145 South Wells returning to dust from whence it came

Posted on March 20, 2017 by danieldschell

The dramatic video above, taken from a Monday morning Purple Line train, lives as proof that Brandenburg Industrial Service crews ain’t wasting a minute reducing 145 South Wells Street to waste. Approved for demolition Thursday of last week, the four-story parking garage is being pummeled out of existence to make room for a new 20-story office tower from Moceri + Roszak. (You can see a whole boatload of renderings of the new building by following ^^ that link to their website.)

As they did for Linea at 215 West Lake Street, Thomas Roszak Architecture handled the design for 145 South Wells, which is being billed as more than 200,000 square feet of “boutique loft offices.”

: A rendering from Thomas Roszak Architects of the future 145 South Wells.

: A sign of things to come.

: 145 South Wells, as it used to be.

Demolition at 1115 West Washington clears the way for Hayden West Loop

Posted on February 22, 2017 by danieldschell

Johler Demolition is tearing down 1115 West Washington Boulevard to make room for Hayden West Loop.

On January 19 of this year, the Chicago Plan Commission approved two nine-story condo buildings for construction in the West Loop. One would front the 1100-block of West Washington, the other the 100-block of North May. In an amazing coincidence, a demolition permit had been issued the previous day for the property at 1115 West Washington, and that demolition is going on now.

The new development, known as Hayden West Loop, is being built by Peerless Real Estate Investments, which also appears to be known as Sulo Development. Hayden West Loop is a design from Booth Hansen (The Parker Fulton Market, Chestnut Row Homes) and will bring 56 condominiums to the neighborhood.

In the meantime, Johler Demolition of Arlington Heights is on the scene, knocking down what used to be part of Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Studios. Demolition made the news back on February 6 when a small fire broke out (DNAinfo had the deets) but does that really do anything but speed up the demo process?

: Rendering of Hayden West Loop from Booth Hansen.

: Rendering of Hayden West Loop from Booth Hansen.

: Just before demolition started.

The former MCA building is almost gone

Posted on February 18, 2017 by danieldschell

Demolition leaves little remaining of the old Museum of Contemporary Art building.

Mostly Cleared Away.

That’s what MCA stands for now, with demolition of the former Museum of Contemporary Art building at 237 East Ontario Street just about complete.

On the way is the Aloft Chicago Mag Mile, a 19-story, 336-room hotel from Tishman Realty. The new Streeterville hotel is a design from Valerio DeWalt Train Associates, so the MCA building had to die so the new structure could be built, or die.

: Rendering from the Tishman website

: Rendering from the Tishman website

: GONE

Old parking garage is more Ex than Ess, clearing space for Essex On The Park

Posted on February 17, 2017 by danieldschell

The parking deck, including a pool, next to the Essex Inn is coming down to make room for Essex On The Park. So please, NO DIVING.

While the Essex Inn at 800 North Michigan Avenue gets a complete upgrade, its parking deck, pool, and ground-floor restaurant next door are being obliterated by Heneghan Wrecking, making space for Essex On The Park, the giant 56-story apartment tower from Oxford Capital Group. The shiny, 476-unit project by Hartshorne Plunkard Architects will be some kind of addition to the Michigan Avenue streetwall, what with its short, stocky hotels. Power Construction is the general contractor, tasked with having the apartments ready for habitation next year.

Breaking the Circle: The old Jane Byrne Interchange ramp comes down

Posted on February 6, 2017 by danieldschell

A bridge to nowhere hovers above the Circle Interchange, remnants of the Ryan-to-Eisenhower ramp.

Anybody remember that time I said construction on the Jane Byrne Flyover was silent?

Yeah, well that was construction. Let’s talk about demolition for a minute. Because for every reaction, there’s an equal and opposite reaction. Granted, the reaction usually comes first. As in, something is demolished to make room for something new. But in this case, the ramp that used to connect the inbound Dan Ryan Expressway to the outbound Eisenhower Expressway was replaced before it was removed. Which crews are doing now. And for some reason, they’ve chosen to do a great deal of the jack hammering at night. Or should I say, overnight. Not a huge thrill for denizens of the West Loop, South Loop, and the Medical District. Part of that has to do with removing the beams over the expressway lanes at night, when there’s less traffic to be affected by periodic closures. But it’s loud. Really loud.

You’ll note in the photos that follow the presence of caisson equipment, including rebar cages. I can’t wait to see what that’s all for.

: Rebat tubes.

: Rebar tubes.

: From the underside of Congress Parkway, between the Circle and The Loop.

: Caissons.

: I see your industrial-size jack hammer down there.

: Closing the inbound Ryan at Roosevelt in the early morning hours of Feb 2.

Another day, another hospital demolition: The obliteration of Cuneo Hospital

Posted on February 1, 2017 by danieldschell

Cuneo Hospital gives way to the Montrose and Clarendon Development.

There are big plans for the intersection of Montrose and Clarendon Avenues in Uptown. And as is often the case, big plans to build first mean big plans to demolish.

And so it goes for the former Cuneo Hospital, and later the Maryville children’s shelter, buildings. Empty since 2005 (“it looks like a science experiment in there. Plants, moss, all kinds of things growing” I was told by a passing explorer) the old buildings had fallen into disrepair. So down they come. American Demolition is out there doing the dirty work.

Taking Cuneo’s place will be a joint venture from JDL Development and Harlem Irving Companies. Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture is the designer.

That’s a wrap on Children’s Memorial Hospital, which is now a scrapyard

Posted on January 31, 2017 by danieldschell

Piles of dirt. Sorted pieces of scrap metal heaped together. A few pits and ditches. ‘Tis all that remains.

The former Children’s Memorial Hospital in Lincoln Park is little more than an empty lot now, as Omega Demolition finishes up work on the triangular site. Soon, construction on The Lincoln Common will commence.

Demolition Update: The Nellie A. Black Memorial Pile of Rubble

Posted on January 21, 2017 by danieldschell

Demolition of the Nellie A. Black Memorial Pavilion demolition continues in Lincoln Park.

There isn’t much left of the Nellie A. Black Memorial Pavilion. Coming soon to 700 West Fullerton Parkway, a 7-story brick building that isn’t this 7-story brick building. Coming soon, a senior living facility from Belmont Village Senior Living.

: This is — or was — the west wall.

: Watched this monster “chew” the concrete off the rebar. Surprisingly entertaining.

Former Museum of Contemporary Art Building out; Aloft Hotel in?

Posted on January 18, 2017 by danieldschell

Goodbye Museum of Contemporary Art, hello Aloft Chicago Mag Mile.

A demolition permit filed Tuesday by the City of Chicago looks like the beginning of the new Aloft Chicago Mag Mile. Brought to you by Tishman, designed by Valerio Dewalt Train Associates, the Aloft Chicago Mag Mile is slated to bring 336 rooms across 19 floors to 237 East Ontario Street in Streeterville, home of the former Museum of Contemporary Art. Taylor Excavating will handle the tear-down chores.

Rendering of the Aloft Chicago Mag Mile from Tishman.

The 14 Best Things To Happen To Building Up Chicago In 2016

Posted on December 31, 2016 by danieldschell

It was a monumental year for Chicago construction. And this blog was around to watch 7/12 of it. So here, in no particular order, are the 14 Best Things This Blog Saw in 2016:

St. Boniface Church Is Saved

When demolition is involved, nothing stirs our collective emotions like losing a church. St. Boniface Church in Noble Square got a demo permit, but was spared from the wrecking ball at the 11th hour.

St. Boniface Church will be redeveloped instead of being demolished.

625 West Adams puts a tower crane right outside the window

625 West Adams was the subject of this blog’s very first post. I was rewarded with a tower crane right outside the living room window. And as an added bonus, the fine folks at Power Construction invited me down for a walking tour of foundation work.

625 West Adams puts up a tower crane, right outside Building Up Chicago HQ.

151 North Franklin puts a tower crane over the sidewalk

After completely misunderstanding the type of crane to be utilized at 151 North Franklin in The Loop, they erected one anchored by the coolest of iron supports, hovering above the Franklin Street sidewalk.

151 North Franklin floated a tower crane above the sidewalk.

The Apple Store puts up a crane three stories high

When building a two-story structure, one of which will be underground, you don’t need much height from your tower crane. Take a walk past the new Apple Store at 401 North Michigan Avenue, and you can just about high-five the crane operator.

The tower crane at the new Apple Store soars three floors above Michigan Avenue.

Simpson-Querrey Biomedical Research Center puts up 2 tower cranes

As long as the city permits, anyone can have a tower crane. But few can match the Simpson-Querrey Center. There are *two* tower cranes hard at work on the Northwestern University facility.

Dual tower cranes at the Simpson-Querrey Center.

Onni Group lights up their tower crane at Atrium Village

Just as they did at The Hudson for Christmas 2015, the Onni Group decked out their tower crane at Atrium Village in Tron-like lighting.

The Atrium Village Christmas crane, by Onni Group.

The amazing outdoor ceiling at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab

By all means, drive carefully at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab! But also make sure to look up at the wonderfully colorful ceiling above the entryway.

Look up at the ceiling of the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab.

215 West Lake/Level Apts/Linea surrounds itself with 3 parking garages

Ironically, a parking garage was demolished to make room for (what’s now called) Linea. There are still parking garages remaining on three sides of the construction site, allowing for lots of different viewing angles.

One overhead angle of Linea, at 215 West Lake Street in The Loop.

River Point opens

Honestly, it deserved more fanfare. But River Point opened in November, including River Point Plaza, the acre-and-a-half park overlooking the Chicago River.

River Point Plaza at night.

River Point, straight up.

One Bennett Park begins construction

Some people think One Bennett Park looks like something New York City would build. I’m one of them. And I say that in a good way. This will be a fun one to watch. (Of course, they’re all fun.)

Early construction at One Bennett Park.

Vista Theater begins

You know those surgical theaters hospitals have for teaching? (Think Seinfeld and Junior Mints.) Then you understand work happening at Vista Tower along Wacker Drive. With elevated observation areas all around, it’s a great place to kill a few hours, watching caissons disappear into the earth.

Caisson workers at Vista Tower.

St. John Cantius Church is open for OHC20

As part of Open House Chicago 2016, St. John Cantius Church opens its doors to the public. And for good reason. It is simply spectacular inside.

The spectacular sanctuary of St. John Cantius Church.

Visiting New York City’s mind-boggling skyscraper craze

They’re building ’em big in New York City. And they’re building a lot of them. I got to see a few during a quick visit in October.

New York City skyscrapers under construction.

THE CUBS BUILD WORLD SERIES WINNER!! And some other stuff.

A hotel. An office building. A WORLD SERIES CHAMPION! Forget the rebuilding years. The Chicago Cubs are in a Construction Renaissance.

CUBS WIN! And build. But mostly, CUBS WIN!

Building Up Chicago

An Eye on Chicago Construction.

Category Archives: Demolition