A tower crane and one story of progress? Yes, that’s a Big Deahl

Posted on April 7, 2022 by danieldschell

A tower crane and a very good dog at The Shops at Big Deahl

The new tower crane on West Blackhawk Street is pulling double duty. It’s building The Seng, a five-story condo building at 869 W Blackhawk, and Common Lincoln Park, a 10-story, 400-bed co-living building at 853 W Blackhawk. I know this because I read about it in REjournals; they’ve got all the details you could possibly want at that link.

The Shops at Big Deahl is a project by Structured Development. GREC Architects is the design architect; Power Construction is on the build.

With two buildings comes lots of permits, including:
A demo permit to make a fresh canvas on 4/23/2021
A tent permit for groundbreaking ceremonies on 12/2/2021
A permit for foundation piles on 12/16/2021
The full permit for 853 on 1/19/2022
A tower crane permit on 2/10/2022
The full build permit for 869 on 3/25/2022

I stopped by Sunday to take a look at early vertical progress:

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.

The 808 Cleveland exercises its verticality in the Near North

Posted on April 6, 2022 by danieldschell

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.

Progress Update: AMLI 808 at 808 North Wells

Posted on April 8, 2021 by danieldschell

This was AMLI 808 back in July. It looks nothing like this now. Because progress.

Today in developments I’ve neglected, we feature AMLI 808, a new rental tower in the Near North neighborhood from AMLI Residential.

AMLI 808 is a 16-story tower at the corner of Chicago Avenue and Wells street bringing 318 apartments to town. NORR and Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture have shared the design duties, while The Big Green W is taking care of the build.

The official string of permits for this development started in February of last year, when a demolition permit was issued to remove the single-story structure on the site originally intended to be the sales center for a never-started residential tower here. Once that was out of the way, the foundation and tower-crane permits were issued in March 2020, with the full-build permit following in April.

Studio to two-bedroom apartments at AMLI 808 will be available for tenants to move in starting in July.

Darn Near Done: Old Town Park Phase III

Posted on March 31, 2021 by danieldschell

All that remains of Atrium Village stands in front of Old Town Park Phases I, II, and III.

Exterior work is nearing completion at the final phase of the Old Town Park re-development in Chicago’s Near North neighborhood.

Old Town Park Phase III, at 228 West Hill Street got its full-build permit on New Years Eve 2019. That permit authorized construction of a 41-story, 456-unit apartment tower.

Old Town Park Phase II, the 39-dtory, 425-unit tower at 202 West Hill Street, got its first permit in December 2017.

The baby of the group, Phase I, got its first permit in February 2016. It has 405 apartments across 32 stories.

That puts developer and general contractor Onni Group in construction mode here just over five years. They also lit up all three tower cranes over the course of this development, so kudos for that, Onni! You’ll always hold a special place in the B.U.C. heart for that alone.

Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture is the design architect on Old Town Park.

A sunny day at Old Town Park Tower 3

Posted on March 4, 2020 by danieldschell

Tower 3 rises at Old Town Park. Immediately to the left is Tower 2. Remember, 3 will be taller.

Yesterday we watched Onni Group and Adjustable Concrete jump the tower crane at Old Town Park. Today, a look at progress on the 41-story Hartshorne Plunkard-designed tower from a pair of sunny afternoons.

Onni, Adjustable jump the tower crane at Old Town Park

Posted on March 3, 2020 by danieldschell

Another section of the tower crane slides into place at Old Town Park.

General contractor/developer Onni Group and concrete contractor Adjustable Concrete are sending the tower crane a little higher this week at Old Town Park Tower 3, which will, of course, allow the tower itself to go a little higher. At 41 stories, Tower 3 is the tallest and final of the Old Town Park phases.

: NOOOOPE

: Lined up, ready to go.

: L shot.

No time is wasted getting 808 North Wells ready for a 2nd chance

Posted on February 20, 2020 by danieldschell

A rendering from Berkelhamer Architects of what might have been at 808 North Wells.

A sales center built at Wells and Chicago back in 2016 for a future residential tower got a demolition permit February 10th so a new vision for the site could begin. And it didn’t take long to tear down the single-story building (it has also seen life as retail space) and rip the old concrete out of the ground. The new 808 North Wells is ready to roll.

808 North Wells was to be a 24-story condominium development from Smithfield Properties with 50 or so condos. The sales center got built, but the tower was never started.

Multiple reports in 2018, including stories by Crain’s and Curbed Chicago, has AMLI Residential looking to build an apartment project on the site. Both sources expected a 17-story tower with just shy of 300 rental units, designed by Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture.

If that’s the case, the northwest corner Chicago and Wells will be a blank canvas very soon. Taylor Excavating made short work of the lot, with just a little debris left to haul away, and then construction can get started.

My friend Liz sent me this photo back in April 2016 of 808 North Wells construction. Exhibit On Superior is rising in the background.

: Not much remains at Chicago & Wells.

Old Town Park goes for the triple play

Posted on February 17, 2020 by danieldschell

The Third Edition of Old Town Park rises in Near North.

This is Tower #3 at Old Town Park, the new development from Onni Group that used to be Atrium Village. Just one building from Atrium Village remains, as this third apartment tower rises at 228 West Hill Street. When completed, it will deliver 456 rental units across its 41 stories.

As they’ve done with the first two tower of Old Town Park, the residential building The Hudson, and at the under-construction 369 West Grand, Onni Group is both the developer and general contractor. Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture is the design architect. Adjustable Concrete is the concrete contractor. I’m including them because they’ve got a couple sweet overhead shots from early construction on their website.

Sometimes I forget where I’ve been and what I’ve done. And with that I admit the following photos are more than two weeks old, having been snapped on February 2. If I hadn’t told you, you’d have never known. But still, I’m sorry for the delay. I try to keep content fresh around here.

: Tower 2 in the background.

Onni lights up a tower crane over Old Town Park

Posted on December 11, 2019 by danieldschell

“Onni” is Vancouverian for “It’s lit”

You never tell your children one of them is your favorite. That’s Parenting 101. It’s equally dangerous to announce personal affection for any one particular tower crane. But in a city where lighting tower cranes doesn’t really seem to be a thing, Onni Group once again shines through with their workhorse high overhead at Old Town Park Tower III. Watch for it next time you ride a Purple or Brown Line train between Chicago Avenue and Sedgwick. It’s pretty darn close to the tracks, so look up, or better yet, ride in the rear car and watch out the back window.

Onni’s put on this show before, not only at previous phases of Old Town Park, but also a few blocks away at The Hudson. They’re also working at 369 West Grand, but I forgot to look west from the train to see if that tower crane was glowing as well. Someone let me know, please?

Atrium Village’s Phase 2 is going three-dimensional

Posted on June 5, 2018 by danieldschell

AVP2-3D, you might say.

Who else could use a quick walk-around out at Atrium Village? That’s where Onni Group is erecting the second tower of the redevelopment for this Near North mainstay. The first tower, Old Town Park, should be opening any day now.