About danieldschell

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

The Pickard Chilton Boathouse we didn’t get

Posted on April 25, 2018 by danieldschell

Rendering from Pickard Chilton of a proposed boathouse at River Point.

An innocent Wednesday-morning tweet led me down a rabbit hole, and I eventually climbed out through the website of Pickard Chilton, the New Haven, Connecticut-based architecture firm known in Chicago for designing River Point and 300 North LaSalle, plus one of my out-of-town favorites, the Northwestern Mutual Tower in Milwaukee.

One item on the Pickard Chilton projects page in particular caught my attention; The Boathouse. A proposed development for Hines, The Boathouse was designed to go where River Point Plaza stands now. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not at all unhappy with either River Point or its plaza, but this boathouse would have been an awesome addition to the Chicago River. Maybe another location? It could look marvelous down on the South Branch too.

All of the following images of The Boathouse are from Pickard Chilton.

: Rendering from Pickard Chilton of a proposed boathouse at River Point.

River Point Plaza, where The Boathouse would have been built. (B.U.C. image)

A sunny day at 727 West Madison

Posted on April 25, 2018 by danieldschell

727 West Madison on sunny April day in the West Loop.

This is still a fun building to watch, even though the B.U.C. HQ is no longer across the Kennedy. This FitzGerald-designed apartment tower for Fifield Companies and F&F Realty will rise to 44 floors before all is said and done. That’s Lendlease out there doing the heavy lifting.

727 West Madison will deliver 492 new apartments with 375 parking spaces to the Greektown section of the West Loop. The tower will share amenities with the Crowne Plaza Hotel next door, upon whose former parking lot its being erected. It is expected to open late in 2018.

Do soil sampling rigs signal the start of Equis of Old Town?

Posted on April 25, 2018 by danieldschell

No. No they do not. Permits would signal the beginning of Equis of Old Town. But soil sampling rigs are a great sign. Heck, one is a good sign. Two must mean the condominiums on the former site of Noble Horse Theater and Stables are very close to beginning.

LG Development Group (Illume Chicago, The Ronsley) is bringing 1, 2, and 3-bedroom condos and residences, 175 units in total, to the now vacant lot bounded by Sedgwick, Schiller, and Orleans Streets. There are no permits yet, so we don’t know when construction will actually begin, but this is one to keep an eye on.

GEMS Academy Upper School wedging its way into small Lakeshore East recess

Posted on April 25, 2018 by danieldschell

I desperately wanted to make some sort of school pun. Not sure the recess thing even makes sense, but I tried. Wedged as the new school is between Vista Tower construction and Coast apartment tower, it seemed like a decent analogy.

The Upper School at GEMS World Academy Chicago is rising at 355 East Wacker Drive. Designed by bKL Architecture, as was the first GEMS school, Power Construction has the task of completing the facility.

The Lincoln Common brings the pane

Posted on April 24, 2018 by danieldschell

In the distance, the two towers of The Lincoln Common rise in Lincoln Park.

As the two 20-story towers of The Lincoln Common climb towards the sky, there’s considerable action down near the lower floors. Glass action. And the glass action suits this project just fine. Thank GC W.E. O’Neil for the shiny new panes.

The Lincoln Common is being co-developed by Hines and McCaffery Interests. Two architecture firms are involved in the design of the two towers as well: Skidmore Owings & Merrill, and Antunovich Associates. This portion of the old Childrens Memorial Hospital site will deliver 269 apartments in each tower.

: In the distance, the two towers of The Lincoln Common rise in Lincoln Park.

UIC’s Harrison Hall to top out concrete this week

Posted on April 24, 2018 by danieldschell

Solomon Cordwell Buenz designed the complex, which marks the first new dorm facility for UIC since 2007. Included in the residential hall will be 550 student beds, with 16,000 square feet of community space for scholars to share, a top-floor sky lounge, and 1,600 square feet of retail space.

Harrison Hall, on the campus of the University of Illinois at Chicago.

We can expect Pepper Construction to top out concrete at UIC’s Harrison Hall this week. That comes as no surprise when visiting the site, and seeing how quickly this project has climbed.

Solomon Cordwell Buenz designed the residential/academic complex, which marks the first new dorm facility for UIC since 2007. Included will be 550 student beds, with 16,000 square feet of community space for scholars to share, a top-floor sky lounge, and 1,600 square feet of retail space. UIC plans to open Harrison Hall in Fall 2019.

180 North Ada is starting to poke up out of the ground

Posted on April 24, 2018 by danieldschell

Power Construction has everything they need to send 180 North Ada vertical.

Our late-April tour of all things West Loop next takes us to the far west end of the neighborhood, where Power Construction is starting to go vertical on 180 North Ada. This 14-story, 263-unit apartment building from Marquette Companies replaces the empty lot at Lake and Ada Streets. Brininstool + Lynch designed the tower, which got its foundation permit back in December, a tower-crane permit in February, and finally, its full-build permit on the 16th of this month.