Category Archives: 20-29 Stories

Checking back on The 808 Cleveland

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First and foremost, a special thanks to the team of Focus and Pepper Construction for using their tower crane to pluck The Spirit of Progress from atop One River Place Condominiums and setting on top of The 808 Cleveland construction site so I could get the above photo op. The statue was returned to its proper place without anyone knowing she was missing.

And here are a bunch more photos I took of progress at Pappageorge Haymes Partners-designed, 22-story apartment building for DAC Developments that didn’t require me stealing a Chicago icon.

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.

Progress Update: 166 North Aberdeen

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166 North Aberdeen

166 North Aberdeen is:
A 21-story, 224-unit apartment tower
A development from MCZ Development
A design by SCB
A build by Lendlease
A concrete project of Pepper Construction

It looks like progress is close to, if not at, level 10. Yep, right around the halfway mark. Math.

160 North Elizabeth hits the 15th floor

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A Linkedin post late last week from Thomas Roszak tells us concrete at 160 North Elizabeth has reached the 15th floor. This is a 27-story tower, so that’s more than halfway up. Because math. And I’m good at it. Clark and Adjustable are good at things too, because this building is flying upwards.

If you happened to make it outside Thursday, you noticed it was a sunny, gorgeous day. And sunny days are ideal for construction progress photos. So I took a few:

From way up north
From way down south

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.

513 South Damen is topped out and very glassy

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513 South Damen and its sister building, Atrio.

When last (and first) I visited 513 South Damen in the Illinois Medical District, I was surprised at how quickly it had grown. Last week’s 360-degree tour shows it to be topped at 22 stories, and glass has reached the eighth level above the parking podium.

513 South Damen is:
A 279-unit apartment building
A development from Marquette Companies
A design by Brininstool + Lynch
A project of Power Construction

From way up north

This is an even Bigger Deahl: 1475 North Kingsbury has a tower crane stub

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A tower crane stub juts from the ground at 1475 North Kingsbury

1475 North Kingsbury (Blackhawk?) is doing its part to get Chicago another new tower crane. Thursday morning, we found a brand-spankin’-new stub sticking out of the ground. It sure looked by the efforts at the base of the base that the stub had had just been set, but I was too timid to interrupt a very busy crew to get confirmation on its arrival date. The important thing is, it’s there, and the rest of the crane should soon follow.

As we noted in this very space back in April:

1475 North Kingsbury received a caisson permit and a tower crane permit Wednesday, April 6. Designed by FitzGerald, it will be a 27-story tower with 327 rental apartments. Along with Structured Development, two other developers join the team for this one: White Oak Realty Partners, and Ponsky Capital Partners. Ponsky’s website uses the name “Blackhawk” for this one; we’ll see if that moniker sticks. (Reminder: The Seng and Common Lincoln Park are both addressed on Blackhawk Street.)

Next up, photo. The first gallery is from Thursday’s crane discovery. Then you’ll see a batch taken May 1 of the last remnants of caisson work.


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.

Caisson work at 920 North Wells gets the North Union party started

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Stalworth Underground drills caisson at 920 North Wells

Holes are being drilled into the earth at 920 North Wells, as construction gets underway for the North Union megadevelopment from JDL Development. The gettin’-our-boots-dirty team of Power Construction, Stalworth Underground, and Adjustable Concrete Construction are all on hand to make rebar cages and pour some concrete.

JDL announced via Instagram Stories Wednesday evening that a caisson permit had been issued that day (along with word that One Chicago had reached full occupancy, so big CONGRATS on that) and here we are Thursday morning, with the city’s permit site showing the permit for caissons under a 21-story tower, and the first two caissons being bored.

920 North Wells, a design by Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture, was approved by the Chicago Plan Commission as part of North Union project in May of 2021.

We’re going to enjoy 920 North Wells for now, but North Union will be overstimulating construction nerds for a long, long time. So get the lawn chair and cooler out of the garage, pack some snacks, and let’s go!

Oh, I almost forgot….I took pictures!

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.

160 North Elizabeth taking big leaps skyward

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Impressive progress at 160 North Elizabeth

Progress at 160 North Elizabeth has doubled since our last visit, though the change seemed much more dramatic on first glance. This morning, Adjustable Concrete shared on its Linkedin page that they’re working on Level 9. They’re the concrete contractor for GC Clark Construction, so they would know.

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.

This is another really Big Deahl: 1475 North Kingsbury scores its first two permits

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Rendering of 1475 North Kingsbury from FitzGerald.

If it seems like only this morning I shared photos from The Seng and Common Lincoln Park and their early construction progress, that’s be because it was this morning. Then later this morning came the news that The Shops at Big Deahl had two permits to start building another component.

1475 North Kingsbury received a caisson permit and a tower crane permit Wednesday, April 6. Designed by FitzGerald, it will be a 27-story tower with 327 rental apartments. Along with Structured Development, two other developers join the team for this one: White Oak Realty Partners, and Ponsky Capital Partners. Ponsky’s website uses the name “Blackhawk” for this one; we’ll see if that moniker sticks. (Reminder: The Seng and Common Lincoln Park are both addressed on Blackhawk Street.)

As with this morning’s two Big Deahl buildings, Power Construction is the general contractor. Maybe they’ll get started here before the Blackhawk Street tower crane comes down, giving us two tower cranes on the same project. Fingers crossed.

The caisson permit.
The tower crane permit.

The 808 Cleveland exercises its verticality in the Near North

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The 808 Cleveland at 808 N. Cleveland Ave in Near North

I bet you’ve noticed a couple tower cranes straddling Chicago Avenue and River North/Near North lately. Well, the one that isn’t yellow, the white one on north side of the street, is taking 808 North Cleveland vertical.

The 808 Cleveland is a 22-story, 200-unit apartment tower from DAC Developments. The Pappageorge Haymes Partners-designed tower will include a mix of studio units, one-bedroom, two-bedroom, and even four-bedroom co-living apartments. There’ll also be 28,000 square feet of office and retail space. The foundation permit, issued September 30 of last year, calls for 99 parking spaces. The tower crane was permitted October 29, and the full build permit arrived on December 6.

Focus is the general contractor; Pepper Construction is helping out on concrete.

From the L

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.

160 North Elizabeth is starting to climb in the West Loop

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160 North Elizabeth added another tower crane along Randolph in February.

160 North Elizabeth is a brand-spanking-new 27-story, 375-unit West Loop apartment tower from Moceri + Roszak. You know that name from the office building at 145 South Wells, apartment towers Parkline Chicago and Linea, and other developments.

The former NW corner of Randolph & Elizabeth..

Clark Construction is the general contractor at 160, with a concrete assist from Adjustable Concrete Construction. Thomas Rozsak Architecture is the design architect.

160 North Elizabeth was approved by the Chicago Plan Commission on March 18, 2021. To date, it has received:
a foundation permit on 11/24/2021
a tower crane permit on 11/30/2021
a full build permit on 2/4/2022.

The following photos were taken back on March 21.


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.