167 Green Street drops its 2nd tower crane

Posted on February 24, 2020 by danieldschell

The Banner waves as the West Tower Crane at 167 Green Street comes down.

With the removal of the second tower crane from 167 Green Street, Chicago now has no two-crane construction sites. There are a pair of three-crane jobs of course, at One Chicago Square and Cirrus/Cascade, but no pairs.

McDonald’s, Vista Tower, One Bennett Park, NEMA Chicago, Woodlawn Commons, and The Lincoln Common all recently utilized the double-tower-crane method to get stuff done. Now, 167 Green Street joins that list of completed missions.

Sunday, I took a quick walk around the West Loop site for one last look at the red Manitowoc MR608, affectionately known as West Crane, as crews worked on bringing it back to earth.

Stuff That’s Done (And Already Changing): The Mason

Posted on February 23, 2020 by danieldschell

The Mason is a 13-story, 263-unit apartment building in the West Loop that began its life known as 180 North Ada. The L-shaped structure was designed by Brininstool + Lynch for Marquette Companies, with Power Construction on the build. The Mason opened to residents in Spring 2019.

Last week, the Chicago Plan Commission unanimously approved a zoning change for The Mason:

The Applicant is proposing to rezone the property from the current Planned Development #1384 to Planned Development #1384, as amended, to allow for a restaurant and tavern use to be established on the ground floor.

Helping move Restaurant Row further west in the West Loop is a good thing for hungry Chicagoans.

: 180 North Ada

: Power Construction has everything they need to send 180 North Ada vertical.

: 180 North Ada, seen here from a Green Line train, has begun digging in to the West Loop.

Progress Update: 800 Fulton

Posted on February 20, 2020 by danieldschell

800 Fulton. It could be 300 North Halsted. Or 801 West Wayman. or 303 North Green. But none of those have the panache of 800 Fulton.

And 800 Fulton (that link includes an Oxblue webcam!) keeps sprouting up from this West Loop block, thanks to the efforts Lendlease and crew. Have a look:

There is a Superior House in River North nearing completion

Posted on February 19, 2020 by danieldschell

A rendering of Superior House from FitzGerald.

A Superior House with superior homes is coming this spring to River North. 34 of them, in fact.

Ascend Real Estate Group is developing the condominium building at 360 West Superior. Once existing structures were demolished, construction got started with a permit back in January of 2019.

Superior House is a design by FitzGerald. They’ve teamed up with Ascend previously on Niche 905 in Near North, among other projects. Power Construction is the general contractor.

: Sept 2019

: Sept 2019

: Sept 2019

: Sept 2019

With caisson work complete, 448 North LaSalle goes on tower crane watch

Posted on February 18, 2020 by danieldschell

Rendering of 448 North LaSalle from its website.

Did you blink? Then you might have missed caisson work at 448 North LaSalle. Revcon got out there, got at it, and got out already, leaving a clean site on which to start construction for Midwest Property Group’s 12-story, 175,00 sf office building. Now Lendlease can get to work on going vertical.

When this lot first starting showing signs of action, workers from Pepper Construction were on scene starting site prep. Pepper is also listed in the foundation permit as the masonry contractor. I think, in this case, that means they’re handling concrete duties.

According to 448’s brand-spankin’ new website, MPG plans to have offices open to tenants before 2020 is over.

So how about an eclectic collection of site photos from the month of February, right up through Sunday’s snow-covered, waiting-for-a-tower-crane empty lot:

Stuff That’s Done: Renelle on the River

Posted on February 18, 2020 by danieldschell

Renelle on the River, from Across the River.

Renelle on the River is an 18-story condominium tower in the River North neighborhood. It was built atop an existing parking garage at 403 North Wabash Ave once topped by a small plaza park. The garage was built with future use in mind, so no additional caissons were required. It was a unique project to watch get started.

Renelle on the River is a design by bKL Architecture, and was built by James McHugh Construction. Developer Belgravia Group delivered its 50 condos to residents last year.

: Renelle on the River (403 North Wabash)

: Renelle on the River (403 North Wabash)

: Renelle on the River (403 North Wabash)

: Plaza demolition as of August.

West End on Fulton nears completion in the (far) West Loop

Posted on February 14, 2020 by danieldschell

https://twitter.com/Power_Construct/status/1151616342761594893

Today we have another Power Construction topping-out tweet to lead us into a progress update.

West End on Fulton is a 14-story office building form Trammel Crow Company. Designed by ESG Architecture & Design, it’s testing the western limits of the West Loop at 1375 West Fulton. The east façade lies up against Ogden Avenue, my personal unofficial West Loop boundary. Scheduled to open in the first quarter of this year, West End will deliver 285,000 square feet of rentable office space, while also including the sorts of top-notch amenities you’d expect to see in new residential construction.

Before you ogle photos, here’s a sweet pdf that will learn ya everything you need to know about West End on Fulton.

Chicago’s newest tower crane is on the job at Rush’s Rubschlager Building

Posted on February 13, 2020 by danieldschell

Two cranes and a skyline at Rush’s Rubschlager Building.

The tower crane is up and running for Power Construction at 1520 West Harrison Street, the site of Rush University Medical Center’s Joan and Paul Rubschlager Building.

I could be wrong, but it appears the tower crane is working on the cofferdam, while the steel is being erected by the rolling crane. (Rolling crane? Street crane? What should I be calling those things?) Whatever they’re called, and whichever is doing what, this dynamic crane duo is piling iron atop iron as the Rubschlager begins its 10-story journey.

Stuff That’s Done: Coeval

Posted on February 13, 2020 by danieldschell

Coeval has two addresses: 51 East 14th St. and 1419 South Wabash. Ave

I had surgery on a knee as a young adult. I was fascinated by the effects of anesthesia. One moment after drifting off to sleep, my eyes popped open in the recovery room. To me, the surgery happened faster than the snap of the fingers. Like time travel in Back To The Future.

Those questionable analogies are a means of explaining Coeval. I stopped by 14th and Wabash twice; once during demolition of 1415 South Wabash, and once as the rolling crane was being set up on the freshly-demoed lot. The third time I visited, this past week, Coeval was open. Heck, I didn’t even know it was called Coeval until now. If only construction could be instantaneous like that.

Coeval is a two-towered apartment development from CMK Companies. Consisting of a 14-story tower to the north, and a 10-story tower to the south, the project contains about 260 units in total. It was designed by Pappageorge Haymes Partners and built by Clark Construction. It opened to residents last summer.

Stuff That’s Done: Union West

Posted on February 10, 2020 by danieldschell

Union West is 357-unit apartment development in the West Loop. Its two 15-story towers occupy a large portion of the city block bounded by Washington, Sangamon, Madison, and Morgan, with part of its footprint touching all four streets. It was designed by bKL Architecture for ZOM Living. Power Construction was on the build.

Union West opened in Fall 2019.