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.

The Orchard is growing condos at The Lincoln Common

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This ridiculous sunrise shot from the tower crane, from Gilbane Building Company, taken at The Orchard.

Located next to the recently-opened matching towers of The Lincoln Common, The Orchard is a seven-story, 32-unit condominium building on the rise in Lincoln Park. There are two developers: McCaffery Interests and Hines. The design architect is Antunovich Associates. Gilbane Building Company is the general contractor.

The condo building has reached its final height of seven floors. There’s still a lot of exterior work to be done, and then there’s the matter of getting 32 condominiums move-in ready. The Orchard is on track to open later this year.

 

 

Stuff That’s Done: The Apartments at Lincoln Common

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The two apartment towers that anchor the new Lincoln Common development in Lincoln Park opened to residents in Spring 2019. The Apartments at Lincoln Common fill the pair of 20-story towers with 538 apartments, featuring studio, one-bed, two-bed, and three-bedroom units.

The sprawling complex is built on the grounds of the former Children’s Memorial Hospital, which was demolished after the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago was constructed in Streeterville. Children’s patients were moved there in the spring of 2012.

This phase of The Lincoln Common could have been called Noahville, because everything about this project came in pairs:

There are the two towers.

The two towers were erected by two tower cranes.

There are two developers: Hines and McCaffery Interests.

There are two design architects: Antunovich Associates and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

Alas, there only needed to be one general contractor in charge of putting it all together; W.E. O’Neil filled those duties.

Included in the photo gallery below are a couple more pieces of the Lincoln Common puzzle:

  • A five-story boutique office building at 2350 N Lincoln.
  • A row of single-story retail spaces from 2316-2348 N Lincoln
  • The renovated “power station” buildings at 2355 N Lincoln
  • A new Chase Bank in the recreated building at 2377 N Lincoln

Updates to come: The Orchard, a seven-story condominium building currently under construction, and Belmont Village Senior Living, a completed seven-story residential facility at 700 West Fullerton.

Congratulations to all involved in the ongoing establishment of a great new neighborhood on Chicago’s north side.

 

 

Stuff That’s Done: Home2 Suites by Hilton Chicago River North

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The brand new Home2 Suites by Hilton Chicago River North at 110 West Huron.

And now, for another new hotel opened in Chicago while I wasn’t paying attention.

Home2 Suites by Hilton Chicago River North opened at 110 West Huron Street in February 2019. The 17-story hotel boasts 206 rooms in the River North neighborhood. It is the only job this blog has covered in Chicago by general contractor M.A. Mortenson. It was designed by the Chicago architecture firm NORR, and developed by Akara Partners.

 

Stuff That’s Done: Hyatt House West Loop

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Hyatt House Chicago West Loop, 105 North May Street.

For awhile there, it was difficult to find overnight accommodations in the West Loop. That’s changed dramatically over the past year or two. (Big shock, right? Everything has changed dramatically around here in the past year or two. Hotels, office space, apartments, condos, restaurants. What a time to be alive in the West Loop.)

One new hotel option is the Hyatt House Chicago, now open at 105 North May Street.

Construction work by Skender began in Spring 2018. It opened in June 2019.

Sterling Bay developed the 16-story hotel, which offers about 200 rooms, conveniently located less than a block from the new McDonald’s HQ. Designed by Chicago firm Eckenhoff Saunders Architects, Hyatt House brought nearly 200 guest rooms to the neighborhood.

Stuff That’s Done: NEMA Chicago

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https://twitter.com/McHughConstruct/status/1220372622548119552

NEMA Chicago started out as One Grant Park. I liked that name. It didn’t give you the address, but you still knew right where it must be. You know, that really really tall one at the south end of the park. Alas, things and names change.

Thursday, James McHugh Construction sent out the above tweet, announcing they’ve done all they can do at NEMA, more than three years after taking control of the empty lot at Indiana and Michigan Avenues, and Roosevelt Road.

There are 800 apartments in this brand new 76-story skyscraper, and if the views of Chicago aren’t enough for you, it also has about a kajillion square feet of amenity space. It’s a marvelous design by Rafael Viñoly Architects. Crescent Heights is the developer. NEMA Chicago opened to residents in July 2019.

Uncraning 110 North Wacker

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A crane to remove a crane, and a plane, at 110 North Wacker.

I thought I’d head over to 110 North Wacker Sunday and watch the tower crane come down. The newsletter from the 42nd Ward warned us about street closures Sunday and Monday to facilitate the removal, and figured I’d make a day of it.

Yeah. I missed it. I can only assume the tower crane had been lowered section by section already, and this past weekend was just a matter of the final disassembly, and loading it up on trucks to haul it away. Cuz by the time I got there…no crane. Just a couple segments. The crane that took down the crane (yes, that’s a thing) is still up top; don’t be fooled by it.

The good news is, I still got to see a topped-out 55-story office tower with a nearly-finished curtain wall. In the sunshine. And that always makes for a good day.

Remember, this is the team that just finished 150 North Riverside and just started Union Station Tower. They know a thing or two about putting up sweet buildings. Clark Construction is on the build. Goettsch Partners is the design architect. Riverside Investment and Development Company, along with The Howard Hughes Corporation, are the developers.

110 North Wacker is scheduled to open late this year.

Vista Tower opens this year. It’s a pretty big deal.

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Soil sampling at Lower Wacker Drive and Field Boulevard, August 2016.

Vista Tower opens in 2020. That’s this year. Seems like a decade ago there was the occasional soil sampler in the lots bisected by Field Boulevard in Lakeshore East. But then earth was scraped, caissons were sunk, foundations were poured, two tower cranes were erected, frustums were frustummed, and here we are.

You know what we haven’t seen from this blog in a long time? A big ole Vista Tower photo dump. In part because once a tower under construction reaches 39,000 feet in the air, or whatever this glorious beast is, it’s hard to watch the work that’s being done. But I’ve passed by her a few times over the past several months, always snapping a few shots on the way. You might want to see them, so if you do, here they are.

Like I said, she’s glorious, ain’t she?

Midwest Property Group has a foundation permit for 448 North LaSalle

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Who knows what the actual address will be, but in the follow-up to a tower crane permit being issued (way back in November) for 151 West Illinois Street in River North, a foundation permit was issued Wednesday for 448 North LaSalle. That permit allows for construction to begin through the first three levels of a 13-story building. The developer, Midwest Property Group, uses 430 North LaSalle as the address here, so we now have three different physical addresses related to this build.

I *think* this is going to be an office building, with retail space at street level. If so, ride to work, don’t drive. You’ll be able to park 40 or so of your bikes here, but no cars.

Lamar Johnson Collaborative is the design architect on 151/430/448. Lendlease is the GC. Crews have already been busy with site prep, tearing apart what used to be a dreaded surface parking lot.

Here’s a very clumsily-copied rendering I lifted from the pdf Alderman Reilly’s office shared with the public back in March.

Just the cranes – Cirrus, Cascade triple the fun

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What’s that old saying I just made up a couple weeks ago? Oh yeah, I remember:

Tower cranes should be cherished. Two tower cranes should be cherished and celebrated. Three tower cranes should be cherished, celebrated, and should get their own post.

It’s true at One Chicago Square just as it’s true at Cirrus & Cascade in Lakeshore East. What’s more, these are three shiny yellow Liebherr cranes. My favorite cranes (that aren’t lit up.)

This is their own post.

 

 

 

Stuff That’s Done: 727 West Madison

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727 West Madison takes me back. There was a time, at this blog’s busiest, that I spent many many hours staring out over the West Loop. Not only was I checking up on the explosion of development, but I wasted an awful lot of time watching traffic zoom (or crawl) by on the Kennedy, Ryan, and Eisenhower Expressways. Not to mention the ongoing revamp (no pun intended) of the Jane Byrne Interchange.

I watched from above as the Crowne Plaza parking lot was fenced off and torn up, and construction commenced on 727. I would move from the neighborhood before it leveled up too high, but it was amazing to watch the start from that vantage point.

727 West Madison is the first tower I think about if a return to the West Loop makes sense. Skyline views? Check. Traffic views? Yup. Sweeping views of the booming West Loop and Fulton Market development? Serious check.

FitzGerald is the design architect of 727 West Madison. Fifield Companies and F&F Realty are the developers. Lendlease did the dirty work. Have a look. It’s shiny, curvy, and perfectly located.

P.S. I still think One South Halsted was a better name, but I wasn’t consulted. I’m over it.

Photos follow of 727 West Madison in its completed stage, and in its infancy, as One South Halsted, taken from the original B.U.C. HQ high above the West Loop. (Oh how I miss it)