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.

With Van Cleef crushed, 56 West Huron burrows in to River North

Posted on November 7, 2017 by danieldschell

That’s a Revcon rig where Van Cleef salon used to be. 56 West Huron caissons are underway.

56 West Huron is now longer a former beauty salon; it’s now a future condominium building.

A quick check Monday morning to see about demolition progress of the former church building instead showed a Revcon caisson rig drilling into the soil. And that means 56 West Huron is officially underway.

The 13-story, 11-unit condominium tower from Kiferbaum Development Group got a building permit September 29, followed by the demolition permit on October 2.

The Studio Dwell-designed project boasts 10 3-bed/3.5-bath full-floor condos and one 4-bed/4.5-bath duplex penthouse. Each unit will have one parking space apiece. According to the 56 West Huron website (link above) condos begin at $1.375M, with one unit already sold.

Gilbane Building Company is the general contractor, tasked with having the tower open in Summer 2018. That’s coming up pretty quick.

Home2 Suites is Home2 Chicago’s newest tower crane

Posted on November 7, 2017 by danieldschell

Over there, in the trees! It’s Chicago’s 33rd tower crane!

As expected, and despite some sketchy weather, the tower crane went up this past weekend at 110 West Huron in River North. That’s the site of the new Home2 Suites Akara Partners is building, and it marks the entry into the Chicago Tower Crane count for M.A. Mortensen.

This is the 33rd tower crane now active in Chicago, though #34 is also up — the derrick crane at Simpson Querrey — which we got a sneak peek at yesterday, thanks to a little birdie. We’ll get a better look at it today, and share. But remember, that derrick’s sole purpose is to remove cranes. So don’t call it a hero.

Mild-mannered demolition site could soon be a Meriton Supertall in Gold Coast, QLD

Posted on November 6, 2017 by danieldschell

Meriton is a brand I didn’t know until our Australia trip. We saw a few properties in Sydney, spent a night in one Meriton serviced apartment and gawked at their 2nd Brisbane skyscraper, then noticed yet another from our rooftop deck in Gold Coast. Finally, a casual stroll through Surfers Paradise revealed what remains of an almost-completed 22-story demolition (of the former International Beach Resort) that may just turn out to be the most impressive Meriton tower yet.

This rendering appeared in the Gold Coast Bulletin.

Over the past 12 months, since Meriton bought the property at 84 Esplanade, multiple outlets including the Gold Coast Bulletin, Brisbane Development, the Australian Financial Review, Ray White Surfers Paradise, and Meriton itself (that’s a lot of sources) are reporting that Meriton will build a tower of at least 90 stories in height. That could make it the tallest in Gold Coast, the tallest in Queensland, and even the tallest in all of Australia, depending on how high it goes.

Meriton Suites Surfers Paradise would contain 311 suites on floors 3-30, with the upper floors being for-purchase units. That link says it would be open in 2018; with demolition still underway, that seems optimistic, but we’ll see.

The consensus seems to be that SJB designed the would-be supertall.

For now though, it’s still this modest-looking demo job.

Quick Look: One Bennett Park walk-around

Posted on November 6, 2017 by danieldschell

Sometimes I just stare at this one. So pretty. Enjoy One Bennett Park’s progress as of October 31.

Old Town Park is topped out; is the second Atrium Village tower about to rise?

Posted on November 6, 2017 by danieldschell

The topped-out top of Old Town Park in Near North.

With the 32-story, 405-unit Old Town Park at 1140 North Wells Street in Near North topped out, ground work is going deep to its south, and it looks like the start of the Phase 2 tower is imminent. No permits exist for that building yet, but the lot has been cleared and leveled, tress along Hill Street have been chopped down, and there are deep excavations where Atrium Village foundations once stood. Or sat.

Onni Group is developing and building the Hartshorne Plunkard-designed redo of Atrium Village. We’ll keep an eye out for a permit, which will also include a new tower crane, as the second tower isn’t close enough to the first one for the current crane to reach.

: Digging up old foundations.

: Rebar work…for caissons?

: From Skydeck at Sears Tower.

Cranes Without Context: Oxford, England Edition

Posted on November 6, 2017 by danieldschell

Thanks to Cranes Without Context, I can finally start doing something with hundreds of photos from our May visit to England. You’ve seen posts from London; we also stopped in Leeds and Oxford.

Sure, Oxford has all that Harry Potter stuff, if you’re into that sort of thing. I concentrated on the old architecture, and these few tower cranes. That’s right, you heard me: TOWER CRANES > HARRY POTTER.

Scape Swanston adds a skyscraper to Melbourne’s student housing boom

Posted on November 5, 2017 by danieldschell

Scape Swanston (right) is on the rise in the Central Business District of Melbourne, Victoria.

Scape Swanston render from Denton Corker Marshall.

It struck me as I walked around Melbourne, Victoria last month how many construction projects were designated specifically as student housing. A quick look around the interwebs told me there are 345,000 college students in this city, according to AustralianUniversities.com. About a third of those students are from outside Australia. No wonder Melbourne is building so much housing for them.

Scape Swanston is one such facility. No ordinary dorm, Scape Swanston will be a 43-story skyscraper with 763 apartments. Scape Student Living is developing the tower, which is a design by Denton Corker Marshall. Built is the builder. It is expected to open in 2018.

: Scape Swanston render from Denton Corker Marshall.

: Aurora is right next door.

Hutchinson Builders lights up Kangaroo Point, Brisbane with Walan Apartments

Posted on November 5, 2017 by danieldschell

Walan Apartments, lower right (with tower crane), rises just beyond Brisbane’s Story Bridge.

Walan Apartments first catches your eye from the City Reach Boardwalk along the Brisbane River. It’s hard not to notice; Hutchinson Builders has a huge banner celebrating their 105 years in business hanging from the west elevation of the construction site. But it’s after dark when Walan becomes can’t-miss scenery. That’s when Hutchinson lights up the tower crane like a giant blue lightsaber guarding the entrance to Story Bridge.

Walan Apartments is a 14-story apartment tower from GBW Investments. Designed by the Brisbane architecture firm of Bureau^Proberts, the project includes just 14 units at 2 Scott Street. It is expected to open in 2018.

: Bureau^Proberts rendering of Walan Apartments.

: Walan Apartments rendering from the Hutchinson Builders website.

: Looking across the Brisbane River.

: Congrats on 105 years!

: Story Bridge.

Enjoying the photos? Metra and CTA rides (and Amtrak trains to Milwaukee), Zipcars, Divvy Bikes, camera lenses, domain fees, snacks & energy drinks, and comfortable walking shoes add up. You can help offset expenses by making a greatly-appreciated donation to Building Up Chicago.

Cranes Without Context: Sydney Tower Eye Edition

Posted on November 4, 2017 by danieldschell

One project I know for sure: Darling Square.

Have you ever shared photos even though you weren’t really sure what you’d captured? Good. Don’t @ me then.

In an effort to not have hundreds of photos on my computer that I won’t do anything with, I’ve decided to start a new series of posts on The Blog. Welcome to Cranes Without Context. These are the pictures I take that I either haven’t taken the time to research, or don’t have additional photos to use for their particular development. (Because who wants to see a photo gallery with only one photo.)

Cranes Without Context begins in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, from the observation deck of the Sydney Tower Eye. Much as I do when visiting Chicago’s Hancock Center and Sears Tower, I snapped every tower crane I could see from this lofty perch. And there’s just no way I’m gonna be able to figure out what job site each is from.

** You got an accidental preview of Cranes Without Context in the Victoria Bridge Brisbane post a couple days ago. Too many cranes, not enough time, etc. **

Some of you (particularly in Australia) will know some of these tower cranes on sight. Feel free to chime in as to project names and specs.

: Crane on a rooftop.

: Snuck a demolition photo in here.

: Bonus barge crane.

An end-of-October update at Vista Tower

Posted on November 4, 2017 by danieldschell

Vista Theater is fading; the best views of Vista Tower are no on the north side of the Chicago River.

I saw construction on three Wanda Vista Tower projects during October: the one you’re most familiar with, Vista Tower here in Chicago, plus two in Australia: one in the demolition phase in Sydney, New South Wales, and the three-tower Jewel Residences project on the beach in Gold Coast, Queensland. I managed to get to Chicago’s site on the last day of the month to make sure McHugh Construction crews hadn’t finished up while we were gone. Thankfully, they had not.