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.

Tower crane permit in hand, Howard Brown Health continues foundation work in Lake View

Posted on April 8, 2022 by danieldschell

Rendering of Howard Brown Health Clinic at 3501 N Halsted from Eckenhoff Saunders Architects.

Howard Brown Health broke ground in March on a new clinic at 3501 North Halsted in Lake View. Together with Inland National Development Company, they’re building a five-story, 70,000sf facility that will include below-grade parking, a pharmacy and other retail and event space, offices, and a dental care clinic.

Surprisingly, and happily, though it’s just five stories tall, the Eckenhoff Saunders Architects-designed clinic will require a tower crane, which was permitted on March 28. The first building permit was issued on February 15. McHugh Construction and McHugh Concrete are handling general contractor and concrete contractor duties, respectively.

Per their above-cited press release, Howard Brown Health plans to open the new clinic in 2023. Meanwhile, foundation work is ongoing.

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.

A fly-by view will have to do. 2700 North Sheffield has ditched the tower crane

Posted on April 8, 2022 by danieldschell

The tower crane adding a third building to the Edith Spurlock Sampson Apartments has come down, not before I snapped an iPhone shot from a passing Brown Line train, but before I got to the site on foot. There remains a lot of work to be done though, so I still got to see construction.

Leopardo Companies, in a joint venture with Ujamaa Construction, is the general contractor on a six-story building between the CHA’s two existing pieces of the complex. The new middle tower, designed by RATIO Architects, will bring 80 apartments and two floors of amenities.

The link above to Leopardo has a wealth of information about both the new building and the renovation of the existing tower. Check it out before you take a look at a short gallery of photos.

1044 West Van Buren has a fresh canvas to begin construction

Posted on April 7, 2022 by danieldschell

Coming to this space: 1044 West Van Buren.

There’s now a vacant lot where 1044 West Van Buren will soon begin construction.

Tandem is building an 18-story, 196-unit apartment tower designed by Antunovich Associates here. Tandem will be their own general contractor, just as they were at Avra West Loop across the street. They got a tower crane permit on March 25, and the building permit followed on March 30. The two modest buildings previously occupying the site were issued demolition permits on September 30 of 2021. They’re long gone; hence the aforementioned blank canvas.

Tandem plans to have 1044 West Van Buren open for residents next spring.

This is another really Big Deahl: 1475 North Kingsbury scores its first two permits

Posted on April 7, 2022 by danieldschell

Rendering of 1475 North Kingsbury from FitzGerald.

If it seems like only this morning I shared photos from The Seng and Common Lincoln Park and their early construction progress, that’s be because it was this morning. Then later this morning came the news that The Shops at Big Deahl had two permits to start building another component.

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.)

As with this morning’s two Big Deahl buildings, Power Construction is the general contractor. Maybe they’ll get started here before the Blackhawk Street tower crane comes down, giving us two tower cranes on the same project. Fingers crossed.

HUGO digs a pair of foundations in River North

Posted on April 7, 2022 by danieldschell

The pesky 415 W Chicago via Google Streetview

What do you do when there’s a building in your way? HUGO around it.

That’s what LG Group is doing at HUGO in River North. There’s a pesky three-story structure at 415 West Chicago Avenue that LG won’t let get in the way of this dual-building development.

On the east side is 411 West Chicago. On the west side is 751 North Hudson. The two roughly-L-shaped nine-story buildings will combine for 227 apartments and 19,000 square feet of retail space. NORR is the design architect, while LG Group is doing their own build. Yep, a double-duty tower crane and a double-duty developer/GC. HUGO, LG!

Full building permits were issued for each half of HUGO: 411 West Chicago got one on 8/5/2021, and 751 North Hudson on 7/14/2021. The tower crane permit came through on 2/9/2022.

Foundation work is in progress, as evidenced the two large holes in the earth on either side of aforementioned existing structure.

A tower crane and one story of progress? Yes, that’s a Big Deahl

Posted on April 7, 2022 by danieldschell

A tower crane and a very good dog at The Shops at Big Deahl

The new tower crane on West Blackhawk Street is pulling double duty. It’s building The Seng, a five-story condo building at 869 W Blackhawk, and Common Lincoln Park, a 10-story, 400-bed co-living building at 853 W Blackhawk. I know this because I read about it in REjournals; they’ve got all the details you could possibly want at that link.

The Shops at Big Deahl is a project by Structured Development. GREC Architects is the design architect; Power Construction is on the build.

With two buildings comes lots of permits, including:
A demo permit to make a fresh canvas on 4/23/2021
A tent permit for groundbreaking ceremonies on 12/2/2021
A permit for foundation piles on 12/16/2021
The full permit for 853 on 1/19/2022
A tower crane permit on 2/10/2022
The full build permit for 869 on 3/25/2022

I stopped by Sunday to take a look at early vertical progress:

The 808 Cleveland exercises its verticality in the Near North

Posted on April 6, 2022 by danieldschell

The 808 Cleveland at 808 N. Cleveland Ave in Near North

I bet you’ve noticed a couple tower cranes straddling Chicago Avenue and River North/Near North lately. Well, the one that isn’t yellow, the white one on north side of the street, is taking 808 North Cleveland vertical.

The 808 Cleveland is a 22-story, 200-unit apartment tower from DAC Developments. The Pappageorge Haymes Partners-designed tower will include a mix of studio units, one-bedroom, two-bedroom, and even four-bedroom co-living apartments. There’ll also be 28,000 square feet of office and retail space. The foundation permit, issued September 30 of last year, calls for 99 parking spaces. The tower crane was permitted October 29, and the full build permit arrived on December 6.

Focus is the general contractor; Pepper Construction is helping out on concrete.

160 North Morgan digs into the West Loop, snags a tower crane permit

Posted on April 6, 2022 by danieldschell

Gone, but not forgotten. In a burned-into-my-retinas sort of way.

The hits keep coming for Sterling Bay, who just landed a tower crane permit for their tower development at 160 North Morgan in the West Loop. (Yes, that little {temporarily} purple building is gone now.)

160 North Morgan is going to be a 30-story residential tower. Designed by bKL Architecture, 160 will consist of 282 rental apartments, 89 parking spots, and about 2,600 square feet of retail space.

The Big Green W is the general contractor on 160 North Morgan. They have received:
a tower crane permit on March 30
and a caisson permit the following day, March 31.

I love this neighborhood.

Embry begins construction in the West Loop

Posted on April 5, 2022 by danieldschell

A sea of rebar waits to be sunk into the earth at Embry.

I could tell the start of Embry was imminent over at 21 North May Street in the West Loop when I walked by Sunday. All the equipment was on hand for caissons, and rebar cages were made. Seemed to me all that was needed was a foundation permit.

Well, a little birdie tells me caissons are a-drillin’ as of this morning. That same birdie also says an entirely separate birdie says the permit was issued this morning. It all adds up. Embry is here.

Embry is being built by Sulo Development, which delivered Hayden West Loop just around the corner. As mentioned, I haven’t seen the foundation permit yet, but it doesn’t take a genius to see McHugh Construction banners on site; they must be the general contractor. My guess is their concrete division is also handling the concrete chores, but I shouldn’t assume. Lamar Johnson Collaborative is the design architect. Their website says to expect 16 stories and 58 luxury condos, which Sulo plans on delivering in 2023.

Congrats, Embry team. Let’s go.

ALLY at 1229 W Concord makes its presence known along the Chicago River

Posted on April 4, 2022 by danieldschell

ALLY at 1229 W Concord on the rise along the Chicago River

ALLY at 1229 W Concord, Sterling Bay’s life sciences development (it’s at 1229 W Concord, as you may have already figured out) has reached full height. Next milestone is to wrap that bay up in glass and let it shine along the North Branch of the Chicago River.

Sunday wasn’t my first visit to ALLY; I stopped by as they were erecting the tower crane on November 9 of last year, but I’ll be darned if I haven’t lost all the photos from that day, save for a couple of them I tweeted.

ALLY at 1229 W Concord is a design by Gensler, with Power Construction acting as the general contractor and Adjustable Concrete Construction on concrete. It’s the first of lots more to come at Lincoln Yards, which should keep us construction nerds entertained for a long, long time. The nine-story, 280,000-square-foot facility will include seven lab floors and lower-level parking for 55 cars. Expect delivery next year.