Power Construction and Central Contractors Service were out in the elements (it was a beautiful day) Thursday erecting the second tower crane at the Big Deahl development. While the first crane builds The Seng and Common Lincoln Park, this second rig will handle the taller task of 1475 North Kingsbury.
Dedicated crane chaser that I am, I stopped by here twice on Thursday to supervise things. As an added bonus, I have a few progress shots of The Seng and Common Lincoln Park too.
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It took <check’s sun dial> less than two weeks for Power Construction and Stalworth Underground to get caissons drilled at 920 North Wells. I’ve left dirty dishes in the sink for longer than that. Regularly. But there’s no time to be wasted on JDL Development’s latest endeavor, the North Union mega project, so it’s out with caisson equipment, and in with the earth movers. They’ve got a foundation to dig out, not just for the building, but also for the tower crane, and Manitowoc MD485 to be precise, which received a foundation permit of its own on Tuesday, May 17.
Since I once again fell asleep on the job, the following gallery includes photos of caisson work taken May 12, and post-caisson work taken May 19.
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Construction can be confusing when you don’t pay close attention. There’s a world of activity on a site one day, then the next day all the equipment is gone, the dirt’s been smoothed over, and it looks like the lot has been abandoned.
And that’s my segue for the first visit to 633 South LaSalle in the South Loop. 633 got its first permit back in May of 2019, allowing for construction of an 18-story, 117-unit residential tower. Then, crickets. That permit was reinstated in April of 2020, but, pandemic. Now, two new permits have been issued this spring: the first, for caissons, on March 31. The second, for the full building, on May 10. These two latest permits have a new general contractor: Clark Construction. Berkelhamer and FitzGerald are the architecture firms. The Collective in NYC is the developer.
So that’s the permit sitch. What I can’t speak to is the progress. Like I said, construction can be confusing if you’re not paying attention. The current state of the 633 South LaSalle site looks like the caisson aftermath, when the slate looks clean and ready for foundations to be dug. But I can’t find anyone with caisson photos on the web. (I’m not the only one taking photos of such things, you know.) As a result, I can’t even tell you whether work has begun here.
Bonus gallery: The buildings on either side of 633 are magnificent.
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First and foremost, a special thanks to the team of Focus and Pepper Construction for using their tower crane to pluck The Spirit of Progress from atop One River Place Condominiums and setting on top of The 808 Cleveland construction site so I could get the above photo op. The statue was returned to its proper place without anyone knowing she was missing.
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Caissons are done, but foundation work continues for Embry at 21 North May in the West Loop. A 270-degree tour around the site last week shows piles have been driven into the ground, and a bunch more sat at the ready for their turn in the soil. That’s the firm of McHugh & McHugh (Construction & Concrete) on the job out there, getting this 16-story, 58-unit condo building from Sulo Development ready to go vertical. And remember, they’ll be getting a shiny yellow Liebherr tower crane soon, too.
The base section of a tower crane was set in pace Thursday at 732 West Randolph.
What an embarrassment of tower-crane riches we’ve along Randolph Street in the West Loop. Even though recent rigs at 609, 1371, 1400 and 1454 are gone, we have cranes operating at the corners of Randolph and Peoria (900 Randolph), Randolph and Aberdeen (166 North Aberdeen), and Randolph and Elizabeth (160 North Elizabeth.)
And now, 732 West Randolph has entered the chat. Thursday, general contractor Maris Construction and concrete contractor Pepper Construction planted the base for a tower crane that will build an eight-story (plus basement) office building. Designed by Hirsch MPG, 732 will connect on its first six floors with 730 West Randolph next door, and will include a rooftop deck and basement fitness center.
732 West Randolph got its first construction permit way back on March 03, 2020, as a renovation/alteration permit to add the eight-story building to the aforementioned six-story building at 730 West. A revised New Construction permit was issued September 23 of 2022. Both of those permits were reinstated in August of last year, and the tower crane was permitted February 1 of this year.
As you can see, work is in progress. All that rebar around the base of the crane will be smothered in concrete for the crane foundation on Monday.
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A Linkedin post late last week from Thomas Roszak tells us concrete at 160 North Elizabeth has reached the 15th floor. This is a 27-story tower, so that’s more than halfway up. Because math. And I’m good at it. Clark and Adjustable are good at things too, because this building is flying upwards.
If you happened to make it outside Thursday, you noticed it was a sunny, gorgeous day. And sunny days are ideal for construction progress photos. So I took a few:
From way up northFrom way down south
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When last (and first) I visited 513 South Damen in the Illinois Medical District, I was surprised at how quickly it had grown. Last week’s 360-degree tour shows it to be topped at 22 stories, and glass has reached the eighth level above the parking podium.
Building Up Chicago 