Author Archives: danieldschell

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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.

A Sears Tower Tower Crane Survey

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Visits to Skydeck aren’t quite back to pre-pandemic normal. I usually go up there and spend a couple hours taking pictures of everything I see. Three times. Can’t do that anymore. So I got what I could remember I wanted to get.

Like tower cranes. Some of them, anyway.

One of the secrets to taking photos from Skydeck is avoiding the bad windows. Much of what looks like smooth, clear glass will distort your pictures. Short on time, I failed to be selective. I also failed to be prepared.

You’ll see what I mean.

Clarendale Six Corners is missing; it’s too far away. I also tried to see the tower crane in Oak Park, but had no luck. Oh for a tripod, more time, and something ridiculous like a 1000mm zoom lens.

  • 320 South Canal is the easiest one to see. That booom just about touches the Sears Tower. Okay, not really. But it’s nearby.
  • 609 West Randolph.
  • 1043 West Randolph. I forgot to look for ths one, so instead of using a zoom lens, I cropped a photo. Fail.
  • 1400 and 1454 West Randolph.
  • Gild Chicago. Another one I forgot to look for. It is *barely* visible, and only partially so, dead-center of this crop.
  • 300 North Michigan. Yep, forgot this one too. Another crop. Another tough-too-see one.
  • One Chicago.
  • Salesforce Tower
  • The Gateway Apartments (2050 West Ogden)
  • UI Health

Are you not entertained? Metra and CTA rides, Zipcars, Divvy Bikes, camera lenses, and comfortable walking shoes add up. You can help offset expenses by making a greatly-appreciated donation to Building Up Chicago.

Demolition about to begin at 1200 West Carroll for Sterling Bay office building

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A demolition permit was issued Thursday, May 13 for 1212 West Carroll. Coming down will be a metal building at the corner of Carroll and Racine, as well as a brick structure to its west. They comprise what used to be the Midtown Transfer facility. Heneghan Wrecking, already busy a block away with the AMD Milling Company demolition, is wasting no time, having already set up demo fencing around the perimeter, as you’ll see in the photos below.

Going up will be another West Loop office project from Sterling Bay. 1200 West Carroll will be a 14-story, 485,000-square-foot Class A office building designed by Gensler. You can learn all you’ll ever need to know by following this Urbanize Chicago link, or see what Sterling Bay themselves have to say about 1200 West Carroll here:

1200 West Carroll is a 484,617 SF new construction, Class A office building on the west end of Fulton Market. Featuring elevated architecture, smart design, and reimagined offices and amenities, 1200W sets a new office standard in one of Chicago’s most dynamic submarkets. 1200W presents a unique opportunity for forward-thinking companies seeking sophistication and excitement, both in and around the building. Enjoy unparalleled access to the places and spaces you need to enhance employee satisfaction and productivity and take your business to the next level.

As our world adapts to a new normal, a new way of working, 1200 West Carroll rises to a new standard in wellness and sustainability. This shift presents a valuable new opportunity to re-think the value our building can provide – for our tenants, our community, our city, and the world.

Before (demolition fencing) and after. Some photos show ADM demolition a block away.

Enjoy the photos? Metra and CTA rides, Zipcars, Divvy Bikes, camera lenses, and comfortable walking shoes add up. You can help offset expenses by making a greatly-appreciated donation to Building Up Chicago.

Skender tops out 609 West Randolph

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That didn’t take long at all.

Skender took to Twitter Friday to announce the topping-out of 609 West Randolph in the West Loop.

https://twitter.com/SkenderBuild/status/1393206301635842050

Design architect Antunovich Associates was all over the ceremonial news as well, and much earlier. I saw this post and thought “Already? That can’t be right.” So, my apologies to everyone at Antunovich.

https://twitter.com/AntunovichAssoc/status/1392176876353953802

Heck, I was there that day (and a couple days before that), and I had no idea topping out was imminent. Nice work by everyone involved. Fast work, too.

Next milestone to come: Glass.

609 West Randolph. May 7-11, 2021

Enjoying the photos? Metra and CTA rides, Zipcars, Divvy Bikes, camera lenses, and comfortable walking shoes add up. You can help offset expenses by making a greatly-appreciated donation to Building Up Chicago.

Gild Chicago levels up

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Gild Chicago

No more hiding below the fenceline for Gild Chicago.

Crews were pouring concrete on the second floor Thursday for the 12-story tower. If you were stuck in traffic in the Gold Coast neighborhood for 45 seconds, this is the reason. Those see-ment mixers don’t have a whole lot of maneuvering room at State and Division, but kudos to the Power Construction guys for keeping cars and pedestrians moving thru with minimal delays. A well-oiled machine, they are.

Gild Chicago concrete pour, May 13, 2021

Metra and CTA rides, Zipcars, Divvy Bikes, camera lenses, and comfortable walking shoes add up. You can help offset expenses by making a greatly-appreciated donation to Building Up Chicago.

Progress Update: Optima Lakeview glasses up the joint

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Curtain Wall Achievement: Unlocked, at Optima Lakeview

Optima Lakeview is starting to shine, as the crew from developer, designer, and GC Optima has begun installing the first level of curtain wall, on what I would estimate to be the second floor. But that’s just a guess from street level.

The seven-story, 198-unit T.O.D. will be ready for move-ins next year.

Optima Lakeview, May 12, 2021

Metra and CTA rides, Zipcars, Divvy Bikes, camera lenses, and comfortable walking shoes add up. You can help offset expenses by making a greatly-appreciated donation to Building Up Chicago.

Earth is being moved at The Reed at Southbank

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Drilling an individual vertical shaft (layman’s term) for The Reed at Southbank.

“Vertical access shafts” are a thing. Which explains why crews are at the future home of The Reed at Southbank are tearing up the yard and digging in the dirt. For-real construction is expected to begin by the time summer months arrive in Chicago. Lendlease will, of course, be their own general contractor, in addition to their developer duties.

The Reed at Southbank will be the second tower at Lendlease’s Southbank development. Its first, The Cooper, opened in 2018. The Reed will be a 41-story mix of apartments and condominiums. This is how Lendlease describes it:

THE REED AT SOUTHBANK

Developed and constructed by Lendlease, The Reed is a 41-story luxury residential high-rise located at 234 W. Polk Street, as the next phase of its Southbank neighborhood development in Chicagos South Loop. The new building, which will offer 216 luxury condominiums on its upper floors and 224 rental apartments located on floors 9 through 22, marks the second residential tower in Southbank, a 7-acre master plan centered around 2 acres of public green space, known as Southbank Park, along the South Branch of the Chicago River.

The Reed boasts two well-appointed amenity suites for residents to enjoy, including a 12,000-square-foot outdoor amenity deck on the eighth floor overlooking Southbank Park. Residents will share access to an indoor amenity space on the eighth floor and owners will have exclusive use of an additional amenity space on the second floor, which is at grade with Southbank Park. The intentional placement of the second-floor amenities and use of full-height windows is intended to establish continuity between the park and tower, according to project architect Perkins+Will, which also designed The Cooper and the broader Southbank master plan.

Condo layouts include one, two- and three-bedroom plans priced from the $390,000s and ranging in size from 630 to 1,670 square feet. Occupying floors 23 to 41 of the tower, The Reeds condominiums celebrate the buildings idyllic location with floor-to-ceiling windows that showcase stunning views of the skyline, Lake Michigan and Chicago River, as well as Southbank Park, which borders the northern side of the building. The towers interiors pay homage to the surrounding neighborhood with an industrial-chic aesthetic that is realized through concrete ceilings and metal finishing throughout residences.

  • The Reed from Willis Tower.
The Reed at Southbank, May 2021

Metra and CTA rides, Zipcars, Divvy Bikes, camera lenses, and comfortable walking shoes add up. You can help offset expenses by making a greatly-appreciated donation to Building Up Chicago.

Hanging glass at 320 South Canal

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Shaky video because I refuse to lug a tripod around with me. Sorry. I hope the guys up there aren’t anywhere near as unsteady.
A curtain wall panel is set in place at 320 South Canal, Union Station Tower.

Metra and CTA rides, Zipcars, Divvy Bikes, camera lenses, and durable walking shoes add up. You can help offset expenses by making a greatly-appreciated donation.

Just a matter of days until the complete erasure of ADM

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There had been some speculation that the office building at Carroll and Elizabeth would be saved, because of the way everything around it had been delicately carved away. Nothing doing. It’s all coming down. Get over there fast.

ADM in the West Loop, May 11, 2021

Metra and CTA rides, Zipcars, Divvy Bikes, camera lenses, and good walking shoes add up. You can help offset expenses by making a greatly-appreciated donation.

The Navy Pier Flyover is open. Wow.

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The city cut the ribbon on the Navy Pier Flyover (Flyover-due?) Monday. It took a *really* long time to build, but you can ride across it in a matter of seconds thanks to the shaky video below. (Fortunately there is no sound; I was huffin’ ‘n’ puffin’. I fully intended to turn around and take a northbound video, but the quads were on fire. I had to get off the Divvy.)

Not everyone was optimistic this project would ever be completed:

smarta**