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.

410 South Wabash has a permit for 25 stories and 344 units in the South Loop

Posted on January 3, 2020 by danieldschell

The parking has been locked down, and a lone piece of construction equipment stands at the ready on the future site of 410 South Wabash in the South Loop.

College students don’t need parking lots. College students do need beds. That might be a little oversimplified, but that’s how I prefer to look at 410 South Wabash in the South Loop.

A foundation permit issued by the City of Chicago beck in December launched the beginning of 410 South Wabash. Developed by Lennar Multifamily, or LMC, this new residential building in the South Loop promises to deliver 344 dwelling units in a 25-story, 260-foot-tall tower.

The site sits at the foot of the T intersection of the CTA’s elevated train lines at Wabash Avenue and Van Buren Street, offering future residents unlimited opportunities to take cool Instagram shots of the L coming and going into and out of The Loop. Orange, Pink, Green, Brown, and Purple Line trains all pass through here, and when the Christmas Train passes by at night, lucky tower dwellers will be directly above the action.

4th Ward Alderman Sophia King held a community meeting in May, from which there comes a veritable cavalcade of information on 410 South Wabash. Floor plans show a mix of 1-bed, 2-bed, and 3-bed units, plus studios, convertibles, and micro-apartments. Though no indication is given that this tower is targeting the South Loop student population, those smaller units sure seem to be good options for the college kids.

410 South Wabash will also include 103 parking spaces, which goes against my thoughts on students needing to park, but definitely fits in with 3-bedroom homes. There will also be about 8,000 square feet of commercial space.

Antunovich Associates is the architect of record; Pepper Construction is the general contractor.

That little yellow dynamo pictured above may or may not start tearing up the parking lot at any minute. As always, sooner is better than later.

The Lot

The Lot, with Pink Line train

The Lot, from under the L

The foundation permit, issued 12/17/2019

Is the Toyoko Inn Chicago still a thing?

Posted on January 3, 2020 by danieldschell

Is this recent work at the Toyoko Inn Chicago site?

There should be a hotel standing at 320 South Clinton by now. Guests should be having Beggar’s Pizza delivered to their rooms from next door, then stopping around the corner for breakfast at Lou Mitchell’s in the morning. Then returning to their rooms to watch construction across the street on the new Union Station Tower. But nope. What was supposed to be the Toyoko Inn Chicago is still an empty lot, albeit an empty lot with enough caissons sunk into the ground to support the weight of a 24-story hotel.

The only progress made at the Toyoko is a small hole in the ground where the foundation may (or may not) have been started. It can’t be a pool; all that rebar sticking up would be extremely prohibitive to swimming. And diving would be downright dangerous. What I don’t know is how recently that hole was created.

So what gives? Will Toyoko Inn Chicago ever happen? Is the hole a sign it’s happening now? Is this still even going to be the Toyoko still? Or is the site destined to the purgatory that is Spireville? More questions than answers, I have.

Caisson work, May 2018

Caisson crews at work, May 2018

Caissons are done, but where’s the tower crane? June 2018

Peoria Green wants to squeeze its way into the West Loop

Posted on January 2, 2020 by danieldschell

A ZSD rendering of Peoria Green, as it would be seen looking east from Mary Bartelme Park.

Remember NIMBY heads exploding in the West Loop when Illume wanted to plant itself in the parking lot at 111 South Peoria Street? (Remember the fancy numerals in the 111ume name?) “It will block views of the skyline from Mary Bartelme Park!” was the best line locals screamed in an effort to keep the builders at bay.

Well, Illume is open now. The tiny parking lot immediately to its south is open too. But the construction fence around it says maybe it won’t be open much longer.

This is ZSD’s rendering of the Green Street elevation.

Signage on the site says Peoria Green wants to wedge its way into the neighborhood. Peoria Green already has a website. Peoria Green already has a flyer box on the fence so passers-by can get the scoop. Peoria Green has a sales center (located at 112 S. Sangamon Street.) Peoria Green is a thing.

Apparently, this has been a thing for awhile. But when you’re not paying attention, stuff gets past you. Crain’s and Dennis Rodkin were all over this project back in March. And The Real Deal posted about Peoria Green’s approval back in June. They even mentioned it being “controversial” and receiving “heated opposition from some neighbors.” (See first paragraph above. I am the opposite of surprised.)

ZSD Corp is planning 25 condos here, all with at least 4 bedrooms. That’s a lot of bedrooms. A childless couple could AirBnB the heck out of one of these. The on-site brochure claims a Fall 2020 opening for Peoria Green. I’m still efforting to find an architect for this project, plus a GC. Keep your ears open, if not your empty lots. A fall opening means they’d need to get started right soon.

A neon-green banner announces Peoria Green.

Looking west to east, Peoria to Green, at the full length of the lot.

The site plan from ZSD shows Peoria Green’s unusual shape.

I made a fancy Google Maps site plan, with the Peoria Green footprint outlined in red. I should get a drone.

One crane, to hold the moon

Posted on January 2, 2020 by danieldschell

167 Green Street only has one of its tower cranes left. But one is all you need to lift the moon into place at night.

Parkline is getting ready to rise at Randolph and Wabash

Posted on January 1, 2020 by danieldschell

Bird’s-eye view of Parkline construction at Randolph Street and Wabash Avenue in the Chicago Loop.

Permits are in hand, foundations are set, and the tower crane is up at 50 East Randolph Street in The Loop. That’s where Moceri + Roszak are replacing a parking garage and cheap food (though I admit to having been a fan of the Qdoba that was here) with a 26-story residential tower at the corner of Randolph and Wabash.

Parkline is a design by Thomas Roszak Architecture. It will consist of 214 units. 24 will be condos; 190 will be rental apartments. Also included will be 68 parking spots and ground-floor commercial space, all with an anticipated opening in 2021.

Crain’s Chicago had a lot of information about Parkline in May of last year (holy moley, 2019 was last year already.)

Clark Construction is the general contractor for this tower. And, in names that don’t get enough shout-outs on this blog, Adjustable Concrete Construction is in charge of the concrete and tower crane, while Thornton Tomasetti is the structural engineer. They did work for The Vessel at Hudson Yards in Manhattan. That alone makes them heroes. Have you seen that thing?

I didn’t go to Hudson Yards on New Year’s Day, but I did stop by the Parkline construction site. Want proof? It’s in the photos below, along with a batch of Parkline renderings from Thomas Roszak Architecture.

: Thomas Roszak Architecture rendering of Parkline.

: Thomas Roszak Architecture rendering of Parkline

: Thomas Roszak Architecture rendering of Parkline

: Thomas Roszak Architecture rendering of Parkline

: Thomas Roszak Architecture rendering of Parkline

: Thomas Roszak Architecture rendering of Parkline

: Thomas Roszak Architecture rendering of Parkline

: Demolition permit issued July 19, 2019.

: Tower crane permit issued October 22, 2019.

: Foundation permit issued November 5, 2019.

Thought you might wanna see some photos from Cirrus/Cascade, IJKL, all that stuff

Posted on December 11, 2019 by danieldschell

3 gloomy tower cranes are still 3 tower cranes!

Another gloomy weather day in Chicago, perfect for taking pictures with lousy cameras. I had to be downtown Monday, so I took a few detours, one of which was the three-crane wonder that is Cirrus Chicago construction. And Cascade Chicago construction. Honestly, I don’t know which is which over here, and I think there’s gonna be a third tower at some point too. What I do know is, this is one of two Chicago construction sites featuring 3 tower cranes, the other being One Chicago Square in River North.

I snapped off a bunch of iPhone pics, if you want to see them. I won’t win any awards for these, but at least now you can see what the early stages of construction look like over here, without having to make the trip to Lakeshore East.

A few particulars:

Lendlease is the general contractor here, as well as co-developer with Magellan Development. (Side note: “IJKL LLC” sounds like something that would be chanted at a college football game. I’m getting a t-shirt made.) They’re getting help with the concrete from McHugh Construction. bKL Architecture is the design architect.

Onni lights up a tower crane over Old Town Park

Posted on December 11, 2019 by danieldschell

“Onni” is Vancouverian for “It’s lit”

You never tell your children one of them is your favorite. That’s Parenting 101. It’s equally dangerous to announce personal affection for any one particular tower crane. But in a city where lighting tower cranes doesn’t really seem to be a thing, Onni Group once again shines through with their workhorse high overhead at Old Town Park Tower III. Watch for it next time you ride a Purple or Brown Line train between Chicago Avenue and Sedgwick. It’s pretty darn close to the tracks, so look up, or better yet, ride in the rear car and watch out the back window.

Onni’s put on this show before, not only at previous phases of Old Town Park, but also a few blocks away at The Hudson. They’re also working at 369 West Grand, but I forgot to look west from the train to see if that tower crane was glowing as well. Someone let me know, please?

Foundation work is underway at 1000M in the South Loop

Posted on December 10, 2019 by danieldschell

Foundation work has begun on the Helmut Jahn’s 74-story 1000M in the South Loop.

1000M did an unusual thing for its groundbreaking celebration: it broke ground before ground was actually broken. You know, like an actual breaking-of-the-ground party to kick off construction. And now stuff’s getting done.

The JAHN-designed tower for Chicago’s South Loop neighborhood is getting its foundation on, thanks to the labors of Stalworth Underground and general contractor McHugh Construction. When all the work is complete, some time in 2022, 1000M will have risen to 74 stories and 832 feet. That’s 11.24324 feet per story, which is way more math than was at all necessary. Or relevant. I just like numbers. The building permit to start foundation work was issued November 29, so crews haven’t been wasting time. We’re waiting patiently for a tower crane permit.

Wanna see some iPhone photos of what’s going on? Here ya go:

: Rendering of 1000M from JAHN.

: The foundation permit, issued November 29, 2019.

: That’s a sexy model.

Sensational Headline To Over-Dramatize A Situation To Make It Sound Much More Serious Than It Really Is [UPDATED]

Posted on June 13, 2019 by danieldschell

Probably not telling you anything you haven’t figured out on your own here…

On July 10, this website will go dark.

Or maybe it won’t; maybe it will still be available to read, but will just be harder to find. Point is, the blog costs money to maintain whether or not I post content here, and since I am no longer consistently posting content, it doesn’t make sense to keep putting money into it. So on July 10, my website expires, and I won’t be renewing. I’m not sure what WordPress does with a domain when it goes back to being an unpaid site; we’ll see in a few weeks.

It was fun to take construction photos around Chicago when I lived in the midst of all the action. Now all the action is a train ride away. And I no longer find myself interested in the construction goings-on that used to fascinate me so much. I no longer enjoy aimlessly wandering the city looking for tower cranes. I no longer enjoy weeding through 100s of images from my camera to find the dozen or so that turned out well enough to share. I no longer enjoy trying to come up with a couple or three sentences to explain what the images captured. When a hobby is no longer fun, it’s work. And when the work doesn’t provide an income, it’s a waste of time. My blog has become a waste of my own time.

Thank you for reading. Thank you for scrolling through photos. Thank you for asking me what was what, what was where, and what would be done when. It was fun sharing answers when I knew them.

Thank you to all the architecture firms, construction companies, and developers who shared their resources, time, and knowledge with me. Special shout-out to everyone at Power Construction, for letting me inside two of your projects as they were going up. I’m still amazed, and forever grateful, for the access you gave me. And to you, FitzGerald, for taking the time to sit down with me on multiple occasions when I had questions.

Who knows, maybe I’ll pick up where I’ve left off someday. But I’ve tried that a couple times already, and it hasn’t worked out. We’ll see.

Thank you again, everyone. Sincerely. Knowing people were reading was the only reason to do this.

Dan

***August 26, 2019: Nothing happened. It’s all still here. I have no idea what I was paying for. Google Analytics, I guess…

I’ve missed a lot; Milieu West Loop Edition

Posted on April 29, 2019 by danieldschell

Milieu (on the Park?) has risen to its full height at Adams & Peoria (205 S. Peoria) in the West Loop.

The last time I walked around Milieu in the West Loop, Power Construction had just set up the tower crane. Now, the tower crane is gone, and Milieu (Is it Milieu on the Park? That’s what White Oak Realty Partners calls it. I kinda like it.) is up. The FitzGerald-designed apartment building is slated to open this summer.