Return to New York City: Hudson Yards

Posted on December 20, 2016 by danieldschell

I will spend absolutely no space here trying to explain the scope of Hudson Yards, on Manhattan’s Far West Side. Suffice it to say, it’s a project of mind-boggling proportions, underway since 2012, that could continue until 2025. What I will do, however, is compile the following list of online resources, should you decide you’d like to explore Hudson Yards on your own. And, show you the photos from our October visit to Hudson Yards and the High Line.

Hudson Yards (all the fun, juicy statistics here)

New York YIMBY (lots of construction coverage)

6SQFT (heavy on Real Estate news)

Wikipedia? (Sure, why not)

Hudson Yards Development Corporation

Curbed New York

And now, photos:

LG Development writing a new story for the West Loop

Posted on December 19, 2016 by danieldschell

https://twitter.com/LGDevelopment/status/808687914926411777

If it seems there’s construction on every block of the West Loop, it’s probably because there’s construction on every block of the West Loop. But it’s not all fancy corporate HQs and boutique hotels.

At 177 North Morgan Street* (that’s the address according to the building permit. As you can see in the tweet above, LG Development refers to the property as 185 North Morgan.), LG Development is erecting a single-story retail building at the foot of the Morgan Street CTA L station.

Construction Update: 151 North Franklin

Posted on December 16, 2016 by danieldschell

The tower crane that isn’t a tower crane at 151 North Franklin still soars high above Randolph Street.

I missed the memo that said 151 North Franklin would be growing like a weed in spring, despite Chicago heading into winter. On the lot that only yesterday still seemed to anchor that worn-out old Walgreen’s store, the future CNA Center already appears to be about 18 stories into the sky. You can credit Lendlease for that miracle growth, for even in Thursday’s inhuman temperatures, there was still a construction crew on site. That’s not just a core shooting up through the center of The John Buck Company’s 820,000-square-foot office tower, that’s hard-core.

Here are a few shots on 151 North Franklin, which has outgrown all the adjacent parking garages, and their prime vantage points.

: Lendlease. Still Flying The W!

: last time we stopped by here, there were tower crane pieces awaiting assembly.

At 412 North Wells, a hole. At Centrum Hubbard, a whole lot more.

Posted on December 16, 2016 by danieldschell

Construction progress continues at Centrum Hubbard in River North, the 23-story, 193-unit residential tower in River North from Centrum Partners and Hirsch Associates Architects. 412 North Wells, on the other hand, the accompanying 9-story, 41,000-square-foot office building next to it, still redeems itself as a convenient material-staging site for the apartment tower construction. To be honest though, it’s easier to observe and keep tabs on one project at a time, don’t you think?

: With train.

: Without train.

Composition of DePaul School of Music continues in Lincoln Park

Posted on December 15, 2016 by danieldschell

McGaw Hall is a distant memory, and the new DePaul School of Music is getting closer to completion. (I used up all my music puns in a previous post, so just know Bulley + Andrews is still hard at work building the 3-story, 185,000-square-foot facility.)

New hotel coming to Motor Row?

Posted on December 14, 2016 by danieldschell

Looks like it’s finally time to move some soil at 123 East Cermak.

Yesterday, a permit was filed by the City of Chicago for “SITE PREPARATION WITH SOIL RELOCATION AND RE-GRADING” at 123 East Cermak Road. That’s a lot owned by McHugh Construction, and a site where Antunovich Associates has helped design a mixed-use development along East Cermak between Michigan and Indiana Avenues.

A couple years ago, those plans included a hotel, data center, and retail space, all to be located within a block of the new Wintrust Arena. Which of these plans are becoming reality? Could it be all of them?

The small empty lot in the background is 123 East Cermak, with 111 up front.

1411 South Michigan starts driving piles into the South Loop

Posted on December 14, 2016 by danieldschell

Those are H-piles that have been driven into the ground at 1411 South Michigan.

If you’re within a 4-to-6-block radius of 1411 South Michigan Avenue in the South Loop, then you’re fully aware that piles are being driven into the ground as work has begun on Russland Capital Group’s 15-story apartment tower. That’s where we’ll see 199 new units, along with 40,000 square feet of commercial space, opening late in 2017. The ever-busy Lendlease is the general contractor for the Boarman Kroos Vogel Group-designed project.

: The foundation permit, filed October 24.

: The former home of the Chicago Department of Children and Family Services, demolished to make way for the new apartments.

Punch Bowl Social picks up a spare, right up their alley

Posted on December 14, 2016 by danieldschell

The restored facade of ~~Brooklyn Bowl~~ Punch Bowl Social in the West Loop.

All the work that went into preserving the historic facade at West Fulton and North Peoria in the West Loop’s Fulton market District isn’t for Brooklyn Bowl, as it turns out. The space, which looks nearly complete, will now be occupied by Punch Bowl Social.

That’s the news we got from Eater Chicago last week. A quick walk around the facility this week shows a venue that looks close to being open; the Punch Bowl Social website says to expect it in 2017. And remember, 2017 is less than three weeks away.

: You can see from here, still some work to do on the top level.

The empty lot is empty no more: Here comes the Rafael Viñoly tower

Posted on December 13, 2016 by danieldschell

Crews are clearing the lot and prepping for the start of construction for Rafael Viñoly’s 1200 South Indiana

*** UPDATE: Crescent Heights, on its website, is calling this project One Grant Park. Let’s go with that then, at least for now. ***

The empty lot on the corner of Michigan Avenue and Roosevelt Road (or Indiana Avenue and Roosevelt, which coincides with the project address) is no longer idle.

On Wednesday of last week, the Sloopin Blog reported that neighbors had been told to expect construction to start this week on 1200 South Indiana, the 76-story rental tower from developer Crescent Heights. And sure enough, what remained of the concrete slabs has been scraped up, smoothed over, and crews are erecting safety fencing on the perimeter of the lot. Soon, foundation crews will start drilling massive caissons into the ground to support the 792 apartments atop 12 levels of parking within the Rafael Viñoly Architects design.

1200 South Indiana will be another big project for McHugh Construction, already busy at The Sinclair and Vista Tower.

: Render of 1200 South Indiana from Rafael Viñoly Architects.

: Construction barriers are up along Michigan Ave and Roosevelt Rd.

: And the sidewalk is closed, along with one traffic lane, on Indiana Ave.

: The foundation permit, filed October 14 (It’s been 2 months already?)

Construction Update: One Bennett Park

Posted on December 13, 2016 by danieldschell

One Bennett Park, rising above the streets of Streeterville.

The tower crane is up, so there’s no stopping One Bennett Park now. All Lendlease crews need to do now it use it to stack 69 stories on top of each other, and the Robert A.M. Stern-designed (I’m infatuated with the project they designed for 220 Central Park South, remember?) tower will be ready for move-in. Seems pretty simple, right?