in landscape repairs that began Wednesday at the promoter's expense. The damage is roughly $50,000 more than last year but pales in comparison to the $800,000 in damage that followed the “monsoon”-like rains that marred the three-day music festival in 2011.

Given that C3, the company that puts on Lollapalooza, has agreed to pay for any damages, you know they're doing all they can to minimize the expenses from rains.  However, it's virtually impossible to avoid this type of damage if it rains.

Anyway, despite the fact that this makes parts of the park out of commission after the festival - it seems like most feel that it's still worth the inconvenience.

Further more, the mayor's office released a statement saying (via DNAinfo):

“Chicago’s lakefront offers the perfect backdrop to hold this world-class festival," Emanuel said.  

The release estimated that the festival "infused more than $139 million into the local economy in 2013" and praised the festival's ability to bring nonresidents — 69 percent of all attendees — Downtown.

That's a lot of money and just walking around the Sloop and greater downtown area it's hard not to see how the festival spills into businesses around the city.  It seems like every bar, restaurant, club is having some sort of Lollapalooza promotion or party or something.

But like we said above, none of this is new.  Lollapalooza is a well oiled machine at this point and it has been for awhile.  The story on the festival's impact both good and bad hasn't changed.  The story lines are the same and if you search hard enough (or click here) you will probably see a similar sentiment from us from previous years.

Before we end this post, we have to talk about the music - after all that is what Lolla is about, right?

Many music snobs will say Lollapalooza is about the worst way to watch a show or that the lineup isn't good.  Fine.  We get it.  Lollapalooza isn't the cutting edge music festival it once was (Greg Kot from Chicago Tribune gives a good recap and touches upon this sentiment).

Regardless, we still enjoy it every year.  Highlights for us included Broken Bells on Friday.  It was a lazy Friday afternoon show, but their music is distinct, different and wide ranging.  Zedd at the Perry's stage on Friday night was also a sight to see.  We don't love EDM, but do appreciate the amazing party atmosphere it whips up.  Cage the Elephant was pretty rad and the lead singer was a maniac on Sunday.  Chromeo continues to be a favorite even if their songs are inconsistent.  Some are totally off, but some make it impossible to not dance and smile.

We didn't see Iggy Azalea - but not surprisingly she drew a huge crowd on Friday.  Same goes for Lorde.  Didn't see her, but apparently she was the star at Lolla this year.  She's fine, but we will anoint her as the next big thing once we see some follow-up material after her first album Pure Heroine.  While it ain't easy to record a critically acclaimed ALBUM (yes, we said album...whatever that is these days), it's hard to write two or even more.

Which is a perfect segue into my favorite moment of Lollapalooza 2014 - Outkast's Saturday night performance.

Headliners are headliners because they're great and accomplished and mean so much to so many people on so many levels.  In previous years at Lolla we've seen some great headliners - Radiohead, Daft Punk (however this one was especially special for some reason), Red Hot Chili Peppers, Kanye West, Wilco - but none of them have been a "favorite".

With that said, I'm a child of the 80s and Outkast's rhymes and melodies have been the soundtrack to many of my formative years.

I distinctly remember sitting in the back seat of my neighbors car bumping ATLiens while he smoked a cigarette driving me to my first day of high school:

Or listening to So Fresh, So Clean in 2000 thinking that it might be time to adopt Andre 3000's wardrobe (which I didn't do obviously, but in hindsight probably should have) as well as debating the meaning of a lyric about "Anne Frank" in the song with one my long time friends:

Or having my mind blown in college by the duo's musical evolution on the Speakerboxxx/The Love Below album and having my roommates band do an amazing but ironic cover of "Roses":

Or even deciding that the instrumental version of SpottieOttieDopalicious was the perfect song for me, my wife and our wedding party to walk into our wedding reception with (for those of you who don't know, now you know - fast forward to 1:10ish).  Fast forward to the Friday before Lollapalooza and hearing a street band on the corner of Randolph and State playing those sweet horns:  
All of these memories and so many more all culminated for me at Lollapalooza - the first and probably last time I will ever see Outkast perform live.  Every song they performed on Saturday had a distinct memory.  
And while I didn't have the best seats in the house (aka field) and didn't have all of my friends that I've shared so many Outkast moments with, it was still an unforgettable night on so many levels.
This experience isn't something that is necessarily unique to Lollapalooza.  I'm sure people have had their own similar experiences at a Lady Gaga concert.  Or a Pearl Jam concert.  Or a Paul McCarthy concert.  Or a Jay-Z concert.  Or fill in the blank concert.
But whatever - it's not everyday where you can gingerly stroll into Grant Park, hang out, drink some beer, checkout some bands you've never heard, do some amazing people watching, checkout some bands you're moderately familiar with, eat some solid food, relax in a beautiful park with an amazing skyline view and then checkout one of your favorite musical acts of all time with tens of thousands of fans who are all there to have some fun.  
Seems like a winning combination if you ask me.
Thanks Lollapalooza - see you next year!    

Rumor Around the Sloop: British School Eyeing Southeast Corner of Michigan and Roosevelt?

A juicy rumor for a high profile piece of land:

Overheard a conversation today that would indicate that the British School may be looking at the empty lot that borders Michigan, Roosevelt and Indiana as a location for their High School. (Even as the construction is underway North of the Roosevelt Collection for PreK to 8th Grade. I know you've shown the design plans for a huge tower, but this might bear some further investigation...

"The Chicago" Renderings at Michigan and Roosevelt

The design plan the reader is referencing is "The Chicago" high-rise that continues to pop up around the web.  We posted about this back in late June.

It is an interesting idea, but seems like a pretty pricey piece of real estate for a school to buy.  Definitely seems more ripe for high end condos or maybe that's just the capitalist in me talking.  Then again, what the hell do we know.  Has anyone heard any similar rumors?

Since we're talking about the British School, Curbed Chicago recently checked in on the progress of their construction at Roosevelt Collection:

Only two months ago, the British School of Chicagoand developer McCaffery Interests celebrated the groundbreaking of the new South Loop campus of the school, and today the school already has three of its walls and most of its steel skeleton. Construction has been progressing at a steady pace to be open on-schedule for the fall 2015 semester.

The British School of Chicago - Looking east (Picture from Curbed Chicago)

(Hat tip:  JG!)

Shots Around the Sloop: Magical

(Hat tip:  AK!)

Grooming Your Childs "Best Brain"

A reader writes:

Brought my child to this new place called Best Brains today. Looks interesting.

Their website has an interesting video (that we can't embed) and states:

Best Brains is an enrichment program designed to enhance your child's overall academic development. Board-certified teachers work with your child on a weekly basis in a fun-filled interactive learning environment. Our low student to teacher ratio ensures your child receives the attention he/she needs.

Our teaching methodology is non-repetitive and aims to challenge students by introducing new concepts and skills each week. Our comprehensive program is one of a kind. We are the only learning center to provide instruction in Math, English, Abacus and General Knowledge all under one roof.

They just opened so we will add them to the business counter.

(Hat tip:  AK!)

Something Coming to Empty Lot at 624 S. Wabash?

A reader writes:

I'm sure it's happened before but just walked by 624 s wabash and noticed the for sale sign on the lot was still up but there was a soil boring crew on site. This is another void on the "wabash arts corridor" that would welcome some infill.

While it doesn't mean anything for sure, it usually is a sign that someone is interested in doing something on the land.  For instance a similar exercise happened at the land at 1000 S. Clark and now a gigantic rental building is coming.

Similarly, soil samples were taken at 609 S. State earlier this year, but nothing has materialized there yet.

With that said, does anyone have the scoop on this lot?  Seems ripe for something on a smaller scale?  Maybe a 4 or 5 story retail/residential building?

(Hat tip:  DP!)

What's Up with the Manicured Grass on the Roof of Printers Row Starbucks?

A reader writes:

Hey Sloopin,  

What's with the perfectly manicured grass on the roof of the Starbucks on Harrison and Dearborn? It looks like the perfect place to have a drink in the sun. 

Are there condos above Starbucks that have access to it? 

I've never seen anyone up there.

Good question - but we don't have the answer.  It sure does look tranquil.  Maybe it's someones sweet outdoor piece of nature in the concrete jungle?

Does anyone have the scoop on this?

UPDATE:  Thanks for the feedback both in the comment section and on social media.  Here is probably the best reference:
http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Home/March-April-2007/The-Great-Outdoors-Gallery/

(Hat tip:  KS!)