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 tower cranes, they are a-falling

Posted on February 13, 2018 by danieldschell

A quick L ride to the South Loop and back revealed a couple new developments (no pun intended) in Chicago’s tower crane landscape on Tuesday. The crane building No. 508 (508 West Diversey) in Lake View was being taken down, and the crane at Ancora at Riverline (720 South Wells) in the South Loop has also begun its final descent.

Sorry I have no photos of the dis-assemblage for now. My phone was ready at Diversey as our train stopped at the platform, but a perfectly-timed northbound Brown Line train blocked my view. As for Ancora, that one surprised me as we went around the bend off Wells Street onto Van Buren. The least I can do is remind you what those two tower cranes looked like when they were still in service.

No. 508 back in August. Macon Construction still has one tower crane in Chicago, at Hayden West Loop.

Ancora at Riverline in December. Lendlease has plenty more around town.

A look at progress on Renelle on the River

Posted on February 12, 2018 by danieldschell

A view through the snow flurries at Renelle on the River's construction progress! https://t.co/OnBjZrbbyG @BelgraviaGroup @McHughConstruct pic.twitter.com/zjRluse8B2

— bKL Architecture (@bKLarchitecture) February 9, 2018

You don’t need to me to tell you about the progress McHugh Construction is making with Renelle on the River; just tune in to the bKL Architecture Twitter feed at this link right here.

Of course, I took a few shots, from ground level, too; you can see them now.

In praise of Australia

Posted on February 10, 2018 by danieldschell

It has been occurring to me more and more over the last couple of weeks how much I miss Australia. No doubt this Chicago weather has something to do with that, but by golly, what a joyous trip that was.

I returned Stateside with photo files of 75+ construction sites and individual buildings/skyscrapers. The building boom Down Under is real, and it is spectacular. You may have noticed “some” overage of it on these pages near the end of 2017. In case you need a refresher, click the links for posts from the following cities:

Melbourne

Aurora Melbourne.

Sydney

Lendlease had seven tower cranes in the air at Darling Square in Sydney.

Brisbane

Brisbane Skytower on the right; the completed Abian Botanic Gardens on the left.

Gold Coast

The 5-crane masterpiece that is Jewel Residences, on the beach in Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast.

61 East Banks puts up Chicago’s newest tower crane

Posted on February 9, 2018 by danieldschell

This shiny new tower crane recently debuted above 61 East Banks in the Gold Coast neighborhood.

There’s been a lot of activity out at 61 East Banks since we went by the site in December. Caisson work is a distant memory, and Chicago’s newest tower crane looms above the future 8-story, 60-unit apartment development. Pretty sure this is Chicago’s 33rd tower crane of 2018 (remember, we started the year with 30 already in the sky.)

61 East Banks is a project from Draper & Kramer, with designs from Booth Hansen. Leopardo Companies (sure, you know them. They’re building their new offices over at 210 North Carpenter) is the general contractor. You may notice McHugh Construction signage on the tower crane; that’s because McHugh is the concrete subcontractor, and therefore responsible for assembly of the crane.

Stay glassy, West Loop: 727 West Madison rises and shines in Greektown

Posted on February 8, 2018 by danieldschell

Old Glory waves triumphantly at the foot of 727 West Madison in the West Loop.

It’s only reached about half of its eventual height, and already 727 West Madison is cutting quite a figure along the Kennedy Expressway in Greektown. The FitzGerald-designed apartment tower, like most under-construction skyscrapers, is best seen on a sunny day, and that was the case on Tuesday when we strolled over to the West Loop for a peek.

The glass is almost full at the topped-out 465 North Park

Gallery

Posted on February 8, 2018 by danieldschell

This gallery contains 12 photos.

It’s been far too long since we’ve dropped in on Vista Tower

Posted on February 7, 2018 by danieldschell

Vista Tower continues to rise along the Chicago River.

We’re long overdue for a few shots of the progress McHugh Construction is making at Vista Tower. This thing has grown like mad since our last visit. Sorry to have missed so much. Without further ado, here are the latest shots from the soon-to-be 94-story hotel-and-residential combination.

And don’t miss out on the newly-updated Earthcam shots from Lake Point Tower. You’ll want to check it out at night, for sure.

One of Chicago’s longest-running shows, No. 9 Walton lowers the curtain on its tower crane

Posted on February 7, 2018 by danieldschell

The tower crane at No. 9 Walton is slowly lowering itself to the ground, one segment at a time.

If you thought No. 9 Walton at 9 West Walton Street in the Gold Coast neighborhood topped out months ago, and that it seemed strange how long that hammerhead tower crane remained aloft, you were on to something. While we can’t confirm anything, we’ve got our suspicions that the $58.5 million sale for the top four floors may have had something to do with the longevity of the crane. (Dennis Rodkin over at Crain’s Chicago had the scoop back in January.)

The stub was planted at No. 9 Walton in March of 2016, after getting its permit on the first of February. By my calculations, that’s about two years ago. That’s a long time for a tower crane to be on a job site, especially one that’s “only” 38 stories high.

No. 9 Walton is a project from JDL Develoment. You may recall hearing that JDL’s president and founder, James Letchinger, had set aside a unit in this tower for himself. That’s a pretty good indication he’s paid very close attention to every facet of its construction.

The design was by Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture. Lendlease handled the GC duties.

Expect No. 9 Walton to be open in 2018.

: This was a handsome tower crane.

: There’s the stub in March 2016, while excavation work continued.

: More of the stub, circa March 2016.

University of Illinois at Chicago plants a tower crane for its new Academic/Residential Complex

Posted on January 21, 2018 by danieldschell

The University of Illinois at Chicago is building a 10-story academic and residential complex, and this tower crane will help.

There’s no substitute for walking the streets of Chicago on a regular basis. Otherwise, you’re going to miss things. For example, the new 10-story residential & academic complex being built by the University of Illinois at Chicago. It looks, according to the Chicago Tribune, like construction started way back in December. But darned if I can find any building permits for it. But sure enough, the surface parking lot is gone, Revcon is on site drilling caissons, and there’s a bright yellow tower crane stub planted in the middle of the site, at Harrison and Morgan Streets.

Solomon Cordwell Buenz designed the complex, which marks the first new dorm facility for UIC since 2007. Included in the residential hall will be 550 student beds, with 16,000 square feet of community space for scholars to share, a top-floor sky lounge, and 1,600 square feet of retail space. Pepper Construction is the general contractor, and that tower crane will be their first in the Chicago sky since the removal of the crane at the Moxy Hotel in River North. Construction is expected to extend into Fall 2019.

: Revcon at work.

: SCB render.

: SCB render.

: SCB render.

: SCB render.

: SCB render.

: SCB render.

: SCB render.

: SCB render.

Even if The Blog never returns, I’ll live in infamy on Google Maps

Posted on January 18, 2018 by danieldschell

Google Maps image at State and Green Streets in the West Loop.

It was Tower Crane Assembly Day at the Hoxton Chicago Hotel in the West Loop. After watching for awhile, I headed elsewhere around town, as I normally did on a busy walking day. I saw the Google car drive by and waved. I’ve been waiting for the map update ever since. And here it is. Famous.

Building Up Chicago

An Eye on Chicago Construction.

Author Archives: danieldschell