Marquette Companies’ 513 South Damen rises in the Illinois Medical District
Maybe it’s been longer than I realized since 513 South Damen got started, but it surprised me last Monday to see how much progress has been made. But I guess that’s what “progress” means, eh?
The empty 513 South Damen lot the last time I walked by, in October of 2021.
513 South Damen is a 22-story, 279-unit apartment tower from Marquette Companies, who’ve recently put up Evo Union Park and Park Fulton in the far-West Loop. The other two big players on those two projects, general contractor Power Construction and design architect Brininstool + Lynch, round out the 513 team as well.
513 South Damen received: the caisson permit on 7-26-2021 the tower crane permit on 10-13-2021 the foundation permit on 10-29-2021 the full build permit on 12-17-2021
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.
166 North Aberdeen is a 21-story, 224-unit apartment tower under construction in the West Loop. One of these days, I’ll do some research and find out why the building it will soon surround has horses at the top of it. But I digress.
166 North Aberdeen is a design by SCB and a development from MCZ Development. (MCZ also built 165 North Aberdeen right across the street.) Lendlease is on the build, with a hand from Pepper Construction on the concrete.
After site prep work at 410 South Wabash to dig out under Van Buren Street, crews were pumping concrete into a new wall under the sidewalk Monday. There wasn’t a whole lot to see from the street, but I still spent far too much time watching.
The concrete was pumped thru the square ports in the sidewalk.
You can see the forms for the new wall behind the pillars.
Sorry to rub it in if yer one o’ them NIMBYs who’s upset that the parking lot you use once a month when you drive to The Loop is gone. But the rest of us are pretty happy about it.
More than a year and a half after a foundation permit was issued, the surface parking lot at 410 South Wabash has been torn to bits, to be replaced by a 25-story residential tower. And it’s pretty cool to see, too. You can get a good view under the sidewalk and even a little bit of the seamy underbelly of Van Buren Street.
Back in January 2020, this very blog wrote, and I quote:
College students don’t need parking lots. College students do need beds. That might be a little oversimplified, but that’s how I prefer to look at 410 South Wabash in the South Loop.
A foundation permit issued by the City of Chicago beck in December launched the beginning of 410 South Wabash. Developed by Lennar Multifamily, or LMC, this new residential building in the South Loop promises to deliver 344 dwelling units in a 25-story, 260-foot-tall tower.
The site sits at the foot of the T intersection of the CTA’s elevated train lines at Wabash Avenue and Van Buren Street, offering future residents unlimited opportunities to take cool Instagram shots of the L coming and going into and out of The Loop. Orange, Pink, Green, Brown, and Purple Line trains all pass through here, and when the Christmas Train passes by at night, lucky tower dwellers will be directly above the action.
4th Ward Alderman Sophia King held a community meeting in May, from which there comes a veritable cavalcade of information on 410 South Wabash. Floor plans show a mix of 1-bed, 2-bed, and 3-bed units, plus studios, convertibles, and micro-apartments. Though no indication is given that this tower is targeting the South Loop student population, those smaller units sure seem to be good options for the college kids.
410 South Wabash will also include 103 parking spaces, which goes against my thoughts on students needing to park, but definitely fits in with 3-bedroom homes. There will also be about 8,000 square feet of commercial space.
Antunovich Associates is the architect of record; Pepper Construction is the general contractor.
Some things have changed since then, which I started writing about in March 2020, but held off on publishing in the hopes of hearing news that construction was about to start. Something known as an Easy Process Permit was issued by the city March 5 of 2020, changing the general contractor to Power Construction, and naming Adjustable Concrete Construction as the concrete contractor. Then (you still with me? Or did I lose you at “sorry to rub it in”?) two reinstatement permits were issued by the city: the first in January of this year, and another the last week of June. And it looks like that second one is what broke through the ice jam and got this project flowing again.
Which brings us to July 2021, wherein I make it down to 410 South Wabash in The Loop and verify that work has indeed begun. End of story.
Orange line video of site work. Lost my balance and almost fell over on the bend.
Enjoying the photos? Metra and CTA rides (and Amtrak trains to Milwaukee), Zipcars, Divvy Bikes, camera lenses, and comfortable walking shoes are adding up. You can help offset expenses by making a greatly-appreciated donation to Building Up Chicago.
Parq Fulton is the new name for Marquette Companies’ apartment tower going up on the far end of the West Loop at 1400 West Randolph.
As the glass curtain wall continues to wrap around the tower, progress looks to be at or near the 20-story mark, heading towards 26 stories in all.
Enjoying the photos? Metra and CTA rides, Zipcars, Divvy Bikes, camera lenses, and comfortable walking shoes are adding up. You can help offset expenses by making a greatly-appreciated donation to Building Up Chicago.
The world’s tallest mass timber frame building is under construction in Milwaukee. That’s far more unique than having the only tower crane (that I could find) in the city, and it’s a big deal.
Ascent is one of the latest projects from Milwaukee developer New Land Enterprises. They’re putting up this 25-story, 284-foot-tall apartment tower at North Van Buren Street and East Kilbourn Avenue in the city’s New Town neighborhood. (That’s right. If you’re looking for Chicago-style pizza in Milwaukee, Edwardo’s is no longer here.) When completed next year, Ascent will deliver 259 one-, two-, and three-bedroom units.
The Milwaukee firm of Korb + Associates is the design architect. Check out their website for a bunch of great renderings.
Enjoying the photos? Metra and CTA rides, Zipcars, Divvy Bikes, camera lenses, and comfortable walking shoes are adding up. You can help offset expenses by making a greatly-appreciated donation to Building Up Chicago.
The first row of curtain wall is being installed at 1400 West Randolph in the West Loop. Meanwhile, overall construction looks to have reached the 15th or 16th level. Have a look at at Power Construction’s handiwork:
CTA and Metra rides, Zipcars, Divvy bikes, camera lenses, and solid walking shoes add up. You can help offset expenses with a greatly-appreciated donation to Building Up Chicago.
Sometimes “done” means “completed.” And sometimes “done” means “open.” Avra West Loop is open, which they confirmed to me last week, having started allowing tenants to move in on the first of April. No fooling.
First, Tandem built a home for a tower crane. And now, they’ve just about finished homes for the rest of us.
Building Up Chicago 