Category Archives: New Construction

Parking garage turned empty lot in South Loop is getting a hotel

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1101 South Wabash

I don’t know what this steel-and-wood sculpture, in the lot at 1101 South Wabash, is called. But I like it.

At 1101 South Wabash Avenue, directly behind the Best Western Grant Park Hotel in the South Loop, the City of Chicago has filed a permit to begin construction of a 30-story hotel. According to the permit, this will be a design by  Lothan Van Hook DeStefano Architecture. And according to the Chicago Plan Commission agenda for November of this year, the hotel will have 281 rooms and 57 parking spaces.

The two-story parking garage on the site got its demolition permit in January of this year, and by the middle of February, it had been reduced to an empty lot.

Currently, there are a couple of cool abstract pieces of iron artwork on site, but I can’t say for sure those are permanent. Lendlease is the general contractor on the hotel project; we’ll let them decide what stays and what goes.

165 North Desplaines progress continues in the West Loop

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165 North Desplaines

T’was the night before Christmas, and 165 North Desplaines lights up the West Loop.

165 North Desplaines, the 14-story, 199-unit apartment tower from GREC Architects, continues to grow in the West Loop. A foundation permit filed in June, and the full-build permit filed in October, have allowed Power Construction to go to town on the two-part project, which calls not only for the new residential building, but also for the rehab of 156 North Jefferson, a three-story office building with which it shares a lot.

When complete, 165 North Desplaines will also include retail and parking space, and feature the return of the Haymarket Monument, for now residing in Union Park to protect it from damage during construction.

 

Construction Update: You can call it Wintrust Arena now

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Wintrust Arena

Wintrust Arena, from the corner of Cermak Road and Indiana Avenue.

What was once the McCormick Place Event Center is now, through the miracle of naming rights, Wintrust Arena. The 10,000-seat basketball arena/300,000-square-foot event space by Pelli Clarke Pelli is almost fully enclosed on all four sides now. Sadly, no access to the McCormick Place rooftop garden this visit. Pictures from street level will have to suffice.

 

Construction Progress: The Hotel Zachary meets the street in Lake View

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Hotel Zachary

The Hotel Zachary is rising from the sandlot across Clark Street from Wrigley Field.

Remember all that sand at 3630 North Clark Street in Lake View? History. Banished form existence like the whole billy-goat curse thing. And now, rising up from the depths of what used to be the Lake Michigan Lakefront, is the Hotel Zachary. From developer Hickory Street Capital, which helped bring you the 2016 World Series Championship, among other goings-on in and around Wrigley Field, the Hotel Zachary (no word yet on my proposal to change the name to “The Russell On Addison“) will have 175 rooms and a whole bunch of top-notch dining choices, from fast-food to fancy.

I took a walk around the site this week, and found Walsh Construction just beginning to peek above sidewalk-level. Wanna see the pics? Of course you do.

Cubs continue to get their office in order

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                               THE CUBS WON THE WORLD SERIES!

 

Also, construction continues on the “triangle lot” site at Wrigley Field for what will be the new office building of the Chicago Cubs, the Major League Baseball team that won the 2016 World Series.

FACT: Every team in every major sport has waited longer for a championship season than the Chicago Cubs.

The six-story office building already houses the new 30,000-square-foot clubhouse, which provides the modern amenities and creature comforts the team clearly needed to push them to the 2016 World Series Championship.

And now, a photo gallery of construction progress, featuring 17 pictures. 17. Kris Bryant, #17 of the World Series Champion Chicago Cubs, and reigning National League Most Valuable Player.

Coincidence? Probably not.

Topped off and glassed up, 30 East heads toward the home stretch

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30 East

A CTA Orange Line train passes 30 East, 30 East Balbo Avenue, in the South Loop.

You can see the light at the end of the tunnel for 30 East, the 16-story rental high-rise from Gilbane Development Company. The 134 student-centric apartments at 30 East Balbo Avenue in the South Loop are 99.8% cladded, with only a few panels yet to be installed near the top of the tower. Sadly, I hadn’t been by the site since the October topping-out, so I missed the tower crane’s departure. Which is okay in the end, because the same crane has probably already been installed atop another Chicago project.

 

Construction Progress: Plumbers Local 130 Training Center

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Plumbers Local 130 Training Center
The Plumbers Local 130 Training Center, 1400 West Washington Blvd, West Loop.

Work continues on the new Plumbers Local 130 Training Center at 1400 West Washington Boulevard in the West Loop. Ground was broken on the Gensler-designed training facility back in June; W.E. O’Neil has been hard at work ever since. The state-of-the-art, 50,000-square-foot project should be complete and ready to start training new plumbers next summer.

Here comes the Wicker Park Connection

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The Wicker Park Connection

The Permit. Let The Wicker Park Connection begin!

A permit filed Tuesday by the City of Chicago signals the beginning of the Wicker Park Connection. Another project from the combined forces of Centrum Partners and Hirsch Associates Architects, the Wicker Park Connection will fill the surface parking lot at 1640 West Division Street.

The Wicker Park Connection will be a 15-story building, bringing 140 residential units with 52 parking spaces, along with ground-floor retail. Linn-Mathes has been hired to be the general contractor.

Illume Chicago has broken ground, literally and ceremoniously

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Illume 111 South Peoria

Truth.

Controversial? Contentious? How about “underway”?

Illume, the condominiums for the West Loop from LG Development, has started tearing up the parking lot at 111 South Peoria Street. Groundbreaking ceremonies were held on December 5, then two days later, the City of Chicago issued the building permit.

Designed by Pappageorge Haymes, the 10-story building will contain 79 condos, and include parking in the basement and first floor. Norcon has been signed on as general contractor.

https://twitter.com/PappagHaymes/status/805875985069510656

A rendering of Illume from Pappageorge Haymes.

A rendering of Illume from Pappageorge Haymes.

Illume 111 South Peoria

The Permit.

Illume 111 South Peoria

Illume 111 South Peoria

A permit makes it official: Motor Row is getting a new hotel

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123 East Cermak

Fresh off the presses, Monday’s permit for 22 stories and 466 units at 123 East Cermak Road.

Last week, a permit to prep the lot at 123 East Cermak Road was filed by the City of Chicago, and it appeared at the time there would be a new hotel coming to the north end of Motor Row. Now it’s official.

A permit was filed Monday, allowing for:

466 UNITS, 22 STORIES, MIXED USE-HOTELS, ASSEMBLY AND MERCANTILE, NO PARKING

As mentioned last week, McHugh Construction owns the lot, and they’ll serve as their own general contractor. Antunovich Associates handled design duties.

Now that construction can begin, it’s time to crowd-source a name. The Hughtel?

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