That looks like a wrap on caisson work at 400 Lake Shore

Posted on by
Reply

It looks like caisson work is complete for the North Tower at 400 Lake Shore. Lots of equipment being loaded up on trucks, no more caissons (or precious few) still poking up out of the ground, no caissons being drilled. You know, all the tell-tale signs.

There are a whole bunch o’ steel sheets waiting to be driven into the ground, with some already in place right next to the cofferdam. (Note: It seems cliché at this point to refer to the cofferdam as “The Old Chicago Spire Hole.” I’m going to miss that name.) According to Alderman Reilly’s email to constituents and anyone else who wants to read it last week, those could very well be “tower crane sheeting.” So yeah, this *might* be an indication that the tower crane (or one of them? Still don’t know) will be right next to the old Spire Ho—sorry. Next to the cofferdam.

In fact, here are all the 400 Lake Shore-prudent tidbits from the alderman’s email:

Week of 4/22:

Continue Installation of tower crane sheeting
Demobilization of caisson equipment
Delivery of mobile crane for concrete operations
Begin excavation of site at Ogden slip and under inbound LSD ramp
Begin installation of concrete walls inside the cofferdam

Week of 4/29:

Continue excavation at Ogden slip
Begin installation of concrete walls inside cofferdam
Begin pouring of cofferdam walls and tower crane foundation

This may shock you, but I took a few photos while I was visiting on Thursday, April 25. They kinda look like a sandbox full of toys. Really cool toys. Here’s proof:

Enjoying the photos? Metra and CTA rides (and Amtrak trains to Milwaukee), Zipcars, Divvy Bikes, camera lenses, domain fees, snacks & energy drinks, and comfortable walking shoes add up. You can help offset expenses by making a greatly-appreciated donation to Building Up Chicago using the form below.

Make a one-time donation

Choose an amount

$1.00
$4.00
$10.00

Or enter a custom amount

$

Your contribution is appreciated.

Donate

919 West Fulton continues trending upward in the West Loop

Posted on by
Reply
An overhead view of 919 West Fulton from Skender on Instagram.

As you can see from Skender’s Instagram post above, Fulton Street Companies‘ latest development, 919 West Fulton, an 11-story office building in the heart of the West Loop/Fulton Market District, continues its progress. All work is above street level now.

Photos were taken Monday, April 22:

Enjoying the photos? Metra and CTA rides (and Amtrak trains to Milwaukee), Zipcars, Divvy Bikes, camera lenses, domain fees, snacks & energy drinks, and comfortable walking shoes add up. You can help offset expenses by making a greatly-appreciated donation to Building Up Chicago using the form below.

Make a one-time donation

Choose an amount

$1.00
$5.00
$9.19

Or enter a custom amount

$

Your contribution is appreciated.

Donate

No tower crane at 220 North Ada *yet*, but soon

Posted on by
Reply
They’re starting to haul caisson equipment out of 220 North Ada.

220 North Ada is bringing more than 300 new apartments to the west end of the West Loop. But first, there has to be a tower crane. And that tower crane should be arriving very, very soon.

A visit Monday sure looked like caisson work was wrapping up. Some of the equipment has been loaded onto trucks for transport to their next call of duty, while machinery has been dismantled so it can be removed from the site as well. That likely means we’ll have some excavation work coming up next, as well as the planting of the tower crane base.

A reminder that the caisson permit for 220 was issued November 22 or 2023; the tower permit came through March 5 of this year. Next will likely be a superstructure permit, followed by the full-building permit.

Your on-site team consists of General Contractor Clayco and Concrete Contractor Adjustable Concrete Construction. The development team includes the development team of Shapack Partners, CRG, and KMW Communities. 220 North Ada’s Architect of Record is Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

Per CRG’s website, 220 North Ada will deliver 308 rental units across the 29-story tower; 62 apartments will be designated as affordable. Units will be a mix of studio, one- and two-bedrooms, and penthouses, all atop three levels of parking. 12,000+ square feet of retail space will be included at ground level. Early 2026 is the projected opening date.

Photos (lots with an iPhone) taken Monday April 22:

Drilling a caisson. March 29, 2024.

Enjoying the photos? Metra and CTA rides (and Amtrak trains to Milwaukee), Zipcars, Divvy Bikes, camera lenses, domain fees, snacks & energy drinks, and comfortable walking shoes add up. You can help offset expenses by making a greatly-appreciated donation to Building Up Chicago using the form below.

Make a one-time donation

Choose an amount

$2.20
$5.00
$10.00

Or enter a custom amount

$

Your contribution is appreciated.

Donate

Little remains of Ryan Field. So let’s get ready for construction

Posted on by
Reply
A neighbor’s perspective of Ryan Field demolition.

There’s talk in Chicago about building a new football stadium (for the Bears.) There’s also talk in Chicago about building a new baseball stadium (for the White Sox.) Truth is, we might see one or the other, or we might not see either of them. To be honest, I only care about watching construction, not if either team gets new digs.

What we do know, for sure, is that Northwestern University is building a new football stadium up in Evanston. And let me assure you, I plan to photograph the HECK out of that construction. I was in Pittsburgh when both Heinz Field and PNC Park (ask me about the two-way mirrors in the men’s room) were built, but I didn’t even have a camera then, much less an interest in chronicling the construction process. I’m not missing out on this one. And we’ll just have to wait and see what happens for the Bears and Sox.

There isn’t much left to see up at Ryan Field. Even the goal posts are gone now, along with (what I thought was) that gorgeous willow tree that stood right inside the main construction entrance. It’s firewood now. The tree, not the entrance. They’re also grinding up the parking lots, so it’s like demolition and road construction in one project.

Alpine Demolition. thank you for your hard work. You did indeed Knock It Down. Turner Construction, The Big Green W, and Central Street Consortium, I’ll see you again soon for construction. Maybe even the groundbreaking ceremony?

Anyway, here are likely my last photos of demolition at Ryan Field, taken Monday, April 22. I knew there wasn’t much left to see when I headed up there, so I convinced myself not to spend too much time and take too many shots. I took 120….

Enjoying the photos? Metra and CTA rides (and Amtrak trains to Milwaukee), Zipcars, Divvy Bikes, camera lenses, domain fees, snacks & energy drinks, and comfortable walking shoes add up. You can help offset expenses by making a greatly-appreciated donation to Building Up Chicago using the form below.

Make a one-time donation

Choose an amount

$5.00
$10.00
$15.00

Or enter a custom amount

$

Your contribution is appreciated.

Donate

Glass goes up, tower crane comes down, at 633 South LaSalle

Posted on by
Reply
Carl, working high atop the South Loop, taking down the tower crane.

There’s glass, but alas, the tower crane has passed. And so 633 South LaSalle attains a couple milestones of progress.

Friday and Saturday were the crane-removal days, as you can see in Carl’s Instagram video above (give him a LIKE). That’s Central Contractors Service’s rig out there wrapping up the dismantling. As for glass installation, that’s been going on for a couple weeks now.

As a reminder: Q Investment Partners and Melrose Ascension Capital are adding 358 beds (apartments and co-living units) to the South Loop, next to Metra’s LaSalle Street station. As long as all goes to plan from here on out, those beds should be sleep-in-able early in 2025.

Photos were taken on the second day of crane removal, April 6:

The newly-craneless 633 South LaSalle.

Enjoying the photos? Metra and CTA rides (and Amtrak trains to Milwaukee), Zipcars, Divvy Bikes, camera lenses, domain fees, snacks & energy drinks, and comfortable walking shoes add up. You can help offset expenses by making a greatly-appreciated donation to Building Up Chicago using the form below.

Make a one-time donation

Choose an amount

$3.00
$5.00
$6.33

Or enter a custom amount

$

Your contribution is appreciated.

Donate

2 Questions at 400 Lake Shore

Posted on by
Reply
These caissons are awfully far from the pit of despair.

Question #1. Are we getting two tower cranes here?

Question #2. There are a few caissons well to the south of the Spire hole. Is the footprint of the North Tower that large? Or are some of the caissons for the South Tower being drilled now?

Photos were taken March 29, 2024:

II In One Contractors rig
400 Lake Shore North Tower construction
400 Lake Shore North Tower construction
400 Lake Shore North Tower construction

Enjoying the photos? Metra and CTA rides (and Amtrak trains to Milwaukee), Zipcars, Divvy Bikes, camera lenses, domain fees, snacks & energy drinks, and comfortable walking shoes add up. You can help offset expenses by making a greatly-appreciated donation to Building Up Chicago using the form below.

Make a one-time donation

Choose an amount

$1.00
$4.00
$10.00

Or enter a custom amount

$

Your contribution is appreciated.

Donate

Chicago University Collegiate Institute of the Art of Architectural Criticism graduates 78,000 more architecture critics for Class of 2024

Posted on by
Reply
Tower cranes in the West Loop erecting buildings this year’s CUCIAAC graduates will hate.

This weekend, the Chicago University Collegiate Institute of the Art of Architectural Criticism on the city’s far northeast side will graduate its largest class of seniors since the pre-pandemic era. While most graduates, the majority of them having earned a degree in Constructive Criticism, will attend ceremonies in person, not all are welcome at the off-campus festivities, as they’re either too tall (or not tall enough) for the neighborhood, or simply don’t fit in with their surroundings. Of course, any student deemed too dense won’t be graduating at all.

Ima Haeder, Dean of Education at the CUCIAAC, laments the current lack of architecture critics in Chicago. “Sadly, only 67% of our population are qualified to nitpick every little detail of Chicago’s designed environment. Without this year’s graduating class, that percentage would easily have plummeted closer to 66%. We need our students to be out of the classroom and into the online forums and community meetings, where their input and expertise can be heard by anyone with internet access who thinks they know what good design should look like. Besides, I’m getting really tired of listening to them complain about the dorms” he added.

Offensive blue glass

“Well, would you want to live here?” one graduate, who didn’t want us to use his name until he had his diploma in hand, responded to the dean’s comment. “It’s like no thought at all was put into this place. Even the cafeteria is lame. Have you gotten coffee there? Those cobalt mugs are horrible. Do you even know what cobalt mugs are? Blue glasses! Blue glasses! Why is everything blue glass!?” he went on, eliciting high fives and bro-hugs from classmates.

As has been the case for most school years, graduates will remain in their seats to receive diplomas rather than walking up on stage, since the podium is ugly and most feel it should be covered in an entirely different material, or hidden completely underground. The Institute is also warning the public to arrive early because there isn’t enough parking, and traffic congestion in this area is already a major problem.

Stuff We Want: 301 South Green

Posted on by
Reply
No action yet at 301 South Green.

301 South Green is to be a 36-story, 362-unit apartment tower in Chicago’s West Loop. Currently home to one- and two-story brick buildings, the new development would wipe out those two structures and replace them with a glass tower designed by Goettsch Partners.

The tower would include about 1,500 square feet of ground-floor retail space, 128 parking stalls (for cars) and 250-some spaces to park your bike. Per the Goettsch website, 73 apartments would be affordable units. Per that same website, as well as the presentation shown on the Plan Commission’s site, the developers are GSP Development and Golub & Company.

The Chicago Plan Commission approved the development in October 2022. Since then, news has been quiet.

All renderings are from Goettsch Partners:

Ryan Field demolition progress, in photos

Posted on by
Reply
Demolition continues on Northwestern University’s Ryan Field in Evanston, IL.

Because “Ryan Field demolition progress, in words” would just be “Ryan Field demolition progress continues” and that doesn’t show you much. Much sunnier on this day. Perfectly sunny, in fact. Wednesday March 20, to be specific.

Enjoying the photos? Metra and CTA rides (and Amtrak trains to Milwaukee), Zipcars, Divvy Bikes, camera lenses, domain fees, snacks & energy drinks, and comfortable walking shoes add up. You can help offset expenses by making a greatly-appreciated donation to Building Up Chicago using the form below.

Make a one-time donation

Choose an amount

$5.00
$10.00
$15.00

Or enter a custom amount

$

Your contribution is appreciated.

Donate

919 West Fulton sprouts above street level

Posted on by
Reply
919 West Fulton from under the L on Lake Street.

919 West Fulton had just started poking up out of the ground last time we visited. Now, you can walk along North Sangamon and look up to see progress, as the core juts skyward on this future office building from *Fulton Street Companies.

*Remember the whole 917 vs 919 thing from earlier this month? It looks like perhaps there’s a resolution, as that link from Fulton Street Companies now refers to this project as 919. The old link, the 917 link, is dead.

With the full building permit in hand for this one, having been issued back in November, here are a few more of the players on this team (shameless attempt on my part to chime in on March Madness):
FitzGerald – Design Architect
Thornton Tomasetti – Structural Engineer
Midwest Masonry – Masonry Contractor
Edwards Engineering – Refrigeration, Ventilation Contractor
DW Mechanical Group – Plumbing Contractor
Maron Electric Company – Electrical Contractor
MAP Strategies – Permit Expeditor

Progress continues from Skender and Adjustable. Check it out, photographed on Wednesday, March 20:

Enjoying the photos? Metra and CTA rides (and Amtrak trains to Milwaukee), Zipcars, Divvy Bikes, camera lenses, domain fees, snacks & energy drinks, and comfortable walking shoes add up. You can help offset expenses by making a greatly-appreciated donation to Building Up Chicago using the form below.

Make a one-time donation

Choose an amount

$1.00
$5.00
$9.19

Or enter a custom amount

$

Your contribution is appreciated.

Donate