Demolition is underway in the Fulton Market District on the former Fox Deluxe Foods building at 370 North Morgan. The meat & poultry wholesaler hot-footed it out to the suburbs, as have so many stalwarts of Chicago’s former meat-packing district, so developer Vista Property Group could begin construction on a new residential tower.
The single-story building will be replaced by a 32-story apartment tower containing 494 rental units. The ground floor will contain retail space, while a parking podium with 190 spaces occupies floors 2 through 4. There will be one bicycle-storage space for each unit.
Antunovich Associates is the architect for the building, and Skender, now on site with demo contractor Heneghan Wrecking, will serve as general contractor. Three permits, for excavation, caissons, and the full building, are pending on the Chicago Data Portal with Vista Property Group indicating construction will kick off in the first quarter of 2025. No indication yet about an opening date, but I think 24 months from start to completion is a decent guess.
Some renderings of what’s coming to 370 North Morgan, followed by demo shots of what’s departing 370 North Morgan:
Rendering of 370 North Morgan from Vista Property Group. Rendering of 370 North Morgan from Vista Property Group. Rendering of 370 North Morgan from Vista Property Group. Rendering of 370 North Morgan from Vista Property Group. Demolition prep on October 7, 2024.
Buildings with targets on their foreheads (3029 North Lincoln Avenue, in this case) don’t usually last.3027, 3029, and 3037 are all demolished now.
A New Construction permit was issued September 17 by the City of Chicago for the property located at 3037 North Lincoln Avenue in Lake View. Said permit allows for the construction of a four-story, 15-unit residential building with a 16-car garage and retail space on the ground floor. Demolition work for three buildings (3037, 3029, and 3027 North Lincoln) being torn down to make room for the development is nearing completion, after all three of them got demo permits on July 22. So the new build should get started here very soon.
PLD Homes (Promised Land Development) is both the developer and general contractor, with Hanna Architects listed on the permit as the building’s designer. They have included balconies on all three residential floors, as well as a shared rooftop deck for all residents. I haven’t seen any renderings for this one, but I’ve been looking.
Some photos of what used to be here, and their demolition status as of 09/18/2024:
3029 North Lincoln Avenue3037 North Lincoln Avenue3027 North Lincoln Avenue
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Demolition of the former Chicago Tribune Freedom Center continues on the West Side.
I wasn’t going to post more Chicago Tribune Freedom Center demolition photos this soon, since I just published a bunch of them last week, but there were rainbows…
The west side of the building is history. These were taken late in the afternoon on 09/18/2024:
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An historic two-story brick building at 37 South Ashland Avenue in the Near West Side Community Area is getting new life, thanks to a renovation from ZSD Corp. Built in 1904 as the West End Woman’s Club, it became the home of the United Electrical Workers in 1948. ZSD purchased the building from the union in March of this year for $1.65 million; they’re in the midst of overhauling it into apartments. In keeping with the original name, it has been dubbed West End Club. They hope to welcome their first tenants in summer 2025.
The West End Woman’s Club, via Chicago History MuseumRendering of West End Club courtesy of ZSD Corp.
A permit was issued by the City of Chicago to make the office-to-residential conversion to the building, located on the northeast corner of Ashland Avenue and Monroe Street, on May 15, 2024. It calls for a two-story addition atop the two existing levels, while lowering the original basement, and adding a rooftop deck. There will be 22 rental units here: 16 one-bedroom, 4 three-bedroom, and 2 four-bedroom apartments. An elevator will be added, and the front of the building will feature a sunken patio. The main entrance will be placed along Monroe Street. There will be no parking spaces included in the development.
Google image shows the UE Hall limestone nameplate that covered “West End Woman’s Club”Google Street View image of Electrical Workers murals on the south façade.
Before gutting the interior, yeoman’s efforts were made to remove and preserve a painted mural on the walls throughout the building’s interior. UE is leasing office space at the Chicago Teachers Union building at 1901 West Carroll Avenue, and the mural will be on display there. You can read more about those preservation efforts at the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times.
According to ZSD’s Zev Salomon:
“We’re proud to be restoring the facade of this historic building and we’re happy to collaborate with the seller to ensure the preservation of the Solidarity mural.”
ZSD Corp, along with developing West End Club, is also acting as their own general contractor. The design team includes Andrew R Wang as the Architect of Record, Philadelphia firm IS Architects as the Design Architect, and SK Design Group as the Interior Designer.
The photos below include some taken on the first of September when scaffolding covered the west façade. That has since been removed and reassembled for work on the south wall.
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By now, you know that Bally’s is building a casino along the Chicago River at Chicago Avenue and Halsted Street. And you also know that’s where the Chicago Tribune printing operation used to be. So I’m not going to waste your time with a bunch of words. Instead, here are photos of demolition progress on the Chicago Tribune Freedom Center, taken September 10, 2024.
Chicago Tribune Freedom Center demolition, 09/10/2024
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.
Loyola University Chicago’s Centennial Forum demolition is nearing completion.
Quite a bit of debris remains, but little else other than memories, of the Loyola University Chicago Centennial Forum demolition in Rogers Park. The City of Chicago issued a demolition permit for the two-story concrete building on May 23, and demo contractor American Demolition got to work almost immediately. Now the entire structure is gone, and work is being done below grade to close off the multi-level plaza that connected Centennial Forum to Mertz Hall next door.
Power Construction is the general contractor for the entirety of this project, but it still seems the only plan for the site is to make it “green space.” Not permanently, but green nonetheless. For now.
The Chicago Tribune Freedom Center got four demolition permits on August 26, 2024.
Not just one, but four demolition permits were issued Monday for 651 West Chicago Avenue, or what used to be the Chicago Tribune Freedom Center at Chicago Avenue, Halsted Street, and the Chicago River. A long metal building at 700 West Erie Street on the site that formerly hosted a U-Haul rental facility was torn down earlier this month. Brandenburg Industrial Services is the demolition contractor for the casino project.
The final edition of the Chicago Tribune to be printed at this location hit the streets in May. Work has been ongoing inside the facility since to prep for demolition, making way for Bally’s Chicago Casino to get underway. Time is of the essence; the new casino is expected to be open before the end of 2026. All those bricks to be salvaged? I wonder if they’ll truck them off site and sort them when there’s more time.
Prep work for demolition in July.
The permits issued Monday divide the demolition into four sections: the warehouse, high-bay storage and office space, the railway dock, and the northwest addition. There’s some sort of ceremony scheduled for Tuesday to get the (wrecking) ball rolling, per Alderman Reilly’s newsletter from last week. Had I been invited and told how to dress for the occasion, I might pick up some info on which section will be demolished first.
Anyway, there are good vantage points to watch this one. Halsted Street and Chicago Avenue both have enough elevation to get a good look at demo work (though you’ll have to stand on your tiptoes to see over the construction fence) or set sail u the North Branch and watch from the river. Your call.
via Chicago Data Portalvia Chicago Data Portalvia Chicago Data Portalvia Chicago Data PortalDemolition of 700 West Erie, August 13, 2024.
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Unless you count the rubble, 720 North Wells has now been completely demolished. The four-story River North stalwart stood since the 1870s. many say it should have been afforded preservation as an historic structure, but it “slipped through the cracks” according to the Chicago Tribune.
Photograph everything. Just like our pets, grandparents, and perfectly-cooked steaks, nothing is here forever. Preserve their memories, and photograph everything. We all have cameras in our pockets. They do much more than just make phone calls. Use them.
Photos of the rubble, taken August 22, 2024:
Photos of the demolition process, in no particular order:
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.
Brandenburg tears into the former U-Haul facility at 700 West Erie for the Bally’s Casino development.
It isn’t likely I’ll make any casino jokes today, but I wouldn’t roulette out. You can bet I’ve got photos to show that demolition has begun at 700 West Erie in West Town, though. The City of Chicago issued a demolition permit for the single-story metal shed (a looooong shed, but it looks like a shed) that was most recently home to a U-Haul dealer on August 2. It didn’t take long to get started. This is the first demolition permit issued in preparation for the sprawling Bally’s Casino development where the Chicago River meets Chicago Avenue and Hasted Street.
The big permit, of course, will be for the Tribune Freedom center on the northeast corner of this property, where interior demo has already begun after the Chicago Tribune printed its final edition there in May. That will be a BIG demo to watch. So many bricks. And don’t even get me started on the construction we’re going to get to watch here soon. And across Chicago Avenue from this. And across the Chicago River from that. Stock up on snacks.
For now, Brandenburg Industrial Service Company is tearing down the the U-Haul building. Here’s a look. The first photos were taken August 8, after the permit had been issued, but before demolition work had begun. The rest were taken August 13.
Before demolition began, August 8, 2024.Could use this around the house.Taggers’ paradise, pre-demolition. Tuesday, August 13 (today)
Demolition is ongoing — and darn fun to watch — on the Rogers Park campus of Loyola University Chicago, where the Centennial Forum is being reduced to rubble. The City of Chicago issued a demolition permit for the two-story concrete building on May 23, and demo contractor American Demolition got to work almost immediately.
Power Construction is the general contractor for the entirety of this project, but as yet, I haven’t a clue what Loyola plans to erect on this site once demolition wraps up. I *can* tell you that the tall tower in the background of many of these photos — Mertz Hall — is *not* being torn down.
Here’s a whole bunch of photos from the action from Wednesday, June 26. I stood and watched a lot longer than I’d plan. That’s easier to do with demolition than with construction, because so much changes in so little time. Take a photo of a wall or beam, look in another direction, and suddenly there’s no more wall. So cool.
Building Up Chicago 