CTA land for sale, but not in Logan Square

Last week at the ICSC Illinois Alliance Program and Midwest Idea Exchange, I briefly met a man charged with selling CTA real estate, but none of it was located in Logan Square.  Mostly it was along the Brown Line, and I recall a Wilson Yards property.

Oddly, the man charged with promoting the CTA real estate for sale at this conference was from Boston (I don’t recall his name or firm) and not quite familiar with our neighborhoods and the many train stops throughout the CTA system. Today’s Chicago Tribune reports in “CTA puts out ‘for sale’ sign” that the CTA has outsourced management of this real estate portfolio to Chicago’s Jones Lang LaSalle, so the Boston front is even more odd.

A map of some of the land and buildings for sale shows these first efforts don’t include any CTA owned property in Logan Square.

Sensory perception:

Because I’ve had a rabbit wintering in my yard, this sign on the door of Prada & Associates at 2653 N. Milwaukee Avenue made me smile.

The WOW is gone

Less than a week after ABC 7’s I-Team report, “Sign of the Times,” the huge WOW billboard disappeared from Logan Square, along with its smaller sister billboard that was located on top of the same building (“after” photo below).

Grace’s Furniture/Cheetah Gym Building
on Milwaukee Ave.

ABC 7’s I-Team investigates WOW billboard

Wednesday night ABC 7 broadcast an I-Team report, “Sign of the Times,”  on illegal billboards throughout the City of Chicago, and Logan Square’s WOW billboard figured prominently in the piece, with neighborhood residents Bruce Anderson and Paddy Lauber offering perspectives.

Grace’s Furniture/Cheetah Gym Building
on Milwaukee Ave.*

Change

Not only in the White House, but even on and around Milwaukee Avenue there have been some changes. Certainly the above average snowfall this season merits an updated photo (below), though this fails to adequately capture the amount of snow we’ve received thus far.

Milwaukee Ave. North of Logan Square