First Visit: 1123 West Randolph

Posted on April 4, 2021 by danieldschell

1123 West Randolph has reached about as high as a six-story building can reach.

A somewhat vague permit was issued in January of 2020, calling for a six-story building with retail on the lower two floors and residential units on the third through sixth floors. No number of units is indicated.

Apex Construction Group is the GC. Their website calls for nine units, with HKS, Inc the architect of record, and Heart of America the developer.

Chicago YIMBY visited the site in October of last year. They name Interra Realty as the developer, which is in line with the name (Jon Morgan) on the permit.

I got some photos for ya:

Stuff That’s Done: The David M. Rubenstein Forum at the University of Chicago

Posted on March 30, 2021 by danieldschell

14 months ago, I called this the most unique construction project in the city. No one told me I was wrong.

The David M. Rubenstein Forum on the University of Chicago campus is done and open and really darn cool.

Congrats to the whole team on this one: The University of Chicago; architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro out of NYC and Chicago’s own Brininstool + Lynch, and general contractor Turner Construction.

The David M. Rubenstein Forum, March 2021

Nevele22 catches the eye in River West

Posted on March 26, 2021 by danieldschell

Nevele22, at 1122 West Chicago Avenue in River West.

Height will make you noticeable. When you can’t achieve that, bright yellow construction materials will do the trick.

Nevele22 is one such example as it rises in River West. Located at 1122 W. Chicago Avenue, Nevele22 will be a 7-story, 97-unit rental property where Chicago and Milwaukee Avenues converge. It’s a busy intersection, and a busy neighborhood.

Nevele22 is being developed by Lipe Property Company of Wicker Park. It is a design by Pappageorge Haymes Partners. The building permit, issued in April of last year, also calls for 39 parking spots and ground-floor retail space. Global Builders is the general contractor.

Nevele22 hopes to be open for move-ins this spring.

670 North May is on its way

Posted on March 23, 2021 by danieldschell

Hey Chicago. We only have 12 tower cranes in the air right now. I better start paying attention to some of the smaller projects too, while I have the time, or there won’t be much to post.

Here’s one such development, at 670 North May in River West. It’s just getting started. It was issued a foundation permit back in February, and I quote:

FOUNDATION AND PARTIAL SUPERSTRUCTURE PERMIT FOR NEW 113 UNIT, 8 STORY RESIDENTIAL TOWER. SCOPE OF PERMIT INCLUDES ALL UNDERGROUND WORK THROUGH 1ST STORY PODIUM AND 8 STORY CORES. **2019 BUILDING CODE** CONSULTANT REVIEWER: GLOBETROTTERS ENGINEERING

I think what that means is we’ll see all eight floors of elevator core before the rest of the building starts going up. But I could easily be wrong, as I really just take pictures of stuff.

According to that permit, Bond Companies is the developer here, of a project designed by FitzGerald, with Global Builders in charge of construction.

Here’s the presentation from the August 2020 Chicago Plan Commission meeting, when the development was approved. (“Hotel use”?) 1140 West Erie was the name then, as well as the address of the building that was demolished to clear the lot. But you’ll notice “670 North May” on the building in some of the renderings.

Anyway, here are the exciting iPhone shots of the beginnings of foundation work. Yeah, the above renderings are much more exciting, until work amps up.

Darn Near Done: Panorama to open soon at 3300 North Clark

Posted on March 19, 2021 by danieldschell

Panorama is an eight-story rental development in the Lake View neighborhood at 3300 North Clark. Developed by Blilzlake Partners and designed by bKL Architecture, Panorama brings 140 units a block away from the Belmont CTA station. It includes 140 apartments, 9,000 square feet of retail space, and parking for 20 cars. As you can see, it sits right up against the new Red-Purple Bypass.

Power Construction is on this build.

Sorry about neglecting you, Pano. A lot of these construction photos were taken from Brown Lines trains on the way back home.

Stuff That’s Done: The Residences at the Eagle Building

Posted on March 17, 2021 by danieldschell

The Residences at the Eagle Building at 3833 North Broadway.

The Residences at the Eagle Building are open and lived in at 3833 North Broadway in Lake View. This Jonathan Splitt Architects-designed, 8-story, 134-unit apartment development from DLG Management is notable for its dismantling and reassembling of the terra cotta eagles adorning the façade. The building began welcoming tenants in 2019.

: 1

: 3833 North Braodway

First Visit (in the nick of time): Optima Lakeview lowers the boom

Posted on March 16, 2021 by danieldschell

Optima Lakeview is topped out and moving toward a 2022 opening.

My first visit to Optima Lakeview last week was just in time.

The tower crane is coming down from the topped-out T.O.D. from Glencoe’s Optima. Consisting of 198 apartments and 14,000 square feet of ground-level retail space, with parking for 94 cars and 208 bikes, the seven-story development is expected to open next year.

Optima Lakeview is another role model for do-it-yourself’ers. Optima is handling development, design, and general contractor duties.

Here now, you have your basic construction photos, and then a few shots of tower crane dismantling from March 16.

318 North Carpenter gets its glass in gear

Posted on February 25, 2020 by danieldschell

Raise a glass to 3158 North Carpenter.

Seven-story office buildings tend to get built pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you might miss them. Ferris Bueller taught us that. As soon as you walk away from 318 North Carpenter, GC The Big Green W will have made significant progress again by the time you walk around the next corner.

Walsh has now hit the next milestone; the first row of glass has been installed on the 2nd floor of the north and east façades. Construction has also reached the underside of the 7th floor, so this one’s also getting close to topping out. Like I said, stop and look around.

Keep in mind, Murphy Development Group is planning to open 318 North Carpenter this summer, so time matters.

60 East Benton tears up a parking lot for MDA 2

Posted on February 25, 2020 by danieldschell

https://www.instagram.com/p/B7EJX6QFVlk/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

The parking lot at 60 East Benton that used to be next to the parking garage that used to be at 50 West Randolph is no more. Confused? Suffice it to say Chicago has successfully erased another surface parking lot from existence, right next to a parking garage that was recently demolished.

The above Instagram post from Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture announced back on January 8 that MDA 2 was on its way. 60 East Benton sits along Wabash Avenue between the Parkline construction site to the south, and Elephant & Castle to the north. The latter occupies space at ground level of MDA City Club Apartments, to which MDA 2 will be connected by a sixth-floor pedestrian bridge.

January 30 saw a foundation permit issued by the City of Chicago, allowing for work to begin for seven stories and 81 units. As you can see in the photos, site prep is underway.

: January 19

: February 2

Chicago’s newest newest tower crane is ready to send Panorama vertical

Posted on February 24, 2020 by danieldschell

Rush’s reign as newest tower crane was short-lived.

Panorama, at 3300 North Clark in Lake View, is on the board as the newest kid on the block, having completed assembly of its tower crane last week. Power Construction is the GC here; Adjustable Concrete Construction is doing the concrete.