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New Ideas for Old Shopping Malls: 3 Ways Retail Developers are Remixing the Shopping Center Experience

HardHatChat

Coming out of the International Council of Shopping Centers’ RECon convention in Las Vegas last month, there’s been a lot of conversation in the media around the future of retail development. 2) Vehicles to “Drive” Mall Traffic. 2) Vehicles to “Drive” Mall Traffic.

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Commercial Construction Highs and Lows of 2011

HardHatChat

HIGH – Everyone was submitting drawings in 2011. We saw drawings for new Chicago restaurant projects, retail construction work, office renovations, school construction and learning center additions – you name it, we saw it. Developers and retailers that would normally go 2 deep in bidding went 4 deep. I was wrong.

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How to Choose the Best General Contractor to Partner with for your “First” Commercial Construction Project

HardHatChat

It’s a pretty cool ground-up commercial construction project for us because not only is it the first time we’ve worked with this national retail brand, but it’s also the very first Farm & Fleet store in the Chicago area.

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Converting downtown office into multifamily residential: Let’s stop and think about this

BD+C

On the surface, the idea seems like an attractive plug-and-play solution for all involved. Is conversion from office to multifamily really a good idea? contagion from abandoned office buildings will spread to retail (no daytime shoppers), restaurants (no daytime diners), and street life (no happy hour!),

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Best and Worst of Commercial Construction Practices in 2009

HardHatChat

As this year draws to a close, let’s look back on some of the highs and lows of what was a challenging year. When Chicago lost the 2016 Olympic bid this fall, it was a devastating blow to the city’s restaurant and retail construction industry. High – Niche or value-driven retail construction. High – Green building.

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Commercial Construction Trends: Why More Clients Are Choosing the Design-Assist Model

HardHatChat

This could be because the client is a national retail or restaurant chain with an in-house architect or designated design partner. In the case of one grocery retailer, we were brought in to do site visits and evaluations and give very topline construction pricing models based on their general requirements.

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Lessons learned from 70 years of building cities

BD+C

Taking stock, the following ideas illustrate ideas on the future and how we live and come together. Currently under construction, 10 World Trade embodies this idea. Rendering courtesy Sasaki Architecture is a building block and a testing ground for larger urban ideas. This is our mission: Better Design, Together.

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