3Eleven grows, and Assumption Catholic Church gets a new story

Posted on October 13, 2016 by danieldschell

3Eleven, at 311 West Illinois Street in River North, being constructed on what used to be the parking lot of Assumption Catholic Church.

Progress continues on the 25-story apartment tower 3Eleven in River North. The future home of 245 “luxury” rentals, 3,000 square feet of retail, and 109 parking spaces by the John Buck Company broke ground back in June in the parking lot of Assumption Catholic Church. 3Eleven is a design by FitzGerald Associates Architects. Power Construction is doing the build.

A related project to this is the one-story addition Assumption Church is getting to the priory on the west end of the lot. The architecture firm of McBride Kelley Baurer Architects designed the priory portion; Norcon is the general contractor for the addition.

: The single-story addition to the priory at Assumption Catholic Church.

640 North Wells stakes its claim as prettiest Chicago construction

Posted on October 11, 2016 by danieldschell

640 North Wells, rising in River North.

Exhibit on Superior held the title for awhile. But then they covered up all the construction materials with finishing work, so a new leader had to be chosen.

I give you 640 North Wells. All orange and blue. On a sunny day, you can’t beat it. Though the Marriott Marquis comes close.

Shut-out to Lendlease for the nice artwork.

: Next door is 167 West Erie, and it ain’t so bad itself.

: Gratuitous, albeit artsy, tower crane shot.

Centrum Hubbard digs itself a great big hole

Posted on October 11, 2016 by danieldschell

They’re digging down below grade for Centrum Hubbard.

The tower crane’s in place, and now Power Construction crews are really getting down to it. Literally. There’s a big hole in the earth from which the 23-story Centrum Hubbard residential tower will rise. On the other end of the lot, 412 North Wells….well, let’s just say its time will come.

Quick reminder on Centrum Hubbard: 23 stories, 193 apartments, 91 parking spots, and 6,000 square feet of retail space. The design is by Hirsch Associates; the developer is Centrum Partners.

: There’s been a bit of digging going on at 412 North Wells, too.

: Do you mind? Trying to take photos here.

625 West Adams, late-night edition

Posted on October 8, 2016 by danieldschell

625 West Adams, all aglow on West Loop Friday evening.

We’re getting to that time of year, when we have more free time after dark than we have during daylight hours. Fortunately for all of us, some construction looks darn cool after the sun goes down.

Join me for a quick walk around 625 West Adams in the West Loop, a Power Construction Production. 20 stories of offices when it’s complete; just a couple levels of lumber and supports right now. All aglow.

Permits in hand, no time’s being wasted at 1136 South Wabash

Posted on October 7, 2016 by danieldschell

A parking lot no more! Two days after the filing of permits, 1136 South Wabash is getting started.

This comes as no surprise.

Just two days after permits were filed for both the foundation and the full-build, crews are at work in the former parking lot at 1136 South Wabash Avenue in the South Loop. No reason to waste time now. They’ve likely been chomping at the bit for two months, ever since the tower crane permit was filed, with no place to put it. But now it’s safe to expect constant activity there by Lendlease, the general contractor on 1136 South Wabash, for the next 18-24 months. And the good news is, you can watch the fun happen from the Orange and Green Line trains at the Roosevelt station.

: This Flyboy is sure to soon disappear. Let’s hope Hebru Brantley can replace him somewhere.

1136 South Wabash gets permits to begin construction

Posted on October 5, 2016 by danieldschell

The cart has been here for a while; now there’s finally a horse to pull it.

1136 South Wabash is a 26-story apartment tower approved by the Chicago Plan Commission back in May. A development of Chicago’s CA Ventures, the project received a tower crane permit on August 3rd. That’s all well and good; every high rise needs a tower crane. But no one plants a tower crane before starting foundation work. And at long last, that permission has been granted. Yesterday, the foundation permit for 1136 South Wabash was filed, as well as the full-build permit, allowing general contractor Lendlease to begin work on the SCB-designed building.

That’s right, first came the tower crane, then, two months later, both the foundation permit and full-build permit, on the same day. That’s a new one to me.

Those permits tell us to expect 320 rental units, 143 parking spaces, and retail on the first floor. Expect work to begin sooner rather than later, so that tower crane permit can make itself useful.

Nothing to see here. Yet. But soon.

I hope Hebru Brantley can somehow save this work. Or, paint about 2,000 more around Chicago.

The tower crane permit, filed a full two months before the foundation permit.

The foundation permit. At last.

The full build permit.

Tower Crane Update: Centrum Hubbard and 412 North Wells

Posted on September 30, 2016 by danieldschell

Centrum Hubbard 412 North Wells tower crane

The tower crane is real. And it is spectacular.

The stump has been planted, the foundation poured and cured, and all the parts are assembled in mid-air. The tower crane at Centrum Hubbard and 412 North Wells is ready to go.

That single tower crane will erect both the 9-story office building (412 North Wells) and the 23-story, 193-unit residential tower (Centrum Hubbard) in the lot at Wells and Hubbard. Both buildings were designed by next-door neighbor Hirsch Associates. And with it now in place, it’s time for digging some foundations. Not by the tower crane though. The excavation equipment will handle that task.

Gallery I: Tuesday assembly

Gallery II: The finished crane and the foundation dig.

Riverline mega-development begins caisson work in the South Loop

Posted on September 29, 2016 by danieldschell

Caisson work for Building B at Riverline is underway at 720 South Wells.

Everything has to be massive these days. Now you know that. Granted, some of the things we’re all referring to as “massive” lately are quite large, but we’re about two days away from ruining that word.

Anyway, the quite-large Riverline development CMK Companies is building along South Wells Street, in the lot just to the north of River City condominiums, is in full caisson mode these days. Case Foundation crews are out in full force, with the usual array of tools and equipment, drilling holes into the earth that will eventually support the weight of “Building D,” as the first of five phases is affectionately known. Per the permit on file, at least.

Building D will get Riverline started with a 27-story residential tower, containing 452 units and 246 parking spaces. It’s a design by Chicago’s Perkins+Will. Lendlease is the general contractor.

Your late-night preview of the Centrum Hubbard tower crane

Posted on September 26, 2016 by danieldschell

In pieces for now, a future tower crane awaits assembly on the Centrum Hubbard/ North Wells lot.

A tower crane waits for no man.

Except for the men who have to assemble the crane. Which means the tower crane at Centrum Hubbard/412 North Wells will have to wait until Tuesday morning to continue climbing into the sky. But crews got a good start on Monday, stacking a few sections atop each other, while filling the lot with more crane parts, including the ever-important sky cab. Which is what I’m calling it, starting just now.

Have a look at the progress so far, night-vision style.

: Foundation work for the crane on Thursday the 22nd.

: The crane-building crane was on site Monday morning.

Centrum Hubbard and 412 North Wells get a tower crane to share

Posted on September 22, 2016 by danieldschell

Crews work on the foundation for the Centrum Hubbard/412 North Wells tower crane.

This is the time we find out just how well Centrum Hubbard and 412 North Wells get along.

One is an office building, and one is a residential tower. So right off the bat, you’d think there might be tension. They’re being built in a very confined space, at the corner of Hubbard and Wells in River North, so they won’t have much of a chance for alone time. And now, they’ll have to start sharing a tower crane.

Yesterday, crews were busy working on the foundation and base section of a nice red tower crane toward the back and center of the lot. That tower crane will pivot to both sides to service the needs of the two-structure project from Centrum Partners and Hirsch Associates.