Tower Crane Update: 8 East Huron

Posted on July 19, 2016 by danieldschell

If you erect them, they will come watch. Them being tower cranes, they being I.

To be fair, and uncreepy, I was hardly the only interested party spectating at State and Huron Streets Saturday, as a crew from Morrow Equipment Company erected another of its pretty yellow cranes at the 8 East Huron construction site.

Recapping 8 East Huron, it will be a 26-story apartment tower with 105 units. CA Ventures is the developer, Valerio DeWalt Train Associates the designer, and Clark Construction he general contractor. Units are expected to be ready for occupancy in 2017.

: The stub.

: This looks like a scene form Charlie & The Chocolate Factory to me.

: The crane-building crane.

: None of these men are in danger of losing their jobs to me.

: East Huron was closed for the festivities, between State and Wabash.

: Piecing the cab together.

: Lifting crane parts off a truck.

: Staging equipment on East Huron Street.

: The cab.

: Preparing for lift-off.

: Artsy.

: Looking down State Street.

: Monday morning finishing work.

: Monday morning, and the tower crane is almost ready for use.

1001 South State Approaches the Finish Line, Nails Its Mural Game

Posted on July 18, 2016 by danieldschell

These outdoor skylights seem to be all the rage lately.

1001 South State, the Solomon Cordwell Buenz-designed apartment tower in the South Loop, continues to hurtle towards completion. Developer and building manager Golub + Company plans to have residents moving into the 40-story tower before summer is over.

Walsh Construction has been working on the tower since December 2014. When completed, it will feature 397 studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom rental units, with 248 parking spaces. The fifth level will feature an outdoor pool and sundeck, while ground level will contain 8,800 square feet of retail space.

: Shot of the Walsh tower crane and moon that I will forever include in every single 1001 South State post.

: The mural on the south wall.

: The podium and “front” of 1001 South State, looking up State Street.

: Usable space atop the north end of the podium, as well as the south end, where the pool and sundeck will be.

Tower Crane Update: DePaul School of Music

Posted on July 18, 2016 by danieldschell

In the first week of July, three tower cranes were planted around Chicago. My job was to go find them. Then, it was my duty to follow up on them. Because no one wants part of the story. Or part of the tower crane, for that matter.

Our first update is at the DePaul School of Music. Warning: Don’t get too close to this one, or it won’t fit in your photo. This won’t be a tall undertaking, but it’s a big lot. And a tower crane needs to reach every corner of that lot. So this one is as long as any I’ve seen.

: I thought the best way to get the whole thing into one shot was an iPhone panorama. I was mistaken. If your tower crane looks like this, start over.

: July 14th was the big day, when tower crane assembly began.

: None of these people are in any danger of losing their jobs to me.

: Evening of July 14th. Taken from a moving train. Cut me some slack.

: Monday morning shot from the Fullerton L platform.

Could Those Be Signs of Life at 111 West Chestnut

Posted on July 18, 2016 by danieldschell

Work crews were using the 111 West Chestnut excavation as a parking lot. Has to be a good reason for that, right?

The Chestnut Row Homes were approved by the Chicago Plan Commission way back in February 2015. And the commission didn’t just approve the Tawani Enterprises development. They raved about them.

The foundation permit, issued 9 months ago.

The City of Chicago filed a foundation permit for the project, at 111 West Chestnut Street in the Near North, on October 21. Dirt was dug, piles were driven.

And then…nothing.

Until now. Maybe. As 833 North Clark rises across the street, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints meetinghouse begins its foundations next door, and the Bush Temple project rolls along next to that, there’s activity at Chestnut Row Homes as well.

Part of the reason for the delay, or a result of it, could be a change in general contractors. Cordos Development is out. Berglund Construction is in. They’re job? Eight townhomes designed by Booth Hansen, each three floors, each with two private parking spaces. And these will be rentals, by the way. To the tune of about $15,000/month.

Tawani originally hoped to have these homes completed by now. 2017 is now the targeted finish.

: Crews were putting protection over the sidewalk on Clark Street in July.

: Sidewalk, protected.

: A good sign the GC has changed: A sign for a new GC.

: Not a new permit. Just new contractors.

The Calm Before the Storm at 165 North Desplaines

Posted on July 16, 2016 by danieldschell

Where did all that equipment go? 165 North Desplaines is (temporarily) very quiet.

Tear it down.

Smooth it over.

Dig the holes.

Smooth it over.

Such is the cycle of life for a construction site. We’re in that fourth phase now at 165 North Desplaines. It’s eerily quiet, now that caisson equipment has been shipped off (is some of it now at 3Eleven?).

Of course, the silence won’t last. Expect Power Construction to swamp the lot soon to build the foundation and set up a tower crane. (Perhaps in that first big hole in the southwest corner of the lot?)

Seems to me this could be a good place for a new tower crane.

Things got all smoothed over in June, too. After demolition was complete, but before caisson work started.

Shout-out to Power Construction for having a chair waiting for me on site.

Spotted at 3Eleven, another Power site. Did it travel direct from 165 North Desplaines?

590 West Madison Pocket Park Finally Starting To Sprout

Posted on July 15, 2016 by danieldschell

Shrubbery in the 590 Madison pocket park.

It may look more like a Christmas tree farm than a pocket park, but at least something is happening at 590 West Madison Street in the West Loop. And that could mean something much, much bigger is just ahead.

As the Chicago Architecture Blog reported back in February, 590 Madison is an office tower proposed for the block of North Jefferson Street stretching from Madison to Washington. But the city said no such tower can be built until the pocket park at the Washington end of the lot is addressed. And address it they have.

590 Madison dreams of being a 41-story tower. Designed by Goettsch Partners, it would have a 330-room hotel on the lower floors, the 616,000 square feet of rentable office space from the 19th floor on up. But we must wait and see. Let’s get that park finished up first, then look for permission from the City of Chicago to start building.

: 590 Madison rendering via 590wmadison.com

: 590 Madison rendering via 590wmadison.com

: 590 Madison rendering via 590wmadison.com

: Humble beginnings, back in November ’15

: Night view, January 2017

I repeatedly started typing “parket” instead of “pocket park” during the making of this post. Can we just make “parket” a thing?

Brooklyn Bowl Rolling Into the West Loop

Posted on July 15, 2016 by danieldschell

The historic facade that Brooklyn Bowl saved, and will integrate into the new facility.

There’s no time to spare. Brooklyn Bowl, coming to the West Loop at 832 West Fulton Market, has been in the works for years, and developer Convexity Properties had hoped of opening in 2015. That frame ended up a gutter ball. But Brooklyn Bowl is rolling right down the center of the lane again.

A rendering of the new Brooklyn Bowl from Convexity Properties.

W.E. O’Neil, the general contractor on the project, has been toiling away since last summer, when the century-plus-old cold storage buildings came down. All except for two walls, that is. Historic Preservation architects AltusWorks, tasked with preserving the facades, left two walls up — one along Fulton Market, one along Peoria Street — and will rebuild the portions they disassembled.

Designed by the West Loop’s own OKW Architects, Brooklyn Bowl will be a three-story building: the ground floor will be retail, while the second and third floors will comprise the bowing lanes and entertainment/event spaces. There will also be one level below grade for parking.

: All the pretty blue supports are gone now.

: The view of Brooklyn Bowl form the buildingupchicago office.

CA Washington Digs In Across From Old Harpo/New McDonald’s Site

Posted on July 15, 2016 by danieldschell

Foundation work at CA Washington.

The 3-bedroom, 3-bathroom condominiums from Belgravia Realty Group have begun taking up residence at 27 North Aberdeen Street in the West Loop. CA Washington will have 69 condos within its six stories, with 78 indoor parking spaces.

Consider CA Washington as having three significant addresses. The foundation permit, issued June 17th, lists 27-39 North Aberdeen and 28-40 North Carpenter Street both as official addresses, a sentiment echoed on Belgravia’s website. In addition to that, CA Washington sits directly across Washington Boulevard from the former Harpo Studios (Oprahland, unofficially), and the future McDonald’s HQ.

CA Washington is a design from Lewis Wilson of Sullivan, Goulette & Wilson. They’ve teamed with Belgravia before, including the under-construction Sedgwick at Locust at 367 West Locust Street in the Near North (the former site of Saint Dominic’s Church). The general contractor at CA Washington is Maris Construction.

: A rendering of CA Washington from Belgravia Realty Group.

: Maris crews work on the foundation, as the doomed Harpo Studios looms in the background.

: Looking east. Not sure why, but I’m a big fan of that blue water tank.

: The activity is limited to the west end of the lot.

: Your typical foundation materials.

: The foundation permit.

: A&A Auto Services at 1045 West Washington…

: …was reduced to rubble IN A DAY to make room for CA Washington.

Check One Off The List: 625 West Adams Plants a Tower Crane

Posted on July 14, 2016 by danieldschell

Setting the tower crane base, bright and early this morning.

It was an inadvertent Tower Crane Tuesday post. And here we are on Thursday, and it’s already obsolete. But in the good way. For no longer are there six tower crane permits awaiting actual tower cranes. No, my friends, now there are five.

https://twitter.com/BuildUpChicago/status/753393411969970176

https://twitter.com/BuildUpChicago/status/753580641397116929

625 West Adams trucked in the base of its new tower crane yesterday, and wasted no time this morning rooting it into the ground. It’s one of those pretty yellow ones, too. And it will be right outside my window. Thank you, Power Construction. You know the way to my heart.

Please let me know if there’s an angle of this crane you’d like to see that I haven’t included below…

: It was still sitting on the truck during last night’s storm.

: But it made it through unscathed.

: Final preps on the foundation…

: …as the base was being offloaded.

: And there it stands, along South Desplaines Street.

: Tower crane crew doing what they do.

: Proof that I stayed behind the fence.

: There’s more foundation work happening besides just the tower crane.

: Old St. Pat’s in the background. 625 West Adams is often referred to as “St. Pat’s Tower.”

Pair of Demolition Permits Signals the Start of 710 Grand [Updated]

Posted on July 14, 2016 by danieldschell

It will take longer than 18 seconds, but the garages will be demolished.

708 + 712 = 710.

Oh, I’m sorry. Were you told there would be no math? Allow me to explain.

Yesterday, the City of Chicago filed two demolition permits for properties at 708 West Grand Avenue and 712 West Grand Avenue. The owner of those structures is Wicker Park Apartments, and this is where they’ll erect 710 Grand, a 9-story building at 710 West Grand Avenue in River West with 105 apartments. Included will be 45 parking spaces and 5,000 square feet of retail space. 710 West Grand is a design from Brininstool + Lynch (1333 & 1345 Wabash, among many others.) Recyclean will handle the demolition.

***UPDATE: The City of Chicago issued a third demolition permit, on Thursday the 14th. This one is for the 4-story building between the two “garages.” All three buildings, 708, 710, and 712 West Grand Avenue are now ready to come down.***