Construction Update: The United Center signs an extension

Posted on August 1, 2016 by danieldschell

Lots of glass on the new 6-story office building at The United Center.

An extension *of* the United Center, that is. The 22-year-old arena, home to the Chicago Bulls and Chicago Blackhawks, broke ground last year on a 6-story, 250,00-square-foot office building in the parking lot immediately east of the stadium. That office building will be the new home of employees of the Bulls and Blackhawks, as well as United Center staff. The new structure will also feature a new team store, and a 25,000-square-foot atrium that will connect old building to new. Designed by HOK and being built by McHugh Construction, it is scheduled to be complete in time for the 2016-2017 NBA and NHL seasons.

: This monster was on hand last week for a heavy lift.

: From Wood and Monroe.

: From Madison and Wood.

: The north face. Not the clothing.

: The north side.

: South side, where the atrium will connect old to new.

: High work in May.

: No glass yet. May 2016.

: All glass now. August 2016.

: Foundation work, September 2015.

: When you could still see the east facade of The United Center, September 2015.

: I wasn’t the only one here taking pictures. But *they* had a drone.

: A render from The United Center.

: A render from The United Center.

: A render of the atrium from The United Center.

: Updated photo from October.

: Updated photo from October.

W.E. O’Neil begins construction on Plumbers Local 130 Training Center

Posted on July 28, 2016 by danieldschell

Demolition of the old Plumbing Industry Center in May.

First, it was what looked like a fairly nice building. Then, it was a hole in the ground. Now, there’s stuff going on in that hole. And it’s construction.

After breaking ground at 1400 West Washington Boulevard on June 28th, W.E. O’Neil is rolling on the new Plumbers Local 130 Training Center. The 3-story, 50,000-square-foot building in the West Loop will facilitate the education of journeymen and apprentice plumbers from all around Chicago.

Designed by Gensler, the project got underway with an April demolition permit for the old Plumbing Industry Center, followed by the new construction permit issued June 21st. It’s expected by this time next year, the training center will be complete.

: Revcon is right in the middle of things, doing caisson work.

: A rendering from the W.E. O’Neil website.

: Another W.E. O’Neil render.

: The old building. Didn’t look half bad.

: A very glarey building permit.

: Trucking in caisson equipment.

: Rebar tubes.

Quick Look: Steel stealing the spotlight at 151 North Franklin

Posted on July 27, 2016 by danieldschell

Construction at 151 North Franklin is rising above street level, highlighted by the steel on the south side of the lot.

I’m kind of obsessed with this steel work going on right now at 151 North Franklin. It reminds me of the glorious contraption on the south end of 150 North Riverside when it first went up. Sadly, the CNA Center requires no massive red crane on a barge.

: Ready for your close-up?

Climbing Crane Watch: 151 North Franklin

Posted on July 26, 2016 by danieldschell

In honor of last week’s double permit festivities — one for the full build, one for the climbing tower crane — I took a quick walk past the new CNA Center at 151 North Franklin again today. Twice, actually. Once in the morning, once on the way back home. Alas, they haven’t set up that pseudo-tower crane thingamobob yet, but they do have some stellar steel work protruding from the ground at the south end of the site. So, rather than waste the trip(s), here are a few pictures:

: Morning walk-by, as the street crane lifted steel into place along Randolph Street.

: By the evening walk home, they had added to it.

: The CNA Center is rising up from its foundation.

: That excavator is at an awkward angle. Tight spaces call for drastic measures.

: Full Build Permit.

: The climbing tower crane permit.

More Milwaukee: Northwestern Mutual Tower and Commons

Posted on July 26, 2016 by danieldschell

Northwestern Mutual Tower and Commons, 720 East Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Back in late June, the Mrs. went up to Milwaukee and brought back a couple souvenirs for me: photos of the under-construction Northwestern Mutual Tower and Commons. Thankful for the keepsakes, I posted what I thought I knew about the project. A reader named John Anderson soon let me know, however, that I knew a lot less than I thought I did, and I had erroneously lumped two projects — and their respective information — into one post. (777 West Van Buren is the second project. I’ll post about that another day.)

Well, lucky for me, Sting visited Milwaukee this month. And when Sting is in Milwaukee, you drop everything and go to Milwaukee. That gave me a chance to sing “Roxanne” at the top of my lungs, and to take my own walk around downtown Milwaukee and see what Northwestern Mutual is up to for myself.

So, here’s what I think I now know:

The Tower portion of this project, at 720 East Wisconsin Avenue, will be 32 stories high, and about 550 feet tall, with the Commons portion extending to the tower’s west. It is a design from Pickard Chilton of New haven, Ct. Northwestern Mutual is, of course, the developer, along with Hines (think River Point here in Chicago, along with a whole lot of others.) Gilbane Building Company is the general contractor. Completion comes in 2017.

That was exhausting. How about some photos from a glorious July afternoon in Milwaukee:

: It is a striking tower…

: …from every angle.

: There will be a roller coaster of some sort at the top.

: Tower and tower crane, from a distance.

: A render from Northwestern Mutual.

: A rendering from Pickard Chilton.

: Just barely peeking out above the *stunning* Milwaukee Federal Building & Courthouse.

: The new hovers over the old.

: Northwestern Mutual Tower and Commons, as of July 10, 2016.

: The Commons.

: Northwestern Tower, seen through the construction site at 777 North Van Buren Street. I’ll get to that another day.

: Jackson and Van Buren? I’m in Milwaukee, right? Not the West Loop?

: The Commons, looking from the south on East Wisconsin Avenue.

Yes, that’s a lot of photos. Let me know if I got any details wrong, folks.

Quick Look: 151 North Franklin Gets a Non-Tower Crane Tower Crane Permit

Posted on July 24, 2016 by danieldschell

The permit for the kinda-sorta tower crane at the CNA Center, 151 North Franklin Street.

On Thursday, I passed along the heartbreaking news that the new CNA Center, the 35-story office tower being built at 151 North Franklin Street in The Loop, wouldn’t have a regular tower crane, but instead would utilize a crane attached to the structure itself. Well, that apparatus still requires a permit from the City of Chicago, and it was filed on Friday.

Phase 1 Temporary construction of World Free Standing Tower Crane Model Potain MR608

World Free? Wasn’t he an NBA player?

Interesting factoid: The standard tower crane permit shows an estimated cost of $60,000. This pseudo-tower crane permit goes for just $30,000. So they’re saving half from the get-go. Let’s just hope it’s cool to watch.

Site Prep Underway at Centrum Hubbard

Posted on July 23, 2016 by danieldschell

First the cars were kicked out of the parking lot. Then the fencing went up. Then the Divvy station got kicked to a different curb. And now, there’s scraping and digging going on at 221 West Hubbard (and 412 North Wells, for that matter) in preparation for Centrum Partners’ two-building development in River North.

Designed by Hirsch Associates Architects, 412 North Wells will be a 9-story office building, next to 221 West Hubbard’s 23-story apartment tower.

Linn-Mathes, general contractor for both structures, must be champing at the bit to get going on this lot. It was hoped building permits would be filed around the first of April, but some soil samples turned up negative results, and that set things back awhile. But they’re up and running now. Jump on a Brown or Purple Line train and enjoy the fun.

: A Hirsch Associates Architects rendering.

: 221 West Hubbard and 412 North Wells will be *very* close to transportation…

Tower Crane Update: There Won’t Be One at 151 North Franklin

Posted on July 21, 2016 by danieldschell

https://twitter.com/BuildUpChicago/status/753781369000656896

https://twitter.com/BuildUpChicago/status/753752507982151684

You can imagine my distress. Just hours after penning a post about the number of permitted tower cranes that had yet to be planted around Chicago, I wandered past 151 North Franklin and couldn’t believe I had left it out. I got home and leafed through the permits, and lo and behold…there wasn’t one.

How could that be? The CNA Center is going to be 35 stories high! How can that be accomplished without a tower crane?

The answer? A clip-on. Like the neckties we wore as kids. Sort of. I’m told by folks at Lendlease, the general contractor for this Loop office tower, that the crane to be used will attach to the building itself, and move higher with the tower as construction progresses. Which sounds cool enough to be an adequate substitute for the real thing.

https://twitter.com/BuildUpChicago/status/753968058515927045

Twitter. It’s how I keep myself amused.

In the meantime, Lendlease is doing all kinds of cool stuff at 151 North Franklin Street. As you’ll see by scrolling through the following photo gallery:

: Massive steel beams went up on Saturday.

: This was Saturday, as Lendlease erected these two beams.

: The ground crane in the back corner will suffice until the clip-on comes along.

: Break time.

590 West Madison Pocket Park Finally Starting To Sprout

Posted on July 15, 2016 by danieldschell

Shrubbery in the 590 Madison pocket park.

It may look more like a Christmas tree farm than a pocket park, but at least something is happening at 590 West Madison Street in the West Loop. And that could mean something much, much bigger is just ahead.

As the Chicago Architecture Blog reported back in February, 590 Madison is an office tower proposed for the block of North Jefferson Street stretching from Madison to Washington. But the city said no such tower can be built until the pocket park at the Washington end of the lot is addressed. And address it they have.

590 Madison dreams of being a 41-story tower. Designed by Goettsch Partners, it would have a 330-room hotel on the lower floors, the 616,000 square feet of rentable office space from the 19th floor on up. But we must wait and see. Let’s get that park finished up first, then look for permission from the City of Chicago to start building.

: 590 Madison rendering via 590wmadison.com

: 590 Madison rendering via 590wmadison.com

: 590 Madison rendering via 590wmadison.com

: Humble beginnings, back in November ’15

: Night view, January 2017

I repeatedly started typing “parket” instead of “pocket park” during the making of this post. Can we just make “parket” a thing?

Check One Off The List: 625 West Adams Plants a Tower Crane

Posted on July 14, 2016 by danieldschell

Setting the tower crane base, bright and early this morning.

It was an inadvertent Tower Crane Tuesday post. And here we are on Thursday, and it’s already obsolete. But in the good way. For no longer are there six tower crane permits awaiting actual tower cranes. No, my friends, now there are five.

https://twitter.com/BuildUpChicago/status/753393411969970176

https://twitter.com/BuildUpChicago/status/753580641397116929

625 West Adams trucked in the base of its new tower crane yesterday, and wasted no time this morning rooting it into the ground. It’s one of those pretty yellow ones, too. And it will be right outside my window. Thank you, Power Construction. You know the way to my heart.

Please let me know if there’s an angle of this crane you’d like to see that I haven’t included below…