About danieldschell

I'm Daniel Schell, Chicagoan, Twitter fiend, and picture taker. I like sunsets, travel, and long walks through construction sites. If you build it, I will come.

Checking back on The 808 Cleveland

Posted on May 17, 2022 by danieldschell

First and foremost, a special thanks to the team of Focus Construction and Pepper Construction for using their tower crane to pluck The Spirit of Progress from atop One River Place Condominiums and setting on top of The 808 Cleveland construction site so I could get the above photo op. The statue was returned to its proper place without anyone knowing she was missing.

And here are a bunch more photos I took of progress at Pappageorge Haymes Partners-designed, 22-story apartment building for DAC Developments that didn’t require me stealing a Chicago icon.

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.

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There are piles of piles to drive at Embry

Posted on May 17, 2022 by danieldschell

Caissons are done, but foundation work continues for Embry at 21 North May in the West Loop. A 270-degree tour around the site last week shows piles have been driven into the ground, and a bunch more sat at the ready for their turn in the soil. That’s the firm of McHugh & McHugh (Construction & Concrete) on the job out there, getting this 16-story, 58-unit condo building from Sulo Development ready to go vertical. And remember, they’ll be getting a shiny yellow Liebherr tower crane soon, too.

732 West Randolph plants yet another tower crane along Randolph Street

Posted on May 16, 2022 by danieldschell

The base section of a tower crane was set in pace Thursday at 732 West Randolph.

What an embarrassment of tower-crane riches we’ve along Randolph Street in the West Loop. Even though recent rigs at 609, 1371, 1400 and 1454 are gone, we have cranes operating at the corners of Randolph and Peoria (900 Randolph), Randolph and Aberdeen (166 North Aberdeen), and Randolph and Elizabeth (160 North Elizabeth.)

And now, 732 West Randolph has entered the chat. Thursday, general contractor Maris Construction and concrete contractor Pepper Construction planted the base for a tower crane that will build an eight-story (plus basement) office building. Designed by Hirsch MPG, 732 will connect on its first six floors with 730 West Randolph next door, and will include a rooftop deck and basement fitness center.

732 West Randolph got its first construction permit way back on March 03, 2020, as a renovation/alteration permit to add the eight-story building to the aforementioned six-story building at 730 West. A revised New Construction permit was issued September 23 of 2022. Both of those permits were reinstated in August of last year, and the tower crane was permitted February 1 of this year.

As you can see, work is in progress. All that rebar around the base of the crane will be smothered in concrete for the crane foundation on Monday.

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Progress Update: 166 North Aberdeen

Posted on May 16, 2022 by danieldschell

166 North Aberdeen is:
A 21-story, 224-unit apartment tower
A development from MCZ Development
A design by SCB
A build by Lendlease
A concrete project of Pepper Construction

It looks like progress is close to, if not at, level 10. Yep, right around the halfway mark. Math.

160 North Elizabeth hits the 15th floor

Posted on May 16, 2022 by danieldschell

A Linkedin post late last week from Thomas Roszak tells us concrete at 160 North Elizabeth has reached the 15th floor. This is a 27-story tower, so that’s more than halfway up. Because math. And I’m good at it. Clark and Adjustable are good at things too, because this building is flying upwards.

If you happened to make it outside Thursday, you noticed it was a sunny, gorgeous day. And sunny days are ideal for construction progress photos. So I took a few:

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513 South Damen is topped out and very glassy

Posted on May 15, 2022 by danieldschell

513 South Damen and its sister building, Atrio.

When last (and first) I visited 513 South Damen in the Illinois Medical District, I was surprised at how quickly it had grown. Last week’s 360-degree tour shows it to be topped at 22 stories, and glass has reached the eighth level above the parking podium.

513 South Damen is:
A 279-unit apartment building
A development from Marquette Companies
A design by Brininstool + Lynch
A project of Power Construction

Demolition is underway at Cassidy Tire, 344 North Canal

Posted on May 15, 2022 by danieldschell

Demolition of the former Cassidy Tire at 344 North Canal began last week. Atlas Industries is doing the demo work for McHugh Construction, who will build the new 344 North Canal residential tower on this site.

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HUGO begins rising from its dual excavation sites

Posted on May 13, 2022 by danieldschell

An active day at 411 West Chicago, the east “half” of HUGO

Foundation work is complete at River North’s HUGO residential development, and now developer-slash-general-contractor LG Group is beginning the groundwork for the two nine-story buildings designed by NORR.

The west half of this project, 751 North Hudson, got a hoist permit Wednesday; the 411 West Chicago side got one a day prior. Building permits were issued (751) July 14 and (411) August 5, 2021.

You can see photos of work at both sides of the HUGO equation below, along with the Pesky Building In The Middle (previously known as 415 West Chicago) they’ll surround.

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1044 West Van Buren joins Chicago’s latest tower crane parade

Posted on May 13, 2022 by danieldschell

The 18-story, 196-unit apartment tower by developer and general contractor Tandem took a big step forward this week, planting a tower crane stub in the ground at 1044 West Van Buren in the West Loop. The crane will be erected early next week, I’m told, in what looks to be nice weather.

My first visit here was April 7; I went back May 1 and saw some digging had been done. The kind of digging you expect *after* caisson work is done; the kind of digging that makes you think “hole up; did I miss caissons?” Yep. Somehow, I completely missed caisson work, which must have been done with lightning speed. Oh well. You snooze, you miss out. Or something.

Here are more stub pics, and a few shots of foundation work from the May 1 visit:

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This is an even Bigger Deahl: 1475 North Kingsbury has a tower crane stub

Posted on May 12, 2022 by danieldschell

A tower crane stub juts from the ground at 1475 North Kingsbury

1475 North Kingsbury (Blackhawk?) is doing its part to get Chicago another new tower crane. Thursday morning, we found a brand-spankin’-new stub sticking out of the ground. It sure looked by the efforts at the base of the base that the stub had had just been set, but I was too timid to interrupt a very busy crew to get confirmation on its arrival date. The important thing is, it’s there, and the rest of the crane should soon follow.

As we noted in this very space back in April:

1475 North Kingsbury received a caisson permit and a tower crane permit Wednesday, April 6. Designed by FitzGerald, it will be a 27-story tower with 327 rental apartments. Along with Structured Development, two other developers join the team for this one: White Oak Realty Partners, and Ponsky Capital Partners. Ponsky’s website uses the name “Blackhawk” for this one; we’ll see if that moniker sticks. (Reminder: The Seng and Common Lincoln Park are both addressed on Blackhawk Street.)

Next up, photo. The first gallery is from Thursday’s crane discovery. Then you’ll see a batch taken May 1 of the last remnants of caisson work.