Chicagoan through and through, lover of terra cotta, preservationist and environmentalist

Chicago, IL
Joined March 2018
It’s good to see the Civic Opera House facade getting some much needed love. Many years of slush, snow, rain, and other weather has taken its toll on the Wacker arcade stone. It’s always interesting to see how these facades were built. @Pres_Chicago
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Now if only Vornado Realty Trust could get off their New York couch and repair the Merchandise Mart facade. The cracking is really bad with hundreds, or even thousands, or broken pieces. Maybe they’re putting off the work so it’ll be the new owner’s problem?
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Here’s more photos.
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Replying to @FedExHelp
@FedExHelp I’m really disappointed in FedEx Office these days. They’re bending small business, like me, over to maintain their profit margin and squeezing the little guy. 3 8.5x11 cuts cost almost $10 because of multiple surcharges. I’ve been a loyal customer since I started…
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my business back in 2010, and FedEx doesn’t care. Their $95 billion in revenue is what’s important, not the individual Americans working hard just trying to make it. That “cutting setup” is new and esp. egregious. I was told “it’s for the cardboard.” Maybe next time don’t use 5…
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sheets & charge me less. The FS Surcharge is the most insulting. When I order a Big Mac I don’t also need to pay for them to cook my burger. @FedExOffice happily double charges me for the same job. If you don’t want my business, then just say so. I’d happily leave you if I could.
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Thank you @cta for running 4-car brown line trains this weekend when there was construction & major events going on. /s You saving the maintenance issues is really paying off to the 1,000 people now stuck waiting on the Diversey platform because of a door problem. @ctaaction
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Why’s the Brown Line down to 4-cars when there’s U.S. Men’s soccer game at a sold-out (63,636) Soldier Field, Blues Fest, Pokémon Fest, Cubs home game, AND construction on the Red Line, rerouted to the elevated. What’s up @cta? That 100% contradicts your press release. @ctaaction
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.@BuildingChi Has anyone seen any permits for the southeast corner of California and Elston? The buildings were demolished in summer of 2015 and been vacant ever since. However, now there’s 4 excavators on site, and a 5th appeared Thursday. Could just be a holding site, or is it?
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Now let’s look at probably the “most” vacant class A building: 300 North LaSalle. Opened in 2009, 20.5% of its 1.3M sq. ft. are vacant. Many large tenants moved out of here to the Salesforce Tower (1.2M, 96% leased) a block west. But at least 300 LaSalle is getting a new lobby?🤷🏼‍♂️
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There’s been a lot of talk about the Chicago office market cratering, but has leasing actually? Take 225 Randolph for example. 850,000 sq. ft. of renovated 1965 office floors. It got Landmarked in 2020 & reopened in 2025. It is 86.5% leased. Class A space is clearly in demand.
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25 minutes between inbound Brown Line trains during rush hour. This is purely unacceptable. CTA website says “normal service”. Once trains started running again, they were only every 10 minutes. The CTA is pure trash! At least I didn’t get beat up? @ctaaction @cta @ChicagosMayor
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Is there a tower crane watch ongoing for 300 W Huron @BuildingChi ?
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It’s pretty surprising that @JBoorstin wrapped here interview with @SherylSandberg about women in the workplace by saying “back to you guys” & that anchor was @KellyCNBC. Want to change the gender gap? Stop say “you guys” especially when 1 or more anchors on the desk are female.
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How the hell is this “Normal Service”?!?!
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The new owners of the Chicago Daily News building are giving the facade some much needed love. You can clearly see in the foreground the areas cleaned of dirt and soot. I wonder if the ivy, notorious for messing up masonry, will stay or go.
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Who knows where I’m at based on these photos?
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I can’t say I’ve heard of the production company Pops Puffs Pebbles, nor the code named Dutch & Knuckles, before. They’ll be filming at Van Buren and Wacker. @filming_chicago have any ideas?
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Has anyone seen a rendering, floor plan, or any sort of details about how the Chase Tower plaza will be reconfigured or look when done? They’re doing a TON of work, & now there’s some heft scaffolding for an open air area. Are they adding enclosed space? Less hardscaping? Other?
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Again @SullyCNBC‘s pro-oil stance shines. Show me ANY “EV mandates” like you said the automakers rolled over on with President Biden. You’ll never reply because there were no EV mandates. That was yet another lie that Trump rattled off on the campaign trail. So what mandates?
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