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.

Foundation work is underway at 1000M in the South Loop

Posted on December 10, 2019 by danieldschell

Foundation work has begun on the Helmut Jahn’s 74-story 1000M in the South Loop.

1000M did an unusual thing for its groundbreaking celebration: it broke ground before ground was actually broken. You know, like an actual breaking-of-the-ground party to kick off construction. And now stuff’s getting done.

The JAHN-designed tower for Chicago’s South Loop neighborhood is getting its foundation on, thanks to the labors of Stalworth Underground and general contractor McHugh Construction. When all the work is complete, some time in 2022, 1000M will have risen to 74 stories and 832 feet. That’s 11.24324 feet per story, which is way more math than was at all necessary. Or relevant. I just like numbers. The building permit to start foundation work was issued November 29, so crews haven’t been wasting time. We’re waiting patiently for a tower crane permit.

Wanna see some iPhone photos of what’s going on? Here ya go:

: Rendering of 1000M from JAHN.

: The foundation permit, issued November 29, 2019.

: That’s a sexy model.

Sensational Headline To Over-Dramatize A Situation To Make It Sound Much More Serious Than It Really Is [UPDATED]

Posted on June 13, 2019 by danieldschell

Probably not telling you anything you haven’t figured out on your own here…

On July 10, this website will go dark.

Or maybe it won’t; maybe it will still be available to read, but will just be harder to find. Point is, the blog costs money to maintain whether or not I post content here, and since I am no longer consistently posting content, it doesn’t make sense to keep putting money into it. So on July 10, my website expires, and I won’t be renewing. I’m not sure what WordPress does with a domain when it goes back to being an unpaid site; we’ll see in a few weeks.

It was fun to take construction photos around Chicago when I lived in the midst of all the action. Now all the action is a train ride away. And I no longer find myself interested in the construction goings-on that used to fascinate me so much. I no longer enjoy aimlessly wandering the city looking for tower cranes. I no longer enjoy weeding through 100s of images from my camera to find the dozen or so that turned out well enough to share. I no longer enjoy trying to come up with a couple or three sentences to explain what the images captured. When a hobby is no longer fun, it’s work. And when the work doesn’t provide an income, it’s a waste of time. My blog has become a waste of my own time.

Thank you for reading. Thank you for scrolling through photos. Thank you for asking me what was what, what was where, and what would be done when. It was fun sharing answers when I knew them.

Thank you to all the architecture firms, construction companies, and developers who shared their resources, time, and knowledge with me. Special shout-out to everyone at Power Construction, for letting me inside two of your projects as they were going up. I’m still amazed, and forever grateful, for the access you gave me. And to you, FitzGerald, for taking the time to sit down with me on multiple occasions when I had questions.

Who knows, maybe I’ll pick up where I’ve left off someday. But I’ve tried that a couple times already, and it hasn’t worked out. We’ll see.

Thank you again, everyone. Sincerely. Knowing people were reading was the only reason to do this.

Dan

***August 26, 2019: Nothing happened. It’s all still here. I have no idea what I was paying for. Google Analytics, I guess…

I’ve missed a lot; Milieu West Loop Edition

Posted on April 29, 2019 by danieldschell

Milieu (on the Park?) has risen to its full height at Adams & Peoria (205 S. Peoria) in the West Loop.

The last time I walked around Milieu in the West Loop, Power Construction had just set up the tower crane. Now, the tower crane is gone, and Milieu (Is it Milieu on the Park? That’s what White Oak Realty Partners calls it. I kinda like it.) is up. The FitzGerald-designed apartment building is slated to open this summer.

Wolf Point East and 110 North Wacker show off along the Chicago River

Posted on April 25, 2019 by danieldschell

110 North Wacker (right) with WOlf Point East rising in the background. I like where the Chicago River is heading.

Wolf Point East

110 North Wacker

110 North Wacker at night

Posted on April 22, 2019 by danieldschell

110 North Wacker is rising along the Chicago River on the former site of the Morton Salt building.

Want to know what I did last weekend?

Yep. I went to 110 North Wacker and snapped some photos in the dark. Haven’t been here since it was barely more than a hole in the ground. Nice work on the build so far by Clark Construction.

Have a look: