David Roeder: That's one small step for man, one giant leap of faith in mankind. I survived the Ledge on Wednesday. Gingerly at first, fearlessly after a time, I stood on the glass floor of the new attraction on the Sears Tower Skydeck. It promises patrons the sense of standing in space, free to admire the unobstructed view of a city 1,353 feet straight below.
The Sears Tower Skydeck opens its lure for thrill-seekers Thursday. It's called the Ledge and it gives the illusion of standing on air a few feet outside the building, 103 stories off the ground. It could put the Skydeck on the must-see list for tourists, right up there with the museums and Michigan Avenue shopping. It's supposed to be an engineering marvel.
MCCOOK DISH: Developers Clarius Partners LLC has secured approvals in McCook to build two industrial buildings at 9200 W. 55th St. The $28 million project will total 368,000 square feet sitting on 20 acres.
There have been financial exchanges that have blown into Chicago, promising to knock the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade from their lofty perches. And there is Nadex.
David Roeder: Sears Tower is "going green" while keeping its attire of basic black. The tower's owners are planning a rooftop-to-plaza renovation to conserve energy and power up its financial performance. The makeover detailed Wednesday calls for giving the tower a new neighbor, a 50-story hotel that the Sears owners said would feature "net zero" use of energy. They said changes to the tower itself will cut its appetite for electricity by 80 percent.
Two weeks ago, the U.S. Postal Service said it plans to auction its old main post office in Chicago. Ever since, I've been struggling with the futility of the agency's backward process. After years working with Walton Street Capital to establish that the redevelopment prospects are daunting, the agency now wants a buyer to assume an estimated $2-million-a-year cost just to keep the huge old place secure, plus get assessed a few million dollars more in property taxes each year. It isn't a stretch to suggest the Postal Service might have to pay a buyer for its trouble.
A proposal for the Congress Plaza Hotel to expand at 520 S. Michigan survived a raucous crowd and a perturbed alderman Thursday to win clearance at the Chicago Plan Commission. The mayoral-appointed commission overwhelmingly approved the same proposal it rejected on a narrow vote 18 months ago. But that earlier vote produced a lawsuit in which a Circuit Court judge held the commission's action was illegal. Reconsidering the expansion under Judge Sophia Hall's order, several commission members said their hands were forced on approving the project.
Impatient about the stillborn construction site on Wacker Drive, city officials are demanding the removal of the high-rise crane at the proposed Waterview Tower. No work has been done on the planned 90-story building since last year, and now it stands as a shell about 27 stories tall at the southwest corner of Wacker and Clark.
David Roeder: Under orders from a circuit judge, a city agency has scheduled a hearing on whether the union-defying Congress Plaza Hotel, 520 S. Michigan, gets a zoning permit to expand. Judge Sophia Hall ruled the Chicago Plan Commission illegally denied a zoning change for the hotel. Obeying Hall's order of last week, the commission is scheduled to reconsider the proposal Thursday.
Like a good trader, Richard Sandor has positioned himself to profit from several scenarios. If he succeeds, he will benefit immensely, but so will Chicago's large and still-vibrant population of traders, who will have new opportunities to make a buck.
The U.S. Postal Service plans to auction off Chicago's "incredible hulk," the massive old downtown post office that has been vacant since 1996. With its announcement Tuesday, the postal service served notice that it no longer has a long-term contract with Walton Street Capital to redevelop the site at 433 W. Van Buren. Walton Street, whose partners include prominent developer Neil Bluhm, has been involved with the building since 1999.
The William Blair Small Cap Growth Fund (WBSNX) has turned in the top returns in its class so far this year, and it's all because co-managers Mike Balkin and Karl Brewer decided to "get the band back together."
David Roeder: Developers in Lake View have learned a lesson: If you want to build near Wrigley Field, you give the old park a little respect. Don't build higher than the Wrigley roof. Plans for a more than $100 million hotel, apartment and retail complex southeast of Clark and Addison have been shaved to win community and aldermanic backing.
