Saturday, January 12, 2008

Howard Street Terminal - Updating


For those who have not seen or witnessed the changes, I decided to upload some recent photos. The Howard Street Terminal Project is a huge. To watch the windows and escalators popping out of the building is quite a relief. Does anyone remember the broken fiberglass overhangs with pigeon poop that commuters like me used to cower under only to find little protection from the rain?

When the plans and progress are completed, then the Terminal's north end off Howard will be renovated as the Howard Terminal looked when it was first built only improved and more classical. If you combine the Terminal with the condos to the east and west, then the future seems amazing for those who care to be objective. Pivot Point is now upscale condos. However, the management of Gateway Plaza seems like a total joke to this resident.
Who is the management company responsible for all the unfilled storefronts? Did I see a 630 area code? How do you allow management from such a distance and expect it to efficiently fill the space with tenants? It seems like its out of the loop in more ways than one! Do they own it or appear unable to fullfill responsibility that Gateway's ownership tolerates for what seems like brain dead reasons in my opinion.
Although the new age store at Howard and Clark did not open at the right time, Wild Oats is a bike ride away down Chicago Avenue and remains open until 11:00 p.m. La Cocina di Donatela and the Fish Keg are effortless to reach given the blue light, new pavement, and street lamps down Howard. The infrastructure is begging for residents who are looking for an affordable neighborhood on the far north side kitty corner to the major northside suburbs without the hassle of additional Purple or Yellow Line Stops!

It totally blows me away that Rogers Park has not overwhelmed other neighborhoods in interest, due to the open space and cheap commercial store fronts. I am not talking about rising prices as much as interest. It is an incredibly diverse Chicago Community with undervalued housing right next to the Lakefront, among other things.

1 comment:

  1. Does anyone remember the broken fiberglass overhangs with pigeon poop that commuters like me used to cower under only to find little protection from the rain?

    All too well. That nasty old bus canopy was bad as far back as 1976 and only got worse with age. They tried putting netting underneath to keep pigeons out of the structure, only there were so many holes in the roof, that they tended to stay there longer once they got in, as it was harder for their little pigeon brains to find the way out. We needed umbrellas both for rain and pigeon crap.

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