As Chicago gets dangerously close to dipping below the 30-tower-crane plateau, some good news came in at the end of last week. Along with the second crane permit for the Lincoln Common project in Lincoln Park, Friday also saw the issuing of the tower-crane permit for the Hoxton Chicago hotel in the West Loop.

As you can see in the slow-motion pile-driving drive-by video above, Stalworth Underground continues foundation work on the 12-story, 175-room hotel from developers Ennismore and Shapack Partners, and design architect GREC Architects. Soon, Power Construction will swarm the site, which got its foundation permit back on June 21, and progress will start going vertical.

A rendering of the Hoxton Chicago hotel from Ennismore.

The tower crane permit, issued August