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 Bentham has a clean slate, and a tower crane permit, to begin construction

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The Bentham

Even the rubble is gone, providing a blank canvas at Erie and LaSalle for The Bentham to begin.

The old Erie-LaSalle Body Shop has been torn down and hauled away, clearing the lot to make way for The Bentham. Sedgwick Development is building the 15-story condo tower, which they also designed. There will be 31 units, all of the 3-bed, 3-bath, open-floor variety. The 15th floor will be the rooftop deck.

NW Construction of Forest Park is the general contractor. Congrats, NWC, on getting on the Chicago Tower Crane board! Adjustable Forms will be on hand for masonry work.

On October 20, we will all be teachers, as Chicago gets a shiny new Apple Store on our desks

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Chicago Apple Store

Consumers arrive by boat to get in line for the October 20 opening of the new Chicago Apple Store. Probably.

Multiple outlets have reported (honestly, everyone has mentioned it. Call your Aunt Susie, and I bet it’s the first thing she wants to talk about) that Chicago’s new Apple Store will open October 20 on the Magnificent Mile. When it does, it will be the place to go for fancy smart phones, computers, watches, and more. But what it used to be was *the* place to see a really low tower crane. You tower crane you could just about reach up and touch.

Power Construction continues to add finishing touches to the two-story glass box at Michigan Avenue and the Chicago River. Once complete, they’ll turn their attention to building the Apple Store 2S. (Not true at all.)

Addison & Clark continues filling in its enormous Lake View space

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Addison & Clark

Curtis Waltz at Aerialscapes, killing the overhead shots at Addison & Clark.

That’s a big lot up that at Addison & Clark. And Addison & Clark is a big project. Seems like the prefect match, doesn’t it?

M&R Development and Bucksbaum Retail Properties are the co-developers on the sprawling mixed-use project, bringing 148 apartments and 146,000 square feet of retail space across the street from Wrigley Field. Power Construction is out there doing the heavy labor, and they’ve reached as high as the 5th floor, depending on which part of the site you look, of the eight floors in total. That includes lots of podium work, to be expected when the SCB design involves parking for 400+ cars.

The plan is to have residents and shoppers alike enjoying Addison & Clark in 2018. Progress looks well on the way to that goal.

Expect a very busy September for Chicago tower cranes

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As you surely must know by now, Chicago began the month of September with 31 operating tower cranes in the air. And even though we’ve already seen one of those come down — the East Crane at the McDonald’s Headquarters (followed soon by West Crane) — there are plenty more where those two came from, already permitted and ready to rise. As of Friday afternoon, Chicago had seven outstanding tower crane permits.

Which isn’t to say we won’t lose a few more. A permit was issued last week for a crane to remove the two tower cranes at the Simpson Querrey Biomedical Research Center. Eleven40 and 1407 On Michigan in the South Loop are both topped out, so we’ll likely lose those two cranes soon as well.

But let’s concentrate on the positive. Here are the seven tower cranes with active permits that will dot the skyline in the immediate future:

One Grant Park

One Grant Park second tower crane

Beams are driven into the ground at One Grant Park to support its second tower crane.

One Grant Park put up a tower crane way back in April. But then, on August 24, the city issued a permit for a second crane. McHugh Construction started driving a dozen beams into the ground to act as caisson for supporting Crane #2, which will be utilized to construct the parking deck that rises up to the 16th level. Crane #1 will continue working on the residential tower.

The Lincoln Common

Lincoln Common south tower crane

Overhead shot of The Lincoln Common south tower crane, from Curtis Waltz at Aerialscapes.

Another “second tower crane.” W. E. O’Neil erected a tower crane at The Lincoln Common the week of August 21st. The two 20-story towers will each require a tower crane of its own, so expect the second to be erected within the next week-to-10-days.

900 West

900 West tower crane stub

A tower crane stub marks progress at 900 West.

900 West is a relatively small building, at nine stories and 22 condominium units. But it’s just tall enough to require a tower crane. A stub was erected on the West Loop site the first week of September.

Hoxton Chicago

Hoxton Chicago hotel tower crane stub

Another West Loop stub, this one at the Hoxton Chicago hotel at Lake and Green Streets.

Like 900 West above, the Hoxton Chicago hotel is another Power Construction project in the West Loop, and another recently-planted tower crane stub, having been set in place on Friday. The Hoxton will be a 12-story, 175-room boutique hotel for the booming Fulton Market neighborhood. Sadly, Building Up Chicago can no longer watch this site from HQ, having moved HQ to the South Loop.

Hayden West Loop

Hayden West Loop

The tower crane will follow caisson work at Hayden West Loop.

Yet another West Loop development, Hayden West Loop is another project that may not look like it needs a tower crane, but come on. They all need a tower crane. Hayden will be a nine-story, 28-unit condominium building, and it received a tower crane permit on September 7.

808 West Van Buren

808 West Van Buren

Deep excavation work, but no tower crane yet, at 808 West Van Buren.

You didn’t think we were done in the West Loop, right? 808 West Van Buren is a 12-story, 148-unit apartment tower replacing the empty lot at Halsted and Van Buren. It received a tower crane permit last week, on the 6th, and with caisson work wrapped up, a stub should be appearing any day now.

3833 North Broadway

3833 North Broadway

3833 North Broadway, back in June. Looks like I better get back there soon and catch up on progress.

Way up north, 3833 North Broadway will be an eight-story, 134-unit apartment project, with ground floor retail space. The tower crane permit came through on September 6, and will be the first one on the Chicago count for DLG Development.

 

Construction Progress: No. 508

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No. 508

No. 508, at 508 West Diversey in Lake View.

Crews from Macon Construction continue to grow No. 508 up on the city’s north side. A development from Boston-based Broder, the building at 508 West Diversey in Lake View will bring 53 luxury units to the neighborhood, and is designed by Pappageorge Haymes Partners.

The 12-story tower will include commercial space on the ground floor, parking on levels 2 and 3, residential units on floors 4-11, and amenities on the 12th floor, all topped off by a green roof.

The link to Broder’s website for No. 508 tells you it will be ready this year; don’t count on it. This project got off to a slow start, and with construction having only reached the fifth floor so far, a 2017 opening seems awfully ambitious. But, Macon *does* have an almighty tower crane at its disposal (they’re about to get their second one in the Chicago skies, at Hayden West Loop), so maybe we shouldn’t completely discount them.

Seven 10 West is topped out and shining bright in River West

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Seven 10 West

Seven 10 West has topped out, mostly in yellow, at 710 West Grand in River West.

That glow you’ve seen lately in the River West neighborhood might be coming from an unlikely source: construction. Not just any construction though. It’s coming from lots and lots of yellow building materials wrapping Seven 10 West, the nine-story apartment building from Wicker Park Apartments and Outlook Development Group.

The Brininstool + Lynch-designed project will deliver 105 studio, one-bed, and two-bedroom units, along with parking for 45 cars and retail space on the ground level. You might look at the photo gallery follows of the topped-out structure, and think this is, in fact, an eight-story building, but the ninth floor you can’t see is the amenity floor up on 9, and its smaller floor plate hides it from the street and many angles.

Arco/Murray is the GC on Seven 10 West. They’ve been tasked with having the new apartments open for residents in early 2018.

With caissons done, Walsh Construction drives piles at Wolf Point East.

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Wolf Point East pile driving

Walsh Construction drives piles at Wolf Point East, as seen (humble brag) from the 35th floor of 150 North Riverside.

If you’re in Chicago’s Loop, you don’t need to be told that Walsh Construction is driving piles deep into the ground at Wolf Point East. It creates quite a ruckus. But it also creates quite a foundation. And 60-story towers need good foundations. So please forgive the noise for a little while longer, and be thankful the city doesn’t allow work to be done around the clock on a regular basis. The weather just got to where we can keep the windows open at night; pile-driving isn’t particularly conducive to that.

Here’s some video; turn up the volume and enjoy.

If you don’t already know, or if the din has clouded your memory, Walsh is building the 700-unit apartment tower for the joint effort of Hines and the Kennedy Family, which owns the land. Also a joint effort is the design, handled by architect-of-record Pappageorge Haymes Architects and designer Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects. It is the second of three towers planned for the confluence of the Chicago River, with Wolf Point West already inhabited, and Wolf Point South slated for future construction.

 

 

Progress continues on Sterling Bay’s topped-out 4-story C.H. Robinson HQ

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https://twitter.com/SOM_Design/status/893523011860664320

Gone is the red monster crawling crane that helped 1515 West Webster top out in early August. But there’s still a lot to see, including a crane on a barge, as Power Construction continues working on Sterling Bay’s new office building along the North Branch of the Chicago River.

Destined to become the new home of C.H. Robinson, the four-story, 60-foot-high structure is a design from Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, and will grow to over 200,000 square feet when finished next year.

1515 West Webster

Progress on 1515 West Webster is seen from the 46th floor of 150 North Riverside.

Goose Island and Wicker Park team up for a Friday Flag, Tank, and Crane

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Flag tank crane

A goose island water tank, back by an American Flag and a tower crane in Wicker Park.

Your Flag, Tank, and Crane shot for Friday, September 08 features:

The water tank at Carbit Paint, 927 West Blackhawk Street

The American Flag atop 1200 North Ashland Avenue

The tower crane working on the Wicker Park Connection, 1640 West Division Street

Carbit Paint water tank

A better view of the Carbit Paint water tank.

Wicker Park Connection Tower crane

A better view of the Wicker Park Connection tower crane, and the flag atop 1200 North Ashland.

Heneghan Wrecking is tearing out concrete slabs at the old Finkl Steel site

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Sterling Bay Finkl Steel site

Heneghan Wrecking is tearing up and hauling off the concrete slabs that remain at the old Finkl Steel site.

This blog has no inside information on what exactly Sterling Bay has in store for its recently-purchased* Finkl Steel site. But we’re heartened by activity, as Heneghan Wrecking is back on site, removing the concrete slabs from the empty lots, virtually all that remains of the once-mighty steel yard.

DNAInfo? That’s another story. They *do* have some inkling of what could be coming, and they posted about it back in July here.

*While still at Crain’s, Ryan Ori reported on the Finkl site deal late in 2016. And then the Chicago Tribune’s Ryan Ori reported in July about Sterling Bay adding even more land to its portfolio.

Whatever is coming, it can’t get started without wiping the slate clean of the Finkl remnants. That’s what Heneghan is up to. Does it mean new construction is imminent? That remains to be seen. But we can hope.