Demolition Permit Signals Start of CA Washington

Posted on June 14, 2016 by danieldschell

Bye bye, garage. Hello CA Washington.

A demolition permit filed Monday for the auto repair garage at 1045 West Washington Boulevard in the West Loop signifies the first step in construction for the new CA Washington project.

This small sign on the fence proclaims CA Washington’s imminent arrival.

CA Washington is the latest from Belgravia Realty Group. You’ve seen their work in progress from the Brown Line train on Sedgwick at Locust. This time, Belgravia is building 3-bed, 3-bath condos in the heart of the West Loop.

Oh, and have you heard who the neighbor will be across the street? Multiple reports say McDonald’s will make its new home in the former Harpo Studios on the other side of Washington Blvd. Hmm. I wonder if that will drive condo values up at all?

A rendering of CA Washington from Belgravia Realty Group.

Soil sampling across the street at Harpo Studios earlier this month. Expect lots of activity.

111 South Peoria, By Any Other Name

Posted on June 9, 2016 by danieldschell

Illume (11ume?) Chicago, now with its own signage.

Would still be controversial?

Doesn’t matter anymore.

Never Forget

Try as they might (you can read all about the contentious road this project took here at chicagoarchitecture.com) to quash the project at 111 South Peoria, West Loop NIMBYs (mostly from the two adjacent condo buildings, then just one at the Plan Commission meeting) failed to prevent the brand new condominium development from happening in the current parking lot at the same address.

And now that the contentious plan has met the approval of 27th Ward Alderman Walter Burnett, Jr. and the Chicago Plan Commission, 111 South Peoria has a new name as it moves towards fruition: Illume. But fancy, with three 1s instead of an i and two Ls. But a small 1 and two big 1s. 111ume? Yeah, it’s hard to type it that way.

Illume Chicago was approved by the Chicago Plan Commission back in March. It gave the okay for 79 condos in a 115-foot-tall building. Designed by architecture firm Pappageorge Haymes Partners, Illume is expected to be ready for occupancy in 2017. Along with being the developer, LG will be the general contractor as well.

The rendering of Illume Chicago presented by LG Development at the March Plan Commission meeting.

This parking lot will soon be Illume Chicago.

The very same parking lot, as seen from the Up Chicago office.

1400 West Washington Getting a New Plumbers Training Center?

Posted on June 7, 2016 by danieldschell

A rendering of the new Plumbers Local 130 Training Center, from the W.E. O’Neil website.

Thanks to a heads-up from Twitter user @ponjeters, it appears the recently-demolished Plumbing Industry Center posted last night will be replaced by a new, state-of-the-art Plumbers Local 130 Training Center.

Another render from the W.E. O’Neil website.

According to the website of contractor W.E. O’Neil, they are tasked with building a 120,000-square-foot facility that will replace the one Heneghan Wrecking just finished tearing down. Per the website:

“The project is being designed as (a) teaching tool for apprentices and will incorporate state-of-the-art technology and plumbing training workshops.”

The O’Neil website lists Gensler as the architect, and Chicago Journeymen Plumbers as the client.

The website has no location information other than “Chicago,” which still has a few more spaces to fill in besides this one at 1400 West Washington Boulevard. I sent an email to O’Neil last night in hopes of verifying the project’s address.

The now-destroyed Plumbing Industry Center at 1400 West Washington Boulevard in the West Loop.

1400 West Washington Blvd is a Hole in the Ground.

Posted on June 6, 2016 by danieldschell

A large hole in the ground where 1400 West Washington used to sit.

Hasn’t always been that way, of course. What used to be the “Plumbing Industry Center” (among other uses) building at 1400 West Washington Boulevard in the West Loop was a nice looking structure. But someone wanted it gone, so down it came. No word on what, if anything, will take its place. Maybe they just needed more room for the Randolph Street Market next door.

Don’t judge it by this gloomy day; it was a handsome structure.