A tower crane and one story of progress? Yes, that’s a Big Deahl

Posted on April 7, 2022 by danieldschell

A tower crane and a very good dog at The Shops at Big Deahl

The new tower crane on West Blackhawk Street is pulling double duty. It’s building The Seng, a five-story condo building at 869 W Blackhawk, and Common Lincoln Park, a 10-story, 400-bed co-living building at 853 W Blackhawk. I know this because I read about it in REjournals; they’ve got all the details you could possibly want at that link.

The Shops at Big Deahl is a project by Structured Development. GREC Architects is the design architect; Power Construction is on the build.

With two buildings comes lots of permits, including:
A demo permit to make a fresh canvas on 4/23/2021
A tent permit for groundbreaking ceremonies on 12/2/2021
A permit for foundation piles on 12/16/2021
The full permit for 853 on 1/19/2022
A tower crane permit on 2/10/2022
The full build permit for 869 on 3/25/2022

I stopped by Sunday to take a look at early vertical progress:

Enjoying the photos? Metra and CTA rides (and Amtrak trains to Milwaukee), Zipcars, Divvy Bikes, camera lenses, domain fees, snacks & energy drinks, and comfortable walking shoes add up. You can help offset expenses by making a greatly-appreciated donation to Building Up Chicago.

The 808 Cleveland exercises its verticality in the Near North

Posted on April 6, 2022 by danieldschell

The 808 Cleveland at 808 N. Cleveland Ave in Near North

I bet you’ve noticed a couple tower cranes straddling Chicago Avenue and River North/Near North lately. Well, the one that isn’t yellow, the white one on north side of the street, is taking 808 North Cleveland vertical.

The 808 Cleveland is a 22-story, 200-unit apartment tower from DAC Developments. The Pappageorge Haymes Partners-designed tower will include a mix of studio units, one-bedroom, two-bedroom, and even four-bedroom co-living apartments. There’ll also be 28,000 square feet of office and retail space. The foundation permit, issued September 30 of last year, calls for 99 parking spaces. The tower crane was permitted October 29, and the full build permit arrived on December 6.

Focus is the general contractor; Pepper Construction is helping out on concrete.

160 North Morgan digs into the West Loop, snags a tower crane permit

Posted on April 6, 2022 by danieldschell

Gone, but not forgotten. In a burned-into-my-retinas sort of way.

The hits keep coming for Sterling Bay, who just landed a tower crane permit for their tower development at 160 North Morgan in the West Loop. (Yes, that little {temporarily} purple building is gone now.)

160 North Morgan is going to be a 30-story residential tower. Designed by bKL Architecture, 160 will consist of 282 rental apartments, 89 parking spots, and about 2,600 square feet of retail space.

The Big Green W is the general contractor on 160 North Morgan. They have received:
a tower crane permit on March 30
and a caisson permit the following day, March 31.

I love this neighborhood.

Embry begins construction in the West Loop

Posted on April 5, 2022 by danieldschell

A sea of rebar waits to be sunk into the earth at Embry.

I could tell the start of Embry was imminent over at 21 North May Street in the West Loop when I walked by Sunday. All the equipment was on hand for caissons, and rebar cages were made. Seemed to me all that was needed was a foundation permit.

Well, a little birdie tells me caissons are a-drillin’ as of this morning. That same birdie also says an entirely separate birdie says the permit was issued this morning. It all adds up. Embry is here.

Embry is being built by Sulo Development, which delivered Hayden West Loop just around the corner. As mentioned, I haven’t seen the foundation permit yet, but it doesn’t take a genius to see McHugh Construction banners on site; they must be the general contractor. My guess is their concrete division is also handling the concrete chores, but I shouldn’t assume. Lamar Johnson Collaborative is the design architect. Their website says to expect 16 stories and 58 luxury condos, which Sulo plans on delivering in 2023.

Congrats, Embry team. Let’s go.

ALLY at 1229 W Concord makes its presence known along the Chicago River

Posted on April 4, 2022 by danieldschell

ALLY at 1229 W Concord on the rise along the Chicago River

ALLY at 1229 W Concord, Sterling Bay’s life sciences development (it’s at 1229 W Concord, as you may have already figured out) has reached full height. Next milestone is to wrap that bay up in glass and let it shine along the North Branch of the Chicago River.

Sunday wasn’t my first visit to ALLY; I stopped by as they were erecting the tower crane on November 9 of last year, but I’ll be darned if I haven’t lost all the photos from that day, save for a couple of them I tweeted.

ALLY at 1229 W Concord is a design by Gensler, with Power Construction acting as the general contractor and Adjustable Concrete Construction on concrete. It’s the first of lots more to come at Lincoln Yards, which should keep us construction nerds entertained for a long, long time. The nine-story, 280,000-square-foot facility will include seven lab floors and lower-level parking for 55 cars. Expect delivery next year.

🏗🏗🏗 We have three new tower cranes coming, Chicago 🏗🏗🏗

Posted on March 31, 2022 by danieldschell

The City of Chicago has issued three new tower crane permits in the span of six days, the kind of growth spurt that warms hearts here at the B.U.C.

Rendering of 1044 West Van Buren by Antunovich Associates.

Last week, Tandem got a crane permit for 1044 West Van Buren. They’re building an 18-stort, 196-unit apartment tower designed by Antunovich Associates. Tandem will be their own general contractor, just as they were at Avra West Loop across the street.

Rendering of 3501 North Halsted by Eckenhoff Saunders.

Monday, Howard Brown Health got a crane permit for 3501 North Halsted. They’re building a five-story clinic with offices and a pharmacy designed by Eckenhoff Saunders. McHugh Construction is the general contractor.

Rendering of 160 North Morgan by bKL Architecture.

And Wednesday, Sterling Bay got a crane permit for 160 North Morgan. They’re building a 30-story, 282-unit apartment tower where that purple monster was for a few weeks back in 2020. bKL Architecture designed the tower, and Walsh Construction is the general contractor.

So, you know, LET’S GO!

160 North Elizabeth is starting to climb in the West Loop

Posted on March 31, 2022 by danieldschell

160 North Elizabeth added another tower crane along Randolph in February.

160 North Elizabeth is a brand-spanking-new 27-story, 375-unit West Loop apartment tower from Moceri + Roszak. You know that name from the office building at 145 South Wells, apartment towers Parkline Chicago and Linea, and other developments.

The former NW corner of Randolph & Elizabeth..

Clark Construction is the general contractor at 160, with a concrete assist from Adjustable Concrete Construction. Thomas Rozsak Architecture is the design architect.

160 North Elizabeth was approved by the Chicago Plan Commission on March 18, 2021. To date, it has received:
a foundation permit on 11/24/2021
a tower crane permit on 11/30/2021
a full build permit on 2/4/2022.

The following photos were taken back on March 21.

Glass climbs the topped-out and craneless 345 North Morgan

Posted on March 30, 2022 by danieldschell

345 North Morgan, viewed from Halsted Street.

The tower crane is gone, but work hasn’t skipped a beat at 345 North Morgan in the Fulton Market District.

Sterling Bay’s latest boutique office building is installing windows on what is shaping up to be my favorite new building for nighttime views. And I say that having only been there on sunny days. But mark my words; this is one of those sites you’ll want to get to just as it gets dark at night with the interior lights shining brightly.

345 North Morgan is a ten-story, 200,000-square-foot office building designed by Chicago’s own Eckenhoff Saunders Skender is the general contractor. Their task, along with Adjustable Concrete Construction on concrete, is to have this office building ready for tenants before we close the door on 2022.

The old 345 North Morgan, taken from the original B.U.C. HQ in the West Loop.

Demolition wrapping up, December 16, 2019.

Stalworth Underground doing caisson work, 08/31/2021

It wasn’t until I looked up the permit history that I remembered 345 having a little trouble getting started. Of course, over the past 24 months, who among us *hasn’t* had a little trouble getting started. The old paint store at 345 North Morgan got a demolition permit on December 5 of 2019. (I still have an unfinished draft that I started in January of 2020.) The foundation permit for the new building was next, issued March 12, 2020. But then things went idle for awhile before caisson work began in August of last summer. The full build permit was issued in June of 2021, and the tower crane was permitted on September 3. And here we are.

1400 South Wabash: An insider’s view

Posted on March 30, 2022 by danieldschell

Hey, do you all remember that time I posted a photo of 1400 South Wabash sent to me by Chad Czerwinski at Pepper Construction? Of course you do, because it was yesterday.

Well, I just hit the jackpot. Or Chadpot, if you will. Because Chad sent over a whole slew of photos documenting the early stages of construction, beginning February 2 and continuing through this past week.

There are some BIG files in the following gallery, all courtesy of Chad, but they’re fantastic images, so I included them all.

Thanks again SO MUCH, Chad!

513 South Damen is how tall already?

Posted on March 29, 2022 by danieldschell

Marquette Companies’ 513 South Damen rises in the Illinois Medical District

Maybe it’s been longer than I realized since 513 South Damen got started, but it surprised me last Monday to see how much progress has been made. But I guess that’s what “progress” means, eh?

The empty 513 South Damen lot the last time I walked by, in October of 2021.

513 South Damen is a 22-story, 279-unit apartment tower from Marquette Companies, who’ve recently put up Evo Union Park and Park Fulton in the far-West Loop. The other two big players on those two projects, general contractor Power Construction and design architect Brininstool + Lynch, round out the 513 team as well.

513 South Damen received:
the caisson permit on 7-26-2021
the tower crane permit on 10-13-2021
the foundation permit on 10-29-2021
the full build permit on 12-17-2021