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.

As Wolf Point East digs out from Chicago River flooding, a tower crane permit arrives

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Wolf Point East

One big pile of slop, waiting to be heaved into a truck and hauled away from Wolf Point East.

Just before this story went to the presses, a permit came through for a tower crane at Wolf Point East. A Liebherr 420 EC-H 16 to be precise. A SHINY YELLOW TOWER CRANE, to be technical.

Wolf Point east tower crane permit

Wolf Point East got a tower crane permit on Monday.

When I posted an update on foundation work at Wolf Point East at the beginning of November, there was one factor involved I hadn’t been aware of: flooding.

We were away in Australia (you may have noticed some posts from that trip) when torrential rains caused flooding along the Chicago River in October, and the construction pit at Wolf Point East took the brunt of it, filling with water completely. (You can scroll down this photo gallery from Curbed for a look at the deluge) That explains the mud that remains on site. I was back there over the weekend, and noticed just how sloppy things were, but that isn’t stopping work from continuing. You can see how much deeper work has gone, as Walsh Construction oversees progress on the six subterranean levels of the 60-story tower.

A cold-night South Loop update

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South Loop Chicago

Chicago’s magnificent skyline, viewed from the South Loop.

The good thing about the approach of winter is that you don’t have to wait until 9:30 to get night shots of construction. The bad thing, of course, is it’s dang cold out there.

We took a quick walk through the neighborhood on a brisk evening to catch up on the South Loop after dark. This is what my iPhone saw:

One Grant Park

One Grant Park is the best of the South Loop after dark crowd.

Hilton Homewood Suites/Garden Inn

 

Essex on the Park

1326 South Michigan

1407 On Michigan

There isn’t much light on this one. That must mean it’s almost done.

Eleven40

Eleven40 has also gone dark

 

 

First of four towers rising at Ruby in Gold Coast

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Ruby Gold Coast Phase One

The first of the four Ruby towers is growing in Gold Coast, Queensland.

Ruby is a four-phase development project coming to Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. Phase One, a 30-story, 228-unit apartment tower, is underway. Developed by the Ralan Group, Ruby’s subsequent stages, all designed by DBI Design, will include towers of 60, 47, and 32 stories, if the remaining three on the board all are approved. They’ll combine for a total of 1,372 additional units, along with lots of shopping apace, restaurants, and other attractions, including a skating rink! There can’t be too many of those in Surfers Paradise, right?

Hutchinson Builders is doing the heavy lifting. They were approaching the halfway point of the Phase One tower when we walked by in October. The Ruby website says work will be done late this year; Hutchinson Builders is very good, but that seems to be an unlikely goal at this point in November.

Hey neighbor! Pappageorge Haymes hangs a shingle at the South Loop Hilton Homewood Suites

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Hilton Garden Inn Hilton Homewood Suites South Loop

Pappageorge has designed new space at 1101 South Wabash for a Hilton Garden Inn.

This was a surprise.

Well into construction of the Hilton Homewood Suites just around the corner from the B.U.C. HQ at 1101 South Wabash in the South Loop, Pappageorge Haymes has gotten involved in the project, as evidenced by their new banner hanging on the construction barrier.

Pappageorge Haymes tells us they came on board to design a new portion of the project for a Hilton Garden Inn component, which will now be co-branded with Hilton Homewood Suites. While the tower is still slated to rise to 30 stories, there may have been an increase in the room count, which has now grown to 342 per PH, up from 281 which we had previously reported.

In the meantime, Lendlease continues upward progress on the hotel tower at the corner of 11th and Wabash. The seventh floor is poured, and the eight floor deck is approaching the halfway point.

Shout-out to Michael and Jason at Columbia College, who arranged for me to go upstairs at 1104 South Wabash to get the overhead shots you see in the gallery.

Wynyard Place greets Sydney visitors with a tower crane trifecta

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Wynyard Place Sydney

Look up! These 3 tower cranes greet you from Wynyard Place when you step out of the Carrington Street exit of Wynyard Station.

You know you’re going to enjoy Sydney when you jump on a train at the airport, riding past Sydney Harbour and the Opera House, to Wynyard Station in the CBD, and the first thing you see when you walk out into the light of day are three tower cranes.

Wynyard Place Shell House

Shell House

Those three cranes belong to Wynyard Place, a multi-faceted renovation and new-construction project from Brookfield. Also known as Brookfield Multiplex. And we’re very familiar with Multiplex and their multicranes at projects like Jewel Residences, Collins Arch, and Swanston Central.

The centerpiece of Wynyard Place will be a 27-story, Make Architects-designed office tower being built on the site of the former Menzies Hotel, now being demolished, at 10 Carrington Street. Also included in the project are the renovations of 285 George Street, and Shell House.

Shell House (yes, the oil company) is notable for the clock on top, and the large SHELL lettering along the side. The 12-story Shell House was built by Shell Oil as an office building, was converted to a hotel as part of Menzies, and is now being renovated back into 7,700 square meters of office space.

285 George Street, according to Commercial Real Estate, also goes by the name “Beneficial House,” and used to be the home of menswear store “Peapes.” Peapes signage has been revealed during demolition, just like the Shell sign.

Both buildings being renovated, Shell House and 285 George Street, currently feature tower cranes growing out of their roofs. I can’t say I’ve ever seen, or at least noticed, that before.

All three buildings will combine for nearly 70,000 square meters of office space and 6,700 square meters of retail, plus room for parking 80 cars. Completion of Wynyard Place is expected in 2020.

Two towers of The Lincoln Common are starting to rise

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The Lincoln COmmon

One of two cores that will become 20-story towers at The Lincoln Common.

Cores for the dual 20-story towers at The Lincoln Common are starting to rise from the deep excavations along Lincoln Avenue in Lincoln Park. W.E. O’Neil has a pair of tower cranes working on-site, so we’re going to assume there’s a little friendly competition going on over there over which tower grows faster.

We’ve pointed this out before: The Power Of Two is hard at work at The Lincoln Common.

There were a couple newsworthy events at other phases of The Lincoln Common last week. First, a tower crane permit was issued for Belmont Village at 700 West Fullerton. Later in the week, a full permit was issued for the 6-story office building at 2350 North Lincoln, directly across the street from the dual towers. W. E. O’Neil is the CG on those two projects as well.

Red At Night, Mary Lane Delights

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Mary Lane Brisbane 111 Mary Street

Watpac’s two red tower cranes at Mary Lane, flanked by the blue crane of Skytower and the moon.

Mary Lane Brisbane is a 37-story mixed-use tower being built in the heart of Brisbane’s Central Business District by GMP Management. The Woods Bagot design incorporates 184 luxury residences atop a 286-room Westin Brisbane Hotel. The apartments will be included in levels 17-36; the hotel will rise to the 16th floor. Completion is slated for late in 2018.

The renderings you’ll see in the gallery below are striking, but this project already looks amazing in the Brisbane skyline, thanks to builder Watpac’s pair of lighted-up tower cranes. And as you know, the direct route to my heart is always through lighting tower cranes at night.

Essex on the Park gets ready for a tower crane jump, begins cladding installation

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Essex on the Park

If you pretend all those supports are trees, you can envision the winter garden taking shape on the 7th floor of Essex on the Park.

Big milestones in the life of Essex on the Park, the 56-story, 476-unit apartment tower at 808 South Michigan Avenue in the South Loop. After receiving a permit from the City of Chicago on November 8 to jump the tower crane, Power Construction will do just that this weekend.

Also appearing on site are the first few panels of cladding on the exterior. Most of it is hidden at the north, rear corner of the tower, but there are a few small panels installed right out in front. You can also see the extra-tall 7th floor taking shape. That’s where Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture included the infinity pool and winter garden in the design. Hence, the extra space.

Oxford Capital Group is developing Essex on the Park, along with renovations of its namesake hotel next door, the Essex Inn. Work is expected to conclude in 2019.

The second tower crane is coming down at McDonald’s HQ

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McDonald's West Crane removal

Piece by piece, the West Crane at McDonald’s new HQ is coming down.

West Crane at the new McDonald’s Headquarters in the West Loop was the first one to work, and now it’s the last one to go home. Of the two tower cranes, that is.

The two cranes were erected about a week apart back in February, did what McHugh Construction needed them to do, and East Crane came down back in September. West Crane stuck around to get the last of the heavy lifting accomplished, but this week sees it leaving the site as well. Trucks and personnel from Central Contractors Service were out there Thursday disassembling the second Peiner SK415 and lowering it to the ground.

With a stub in the ground at Hayden West Loop but no crane assembled there yet, the West Loop tower crane count drops to 7, tying it with the South Loop for the neighborhood lead. It’ll get it back soon though.

The Lincoln Common scores a third tower crane permit at Belmont Village

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Belmont Village Lincoln Park

As foundation work continues, Belmont Village has secured a tower crane permit.

Belmont Village, the 7-story senior living center coming to 700 West Fullerton Parkway as part of the Lincoln Common development, received a tower crane permit from the City of Chicago Wednesday. That makes it three for W. E. O’Neil, who are also utilizing two others for the towers being constructed on the Lincoln Avenue properties.

7-story buildings lie right on the precipice of tower-crane necessity. This one was a tad unexpected, but it’s also not surprising that a tower crane is needed. In the meantime, foundation work for Belmont Village, as you’ll see in the photos that follow, continues in earnest as we wait for the crane stub.

Belmont Village will be a brick building with 149 residential units, built on the site of the former Nellie A. Black Memorial Pavilion. The 120,000-square-foot facility will be able to accommodate approximately 170 residents. It will be connected to The Lincoln Common via a tunnel beneath Fullerton Ave. Completion is expected in Summer 2019.