The Bentham has a clean slate, and a tower crane permit, to begin construction

Posted on September 13, 2017 by danieldschell

Even the rubble is gone, providing a blank canvas at Erie and LaSalle for The Bentham to begin.

The old Erie-LaSalle Body Shop has been torn down and hauled away, clearing the lot to make way for The Bentham. Sedgwick Development is building the 15-story condo tower, which they also designed. There will be 31 units, all of the 3-bed, 3-bath, open-floor variety. The 15th floor will be the rooftop deck.

NW Construction of Forest Park is the general contractor. Congrats, NWC, on getting on the Chicago Tower Crane board! Adjustable Forms will be on hand for masonry work.

: A rendering of The Bentham, coming soon to River North.

: A tower crane was permitted on Sept 11. That’s the only permit issued for construction so far.

: Gone is the Erie-LaSalle Body Shop, now located at 1005 W Huron.

: While The Ardus rises next door, The Bentham gets ground prep.

Construction Progress: No. 508

Posted on September 11, 2017 by danieldschell

No. 508, at 508 West Diversey in Lake View.

Crews from Macon Construction continue to grow No. 508 up on the city’s north side. A development from Boston-based Broder, the building at 508 West Diversey in Lake View will bring 53 luxury units to the neighborhood, and is designed by Pappageorge Haymes Partners.

The 12-story tower will include commercial space on the ground floor, parking on levels 2 and 3, residential units on floors 4-11, and amenities on the 12th floor, all topped off by a green roof.

The link to Broder’s website for No. 508 tells you it will be ready this year; don’t count on it. This project got off to a slow start, and with construction having only reached the fifth floor so far, a 2017 opening seems awfully ambitious. But, Macon *does* have an almighty tower crane at its disposal (they’re about to get their second one in the Chicago skies, at Hayden West Loop), so maybe we shouldn’t completely discount them.

: Gratuitous tower crane shot(s)

Leopardo, Michels have begun caisson work at 210 North Carpenter

Posted on September 7, 2017 by danieldschell

Leopardo and Michels have begun drilling and filling caissons at 210 North Carpenter.

They’re digging holes and filling them with concrete at 210 North Carpenter, the 12-story, 200,000-square-foot office building from Sterling Bay. Crews from general contractor (and future tenant) Leopardo Companies and Michels Corporation are sending caissons into the West Loop soil for what’s been dubbed the “McDonald’s Vendor Village” along the 1000-block of West Lake Street.

Sterling Bay rendering of 210 North Carpenter.

Crain’s had the announcement last month that Leopardo had signed on the be the first 210 North Carpenter tenant, turning construction into a quasi-D.I.Y. project, if you will. Leopardo’s corporate offices are in Hoffman Estates, and will remain there, but the Chicago staff will relocate from 333 West Wacker Drive when the new space is completed in 2018.

By the way, we tweeted to Adjustable Forms last month about their involvement as the masonry contractor, and they confirmed our suspicion that 210 North Carpenter *will* require a tower crane. Everyone wins.

With caissons wrapped up, 808 West Van Buren scores a tower crane permit

Posted on September 7, 2017 by danieldschell

808 West Van Buren received a tower crane permit Wednesday.

The hideous garbage hole that used to occupy the Greektown corner of Halsted and Van Buren will soon be beautified by a tower crane.

808 West Van Buren, the bKL Architecture-designed 12-story apartment building from Loukas Development, has a clean slate of smooth dirt now that all the caissons have been dug. A few remained to be filled along the north end of the lot Tuesday, but those are probably done by now. The next step for Lendlease is to get that new tower crane in the air and send the 148-unit tower skyward.

: A smooth, clean slate at 808 West Van Buren.

: Hauling off equipment.

Power Construction plants a tower crane at 900 West

Posted on September 6, 2017 by danieldschell

Is that what I think it is, peeking over the construction fence? Yep. 900 West has a tower crane stub.

Not all of the tower crane news coming out of the West Loop is bad.

A tower crane stub has been planted at 900 West Washington Boulevard, the site of 900 West. You may recall our mid-August visit when we stopped by to check on Caisson work. At the time, Power Construction had just received the full-build permit from the City of Chicago to erect the entire 10-story, 22-unit condominium project from Taris Real Estate.

One week later, on August 24, another permit came through, this time for the tower crane. Now, we don’t know exactly when the stub was planted (August 26 was the most recent day we’ve walked by until now) but lo and behold, there was the fresh stub on Tuesday. So, expect Power to send 900 West rocketing skyward now that they’ve got the heavy lifting covered.

: The Tower Crane Permit.

: No crane here August 26. Just caissons to be filled.

: 900 West rendering from Taris Real Estate.

Construction Progress: Wicker Park Connection

Posted on August 29, 2017 by danieldschell

A growth spurt at the Wicker Park Connection, 1640 West Division Street.

When last we dropped in on the Wicker Park Connection, Linn-Mathes had just erected a tower crane, and construction was starting to poke up out of the ground. My, how times have changed.

Foundation work seems to be completed on the Centrum Partners & Hirsch Associates project, and now steel and slab work is approaching the fifth floor, on its way to 15 stories and 140 apartments.

: Wicker Park Connection rendering courtesy of Hirsch Associates.

: Wicker Park Connection rendering courtesy of Hirsch Associates.

1407 On Michigan is glassing up the South Loop

Posted on August 25, 2017 by danieldschell

New glass of 1407 On Michigan hovers above the Chicago Firehouse Restaurant.

The newly-renamed 1407 On Michigan now has some newly-installed cladding to show off. The 15-story rental tower from Russland Capital Group looks to have reached the underside of the 15th floor, so it should be topping out very soon. Unless, of course, we missed a floor of the podium, and it already has topped out.

And that would mean Lendlease is that much closer to having the 199 apartments and 40,000 square feet of commercial space open. As you can see from the signage, Rush Primary And Specialty Care will be included in that space.

Russland originally planned to have 1407 On Michigan open before the year was out. There’s a lot of work to do in the next four months; we’ll see if construction extends into 2018, or if that goal will be met. Stay tuned.

With lofty expectations of 18 stories, the Aloft Chicago Mag Mile goes vertical

Posted on August 23, 2017 by danieldschell

The first of 18 floors is rising at the Aloft Chicago Mag Mile hotel in Streeterville.

The Aloft Chicago Mag Mile hotel has started poking up from the ground at 243 East Ontario Street in Streeterville. Tishman, the developer and general contractor, has work on the elevator core rising just above street level. The 18-story, 336-room hotel got rolling in January, with a demolition permit for the former Museum of Contemporary Art building.

Demo occurred in February, after which Tishman broke ground and began work on the new project. Foundation and tower-crane permits followed in March, with the full-build permit coming through in June. Tishman hopes to have the Aloft Chicago Mag Mile open in Winter 2018, which could be just over, or just under, one year from the start of demolition. That will depend on the actual opening date.

Renelle On The River begins prep work in River North

Posted on August 22, 2017 by danieldschell

The plaza park has given way, making space for Renelle On The River.

More than a year after the City of Chicago issued a renovation permit for demolition of the small plaza park at 403 North Wabash Avenue in River North, and a second reinstatement of said permit later, site prep has begun for Renelle On The River.

Designed by bKL Architecture, Renelle On The River will be a 17-story tower featuring 50 3-bed and 4-bedroom condominiums. There’s been quite a sales push for Renelle in recent months, and a banner on site boasts that 40% of the units have been spoken for.

Belgravia Group, which also brought us the still-spectacularly-yellow CA Washington in the West Loop, is the developer. McHugh Construction will handle general contractor duties. As of August 22, no construction permit has been issued. Let’s hope for one soon; we’d love to see a tower crane fill that little space.

The park was still visible in April, but the Fence Of Doom made it clear the future was limited.

: Rendering of Renelle On The River from bKL Architecture.

: The twice-reinstated permit.

GEMS World Academy Upper School begins work next to its famous neighbor

Posted on August 22, 2017 by danieldschell

No longer a staging area for Vista Tower, site prep is underway for GEMS World Academy Upper School. It will fill the space between to Vista and Coast.

As if we didn’t have enough to watch along East Wacker Drive.

A couple weeks back – on August 4 to be precise – GEMS World Academy Chicago announced the start of construction on the Upper School, which will be built right up against the underway Vista Tower. (You may have heard of that.) Designed, as was the original GEMS building, by bKL Architecture, the Upper School will be a 17-story, 240,000-square-foot facility accommodating more than 1,400 students.

For now, site prep is underway, with Power Construction serving as general contractor.

You can read the August 4 press release from GEMS here.

: Interior rendering of GEMS World Academy Chicago Upper School.

Building Up Chicago

An Eye on Chicago Construction.

Category Archives: 10-19 Stories