The lowdown on the down-low glazing at 1000M

Posted on August 19, 2022 by danieldschell

I haven’t been playing the construction game for long, so maybe things I see that surprise me aren’t really all that unusual. But I’ll be darned if I can recall ever seeing a highrise get its first panes of glass on the first floor.

That’s exactly what we’ve got at Helmut Jahn’s 1000M (1000 S Michigan Ave.) If I hadn’t been expecting to see it (thanks to a Linkedin post) I might have missed it, since my eyes generally look up as these towers start their skyward climbs. But the glass is indeed there, along the east façade. You might need to peek over the fence to see it.

And now, a photographic progress update of McHugh & McHugh’s work (thanks for positioning the tower crane so I could get the mooncrane shot):

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.

900 Randolph still doesn’t have gla—-hold that thought

Posted on August 19, 2022 by danieldschell

Knew we were forgetting something ! pic.twitter.com/QAuhUvCDYC
— Fern (@MrFernGully2U) August 18, 2022

900 Randolph, the 43-story, 300-unit apartment tower from Related Companies and Morris Adjmi Architects, has grown pretty tall out in the West Loop. I’m told crews were pouring concrete on level 37 when I stopped by Wednesday. I was also told to expect topping out early in early October, along with a pleading “we’re hoping the windows arrive by then.” Supply chain delays. Not at all unusual these days.

But Thursday came the above tweet from Twitter user @MrFernGully2U, who captured the first few pieces of glass on the exterior. One day. I got there one day too early. But thanks to the Fern Gully for looking up, and looking out for us.

166 North Aberdeen hits the Construction Trifecta: It’s topped out, glassy, and renamed. Hello One Six Six

Posted on August 18, 2022 by danieldschell

166 North Aberdeen used to be on the rise, glassless, and 166 North Aberdeen. You can forget all of that.

One Six Six is now topped out, and the first couple levels above the podium are glazed. Those are all big milestones for the 21-story, 224-unit apartment tower from MCZ Development and Greystar. (The tower topped out two weeks or so ago.) Congratulations are in order for the construction team of Lendlease (GC) and Pepper Construction (concrete) and design architect Solomon Cordwell Buenz.

How that topping out has been achieved, crews need to get the rest of the exterior glazed and the interior ready for One Six Six’s anticipated Fall Opening.

As caissons continue, 210 North Aberdeen scores its superstructure permit

Posted on August 6, 2022 by danieldschell

Caissons are poured at 210 North Aberdeen

LG Group’s 210 North Aberdeen scored another building permit this week, adding the foundation & and superstructure permit to the caisson permit issued July 5. That means Power Construction (with McHugh Concrete on masonry duty) can continue work up to the 3rd floor, with the full-build permit expected soon.

When complete, the NORR-designed tower will deliver 363 apartments across its 19 stories, while connecting to the Arthur Harris building under renovation. A restoration permit was issued for that portion of the project (216 N Aberdeen) on July 17.

920 North Wells rises above street level as demolition continues for North Union next door

Posted on August 5, 2022 by danieldschell

The North Union megadevelopment from JDL Development is now evidenced in two locations. 920 North Wells, the first building to get started, has risen above street level. At 868 North Wells one block to the south, demolition is underway to clear space for another residential tower. 868 will be a 25-story building with 428 units and 12,000 square feet of retail space.

The most fun thing about this is you get two galleries; one for 920 construction by Power Construction, and one for 868 demolition by Atlas Industries. It’s like getting extra free stuff with the free stuff you already got.

Common Lincoln Park has topped out at Big Deahl

Posted on August 5, 2022 by danieldschell

The topped -out Common Lincoln Park, with the 1475 N Kingsbury tower crane behind it.

In more topping out news, word comes this week that Common Lincoln Park, part of the Big Deahl Phase II development at 853 W Blackhawk, has topped out. Phase II kinda sorta came in two phases itself, with The Seng, a five-story condo building at 869 West Blackhawk, and Common Lincoln Park, a 10-story apartment tower at 853 West Blackhawk, getting started first, followed soon thereafter by 1475 North Kingsbury.

The following gallery shows Power Construction’s progress on The Seng and Common Lincoln Park. We’ll get to 1475 in another post. Hopefully.

160 North Elizabeth renders Chicago’s August tower crane survey obsolete

Posted on August 5, 2022 by danieldschell

“Hey, that’s topped out” I said out loud (I talk to myself constantly when I walk around town) as I neared 160 North Elizabeth in the Fulton Market District. And it usually doesn’t take long for a topped-out tower to drop the tower crane. Sure enough, one day after setting our crane count at 20, came word that we’d already dropped into the teens. Ah, progress.

160 North Elizabeth seemed to go up in a hurry. This is progress by Clark Construction as of Friday, July 29, with the tower crane still intact:

Blogging the Burbs: Optima Verdana in Wilmette

Posted on July 11, 2022 by danieldschell

This blog has a Category and a Tag for every Chicago suburb we’ve visited to check out a tower crane. We don’t have that many. Adventures to the suburbs are fun, and we’d love to take more, so let us know if you’re working on, commuting past, or living near a construction site with a crane, and we’ll get to them as soon as we can. (Also let us know where to grab breakfast.)

I did that thing I sometimes do where I go to a suburb and seek out tower cranes. Except I knew about this one already, thanks to the fine folks at Central Contractors Service. They let me know a couple months back that they had erected tower crane in Wilmette. A quick UP-N Metra ride up there drops you off right in the middle of the construction site (don’t take me literally. Ever.) and I snapped a few shots.

Being built is Optima Verdana. I last checked out an Optima joint back in May of 2021, when Optima Lakeview was in progress. Optima Verdana is a 100-unit apartment building going up on the northwest corner of Central Avenue and Green Bay Road. There will be about 200 parking spaces, with most of them dedicated to residents, and about 20% of them for the retail space (8,000sf) at street level. Remember, we’re in the burbs now, not Chicago, so different town, different rules.

As this is Wilmette, I don’t have access to the building permits (I mean, I *probably* do, I just don’t know where to look) but I suspect Optima Verdana is another keep-it-all-in-house special, where Optima serves as developer, design architect, and general contractor. Cut out those middlemen whenever you can, folks.

Anyway, here are a few photos of still-below-street-level progress:

Embry plants a tower crane at 21 North May

Posted on June 20, 2022 by danieldschell

Embry, 21 North May, West Loop — The Embry tower crane stub. Don’t blink, or you’ll miss it.

The tower crane has been planted, and planted deep, at Embry in the West Loop. So deep, in fact, that I not been tipped off to the first segment being delivered (Thanks, @jrock1449!) I might have walked past the site without noticing it.

Okay, that’s ridiculous. I definitely would have still peered through the fence to see what was going on. But the crane really is planted deep in the ground, so the top base section sits below the height of the construction fence.

Checking up on 900 Randolph with CBS Chicago

Posted on June 14, 2022 by danieldschell

Someone from this blog made their television debut last week. You can check out the video from CBS Chicago here:

https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/photographer-catches-images-tracks-progress-of-projects-under-construction-around-chicago/?fbclid=IwAR1Z_dsUqL6L1Q8m2eLkq9hshGj1tSHhr9IGmuCjI770PMwT28TYOF4m82A

You can see the photos I took Thursday of last week while Lauren and Allen (they’re probably tired of hearing this by now, but thank you SO MUCH for doing this with me) watched me (along with a few others I took later in the day) of 900 Randolph here: