448 North LaSalle got its tower crane stub, and it doesn’t disappoint

Posted on February 24, 2020 by danieldschell

You can’t hide from me.

Looks like the crew from Pepper Construction, the concrete contractor at 448 North LaSalle, was busy this past week. Just as we hoped, they’ve got a tower crane stub in the ground to get Midwest Property Group’s 13-story office building going vertical.

Lendlease is the general contractor on 448 North LaSalle. Generally, we only shout-out the GC for tower crane cred here. But since tower cranes are what we care most about, aside from a nice hot breakfast, it’s been decided the concrete crews should get a lil more love, too.

Back to stubs. This ain’t no ordinary stub. In fact, in my short construction-obsessed existence, I don’t remember seeing a tower crane planted with more that one section of tower before. Comparatively, this one’s huge. And yellow. She’s gonna be a pretty one when she grows up.

iPhone only for this visit. That fencing is high and tight. (That means I couldn’t get the real camera over or through.)

Chicago’s newest newest tower crane is ready to send Panorama vertical

Posted on February 24, 2020 by danieldschell

Rush’s reign as newest tower crane was short-lived.

Panorama, at 3300 North Clark in Lake View, is on the board as the newest kid on the block, having completed assembly of its tower crane last week. Power Construction is the GC here; Adjustable Concrete Construction is doing the concrete.

167 Green Street drops its 2nd tower crane

Posted on February 24, 2020 by danieldschell

The Banner waves as the West Tower Crane at 167 Green Street comes down.

With the removal of the second tower crane from 167 Green Street, Chicago now has no two-crane construction sites. There are a pair of three-crane jobs of course, at One Chicago Square and Cirrus/Cascade, but no pairs.

McDonald’s, Vista Tower, One Bennett Park, NEMA Chicago, Woodlawn Commons, and The Lincoln Common all recently utilized the double-tower-crane method to get stuff done. Now, 167 Green Street joins that list of completed missions.

Sunday, I took a quick walk around the West Loop site for one last look at the red Manitowoc MR608, affectionately known as West Crane, as crews worked on bringing it back to earth.

Stuff That’s Done (And Already Changing): The Mason

Posted on February 23, 2020 by danieldschell

The Mason is a 13-story, 263-unit apartment building in the West Loop that began its life known as 180 North Ada. The L-shaped structure was designed by Brininstool + Lynch for Marquette Companies, with Power Construction on the build. The Mason opened to residents in Spring 2019.

Last week, the Chicago Plan Commission unanimously approved a zoning change for The Mason:

The Applicant is proposing to rezone the property from the current Planned Development #1384 to Planned Development #1384, as amended, to allow for a restaurant and tavern use to be established on the ground floor.

Helping move Restaurant Row further west in the West Loop is a good thing for hungry Chicagoans.

: 180 North Ada

: Power Construction has everything they need to send 180 North Ada vertical.

: 180 North Ada, seen here from a Green Line train, has begun digging in to the West Loop.

Stuff That’s Done: Twelve01West

Posted on February 21, 2020 by danieldschell

Twelve01West is a new office building at 1201 West Lake Street in the West Loop. It’s a favorite around here ever since developer McCaffery Interests lit up the tower crane back in the winter of 2018. Its ground floor also offers Chicago’s best spot to get your coffee fix and your bicycle fixed, Heritage Bikes & Coffee.

Twelve01West is a seven-story building designed by Antunovich Associates. It has 135,000 square feet of rentable office space, almost 12,000 square feet of retail space, counting the aforementioned Heritage location, and 45 parking spaces. It opened in March 2019.

W.E. O’Neil was the builder. Their link includes a cool shot of that purple tower crane.

: 1201 West Lake

: Twelve01West is rising at 1201 West Lake Street in the West Loop.

: Twelve01West flying The Colors on Memorial Day.

Progress Update: 800 Fulton

Posted on February 20, 2020 by danieldschell

800 Fulton. It could be 300 North Halsted. Or 801 West Wayman. or 303 North Green. But none of those have the panache of 800 Fulton.

And 800 Fulton (that link includes an Oxblue webcam!) keeps sprouting up from this West Loop block, thanks to the efforts Lendlease and crew. Have a look:

Stuff That’s Done: 61 Banks Street is open on Lake Shore Drive

Posted on February 20, 2020 by danieldschell

There aren’t many surface parking lots along the west side of Lake Shore Drive. And at the end of 2017, one of them was torn up to make room for a new apartment building.

61 Banks Street in a 58-unit rental development at 61 East Banks St., obvs. At eight stories, it’s short enough that it doesn’t block many views behind it, but since it sits right on the lakefront, its own views must be amazing.

Draper & Kramer, who we just dropped in on recently at 2111 South Wabash, is 61’s developer. Booth Hansen is the design architect; Leopardo Companies was on the build. The building opened to tenants in June 2019.

: 61 East Banks

: 61 East Banks has begun to rise at Lake Shore Drive and Banks Street.

An iPhone update at Union Station Tower

Posted on February 19, 2020 by danieldschell

Goettsch Partners rendering of Union Station Tower.

Caisson work is ongoing at Union Station Tower, and it’s still pretty darn tough to get a good look anywhere but along Clinton Street. Sometimes you have to be satisfied with sticking your phone up to the gaps in the fence and snapping away.

So here you go: A February iPhone Update at Union Station Tower, with a few real-camera shots thrown in for good measure.

There is a Superior House in River North nearing completion

Posted on February 19, 2020 by danieldschell

A rendering of Superior House from FitzGerald.

A Superior House with superior homes is coming this spring to River North. 34 of them, in fact.

Ascend Real Estate Group is developing the condominium building at 360 West Superior. Once existing structures were demolished, construction got started with a permit back in January of 2019.

Superior House is a design by FitzGerald. They’ve teamed up with Ascend previously on Niche 905 in Near North, among other projects. Power Construction is the general contractor.

: Sept 2019

: Sept 2019

: Sept 2019

: Sept 2019

The Balcony is Closed: A February update at Cirrus and Cascade

Posted on February 18, 2020 by danieldschell

Twilight shot over Lake Shore Drive, courtesy of Derek Svehla up in the tower crane.

That means you, Daniel.

The last time Cirrus Condominiums and Cascade Apartments appeared on this blog, I pointed out the need to get as many photos as possible before construction rose above “theater level” from N. Harbor Drive. Well, here’s the thing about that. With construction looming so close to that elevated walkway, you can’t have construction nerds standing within an arm’s length of carpenters and iron workers, offering our advice on how work should be done. And so, the sidewalks have been (understandably) walled off to provide a safety buffer between pedestrians and professionals, limiting us tower crane enthusiasts to get shots where we can. Which is still pretty cool, tbh.