1035 West Van Buren Starts Peeking Above the West Loop

Posted on June 27, 2016 by danieldschell

1035 West Van Buren is beginning to shoot up through the other buildings in the West Loop

It’s not real construction until I can see it from the 48th floor. It is now that time for the new 1035 West Van Buren in the West Loop.

Related Midwest is bringing the apartment tower to 1035 West Van Buren Street, It’s designed by New York City firm Morris Adjmi Architects (that’s a new name to me here in Chicago) with a local assist from GREC Architects here in Chicago. It is GREC’s Greg Randall who appears on the building permit as the architect.

1035 will be a 30-story rental development with 300 units. That’s pretty darn close to averaging 10 units per floor, for those of you who were told there’d be no math today.

Related Midwest plans to have the tower open to residents before the end of 2017. Lendlease construction crews are on site, seeing to that completion goal.

: A rendering of 1035 West Van Buren from Related Midwest.

: Lendlease crews at work.

: Cement work.

: Gratuitous tower crane shot.

: A second gratuitous (gratuitouser?) tower crane shot.

: Why not one more? This time from a distance, and height.

: The Core.

: More core.

: The foundation permit.

A Deeper Look at 151 North Franklin Foundation Work

Posted on June 27, 2016 by danieldschell

Foundation work is on and ongoing at 151 North Franklin.

It looks like the digging is done dug at 151 North Franklin, The Loop’s latest 35-story office tower from The John Buck Company. Gone are the backhoes and front loaders, replaced by rebar. Lots and lots of rebar.

As a reminder, those are Lendlease crews you see gettin’ stuff done at the future CNA Center, a John Ronan Architects design.

: The pool looks almost done.

: I should have gone into rebar sales.

: Pumping in cement.

: It was all hands on cement Saturday. There were eight cement mixers on site.

: Along the watchtower.

: Peeks can be sneaked from ground level.

: It gives a much better perspective of how deep the foundation is.

: The Mayor was pleased to see me at the groundbreaking ceremony in April.

: A well-earned break.

: Someday soon (fingers crossed) this will be a tower crane.

: There may still be a tiny bit of digging left to do.

: A field of rebar.

: “I don’t think this is supposed to be—oh wait, there it is. Okay, we’re good!”

: 215 West Lake rises in the background.

8 East Huron Digs Down, Shores Up

Posted on June 23, 2016 by danieldschell

Foundation work is ongoing at 8 East Huron in River North.

With two buildings torn down at the northeast corner of State and Huron Streets, a new residential tower is starting to grow.

8 East Huron is a 26-story, 105-unit building being developed by CA Ventures. (That’s CA as in Campus Acquisitions, not something from California. CA Ventures is the new branding, as of 2012.) There will be ground floor retail as well, and 30 or so parking spaces on levels 2-4.

8 East Huron is designed by Valerio Dewalt Train Associates. Clark Construction is on the build. Or, under the build, as you’ll see from the photos below.

: Down and dirty at 8 East Huron.

: Iron shoring.

: Foundation workers at 8 East Huron.

: Digging.

: And more digging.

: You’ve painted yourself onto an island.

: The Permit.

: Quality Excavation demolishes 4 and 8 East Huron.

: After demolition, touch-up work on the Consulate General of Ukraine, 10 East Huron, which remains.

: 4 and 8 are gone. 10 East Huron, to the right, remains.

: They were handsome structures.

400 West Huron Continues Growth in River North

Posted on June 22, 2016 by danieldschell

400 West Huron is a 15-story condo building coming to the River North neighborhood at 400 West Huron Street. The Berkelhamer Architects design will have just 26 units, all condominiums. Smithfield Properties is playing the roles of both developer and general contractor on this one.

: Looking east along Huron Street.

: A big red machine.

: Gratuitous tower crane shot.

: That’s always the hardest spot to get.

: Out on the edge.

: Looking west from Franklin Street.

: Looking west from Huron Street.

: Both 400 and 410 West Huron were demolished for the new 400 West Huron. Here, Heneghan Wrecking takes down 400, as 410 awaits its fate next door.

: The demo permit for 400 West Huron.

: And the demo permit for 410 West Huron.

: The full building permit for 400 West Huron.

DePaul Tuning Up for New School of Music

Posted on June 21, 2016 by danieldschell

There’s no tower crane yet, but THEY’RE MAKING SQUARE REBAR TUBES!!

Chicago construction company Bulley & Andrews is erecting a new DePaul School of Music out in Lincoln Park. Designed by Antunovich Associates, the new facility will be on the site previously occupied by McGaw Hall, which was demolished early this year.

You can learn all you need to know about the new School of Music by going to DePaul’s site. As for me, I’ll skip the words and share a few photos instead.

: Excavation work is ongoing.

: And ongoing.

: Digging out the corners and shoring them up.

: A pretend tower crane is getting things done. For now.

: It’s got pretty good reach.

: Want to learn more about the DePaul School of Music? Read the fence.

: Those square rebar caisson cages though.

: They are epic.

: The “church” stays.

: Seriously, the tower crane was permitted in March. Where’s my tower crane?!

One Bennett Park Caisson Work Rolls Along

Posted on June 21, 2016 by danieldschell

An overview of caisson work at One Bennett Park.

One Bennett Park, a 69-story, 836-foot-tall residential tower coming to a Streeterville neighborhood near you, has already ripped out the park it’s to stand on (don’t worry, it will be back, bigger and better) and is well into the caisson-drilling process.

A rendering of One Bennett Park from GREC Architects.

Designed by New York’s Robert A.M. Stern Architects, with a boost from executive architect GREC Architects of Chicago, One Bennett Park will have a mix of condominiums and apartments. Related Midwest, known recently for building 500 North Lake Shore Drive, and for turning OneEleven from a half-finished, recession-busted skeleton of cement and steel into a gleaming new rental tower, plans to have One Bennett Park finished in 2019. General contractor Lendlease will see to that.

: The construction site from Illinois Street.

: Looking across what will be Bennett Park to what will be One Bennett Park.

: Caisson stuff.

: Tube.

: No, *you’re* hands were shaking when you took this.

: The foundation permit.

30 East Continues Ground Work in the South Loop

Posted on June 21, 2016 by danieldschell

A bird’s eye view (if the bird parks its car) of construction work at 30 East.

Smack dab in the middle of all the murals in the Wabash Arts Corridor, Power Construction crews are hard at work on 30 East, a 16-story residential tower coming to the South Loop at 30 East Balbo Avenue.

Gilbane Development Company has its eye on the growing student population in this neighborhood. In that respect, 30 East will have 134 apartments ranging from studios to 4-bedroom units. Every unit will be furnished, ideal for student rentals. Designed by Solomon Cordwell Buenz, 30 East will also have 8,000 square feet of retail space at the ground level. Gilbane expects to have the tower ready for Fall 2017 classes.

: 30 Balbo is surrounded by fantastic mural art.

: There’s even a mural on the job site itself.

: The best way to not forget which tower crane goes with which construction site is to put a banner on them.

More Photos Than I Know What To Do With: The Byrne Flyover

Video

The newest section of the Jane Byrne Flyover.

I cannot recommend enough that everyone live where construction is right outside your window. Quiet construction. Relatively un-dusty construction.

Like the Jane Byrne Flyover, for example. Close enough to be mesmerizing, yet far enough away that nary a peep can be heard.

They’re building a new ramp from the inbound Dan Ryan Expressway to the outbound Eisenhower Expressway. As soon as I see equipment amassing inside the Circle Interchange (as it used to be known) I get the coffee hot and the Red Bull cold for optimal night-work spectating. That’s when McHugh Construction lifts the beams into place that form the roadway. Usually. They did some day-time work this time around, as well.

The photos that follow are from two phases of work: One from June 6-8, and just this past weekend, June 17-19.

: When the trucks start lining up with beams, you know there’s a show coming to town.

: They try to hide from me, but I see ’em.

: Bridge supports on either side of the Halsted Street bridge.

: Two things to note: Steve, who does all the heavy lifting. And those support pillars lying on the ground.

: Here, with Steve’s help, those support pillars are up and ready for beams.

: Steve lifts a beam into place on June 7, when this first portion of this round of beams went up.

: …and another, this one on the morning of June 8.

: Traffic nightmare: The Kennedy ramp to Congress Parkway was closed for the next round of Flyover work.

: Traffic goes by to the outbound Dan Ryan as a beam is set on the Congress Parkway ramp.

: Then, on June 16, beams are staged on the Kennedy-to-Congress ramp.

: Cross bracing is set on the ramp, to be fastened to the beams before they’re lifted into place.

: A finished section, and a ramp full of beams for the next section.

: More beams are unloaded form semi trailers.

: It’s now Saturday evening, June 18, and McHugh Construction crews are preparing to set beams into place.

: Gwetting ready to lift the first beam. To the right, the Congress-to-Ryan ramp has been closed.

: Here’s the scene.

: A second crane is up and ready to go in the “outbound” lane.

: Both cranes are ready.

: Another look at Steve. He was born to do this.

: Bridge crews atop the bridge support, ready to secure the beam once it’s been lifted.

: Lift-off, just inches off the ground.

: And now almost in place.

: Beam #1 is in place, and crews work to secure it.

: Here, Beam #2 is almost in place next to the first beam.

: Bright and early Sunday morning, the fruits of their labors: six beams all in a row.

: A few ground-level views, taken Sunday morning, June 19.

: Bridge work and stuffed pizza. What more is there to life?

Alta Roosevelt Sends a New Tower Crane Into South Loop Sky

Posted on June 20, 2016 by danieldschell

The new tower crane at Alta Roosevelt in the South Loop, 801 South Financial Place.

Unless you’re the one who has to climb it every day, it just got a lot easier to move things around at the Alta Roosevelt construction site.

Walsh Construction assembled a tower crane last week at the soon-to-be 33-story apartment tower designed by Pappageorge Haymes Partners. Walsh has been driving piles into the ground since getting a foundation permit from the City of Chicago back in March, while the tower crane permit arrived June 7.

801 Financial tweeted some fantastic photos just after the tower crane was put together.

https://twitter.com/801Financial/status/744170327891054594

It should come as no surprise to you that I have a few more photos of the crane below.

: There’s room for growth.

: Not crane related, just a hole in the ground.

465 North Park Showing Signs of Life

Posted on June 19, 2016 by danieldschell

No, it’s not much. But it’s something. And I’d rather watch something being done than nothing.

Something’s afoot at the foot of the new Loews Hotel in Streeterville. And surprise surprise, it looks like construction.

How’s this for a blast from the past? A 2008 permit for a 50-story tower.

Back in October, the Chicago Plan Commission approved a 47-story, 444-unit apartment tower for the site at 465 North Park Drive. Designed by Pappageorge Haymes Partners (they’re everywhere!). 465 North Park will include 181 parking spaces within its 4-level podium. and, if what I heard at a community meeting last year still holds true, will also include upgrading Ogden Plaza, the small but rundown park at the corner of Columbus Drive and Illinois Street.

: A rendering of 465 North Park from Pappageorge Haymes Partners.

: The lot at 465 North Park, seen from Optima Chicago last fall.

: The two current excavation pieces on site.

: A little dirt scraping is better than this dust lot.

: So far, the only permit on file for 465 North Park is for electric work.

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An Eye on Chicago Construction.

Category Archives: New Construction

A Deeper Look at 151 North Franklin Foundation Work

8 East Huron Digs Down, Shores Up

400 West Huron Continues Growth in River North

DePaul Tuning Up for New School of Music

30 East Continues Ground Work in the South Loop

More Photos Than I Know What To Do With: The Byrne Flyover

Video

Alta Roosevelt Sends a New Tower Crane Into South Loop Sky

465 North Park Showing Signs of Life