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 Simpson-Querrey Center shows off new glass

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Simpson Querrey Biomedical Research Center

Cladding installation has begun at the Simpson Querrey Biomedical Research Center.

Out in Streeterville, the Simpson Querrey Biomedical Research Center has climbed just about as high as it will go, with Power Construction crews now working on the 14th floor. That means Simpson-Querrey needs another feature with which to grab our attention: Glass. Shiny, curvy glass. It’s made its debut along the north elevation.

Are we gonna lose two tower cranes as the Perkins+Will project nears topping-out? I don’t have an answer to that. Yet. There’s a Phase Two for this project, when 16 additional laboratory floors will be added to the 600,000 square feet being built now. I vote to leave the cranes up there until whenever Phase Two starts. They’re a nice addition to the skyline.

 

 

Three flags, a water tank, and a tower crane in the Prairie District

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Prairie District Flag Crane Tank

You get a 3-fer in the latest edition of American Flag, Tower Crane, Water Tank.

The flags fly above New City Alfa Romeo at 2401 South Michigan Avenue.

The water tank sits atop Motor Row Gallery at 2345 South Michigan Avenue.

The tower crane is lifting heavy stuff at the Triple-branded Hilton Hotel project at 123 East Cermak Road.

Finish it! One Grant Park scores its full permit

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One Grant Park full permit

One Grant Park’s best side.

Friday, when big news always happens, One Grant Park received its full-build permit from the City of Chicago, confirming that McHugh Construction can keep doing what they’re doing at 1200 South Indiana Avenue in the South Loop. And what they’re doing is shooting One Grant Park skyward at an impressive rate.

The Rafael Viñoly Architects design for Crescent Heights brings nearly 800 apartments across 76 stories, with 12 of those for parking.

 

More photos than I know what to do with: Ancora at Riverline

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Ancora at Riverline

Ancora at Riverline rises next door to River City. You can see the outline of the townhomes facing west, toward the South Branch of the Chicago River.

There will be construction at Riverline for a long time. A very long time. Ten new buildings, 3,600 residential units, covering 14 acres in the South Loop along the Chicago River. Designed by Perkins+Will, Riverline will basically be its own new neighborhood once completed, sometime around 2024.

Ancora, the first building of Phase One, broke ground in September. Lendlease, the general contractor and part of the development team with CMK Companies, is kicking tail on the podium, as the core rises to about ten stories. Ancora will be a 29-story tower, with 420 apartments and 24 townhomes. The second tower, Current, doesn’t have a start date yet, but we do know it will be an 18-story condominium tower with 251 condos and 28 more townhomes.

Wandering Milwaukee: 777 North Van Buren, one year later, is 7SEVENTY7

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777 North Van Buren

7SEVENTY7, at 777 North Van Buren Street, rises is the heart of downtown Milwaukee.

One year ago, we reported in this very space on the large hole in the earth at the corner of North Van Buren and East Mason Streets in downtown Milwaukee. It was there that Northwestern Mutual had just started construction on a 34-story apartment tower to compliment Northwestern Mutual Tower and Commons.

Now known as 7SEVENTY7, some familiar names in the booming Chicago construction scene are involved at 777 North Van Buren Street. Hines, who just broke ground on Wolf Point East, is the developer. The design is by Chicago architecture firm Solomon Cordwell Buenz. Structural engineering is by Magnusson Klemencic Associates, which seems to be on the job in every Chicago skyscraper, including the spectacular work going on at Vista Tower. Wisconsin’s own C.D. Smith Construction is the general contractor.

The 34 stories of 7SEVENTY7 will include 8 floors of parking, 1,400 spaces, meant to be used by employees of the new office tower, residents of the new apartment tower, and the public. Units will include 303 one-, two-, and  three-bedroom apartments, plus 14 penthouse units.

A Summer 2018 opening means on next year’s visit to Summerfest, 7SEVENTY7 may well be open.

 

Too soon for more Vista Tower pics? (SPOILER ALERT: There’s no such thing)

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Vista Tower

Removing forms from the angled concrete columns at Vista Tower.

Vista Tower

Vista Tower column b/w Tribune Tower.

“I was just at Vista Tower. No need to go by there again.” I said to myself as I walked in the general direction of Lakeshore East. An hour or so later…

Just that process of taking forms off the angled concrete columns had me staring for a solid 30 minutes. Throw is some signage that looks like it came straight from a European auto race, plus non-stop work seemingly 24/7 considering the progress that’s been made, and there’s a lot to see that’s new.

So yeah, as long as they (they being McHugh Construction) keep doing cool stuff here, I (and everyone else in Chicago with a camera) will keep snapping photos.

The form removal:

Everything Else:

Is that glass? Are those bricks? The McDonald’s Headquarters rolls on

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McDonald's Headquarters

We’re starting to see the underside of the ninth floor at the northwest corner of McDonald’s HQ. Plus brick and glass! 

The new McDonald’s Headquarters in the West Loop may not quite be ready for the top sesame-seed bun, but McHugh Construction keeps adding ingredients to the burger giant’s nine-story home. (I like to compare progress to building a hamburger, but with the new Apple Store looking like a gigantic Macbook, we can thank our lucky stars Sterling Bay and Gensler decided not to build this HQ to look like a Big Mac. You think the NIMBY’s would have thought that worked well with its surroundings?)

There are new glass panels on a couple sides now, and some sweet brickwork adorning parts of the exterior. If you take into account setbacks and the like, some of McDonald’s has reached nine stories high. It’s a tad early to start worrying about losing a tower crane or two, but the top-down strategy has paid off, as this project rises incredibly fast.

McDonald's two cranes Aerialscapes

An overhead view of McDonald’s and its two tower cranes by Curtis Waltz at Aerialscapes.

Solstice On The Park tops out, puts on new glasses

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Solstice On The Park, the 27-story residential tower in Hyde Park, topped on on Monday, according to a tweet to us from Studio Gang. Also on Monday, Studio Gang also shared a photo on its LinkedIn page showing some pretty impressive glass panels being installed on the ground floor. What does one do when there’s new glass to be seen? One heads down the Metra Electric Line and has a look for oneself.

https://twitter.com/studiogang/status/890302868527435776

Solstice On The Park glass

Glass installation at Solstice On The Park, from Studio Gang’s LinkedIn post.

Congratulations to Studio Gang, Linn-Mathes, Antheus Capital, Mac Properties, heck, to all of Hyde Park on the topping out! It looks like Chicago’s south-most tower crane is in danger of disappearing soon, but that’s the price of progress.

Caisson work is at full bore for The Lincoln Common

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Lincoln Common caisson work

Revcon is in, and in deep, as caisson work revs up at The Lincoln Common.

Here’s a ridiculous overhead view from Curtis Waltz at Aerialscapes.

The Lincoln Common by Aerialscapes

The noisy red machines of Revcon are tearing into the soil at The Lincoln Common, the mixed-use development coming to the former Children’s Memorial Hospital site in Lincoln Park. Foundation permits were issued back in June, allowing general contractor W.E. O’Neil to get started on the project.

“Foundation permits, plural?” you might ask? Yep. The Lincoln Common seems to have a theme of pairs:

  • There will be two towers, addressed for now as 2335 and 2345 North Lincoln Avenue, each standing 20 stories tall and containing 269 apartments. (There will be some condos too, plus a senior-living facility across the street.)
  • There are two developers: Hines, and McCaffery Interests
  • There are two architecture firms involved in the design work: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, and Antunovich Associates.
  • There are two red Revcon caisson rigs and two caisson cranes working on the site
  • I went through two bottles of Gatorade while watching caisson work in the oppressive heat (how do crews stay out there all day in this weather?)

You get the idea.

There was *one* tower-crane permit issued on July 17; will there be a second tower crane for the second tower? We’ll have to wait and see about that prospective pair.

900 West lands a foundation permit

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900 West

The sweet smell of a foundation permit, fresh of the City presses. 900 West may begin.

The lot at Washington Boulevard and Peoria Street in the West Loop has been cleared, and now a foundation permit has been issued that allows 900 West to move into the site. The 10-story, 22-unit condominium development from Taris Real Estate has already made Chicago news, when Dennis Rodkin at Crain’s reported on the signed contract for one of the building’s two penthouse units for more than $5 million. In addition to the penthouses, there will be two-bed, three-bed, and four-bedroom condos.

Northworks Architects + Planners designed the new building. Power Construction has been tasked with putting all the right pieces in all the right places. Taris plans to have 900 West ready for residents in Summer of 2018.