There were 32 active tower cranes in the City of Chicago when the B.U.C. staff took a break to look for cranes in London on the 17th of this month. A lot changed during our nine-day absence, and we returned to find…okay, there are still 32 active tower cranes in Chicago. But not all the same ones.

Two cranes from that count are no longer active: 171 Aberdeen, which came down Friday, and 3Eleven, which has been partially lowered and will soon be completely removed.

But two new cranes have taken their places: One South Halsted and the Moxy Hotel. That means the West Loop and River North both lost and gained a crane. Nice synergy.

There are also a few changes on the future tower crane horizon. Aloft Chicago Mag Mile has planted a stub at 243 East Ontario Street in Streeterville, joining No. 508 (508 West Diversey Parkway) as stub-only tower crane sites. And the Marlowe project at 675 North Wells Street in River North received a tower crane permit on Friday.

Two sites, Nobu Hotel (854 West Randolph Street) and Essex On The Park (808 South Michigan Avenue) have permits, but continue to keep us waiting on stub planting. Nobu is driving piles; Essex remains on caisson duty.