Old YMCA Building on South Michigan Could Be Demolished

Blair Kamin of the Chicago Tribune had a post yesterday about the potential demolition of the old YMCA building at (830 S. Michigan Ave.), one of the oldest buildings on the historic street:

Unless a miracle happens, the old YMCA Building at 830 S. Michigan Ave., one of the oldest buildings on the Michigan Avenue streewall (historic district), will likely be demolished in the near future.

The owner this week applied for a demolition permit, after repeated citations by the city's Building Department. The parties were in court today at the Daley Center and the case has been continued to November 12. Alderban Fioretti's office was there, as were we and some neighbors.

We are all for preservation of old, historic (and in this case beautiful) buildings, but it sounds and looks like this one is in bad shape. If there is funding to restore and/or preserve it great, but most importantly we would rather have a functional building that brings something useful to the neighborhood. We walk by the building all the time and although you can tell it was great when it was in use, in its current form it's an eye sore.

In other demolition news, Kamin also reports that demolition of the first Gropius building on the old Michael Reese Hospital Campus has begun.

(image from chicagotribune.com)

More on the Old YMCA Building that Might be Demolished

Last week we had a post about the possible demolition of the old YMCA building (830 S. Michigan) and today the Chicago Tribune has a nice article providing more detail about the buildings history and the current mess the building is in:

Instead of having the look of a typical charitable organization, the YWCA building was lavishly ornamented with brick and terra cotta and used to house working women newly arriving in the city, said Jim Peters, president of the nonprofit advocacy group Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois, which placed the structure on its endangered landmarks list last year.

Now, the building is dilapidated, abandoned for at least 20 years after having been a hotel since 1929, Peters said. Although saving the integrity of the entire building seems too costly at this point, Peters and others would like to save the facade, now hidden by scaffolding, to keep with many of the surrounding historic buildings. The strip of buildings is known to some as South Michigan's "Streetwall" and encompasses buildings on Michigan between 11th Street and Randolph Street.

Demolition of Old YMCA Building has Begun

The demolition of the old YMCA building at 830 S. Michigan is underway (old Sloopin posts about the story here). We saw it with our own eyes (it looks like they were starting with the back of the building). It was also confirmed on the Chicago Tribunes Cityscapes blog recently.


(Image from Chicagotribune.com)

No Go for YMCA HQ

According to the chicagobusiness.com, the YMCA is potentially scraping plans to build their US headquarters in the South Loop. To be honest, we didn't even know that this was on the table, but regardless it's unfortunate.

When we walk down State street, between Congress and Roosevelt, it still amazes us at how many random (and ugly) concrete parking slabs exist undeveloped. This recently has been changing with new condo buildings and retail going up, but hopefully someone will develop this slab of land. It truly is an eye sore for a prominent area (and street) for the city.

Our guess is that over the next 10-15 years, these parking lots won't exist. Or at least that's what we're hoping for!

Soil Samples Mean Development at 609 S. State?

Interestante - a reader writes:

Hi Sloopin,   

I noticed today that there's a soil sample drilling rig in the combined parking lots on State between Harrison and Balbo. I know that this lot was once set to become the new headquarters of the YMCA, but that fell through. I wonder if this means a design or project is imminent, or if this is just preliminary for something further down the road. If you google Huzenis brothers buy South Loop development site, you get the Crain's article.

We've seen these trucks before and usually it means something is coming (ex - 1000 S. Clark).

Anyone have the scoop?

(Hat tip:  BC!)

School of Art Institute Buys Large Lot at 609 S. State Street

The one remaining large vacant lot on south State street that's north of Roosevelt has a new owner, which points to some form of new building eventually (via Crains):

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago's newest purchase isn't a masterpiece of the artistic canon, but something that's a bit more of a blank canvas.

SAIC, as the school is called, recently paid close to $24 million for a 56,000-square-foot parking lot at 609-673 S. State St., according to a person familiar with the deal. That's almost double the approximately $12.3 million its seller, a venture of Chicago real estate firm JRG Capital Partners LLC, paid for it two years ago, the person said.

SAIC plans a “new, purpose-built school building” on the site, it said in a statement posted to its website.

“The school has not yet identified when or precisely what it will build on the land, but in the short term, SAIC will benefit from the funds received while it remains a parking lot,” according to the statement, which did not specify the address of the acquisition.

As you may recall, at one point this lot was going to be a new YMCA headquarters but that was scrapped back in 2009.

The other currently vacant lot on this stretch (at 9th and State) appears to be moving forward with a plan to build a 30+ story a condo building.

Anyway, it doesn't sound like anything concrete is in the works for the School of Art Institute at this lot, but we will keep our ears open.

The Crains article also talks about how the South Loop has solidified itself as a key hub for students and schools:

The deal is yet another sign of how the South Loop has solidified itself as the key hub downtown for colleges and universities and the development projects that play off of them. 

A gaggle of schools, including Columbia College Chicago, Roosevelt University and others, operate classrooms and have students living in the area. 

More student- and college-fueled projects are on their way. Last week, Chicago developer CA Ventures LLC debuted a new student housing complex called Infinite Chicago at Jackson Boulevard and Wabash Avenue, a few blocks north of SAIC's new property. CA Ventures also is part of a group remaking the historic Old Colony building at Dearborn and Van Buren streets into student housing.  

Dennis McClendon, vice president of development and planning issues for South Loop Neighbors, a community rganization in the area, said it made sense for SAIC to buy the parking lot on State Street for a development. 

“There's no office market for that parcel. The residential market probably doesn't want to be right there, with a site backing up to the el,” he said, referring to the tracks on the east side of the parcel. “Institutional is kind of the perfect use for it, I think, from a real estate standpoint.”

Demolition is the Word of the Moment in the Sloop

It feels like we continue to hear and read about buildings being demolished in the Sloop. A couple of months ago the Harold Ickes homes felt the wrath of the wrecking ball. Last week we read about the historic YMCA building on Michigan Avenue that might be coming down.

This week the Chicago Journal had an article about two buildings on Wabash that are owned by East-West University coming down and today two people let us know that the old Firestone garage (at the corner of Wabash and 16th) was also being demolished.

Seems like a lot of stuff is coming down in the Sloop.

Does anyone know if there are plans to build something else at the property at 16th and Wabash?

(Hat Tip: Nick D and BT!)