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.

Construction Update: McCormick Place Event Center

Posted on July 21, 2016 by danieldschell

The McCormick Place Event Center and the Marriott Marquis Chicago.

Yes, DePaul University will play its basketball games here. But it will be much more than a basketball arena.

The new McCormick Place Event Center is being constructed in the Prairie District of the South Loop. In addition to being a 10,000-seat arena, the Event Center is also expected to host concerts, conventions, business meetings, and other sporting events not featuring the Blue Demons.

The architect of record for the McCormick Place Event Center is Curtis Moody, of Moody Nolan, while Pelli Clarke Pelli and Goettsch Partners lead a who’s-who of architecture firms also involved in the project. Similarly, Clark Construction is the general contractor, but you’ll find a number of other companies involved in construction, including Bulley & Andrews.

They hoop (see what I did there?) to have the court open in time for the 2017-18 NCAA basketball seasons.

: Soldier Field keeps a watchful eye on the new kid.

: Even the cheap seats get special attention to detail.

: There’s more of that blue steel waiting to be put into the game.

Tower Crane Update: There Won’t Be One at 151 North Franklin

Posted on July 21, 2016 by danieldschell

https://twitter.com/BuildUpChicago/status/753781369000656896

https://twitter.com/BuildUpChicago/status/753752507982151684

You can imagine my distress. Just hours after penning a post about the number of permitted tower cranes that had yet to be planted around Chicago, I wandered past 151 North Franklin and couldn’t believe I had left it out. I got home and leafed through the permits, and lo and behold…there wasn’t one.

How could that be? The CNA Center is going to be 35 stories high! How can that be accomplished without a tower crane?

The answer? A clip-on. Like the neckties we wore as kids. Sort of. I’m told by folks at Lendlease, the general contractor for this Loop office tower, that the crane to be used will attach to the building itself, and move higher with the tower as construction progresses. Which sounds cool enough to be an adequate substitute for the real thing.

https://twitter.com/BuildUpChicago/status/753968058515927045

Twitter. It’s how I keep myself amused.

In the meantime, Lendlease is doing all kinds of cool stuff at 151 North Franklin Street. As you’ll see by scrolling through the following photo gallery:

: Massive steel beams went up on Saturday.

: This was Saturday, as Lendlease erected these two beams.

: The ground crane in the back corner will suffice until the clip-on comes along.

: Break time.

Demolition Update: Rush University Medical Center Tear-Downs

Posted on July 20, 2016 by danieldschell

Only a portion of the Senn Building remains, of the four structures demolished at Rush University Medical Center.

It was built in 1903. The Senn Building, at Rush University Medical Center, is the last of the buildings remaining of the four permitted for demolition back in September of 2015. The others, Rawson, Jones, and Murdoch, are rubble and dust and memories already. The plan, for now, is not to replace the structures, but rather to leave open green space.

: What’s left of the Senn Building, sans name tag.

: The corner of Wood and Harrison is almost cleared.

: Some remaining detail of the Senn Building.

: Lest we forget…

: …the intersection where these four buildings were for over 100 years.

: When the thing is thirsty, the thing must drink.

: The Rawson Building.

: The Jones Building, from Wood Street.

: The Jones Building, from Congress Parkway.

: The Murdock Building.

: Jones Building demo permit.

: Murdock Building demo permit.

: Rawson Building demo permit

: Senn Building demo permit.

A Simpson-Querrey Tower Crane Blooms in Streeterville.

Posted on July 20, 2016 by danieldschell

Louis A. Simpson and Kimberly K. Querrey Institute for BioNanotechnology in Medicine

Tower Crane alert!

They’ve been digging a hole — a real big hole — since breaking ground in May of 2015 at 303 East Superior Street in Streeterviile for Northwestern University’s Louis A. Simpson and Kimberly K. Querrey Institute for BioNanotechnology in Medicine. This is Phase One, which calls for a 14-story tower designed by Bridget Lesniak of Perkins + Will that will fully integrate with the Robert H. Lurie Medical Research Center next door. Phase Two will add an additional 16 stories atop Phase One.

The Chicago Architecture Blog spotted a new tower crane stub against the north wall of the pit. How did I miss this one coming? It didn’t make my list of six to watch for because it’s been so long — January 26th — since the City of Chicago filed the tower crane permit. So I simply failed, again, to scroll far enough.

There’s another surprise ahead for me, though. There are two tower cranes permitted for the site. One for the north end, one for the south end. Will the south crane be coming any day now? Or will the north have a chance to get some work done before the second crane arrives?

Oh my goodness, do you realize what this is? North vs South! It’s a Tower Crane Civil War!

: Some native vegetation thriving along the north wall.

: When will we see a second tower crane here at the south end of the construction site?

: This has been a vert deep dig.

: North tower crane permit.

: South tower crane permit.

Tower Crane Update: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Posted on July 20, 2016 by danieldschell

McHugh Construction’s Morrow tower crane rises in the distance.

‘Tis time for another installment of the three tower crane updates from early July, when three stubs were anchored into the ground around Chicago. Monday, the DePaul School of Music got all the attention. Yesterday, 8 East Huron. Today, it’s the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints meetinghouse at 822 North Clark Street in Near North.

This is another of those pretty yellow Morrow cranes. They’re like sunshine on a cloudy day.

: The 822 North Clark tower crane, dwarfed by the 833 crane. Which is unfair, because that’s a 31-story tower.

Quick Look: Marriott Marquis Chicago Getting Connected

Posted on July 19, 2016 by danieldschell

Steve’s out, and a big yellow crane is in, setting the pedestrian bridge in place.

Part of The Collection at McCormick Square, the Marriott Marquis Chicago hotel is growing by leaps and bounds in the South Loop. There will be two pedestrian bridges included in the new development, one connecting the Marriott to the McCormick Place Events Center, and one that will carry people over Cermak Road, between the hotel and the West Building of McCormick Place.

That second bridge is half in place. Not quite connected to the West Building yet, it’s just kinda hanging out over the sidewalk along Cermak.

Ryan Companies’ 833 North Clark Approaches Full Skyscraper

Posted on July 19, 2016 by danieldschell

833 North Clark Street Apartments.

At 833 North Clark Street in the Near North neighborhood, the multi-talented Ryan Companies is getting close to the top of its new rental tower, 833 North Clark Street Apartments.

Fans of keeping things in-house, Ryan Companies is the a) design architect, with assistance from architect of record Antunovich Associates, b) developer, along with Lincoln Property Company, and c) general contractor of 833 North Clark.

What they’re building is a 31-story, 373-unit rental building with a sundeck,outdoor pool, private cabanas and outdoor fireplaces on the rooftop. Ryan broke ground on the site in July of last year, and expects to be ready for move-ins next spring.

: Rendering of 833 North Clark from Ryan Companies.

: The tower crane across the street at 822 North Clark with the photobomb.

: From Chestnut Street, looking southeast.

: The is the north end of the tower.

: Looking south down Clark Street.

: How do I know there’ll be a rooftop pool? Well…

: The tiny three-story building at the north end of the lot gets to stay right where it is.

: Dueling tower cranes, at 822 and 833 North Clark Street.

: The south and east walls of the tower.

: From State Street, lloking northwest.

: Looking straight up from Clark Street.

: Ryan Companies, doing it all.

Tower Crane Update: 8 East Huron

Posted on July 19, 2016 by danieldschell

If you erect them, they will come watch. Them being tower cranes, they being I.

To be fair, and uncreepy, I was hardly the only interested party spectating at State and Huron Streets Saturday, as a crew from Morrow Equipment Company erected another of its pretty yellow cranes at the 8 East Huron construction site.

Recapping 8 East Huron, it will be a 26-story apartment tower with 105 units. CA Ventures is the developer, Valerio DeWalt Train Associates the designer, and Clark Construction he general contractor. Units are expected to be ready for occupancy in 2017.

: The stub.

: This looks like a scene form Charlie & The Chocolate Factory to me.

: The crane-building crane.

: None of these men are in danger of losing their jobs to me.

: East Huron was closed for the festivities, between State and Wabash.

: Piecing the cab together.

: Lifting crane parts off a truck.

: Staging equipment on East Huron Street.

: The cab.

: Preparing for lift-off.

: Artsy.

: Looking down State Street.

: Monday morning finishing work.

: Monday morning, and the tower crane is almost ready for use.

Quick Look: Halsted Street Bridge CTA Canopy

Posted on July 18, 2016 by danieldschell

Another night-closure for the Halsted Street bridge, as crews work on the CTA canopy to the UIC-Halsted Blue Line station. The canopy first started going up in late April, two-and-a-half months ago. I guess it’s a much more involved project than it looks.

: Zoom in. Work on the Halsted Street Bridge CTA canopy.

: Zoom out.

: Barricades close off traffic at the south end of the Halsted Street Bridge.

: Construction started April 29th.

1001 South State Approaches the Finish Line, Nails Its Mural Game

Posted on July 18, 2016 by danieldschell

These outdoor skylights seem to be all the rage lately.

1001 South State, the Solomon Cordwell Buenz-designed apartment tower in the South Loop, continues to hurtle towards completion. Developer and building manager Golub + Company plans to have residents moving into the 40-story tower before summer is over.

Walsh Construction has been working on the tower since December 2014. When completed, it will feature 397 studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom rental units, with 248 parking spaces. The fifth level will feature an outdoor pool and sundeck, while ground level will contain 8,800 square feet of retail space.