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.

Hayden West Loop begins caisson work; will a tower crane follow?

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Hayden West Loop caisson work

Revcon gets to drilling at Hayden West Loop.

Revcon caisson rigs are drilling holes at the corner of Washington Boulevard and Aberdeen Street in the West Loop. Not for no reason, of course. They’re building a foundation on which to rest the Hayden West Loop, a new condo building from Sulo Development. Those caissons have to support 28 new units, as well as 83 (83?) parking spaces in the Booth Hansen design.

Hayden West Loop architectural model

The Hayden West Loop architectural model. Is this tower crane territory?

You remember that gorgeous model we spotted at the Hayden West Loop sales center? It got us to thinking: Hayden will be nine stories tall, which isn’t all that high. But it sits on a fairly large footprint. Don’t you think Macon Construction, the general contractor, will need a tower crane for that? We sure hope they do. It would give Macon their second crane on the Chicago count, to go along with No. 508 up at 508 West Diversey in Lake View. Here’s hoping.

Leopardo, Michels have begun caisson work at 210 North Carpenter

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210 North Carpenter caisson work

Leopardo and Michels have begun drilling and filling caissons at 210 North Carpenter.

They’re digging holes and filling them with concrete at 210 North Carpenter, the 12-story, 200,000-square-foot office building from Sterling Bay. Crews from general contractor (and future tenant) Leopardo Companies and Michels Corporation are sending caissons into the West Loop soil for what’s been dubbed the “McDonald’s Vendor Village” along the 1000-block of West Lake Street.

210 North Carpenter caisson work

Sterling Bay rendering of 210 North Carpenter.

Crain’s had the announcement last month that Leopardo had signed on the be the first 210 North Carpenter tenant, turning construction into a quasi-D.I.Y. project, if you will. Leopardo’s corporate offices are in Hoffman Estates, and will remain there, but the Chicago staff will relocate from 333 West Wacker Drive when the new space is completed in 2018.

By the way, we tweeted to Adjustable Forms last month about their involvement as the masonry contractor, and they confirmed our suspicion that 210 North Carpenter *will* require a tower crane. Everyone wins.

With caissons wrapped up, 808 West Van Buren scores a tower crane permit

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808 West Van Buren

808 West Van Buren received a tower crane permit Wednesday.

The hideous garbage hole that used to occupy the Greektown corner of Halsted and Van Buren will soon be beautified by a tower crane.

808 West Van Buren, the bKL Architecture-designed 12-story apartment building from Loukas Development, has a clean slate of smooth dirt now that all the caissons have been dug. A few remained to be filled along the north end of the lot Tuesday, but those are probably done by now. The next step for Lendlease is to get that new tower crane in the air and send the 148-unit tower skyward.

Our robot demolition overlords are tearing apart 1450 North Dayton

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The robots are on their way, and they’re coming after our infrastructure.

Along the emerging Clybourn Corridor in the Goose Island neighborhood, Alpine Demolition (KnockItDown.com — I like it) is knocking down the 3-story brick building at 1450 North Dayton Street. Curbed had the story back in August about the planned demolition.

In its place will be a mixed-use building of office and retail space called, for now, the Big Deahl at Kingsbury and Blackhawk. If that name doesn’t make immediate sense, know that Kingsbury runs past the rear of the site, and to its north. Danny Ecker at Crain’s had the story about the new development last month.

1450 North Dayton demolition

DO NOT LOOK THE DEMO DEMON IN THE EYE.

 

But I want to talk about that demolition robot. Those two bright eyes look like they could pierce masonry, let alone the built-in jackhammer. If these aren’t readily available to the public, maybe Alpine will let me control theirs for awhile.

Power Construction plants a tower crane at 900 West

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900 West Tower Crane Stub

Is that what I think it is, peeking over the construction fence? Yep. 900 West has a tower crane stub.

Not all of the tower crane news coming out of the West Loop is bad.

A tower crane stub has been planted at 900 West Washington Boulevard, the site of 900 West. You may recall our mid-August visit when we stopped by to check on Caisson work. At the time, Power Construction had just received the full-build permit from the City of Chicago to erect the entire 10-story, 22-unit condominium project from Taris Real Estate.

One week later, on August 24, another permit came through, this time for the tower crane. Now, we don’t know exactly when the stub was planted (August 26 was the most recent day we’ve walked by until now) but lo and behold, there was the fresh stub on Tuesday. So, expect Power to send 900 West rocketing skyward now that they’ve got the heavy lifting covered.

Ordering two McDonald’s tower cranes to go

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McDonald's Headquarters tower crane removal

A yellow street crane waits at the foot of East Crane, ready to bring her down.

Strong Chicago breezes kept Tuesday from being a sad day in the West Loop, but once those winds calm down, the two tower cranes at the McDonald’s Headquarters will be removed.

The Yellow Street Crane Of Doom was on-hand Tuesday, but couldn’t get started on East Crane because of conditions. Wednesday calls for lighter winds, so there’s a good chance crane removal will begin.

Both cranes were erected on the McDonald’s site back in February within a couple days of each other. McHugh Construction was said to be utilizing the top-down method, which allows the frame of the building to go up faster than normal. According to a story by Curbed at ground-breaking time, that shaved off about four months from the construction schedule. Now, a little over six months after the cranes went up, they’ve completed their duty, and it’s time for them to move on.

 

McDonald's Headquarters tower crane removal

The Stars & Stripes, and the Stars, fly just below the criss-crossing tower cranes at the McDonald’s HQ. Tuesday, September 5, 2017.

McDonald's Headquarters tower crane removal

More tower cranes, more patriotism.

 

Eight Eleven Uptown continues upward up in Uptown

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Eight Eleven Uptown

Multiple levels, as Eight Eleven Uptown rises at Montrose and Clarendon (and Agatite)

Way up in the Uptown neighborhood, Chicago’s northern-most tower crane is making progress on Eight Eleven Uptown, the 27-story apartment tower from co-developers JDL Development and Harlem Irving Companies.

Designed by Hartshorne Plunkard Architects, Eight Eleven Uptown will deliver 381 rental units and nearly 300 parking spaces. Many of those parking spots will be used for the Treasure Island food store to be included in the 36,000 square feet of planned commercial space.

Amenities? Of course there will be amenities. And then some. Harlem Irving’s website says we should expect “an acre and a half of outdoor space, a full size pool, vast greenscape, BBQ area, deck seating, a jogging track, cabanas, dog area, fitness room, lounges, small and large party rooms, a theatre, and a business center” on the project’s fourth level. That should be enough creature comforts to satisfy today’s apartment seeker.

As you’ll see in the photos, Lendlease has built the sprawling site up to the fourth floor. Sorry, the pool isn’t done yet.

School is in session for cleared South Loop lot

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When Chicago Public School students arrive for class at 1601 South Dearborn in the South Loop, the most notable new kid in school will be the school itself.

1061 South Dearborn South Loop elementary school

Rendering of the new South Loop elementary school from Madison Construction website.

The City of Chicago issued a permit on the First of this month for a new elementary school on that location, adjacent to the South Loop Mariano’s. The Public Building Commission of Chicago announced bidding for the project back in June; Madison Construction Company of Orland Park is the victorious bidder, and will serve as general contractor.

The four-story, 120,000-square-foot school, expected to open in time for Fall 2019 classes, will serve 1,200 students in nearly 50 typical and specialized classrooms, including science classrooms, computer classrooms, a gym, library, and even a rooftop play area. The school is a design from Chicago architecture firm SMNG A.

🏗 Chicago falls into September with 31 tower cranes in the air 🏗

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Our Chicago Tower Crane Survey for August was out of date about 3 hours before it was posted. Let’s hope this September count stays relevant a little longer than that.

New Since August:

  1. 1. The Lincoln Common South crane. The north crane should be here soon.

Gone Since August:

  1. Elevate Lincoln Park
  2. Solstice On The Park

Coming Soon:

  1. Lincoln Common North crane (Permitted 08/04/17)
  2. Hoxton Chicago Hotel (Permitted 08/04/17)
  3. One Grant Park #2 (Permitted 08/24/17)
  4. 900 West (Permitted 08/24/17)

Endangered Cranes:

  1. No. 9 Walton (This may stay forever.)
  2. Eleven40 (Topped out, forms coming down this week)

Who has tower cranes:

  1. Lendlease – 9 (1 more on the way) –
  2. Power Construction – 6 (2 more on the way)
  3. James McHugh Construction – 6
  4. Ten construction companies have a single tower crane: W.E. O’Neil (The Lincoln Common, with a 2nd on the way there); Walsh (1326 South Michigan); Clayco (Cook County Central Campus Health Center); Pepper (Moxy Hotel); Centaur (Nobu Hotel); Norcon (Illume Chicago); Tishman (Aloft Chicago Mag Mile); Onni (Old Town Park); Linn-Mathes (Wicker Park Connection); Macon (No. 508)

What are these cranes building:

  1. Residential – 20
  2. Hotel – 6
  3. Medical – 3
  4. Office – 2

**I counted one of Vista’s tower cranes as residential, and one as hotel, for the Wanda Hotel.**

What else do you want to know? What else do you see? Which cranes have been taken down since I posted this? Let me know.

 

One Grant Park jumps the big tower crane as we wait for the little one

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One Grant Park tower crane jump

That’s a good looking group of recruits lined up for the One Grant Park tower crane jump.

Thursday was crane-jumping day at One Grant Park in the South Loop, as crews got ready to raise the tower crane to Phase Two. McHugh Construction got a permit tie in for phases 2-thru-5 back on August 4. How many tower-crane phases will there be for the 76-story tower? Well, that’s a question I wish I hadn’t asked, because I have no idea. Let’s pretend that sentence isn’t here.

The second tower crane permit, issued 08/24/17.

As for the “little one,” the City of Chicago issued a permit for a “FREE STANDING PECCO SN 160 TOWER CRANE” on the 24th of this month, then followed it up with a foundation permit for said crane on Tuesday of this week, the 29th. So yes, One Grant Park will have two tower cranes.