What’s that old saying I just made up a couple weeks ago? Oh yeah, I remember:
Tower cranes should be cherished. Two tower cranes should be cherished and celebrated. Three tower cranes should be cherished, celebrated, and should get their own post.
It’s true at One Chicago Square just as it’s true at Cirrus & Cascade in Lakeshore East. What’s more, these are three shiny yellow Liebherr cranes. My favorite cranes (that aren’t lit up.)
This is their own post.
727 West Madison takes me back. There was a time, at this blog’s busiest, that I spent many many hours staring out over the West Loop. Not only was I checking up on the explosion of development, but I wasted an awful lot of time watching traffic zoom (or crawl) by on the Kennedy, Ryan, and Eisenhower Expressways. Not to mention the ongoing revamp (no pun intended) of the Jane Byrne Interchange.
I watched from above as the Crowne Plaza parking lot was fenced off and torn up, and construction commenced on 727. I would move from the neighborhood before it leveled up too high, but it was amazing to watch the start from that vantage point.
727 West Madison is the first tower I think about if a return to the West Loop makes sense. Skyline views? Check. Traffic views? Yup. Sweeping views of the booming West Loop and Fulton Market development? Serious check.
FitzGerald is the design architect of 727 West Madison. Fifield Companies and F&F Realty are the developers. Lendlease did the dirty work. Have a look. It’s shiny, curvy, and perfectly located.
P.S. I still think One South Halsted was a better name, but I wasn’t consulted. I’m over it.
Photos follow of 727 West Madison in its completed stage, and in its infancy, as One South Halsted, taken from the original B.U.C. HQ high above the West Loop. (Oh how I miss it)
Those of us without a helicopter, drone, or a really, really long selfie stick are running out of time before construction on Cirrus Condominiums and Cascade Apartments reaches above the elevated street levels of Harbor and Waterside Drives in Lakeshore East.
For that reason, I give you a whole slew of (somewhat) overhead shots, taken January 19, looking down on Lendlease’s continuing progress on the two bKl Architecture-designed residential towers.
Tower cranes should be cherished. Two tower cranes should be cherished and celebrated. Three tower cranes should be cherished, celebrated, and should get their own post.
One Chicago Square has three tower cranes. This is their own post.
369 West Grand is a 41-story, 365-unit apartment building going up on the site of the former Clark & Barlow Hardware store and Grand Avenue and Orleans Street in River North. It is being developed by Onni Group, the Canadian developer also currently working on the Old Town Park project. Onni also built The Hudson, a residential tower about six blocks north of 369 West Grand. Designed by Brininstool + Lynch, the tower’s podium will provide parking for 250 cars, and include ground-floor retail space.
A rendering of One Chicago Square from the JDL Development website. Dang.
One Chicago Square has it all right now. Construction has started going vertical above street level, but there’s also still a giant pit. There are yellow and orange wooden forms and beams, with blue fencing all around. Classic Chicago architecture, including Holy Name Cathedral and 30 West Chicago Avenue, provides spectacular photo backdrops. Giant round shoring tubes are still visible in the northwest corner. Excavating equipment is still on site. Oh yeah, and THERE ARE THREE TOWER CRANES!
I don’t use the designation “mixed-use” very often. Everything has retail space in it these days, so calling a residential tower “mixed-use” because there will be a drug store at street level isn’t really mixed-use to me. But One Chicago Square certainly qualifies, as it will include apartments and condos, office space, and retail space, all combined into its own city block.
Some project data: One 76-story tower, and one 49-story tower. More than 700 apartments, and 77 condos. 55,000 square feet of office space. Nearly 200,000 square feet of commercial space. And parking? Oh, lots of parking. Over 800 spaces.
And the team? All-Stars. JDL Development, with a hand from Wanxiang America, is the developer. Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture and Goettsch Partners have shared design duties. And Power Construction is the general contractor.
Yeah, One Chicago Square will be fun to watch for a long time. And then, it looks like it’ll be a fun one to live in. Stay tuned.
And now, a ridiculous number o’photos to keep you occupied. Scroll at your leisure:
3 gloomy tower cranes are still 3 tower cranes!
Another gloomy weather day in Chicago, perfect for taking pictures with lousy cameras. I had to be downtown Monday, so I took a few detours, one of which was the three-crane wonder that is Cirrus Chicago construction. And Cascade Chicago construction. Honestly, I don’t know which is which over here, and I think there’s gonna be a third tower at some point too. What I do know is, this is one of two Chicago construction sites featuring 3 tower cranes, the other being One Chicago Square in River North.
I snapped off a bunch of iPhone pics, if you want to see them. I won’t win any awards for these, but at least now you can see what the early stages construction look like over here, without having to make the trip to Lakeshore East.
A few particulars:
Lendlease is the general contractor here, as well as co-developer with Magellan Development. (Side note: “IJKL LLC” sounds like something that would be chanted at a college football game. I’m getting a t-shirt made.) They’re getting help with the concrete from McHugh Construction. bKL Architecture is the design architect.
