A soil sampling rig at 832 West Lake Street in the West Loop on Thursday, June 23.

There was a soil sampling rig at 832 West Lake Street in the West Loop this afternoon. And as we all know, soil sampling means someone has their eye on some dirt, and what they might be able to build on that dirt.

In this case, that someone might be Jeff Shapack of Shapack Partners. The folks who brought you WeWork and The Parker Fulton Market are busy as beavers in this part of the city. back in January, Chicago Architecture Blog reported on the community meeting where Shapack introduced their desires to build a hotel on this site. Certainly, things could have changed in the 6 months since that meeting, but for now, I’ll assume this is all still about that hotel.