New heavy metal at the Simpson-Querrey Biomedical Research Center.
The concrete came first, and it’s still being piled high. Fitting, as this was once the home of the brutalist Prentice Women’s Hospital. But now there’s steel to be gawked upon at Northwestern University’s Simpson-Querrey Biomedical Research Center in Streeterville. This is Phase One of the center, with 14 floors planned. 16 more stories will be added in Phase Two.
1136 South Wabash is obstructing Flyboy’s flight path. The CTA Roosevelt platform is still your best vantage point.
You may wish to make one last pilgrimage to see Hebru Brantley’s Flyboy in the South Loop soon, as construction on 1136 South Wabash continues its rapid upward progress. He won’t be visible much longer, as the 26-story apartment tower by CA Ventures need only grow another level or two before he’s completely hidden. Forever.
A street crane prepares to pluck the tower crane from atop 822 North Clark Street on Saturday morning.
It was Crexit (Tower Crane Exit, obvs) Weekend in the Near North, as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 822 North Clark Street dropped its tower crane. Remember, that’s only a seven-story building, so the crane got things done and got out of there in a hurry. Where could it be headed next? One Grant Park? The Hilton hotels at 123 East Cermak? Those are the two most recently-permitted tower cranes for Chicago.
The freshest tower crane in the South Loop is stacking building parts at 1411 South Michigan.
That new tower crane at 1411 South Michigan has construction going vertical. 3-D portions are popping up all around the lot, with some digging going on in the middle. Pretty sure the crane has less to do with the large hole than it does with the vertical pieces.
On a side note: 1411 South Michigan will sit next door to the Chicago Firehouse Restaurant. Two years ago, it was gutted by a fire, but it’s open again now as of the beginning of February. Kudos to ownership for committing to the neighborhood, and a great old Chicago building, to come back. All the best!
Chicago Firehouse Restaurant, about a week before its grand reopening.
Demolition leaves little remaining of the old Museum of Contemporary Art building.
Mostly Cleared Away.
That’s what MCA stands for now, with demolition of the former Museum of Contemporary Art building at 237 East Ontario Street just about complete.
On the way is the Aloft Chicago Mag Mile, a 19-story, 336-room hotel from Tishman Realty. The new Streeterville hotel is a design from Valerio DeWalt Train Associates, so the MCA building had to die so the new structure could be built, or die.
Caisson work is wrapping up at the triple-brand Hilton hotel project at McCormick Place.
If you think it’s tough work building a hotel, try building three of them. At once.
That’s what First Hospitality Group and Hilton are doing. You may remember this started out as McHugh Construction’s baby, as they owned the lot, until the developers signed on to triple-brand the project. Under just one roof will be a Hilton Garden Inn, a Hampton Inn by Hilton, and a Home2 Suites by Hilton. Seems like a lot to say? It is. But remember, you’ll only need to book a room at one of the three. Unless you really like having options when you sleep. According to the press release from Hilton linked above, the three hotels will be officially named the Hilton Garden Inn Chicago McCormick Center, the Hampton Inn by Hilton Chicago McCormick Center, and the Home2 Suites by Hilton Chicago McCormick Center.
The 23-story hotel(s), designed by Antunovich Associates, will provide 466 rooms and suites at 123 East Cermak Road. A skybridge will connect the new building to McCormick Place. There promises to be a whole host of amenities and dining options, which, again, you can read about straight from the Hilton’s mouth here.
The permit to build was filed by the City of Chicago back in December. Foundation work began in earnest almost immediately, and now caisson work is just about finished. A tower crane permit was flied last week, on the 9th, so look for that to appear in the Prairie District skies very soon. McHugh Construction is, of course, the general contractor.
East Crane has been planted at the McDonald’s HQ site, under the watchful gaze of the 171 Aberdeen tower crane.
Thanks to a heads-up from Skyscraper Page forum user BB 1871, who pointed out that McHugh Construction has planted the seedling for the first of two tower cranes to be used to build the new McDonald’s Corporation headquarters. The first crane is on the east side of the site; it will henceforth be known as East Crane. Over on the west side of the lot, crews were working on the foundation for West Crane. That’ll mean three tower cranes on two blocks, including the one in use at 171 North Aberdeen.
Caisson work is still ongoing at McDonald’s, but lots of other foundation work has been done as well. There’s a large hole in the ground toward the north end of the site, plus a couple of rebar mats that look like they’re just about ready for concrete pours. So yeah, lots of action going on here.
The parking deck, including a pool, next to the Essex Inn is coming down to make room for Essex On The Park. So please, NO DIVING.
While the Essex Inn at 800 North Michigan Avenue gets a complete upgrade, its parking deck, pool, and ground-floor restaurant next door are being obliterated by Heneghan Wrecking, making space for Essex On The Park, the giant 56-story apartment tower from Oxford Capital Group. The shiny, 476-unit project by Hartshorne Plunkard Architects will be some kind of addition to the Michigan Avenue streetwall, what with its short, stocky hotels. Power Construction is the general contractor, tasked with having the apartments ready for habitation next year.
The first (?) caisson has been started at One South Halsted.
Having spent the last few days flooding the lot at Halsted and Madison with foundation equipment, Case Foundation is officially on the case for One South Halsted, having begun its first caisson Wednesday.
The tower crane at Addison & Clark can reach every building in Lake View. It seems.
Addison & Clark, the huge mixed-use development being sandwiched around the Sports World Chicago store across from Wrigley Field, erected a tower crane earlier this month, and the thing covers more ground than Jason Heyward and Dexter Fowler (sniff) did last season. And for good reason: in order to reach all points of the L-shaped construction site, the longer the crane, there better.
Foundation work is still being done at the site of 140 future apartments, 150,000 square feet of retail space, and 400 parking spots, but that crane’s already pulling its weight, as piles are shored up and pillars jut out of the ground.
Building Up Chicago 