Imprint, Chicago’s punniest residential tower, is making an impression in the South Loop

Posted on January 21, 2020 by danieldschell

Imprint rises at 717 South Clark St in the South Loop.

This is my first edition dedicated to Imprint. The name Imprint is a novel idea, an homage to the history of the South Loop’s Printers Row neighborhood. You should book a tour; nothing is binding until you sign a lease. I tried to talk to one of the workers on site, but the wind was too strong, creating a rough draft that had chapter lips. She wasn’t able to page someone else, despite my attempt to press.

That’s it; I don’t have any more printing puns. <HITS PUBLISH>

Imprint will be a 30-story, 349-unit rental tower. A three-story, 55,000-sq-ft former office building at 719 South Clark is being renovated and integrated as amenity space for the new residents.

CMK Companies, responsible for a lot of what’s being built in the South Loop, is the developer. Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture is the design architect, and Lendlease is on the build. They’re all working toward a Spring 2020 opening.

Stuff That’s Done: Harrison Hall at UIC

Posted on January 21, 2020 by danieldschell

Harrison Hall, on the campus of the University of Illinois at Chicago.

While this blog was taking intermittent breaks over the past couple years, Chicago construction has gone on without us. The nerve, right? Many of the projects I started covering from their outset have wrapped up, and though there may be too many to get to, this is my attempt to show you some or those final results. I couldn’t think of a fancier title to use. Stuff That’s Done will have to suffice for now. This is the first of what may or may not be a series.

I wandered past Harrison Hall on the UIC campus this week. Cool piece of architecture. I last checked on it in June 2018. It was designed by SCB and built by Pepper Construction.

**NOTE** Stuff That’s Done may sometimes refer to projects that aren’t completely “done,” but are open.

Slightly overhead views of Cirrus, Cascade

Posted on January 20, 2020 by danieldschell

Those of us without a helicopter, drone, or a really, really long selfie stick are running out of time before construction on Cirrus Condominiums and Cascade Apartments reaches above the elevated street levels of Harbor and Waterside Drives in Lakeshore East.

For that reason, I give you a whole slew of (somewhat) overhead shots, taken January 19, looking down on Lendlease’s continuing progress on the two bKl Architecture-designed residential towers.

: A sluice!

Alta Grand Central nears its debut in the South Loop

Posted on January 10, 2020 by danieldschell

It’s been more than 18 months since we’ve checked in on Alta Grand Central in the South Loop. That was in June of 2018, just after Alta Grand Central had been announced on Instagram. Not surprisingly, it has gone from dirt lot to near-completion in that amount of time.

The two 14-story, Pappageorge Haymes Partners-designed apartment towers contain 346 units. Wood Partners is the developer and Walsh Construction the general contractor, just like they were around the corner at Alta Roosevelt.

Alta Grand Central looks move-in ready from the outside, but we still need to wait a bit for the opening.

The Alta Grand Central construction site during our last visit, June 2018.

369 West Grand progressing in River North

Posted on January 8, 2020 by danieldschell

369 West Grand is a 41-story, 365-unit apartment building going up on the site of the former Clark & Barlow Hardware store and Grand Avenue and Orleans Street in River North. It is being developed by Onni Group, the Canadian developer also currently working on the Old Town Park project. Onni also built The Hudson, a residential tower about six blocks north of 369 West Grand. Designed by Brininstool + Lynch, the tower’s podium will provide parking for 250 cars, and include ground-floor retail space.

: Brininstool + Lynch rendering

: Brininstool + Lynch rendering

: Brininstool + Lynch rendering

The Bentham is making progress in River North. But is it too much progress?

Posted on January 7, 2020 by danieldschell

The Bentham, 146 West Erie Street in River North

The Bentham, a condo tower at 146 West Erie Street in River North, took awhile to get started. After demolition of the Erie-LaSalle Body Shop had been completed early in 2017, the site remained vacant for much longer than expected. A permit to begin construction was issued in July of 2018, and yet, no construction commenced. It looked like The Bentham was dead.

Alas, a tower crane permit in August of last year meant The Bentham must have a little life left in her yet. And sure enough, work had finally begun on the 15-story, 31-unit condo tower. By December of 2019, the tower had reached about six stories in height.

Uh oh.

You see, on July 2 of 2018 the City of Chicago issued a foundation permit that states, and I quote:

DIR. DEV. SERVICES PERMIT FOR FOUNDATION THROUGH LEVEL 3 (PHASE1) WITH ENCLOSED PARKING FOR 53 SPACES (47 REQUIRED @ 1.5/D.U) AT 1ST -3RD FLOOR AND RETAIL SPACE OF 3,132 SQ.FT AT 1ST FLOOR LEVEL. FOR A FIFTEEN (15) STORY RESIDENTIAL BUILDING WITH 31 RESIDENTIAL UNITS (4TH – 14TH FLOOR). THE RESIDENTIAL PART WILL BE SUBMITTED UNDER SEPARATE PERMIT (PHASE 11).

So that’s a problem. The phrase about the residential part being submitted under a separate permit apparently hasn’t been issued yet. The orange STOP WORK ORDER slapped on The Bentham December 13, 2019 means nothing more is going to happen here until a permit is issued for the full build. Let’s hope this was nothing more than eagerness to get those condos ready, and all parties involved are already on the road to restarting work.

410 South Wabash has a permit for 25 stories and 344 units in the South Loop

Posted on January 3, 2020 by danieldschell

The parking has been locked down, and a lone piece of construction equipment stands at the ready on the future site of 410 South Wabash in the South Loop.

College students don’t need parking lots. College students do need beds. That might be a little oversimplified, but that’s how I prefer to look at 410 South Wabash in the South Loop.

A foundation permit issued by the City of Chicago beck in December launched the beginning of 410 South Wabash. Developed by Lennar Multifamily, or LMC, this new residential building in the South Loop promises to deliver 344 dwelling units in a 25-story, 260-foot-tall tower.

The site sits at the foot of the T intersection of the CTA’s elevated train lines at Wabash Avenue and Van Buren Street, offering future residents unlimited opportunities to take cool Instagram shots of the L coming and going into and out of The Loop. Orange, Pink, Green, Brown, and Purple Line trains all pass through here, and when the Christmas Train passes by at night, lucky tower dwellers will be directly above the action.

4th Ward Alderman Sophia King held a community meeting in May, from which there comes a veritable cavalcade of information on 410 South Wabash. Floor plans show a mix of 1-bed, 2-bed, and 3-bed units, plus studios, convertibles, and micro-apartments. Though no indication is given that this tower is targeting the South Loop student population, those smaller units sure seem to be good options for the college kids.

410 South Wabash will also include 103 parking spaces, which goes against my thoughts on students needing to park, but definitely fits in with 3-bedroom homes. There will also be about 8,000 square feet of commercial space.

Antunovich Associates is the architect of record; Pepper Construction is the general contractor.

That little yellow dynamo pictured above may or may not start tearing up the parking lot at any minute. As always, sooner is better than later.

The Lot

The Lot, with Pink Line train

The Lot, from under the L

The foundation permit, issued 12/17/2019

Peoria Green wants to squeeze its way into the West Loop

Posted on January 2, 2020 by danieldschell

A ZSD rendering of Peoria Green, as it would be seen looking east from Mary Bartelme Park.

Remember NIMBY heads exploding in the West Loop when Illume wanted to plant itself in the parking lot at 111 South Peoria Street? (Remember the fancy numerals in the 111ume name?) “It will block views of the skyline from Mary Bartelme Park!” was the best line locals screamed in an effort to keep the builders at bay.

Well, Illume is open now. The tiny parking lot immediately to its south is open too. But the construction fence around it says maybe it won’t be open much longer.

This is ZSD’s rendering of the Green Street elevation.

Signage on the site says Peoria Green wants to wedge its way into the neighborhood. Peoria Green already has a website. Peoria Green already has a flyer box on the fence so passers-by can get the scoop. Peoria Green has a sales center (located at 112 S. Sangamon Street.) Peoria Green is a thing.

Apparently, this has been a thing for awhile. But when you’re not paying attention, stuff gets past you. Crain’s and Dennis Rodkin were all over this project back in March. And The Real Deal posted about Peoria Green’s approval back in June. They even mentioned it being “controversial” and receiving “heated opposition from some neighbors.” (See first paragraph above. I am the opposite of surprised.)

ZSD Corp is planning 25 condos here, all with at least 4 bedrooms. That’s a lot of bedrooms. A childless couple could AirBnB the heck out of one of these. The on-site brochure claims a Fall 2020 opening for Peoria Green. I’m still efforting to find an architect for this project, plus a GC. Keep your ears open, if not your empty lots. A fall opening means they’d need to get started right soon.

A neon-green banner announces Peoria Green.

Looking west to east, Peoria to Green, at the full length of the lot.

The site plan from ZSD shows Peoria Green’s unusual shape.

I made a fancy Google Maps site plan, with the Peoria Green footprint outlined in red. I should get a drone.

Parkline is getting ready to rise at Randolph and Wabash

Posted on January 1, 2020 by danieldschell

Bird’s-eye view of Parkline construction at Randolph Street and Wabash Avenue in the Chicago Loop.

Permits are in hand, foundations are set, and the tower crane is up at 50 East Randolph Street in The Loop. That’s where Moceri + Roszak are replacing a parking garage and cheap food (though I admit to having been a fan of the Qdoba that was here) with a 26-story residential tower at the corner of Randolph and Wabash.

Parkline is a design by Thomas Roszak Architecture. It will consist of 214 units. 24 will be condos; 190 will be rental apartments. Also included will be 68 parking spots and ground-floor commercial space, all with an anticipated opening in 2021.

Crain’s Chicago had a lot of information about Parkline in May of last year (holy moley, 2019 was last year already.)

Clark Construction is the general contractor for this tower. And, in names that don’t get enough shout-outs on this blog, Adjustable Concrete Construction is in charge of the concrete and tower crane, while Thornton Tomasetti is the structural engineer. They did work for The Vessel at Hudson Yards in Manhattan. That alone makes them heroes. Have you seen that thing?

I didn’t go to Hudson Yards on New Year’s Day, but I did stop by the Parkline construction site. Want proof? It’s in the photos below, along with a batch of Parkline renderings from Thomas Roszak Architecture.

: Thomas Roszak Architecture rendering of Parkline.

: Thomas Roszak Architecture rendering of Parkline

: Thomas Roszak Architecture rendering of Parkline

: Thomas Roszak Architecture rendering of Parkline

: Thomas Roszak Architecture rendering of Parkline

: Thomas Roszak Architecture rendering of Parkline

: Thomas Roszak Architecture rendering of Parkline

: Demolition permit issued July 19, 2019.

: Tower crane permit issued October 22, 2019.

: Foundation permit issued November 5, 2019.

Thought you might wanna see some photos from Cirrus/Cascade, IJKL, all that stuff

Posted on December 11, 2019 by danieldschell

3 gloomy tower cranes are still 3 tower cranes!

Another gloomy weather day in Chicago, perfect for taking pictures with lousy cameras. I had to be downtown Monday, so I took a few detours, one of which was the three-crane wonder that is Cirrus Chicago construction. And Cascade Chicago construction. Honestly, I don’t know which is which over here, and I think there’s gonna be a third tower at some point too. What I do know is, this is one of two Chicago construction sites featuring 3 tower cranes, the other being One Chicago Square in River North.

I snapped off a bunch of iPhone pics, if you want to see them. I won’t win any awards for these, but at least now you can see what the early stages of construction look like over here, without having to make the trip to Lakeshore East.

A few particulars:

Lendlease is the general contractor here, as well as co-developer with Magellan Development. (Side note: “IJKL LLC” sounds like something that would be chanted at a college football game. I’m getting a t-shirt made.) They’re getting help with the concrete from McHugh Construction. bKL Architecture is the design architect.