Is that glass? Are those bricks? The McDonald’s Headquarters rolls on

Posted on July 27, 2017 by danieldschell

We’re starting to see the underside of the ninth floor at the northwest corner of McDonald’s HQ. Plus brick and glass!

The new McDonald’s Headquarters in the West Loop may not quite be ready for the top sesame-seed bun, but McHugh Construction keeps adding ingredients to the burger giant’s nine-story home. (I like to compare progress to building a hamburger, but with the new Apple Store looking like a gigantic Macbook, we can thank our lucky stars Sterling Bay and Gensler decided not to build this HQ to look like a Big Mac. You think the NIMBY’s would have thought that worked well with its surroundings?)

There are new glass panels on a couple sides now, and some sweet brickwork adorning parts of the exterior. If you take into account setbacks and the like, some of McDonald’s has reached nine stories high. It’s a tad early to start worrying about losing a tower crane or two, but the top-down strategy has paid off, as this project rises incredibly fast.

An overhead view of McDonald’s and its two tower cranes by Curtis Waltz at Aerialscapes.

: New glass!

: New bricks!!

Solstice On The Park tops out, puts on new glasses

Posted on July 26, 2017 by danieldschell

Solstice On The Park, the 27-story residential tower in Hyde Park, topped on on Monday, according to a tweet to us from Studio Gang. Also on Monday, Studio Gang also shared a photo on its LinkedIn page showing some pretty impressive glass panels being installed on the ground floor. What does one do when there’s new glass to be seen? One heads down the Metra Electric Line and has a look for oneself.

https://twitter.com/studiogang/status/890302868527435776

Glass installation at Solstice On The Park, from Studio Gang’s LinkedIn post.

Congratulations to Studio Gang, Linn-Mathes, Antheus Capital, Mac Properties, heck, to all of Hyde Park on the topping out! It looks like Chicago’s south-most tower crane is in danger of disappearing soon, but that’s the price of progress.

Caisson work is at full bore for The Lincoln Common

Posted on July 26, 2017 by danieldschell

Revcon is in, and in deep, as caisson work revs up at The Lincoln Common.

Here’s a ridiculous overhead view from Curtis Waltz at Aerialscapes.

The noisy red machines of Revcon are tearing into the soil at The Lincoln Common, the mixed-use development coming to the former Children’s Memorial Hospital site in Lincoln Park. Foundation permits were issued back in June, allowing general contractor W.E. O’Neil to get started on the project.

“Foundation permits, plural?” you might ask? Yep. The Lincoln Common seems to have a theme of pairs:

There will be two towers, addressed for now as 2335 and 2345 North Lincoln Avenue, each standing 20 stories tall and containing 269 apartments. (There will be some condos too, plus a senior-living facility across the street.)
There are two developers: Hines, and McCaffery Interests
There are two architecture firms involved in the design work: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, and Antunovich Associates.
There are two red Revcon caisson rigs and two caisson cranes working on the site
I went through two bottles of Gatorade while watching caisson work in the oppressive heat (how do crews stay out there all day in this weather?)

You get the idea.

There was *one* tower-crane permit issued on July 17; will there be a second tower crane for the second tower? We’ll have to wait and see about that prospective pair.

900 West lands a foundation permit

Posted on July 26, 2017 by danieldschell

The sweet smell of a foundation permit, fresh of the City presses. 900 West may begin.

The lot at Washington Boulevard and Peoria Street in the West Loop has been cleared, and now a foundation permit has been issued that allows 900 West to move into the site. The 10-story, 22-unit condominium development from Taris Real Estate has already made Chicago news, when Dennis Rodkin at Crain’s reported on the signed contract for one of the building’s two penthouse units for more than $5 million. In addition to the penthouses, there will be two-bed, three-bed, and four-bedroom condos.

Northworks Architects + Planners designed the new building. Power Construction has been tasked with putting all the right pieces in all the right places. Taris plans to have 900 West ready for residents in Summer of 2018.

: A walk past 900 West Washington Tuesday revealed a clean slate for construction. Perfect timing for a permit.

: Rendering of 900 West from Taris.

: Rendering of 900 West from Taris.

: The previous denizen of 900 West Washington Blvd. It won’t be missed.

: The northwest corner of Washington and Peoria Tuesday afternoon.

West Loop’s Nobu Hotel (finally) plants a tower crane

Posted on July 26, 2017 by danieldschell

THERE IT IS! The Nobu Hotel has a tower-crane stub.

The biggest day in the history of the northeast corner of the intersection of Randolph and Peoria Streets on Restaurant Row in the West Loop has finally arrived.

13 months after breaking ground, nine months after receiving a tower-crane permit from the City of Chicago, one month after having that permit revised, and two weeks after having that revised permit revised yet again to relocate the tower-crane pad and caissons, the Nobu Hotel Chicago at long last has planted a tower crane.

And while there’s still a substantial amount of foundation digging to be done, the arrival of the tower crane signals a major step upward for the boutique hotel. With all the development ongoing in this part of the city, overnight accommodations had been sorely lacking, and Nobu’s 11-story, 119-room hotel will help fill that void. But first, it will have to fill the void left by all that foundation digging. Slow as it’s been getting started, Nobu still plans to have its first Chicago hotel open in 2018. Centaur Construction will do their best to reach that goal. (Nobu marks Centaur’s first tower crane on the official tower-crane count.)

: Tower-crane permit.

: Tower-crane permit, revised.

: Revision of revised tower-crane permit.

: Actual, unrevised tower-crane stub.

: Tower-crane foundation awaiting concrete..

: Still lots of digging to do.

1326 South Michigan scores its full-build permit

Posted on July 25, 2017 by danieldschell

Column forms are starting to protrude from the ground at 1326 South Michigan.

The full-build permit, issued July 24, 2017.

On Monday of this week, 1326 South Michigan received its full-build permit from the city of Chicago. That means crews from Walsh Construction can keep right on working at a frantic pace and start sending this one vertical. To the tune of 46 stories, to be exact. And within those 46 stories? 500 apartments, developed in tandem by Murphy Development Group with CIM Group, and designed by SCB.

Twitter user @ChrisAHorney, who works as MDG and last month clued us in to the tower crane being erected on this site, tells us today we can expect a name change for 1326 South Michigan in the coming weeks. And we always look forward to that kind of news.

As for that permit, The Big Green W didn’t seem to take much time celebrating its arrival; 1326 South Michigan is frantic with activity today, as you’ll see in the time-lapse video and photos below.

: Columns are starting to protrude from the ground at 1326 South Michigan.

1411 South Michigan is so last-week. Say hello to 1407 On Michigan

Posted on July 25, 2017 by danieldschell

1407 On Michigan has taken over what 1411 South Michigan began.

That’s right. What we’ve all known as 1411 S. Michigan now has a new name and some new signage in the South Loop. 1407 On Michigan has taken over, and it continues upward toward its ultimate 15-story height. The mixed-use tower from Russland Capital Group will include 199 apartments and 40,000 square feet of commercial space. And at least a portion of that space will be Rush Primary And Specialty Care.

Lendlease is the contractor responsible for the progress at 1407 On Michigan, which to the naked eye appears to have reached the 11th floor. Sunshine made this the prefect day to stop by and take a look.

: Rush signage at 1407 On Michigan.

Essex On The Park is Off Of The Ground

Posted on July 25, 2017 by danieldschell

Essex On The Park is beginning its climb into the Michigan Avenue skyline.

Essex On The Park raised a tower crane earlier this month, and now work has begun going vertical along Michigan Avenue in the South Loop. Power Construction has 56 stories to stack atop each other, so there’s a whole lot of work to do. But that’s what tower cranes are for, right? Wait and see; this thing will be topped out in no time.

A few reminders for you as Essex On The Park begins to rise: It’s a development from Oxford Capital Group. It’s designed by Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture. As previously mentioned, Power Construction is the general contractor. 808 South Michigan Avenue is the address. There will be 476 apartments, 84 parking spots, and some ground-floor retail space. Oxford plans to have the apartment tower open to residents in 2019.

Wandering Milwaukee: Revisiting the Bucks’ new arena, vicariously, from the air

Posted on July 25, 2017 by danieldschell

An eagle-eye view of the Milwaukee Bucks’ new arena from pilot/photographer Curtis Waltz at Aerialscapes.

Photo via Curtis Waltz at Aerialscapes.

You’ve already seen my visit from the first weekend in July to the Milwaukee Bucks’ new arena. Dozens and dozens of photos. Yet there were still two angles of the construction site I wasn’t able to see: from the inside, and from overhead. The former I won’t likely see until I buy a basketball ticket. But the latter? Someone else has that covered for us.

Click this link to see the Milwaukee Business Journal story from July 6 that featured photos from aerial photographer Curtis Waltz. Not satisfied with drone footage, Mr. Waltz goes one step further. Or higher, as the case may be: he flies his own plane to get his shots.

You can see all of Curtis Waltz’s work at Aerialscapes.

The Bucks’ Twitter account tweeted the following drone video, which does include some inside footage:

https://twitter.com/Bucks/status/888859102444761088

Not enough for ya? Well, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has a drone video for you to check out as well.

http://www.jsonline.com/videos/sports/nba/bucks/2017/07/11/video-aerial-view-drone-future-milwaukee-bucks-arena/103568966/

There’s more to see at the Wisconsin Entertainment and Sports Center News page here. They update it frequently, so check in early and often.

Caisson work is underway at Wolf Point East

Posted on July 24, 2017 by danieldschell

Kayakers get a close-up look at Wolf Point East caisson work.

Rendering of Wolf Point East from Hines.

Who’s ready for Wolf Point East? That’s rhetorical, because ready or not, it’s here.

Skyscraper nerds had already left the fork in the Chicago River for sites like Vista Tower and One Bennett Park, what with Wolf Point West, River Point, and 150 North Riverside all completed and open. But now, time will once again be split, and attention divided, as the next phase begins.

Hines is developing the 60-story, 700-unit apartment tower here, along with land-owners the Kennedy family. A collaboration between architect-of-record Pappageorge Haymes Architects and designer Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, Wolf Point East is the second of the three towers slated for this corner of the river. There will be about 3,500 square feet of retail space as well, plus a whole bunch of parking spots. But don’t worry about eyesores; that parking will be located underground.

Case Foundation is there as we speak, drilling caissons into the ground. Walsh Construction is the general contractor. When their tower crane goes up (soon, please?) it’ll be Walsh’s second in Chicago, having just erected one at 1326 South Michigan, and removing one at Alta Roosevelt over the weekend.