TIF: University Presents Harper Court Developer Finalists

At tonight's TIF Council meeting, Susan Campbell from the University told us who the five finalist developers would be for the project encompassing Harper Court, the city parking lot, maybe the former Hollywood Video site and maybe Harper Theater.  These finalists were chosen from eleven applicants who responded to the University's request for qualifications (RFQ).  The following is from the handout the University passed out and the developers are listed here in no particular order:

Mesa Development/Walsh: preliminary suggestion included 150K sq ft of office space, 200 grad student units, a 150-room hotel, 30K sq ft of retail and a 400-car garage.  Previous projects include The Heritage at Millennium Park; Park Boulevard and LaSalle Park.

Metropolitan Properties/Heitman: 2-level parking below grade, perimeter retail along Lake Park and 53rd St. and two mid-rises east and west of Harper, one potentially a 150-200 room hotel.  They developed the Hyde Park Art Center (pic-left) and The University Center of Chicago (Congress/State).

Vermilion Development: suggested an urban design of retail, multi-family housing, institutional, hotel, grad housing and "active-adult housing" totalling from 390K to 625K sq ft.  Previous projects include mixed-use complexes at the University of Illinois (Champaign-Urbana) and Western Illinois University as well as 3030 N. Broadway.

Metropolitan Properties/Heitman: 2-level parking below grade, perimeter retail along Lake Park and 53rd St. and two mid-rises east and west of Harper, one potentially a 150-200 room hotel.  They developed the Hyde Park Art Center and The University Center of Chicago (Congress/State).

McCaffery Interests/Taxman: suggested following the precedent of The Market Commons in Clarendon, VA with retail/entertainment, residential (both grad student and market rate), a botique hotel, office space and parking.  Past work includes Streets of Woodfield, The Morgan at Loyola Station, 669 N. Michigan, The Shops of Oak Park and Riverforest Town Center.

Joseph Freed and Associates: similarly suggested retail/entertainment, grad student and market rate residential, a botique hotel, office space and parking.  Experience includes Sullivan Center (the Carson Pirie Scott building), Block 37 (pic-right), Wicker Park Center and Uptown Square.

All five are local firms with national experience.  The development is almost certainly going to be done "in phases", according to Campbell.  Calypso, Park 52 and Checkerboard have leases and will stay put awhile.  Dixie Kitchen will vacate July 1.

Oh, more detailed presentations should be available in early summer (Junish?), with mid-September a possible end-date for awarding the project.

Comments

[withrow]

These come across as fairly similar proposals, except that Metropolitan Properties' suggestion seems smaller, with less retail, and the bottom line minimum for retail/restaurant space in the new development should be that the number of units and the square footage exceeds what we have on those properties now.

The McCaffery Interests proposal-- "The Market Common, Hyde Park"-- would borrow plenty of concepts from their other Market Common projects, which I don't have a problem with. You keep doing the same project with local differences and you're likely to work out all the kinks. But I wouldn't expect their proposal to be great architecture.

Joseph Freed has two retail projects I really like-- Block 37 and Uptown Square. I like Block 37's in-your-face vibrancy and the Borders Books at Uptown is a gorgeous retail space.