Topped-out 360 North Green office tower adds a touch of glass to a sunny day

Sterling Bay’s Twitter announcement on 360 North Green’s topping out.

You likely know by now that Power Construction has reached full height in the Fulton Market District at 360 North Green, even though it seems like they only broke ground about a week and a half ago. I know. The 24-story office tower by Gensler went up in a big hurry, did it not?

As I’m prone to do, I waited for the sun to come out, then waited even longer to get photos ready. But I walked around the construction site — you might even say I did a full 360 around 360 (you don’t have to say that if you don’t want to) — to catch you up on Sterling Bay’s newest West Loop creation. So here you go with the visuals. These are from way back on March 15, so more progress has been made, of course, but I know for sure it couldn’t have gotten much taller.

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360 North Green is going skyward in a hurry

Sterling Bay’s 360 North Green office tower.

You won’t be a tad surprised to hear that Sterling Bay continues to be busy in the Fulton Market District/West Loop neighborhoods. We caught up on 160 North Morgan yesterday; today, it’s 360 North Green.

360 North Green is a 24-story office building just across the street from Sterling Bay’s recently-completed 333 North Green. Designed by Gensler, this 500,000-square-foot tower still has about 235,000 available rentable office space. The remaining office space, across the upper 10 levels, will be occupied by Boston Consulting Group. 5,500 square feet of retail space will be included at ground level, while parking for 92 vehicles will be built into the second and third floors. Tenant amenities will occupy levels 4 and 5. A 21,000-square-foot park will surround the building.

Power Construction is on the build.

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Sterling Bay breaks ground on newly-permitted 225 North Elizabeth

Early this week, Sterling Bay broke ground on their latest residential project, then began tearing away at the concrete slabs that stand in its way, while also celebrating the caisson permit issued by the city on Tuesday.

225 North Elizabeth, in their own words, will be:

a 28-story mixed-use tower in Fulton Market featuring 350 modern residential units and approximately 10,000 square feet of ground floor retail. The building, which is designed to complement the industrial character of the neighborhood, will set a new standard for urban living in what has been named “the fastest growing submarket in the country”. Featuring residential amenities including two green rooftop spaces to connect tenants to the outdoors, indoor/outdoor fitness and pet suite facilities, as well as shared indoor work-life spaces to meet the growing demand for work-from-home accommodations, 225 N Elizabeth is where form meets function in Fulton Market.

Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture is the design architect. McHugh Construction is the general contractor, with McHugh Concrete doing the concrete work. That’s Lindahl Brothers out there having at the concrete.

Love seeing the height of the West Loop moving further west.

Disappearing this gigantic concrete slab was the first order of business at 225 North Elizabeth.

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.

741 North Wells gets the tower crane started

The tower crane has been planted at 741 North Wells in River North. Expect to see full assembly starting Tuesday of next week.

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.

With caissons in the ground, it’s pile-driving time at RIU Plaza Hotel

Yes, caissons are done, but not foundation work, on the RIU Plaza Hotel site at 150 East Ontario in Streeterville. W.E. O’Neil and crew are driving piles into the soil to help support the weight of the 28-story, Lucien Lagrange-designed hotel.

Hey, you know what we should be seeing soon here? Yep. Tower crane permit.

920 North Wells is *Flying*

I took these photos on Wednesday last week. At the rate it’s going, 920 North Wells might be done by now. AT the very least, there’s likely another full floor done.

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North Union II/III get started at 868 North Wells

One of the first caissons for 868 North Wells at North Union.

One day after getting a foundation permit for the next two buildings at North Union, crews were drilling holes in the earth and filling them with concrete at 868 North Wells Street in Near North.

That single permit issued Tuesday allows Power Construction and Keller North America to work on two structures here: a 27-story residential tower with 411 units, and a five-story building with 23 units. (JDL Development shows a 25-story tower, so we’ll assume the two extra floors are the two below-grade parking levels mentioned in the permit, which includes 129 spaces. They also show 428 units instead of 411; we’ll just wait and see how many there will be when the dust settles and the appliances are installed.)

As they were for North Union’s first tower, a block north at 920 North Wells, Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture is the design architect. McHugh Concrete joins the team as concrete contractor.

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.

360 North Green plants a tower crane

The tower crane base is set at 360 North Green.

360 North Green isn’t wasting any time. When last I climbed Halsted Street to check out construction progress, just 10 days ago, caissons were going full bore. Now, I go by again and not only are caissons done, but there’s a giant excavation underway, and, most importantly, the tower crane base has been planted near the northeast corner of the construction site. And as you know, we have some tower cranes to replace in the sky.

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.

At Fulbrix, glazing is still going up. And coming down.

160 North Elizabeth shall henceforth be known as Fulbrix.

You’re excused if you don’t know what the heck I’m talking about with “Fulbrix.” It was news to me too.

Fulbrix is the new moniker for 160 North Elizabeth. If if the “glazing coming down” thing sounds like a typo to you, that’s my way of pointing out that as glass continues to rise up the sides of Fulbrix, it’s also working its way down from the top. And there’s always something cool to me about seeing glazing up top with unglazed floors below.

Anyway, congrats to the development team of Moceri + Roszak, Thomas Roszak Architecture, Clark Construction, and Adjustable Concrete Construction on the new name, topping out, glassing up, and all the other milestones you’ve reached. There was a big crew meeting outside just before I walked around the site Wednesday, and I bet they were all celebrating their achievements.

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.

Finally! RIU Plaza Hotel construction has begun at long-vacant Streeterville lot

RIU Plaza Hotel rendering from Lucien Lagrange Studio.

The lot that sat empty at 150 East Ontario for what seemed like an eternity is finally seeing action. Big action.

The RIU Plaza Hotel construction has begun in Streeterville. The City of Chicago issued a permit for caissons and foundation on July 19 for a 28-story, 390-room hotel. W.E. O’Neil is the general contractor. Lucien Lagrange Studio is the design architect. And that’s a big yellow Keller North America rig drilling caissons.

We stopped by in late July to have a first look at site prep, then headed back over this week to see the caisson action. And action we got. Very happy to see work started on this site.

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.