Old Chicago Spire cofferdam trimming has begun at 400 Lake Shore

Posted on May 23, 2024 by danieldschell

A Lindahl Brothers excavator makes off with the first portion of the old Chicago Spire cofferdam..

Just a little off the top, please.

It should surprise no one that there’s a lot going on at the 400 Lake Shore construction site. Tuesday, they were bringing in parts for the crane that will assemble the tower crane (alas, no tower crane parts or segments had arrived while I was there.) But I did get to see something maybe even cooler than that, and you know how much I like the tower cranes.

There was some concrete demolition on the inside of the old Chicago Spire cofferdam, which has been partially excavated on the north side. There was torch cutting of said cofferdam. Ultimately, a section of the cofferdam one concrete “ring” deep fell outward and was hauled off by the excavator you see in the video above. I’m told that entire top ring of the cofferdam will be removed.

The orange line marks where the steel will be cut, all the way around.

I checked for that cofferdam section on eBay, but haven’t seen it pop up yet. I want it in my office,

On to a few more pics of Tuesday morning’s events and goings-on:

He did not do all that excavating wth a shovel, right?

Quick Look: Waiting for Windows at Clark and Ardmore in Edgewater

Posted on May 22, 2024 by danieldschell

Rendering from Space Architects + Planning

Construction progress has topped out, the exterior is bricked up, and it looks like windows could be added any day, at a four-story, 18-unit building at 5845 North Clark Street in the Edgewater neighborhood. Located at the corner of Clark and Ardmore, the two-tone brick building is being built by Shutler Development, who’s also acting as the general contractor.

Google Streetview look at 5845 North Clark, now demolished.

SPACE Architects + Planners is the designer of this project. A demolition permit was issued May 12 of 2022 to clear the site of the single-story former home of Metro Remittance Center and Bacolod’s Best Kitchen at 5845 North Clark Street. Mulroy Demolition & Excavation was listed as the demo contractor for the tear-down. A New Construction permit followed on November 28, 2022. Using the address of 1548 West Ardmore Avenue, that permit called for parking on the first floor, but unlike so many new construction projects, no ground-level retail space.

New construction permit allows 5-story, 6-unit condo building at 453 West Briar Place in Lake View

Posted on May 22, 2024 by danieldschell

Rendering of 453 West Briar Place via SGW Architecture & Design

A permit was issued Tuesday, May 21 by the City of Chicago to begin construction on a condominium development at 453 West Briar Place in Lake View. Being built by Chicago’s GVP Development, the new building replaces two now-demolished structures on a tree-lined block featuring mostly mid-rise, multi-unit residences.

A five-story, six-unit condo project, 453 West Briar is a design by SGW Architecture & Design. Formerly known as Sullivan Goulette & Wilson, SGW has offices in Chicago and New York City. We’ve seen their work here on the blog at CA6, CA Washington, and Peoria Green, among others.

Via Google Streetview, 453 (left) and 455 (right) West Briar Place, both now demolished.

To make room for the condo building, 453 West Briar was issued a demolition permit on December 8 of 2021. About 16 months later, and New Construction permit for a four-story, three-unit building was permitted. That project doesn’t appear to have started; instead, another demolition permit, this time for 455 West Briar, was issued August 14, 2023, opening up a second lot for new construction. Precision Excavation was the demolition contractor for both properties, according to the demolition permits.

1723 South Michigan gets in on the tower crane fun

Posted on May 21, 2024 by danieldschell

The tower crane stub rises from the construction site at 1723 South Michigan in the South Loop

A tower crane base has been set at the 1723 South Michigan construction site. A long stroll down through the South Loop was timed perfectly, as it appeared the crane base was being planted in concrete Tuesday just before I got there.

Will this tower crane be erected in time to make it onto the June count? We started May with nine. The stub at 220 North Ada in the Fulton Market District and this one could get us to 11, sparing any others being taken down.

1723 South Michigan is a 12-story, 149-unit rental building being developed by CMK Companies. (They also have a couple sites a block west on South Wabash. Those should get going once the South Michigan property is well underway, if not completed.) Along with retail space on the ground floor, the first two levels will include 89 parking stalls.

Gensler is the design architect. Brandts Build is the general contractor, a company I’m adding to my tower crane count for the first time.

Permits received for 1723 South Michigan (they were issued some time ago) include:
Vertical pile — 150 of them — issued 07/11/2023
Foundation/partial superstructure — issued 08/14/2023
Full building — issued 09/05/2023

There is a permit pending for the tower crane; as of Tuesday May 21, that permit has not shown up on the City of Chicago’s issued permits page.

Cool look at demolition of the former 1723 South Michigan via Google.

Foundation/superstructure permit issued 08/14/2023

Flora, at 1114 West Carroll, blossoms into a stellar tower

Posted on May 6, 2024 by danieldschell

The last time I posted about 1114 West Carroll, it was 1114 West Carroll. Now, it has a new moniker: Flora. And a name change is enough of a reason (to me) to throw a few more pics out there. But more so because I just happen to really love the look of this tower.

And I’m not going to be neutral when it comes to the West Loop/Fulton Market District. It’s my favorite neighborhood in Chicago. And while Flora feels like it’s situated a little too far west for my liking, this portion of Fulton Market is going to become very dense very soon, putting Flora right in the middle of everything. Yep, I’d live here.

The 34-story, 368-unit apartment tower should be welcoming its first residents this summer. Won’t be surprised if it fills up quickly.

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.

It’s no whopper, so this 256-unit development on Motor Row would fit in nicely

Posted on May 3, 2024 by danieldschell

I made a Burger King joke. Sue me. Besides, 256 units is no small-fry development.

That’s the plan at 2328 South Michigan Avenue in the Near South Community Area. 256 apartments across two buildings in the Motor Row neighborhood. As per the development’s introduction on design architect Eckenhoff Saunders’ website, the would be 98 units in a seven-story building, and 158 units in an 18-story tower. 64 of those units would be affordable. The shorter building would front Michigan Avenue, with the tower standing tall behind it.

A three-headed development team is included in the proposed project: Fern Hill, Decennial Group, and Rebel Hospitality. The usual City hurdles still need to be cleared, so until approval is given, there’s no timeline for when work would start and when residents could begin moving in.

Crain’s Chicago and Urbanize are already all over this one.

Eckenhoff Saunders rendering of the seven-story portion of 2328 South Michigan.

An ugly Lincoln Park lot finally gets a construction permit

Posted on April 29, 2024 by danieldschell

This is exactly what we talked about wanting to avoid on Sunday. A building gets demolished, then the lot sits empty for weeks or months or years before something new comes along. Such was the case at 2745 North Bosworth in the Lincoln Park Community Area. A demolition permit was issued here in December of 2021. I can’t say when exactly demolition work occurred, but the look of the lot (anyone need a double sink?), the overgrowth, the ragged fencing, tells me it’s been empty for far too long.

But not for much longer. On Tuesday April 23, a New Construction permit was issued by the City of Chicago for a three-story, two-unit building at 2745 North Bosworth. There will be a basement, as well as a detached two-car garage with a roof deck. But most importantly, there *won’t* be this eyesore of an empty lot.

The permit lists Bachula Development as the general contractor and Helen Liptak as the architect. Work, hopefully, will begin soon.

That looks like a wrap on caisson work at 400 Lake Shore

Posted on April 25, 2024 by danieldschell

It looks like caisson work is complete for the North Tower at 400 Lake Shore. Lots of equipment being loaded up on trucks, no more caissons (or precious few) still poking up out of the ground, no caissons being drilled. You know, all the tell-tale signs.

There are a whole bunch o’ steel sheets waiting to be driven into the ground, with some already in place right next to the cofferdam. (Note: It seems cliché at this point to refer to the cofferdam as “The Old Chicago Spire Hole.” I’m going to miss that name.) According to Alderman Reilly’s email to constituents and anyone else who wants to read it last week, those could very well be “tower crane sheeting.” So yeah, this *might* be an indication that the tower crane (or one of them? Still don’t know) will be right next to the old Spire Ho—sorry. Next to the cofferdam.

In fact, here are all the 400 Lake Shore-prudent tidbits from the alderman’s email:

Week of 4/22:

Continue Installation of tower crane sheeting
Demobilization of caisson equipment
Delivery of mobile crane for concrete operations
Begin excavation of site at Ogden slip and under inbound LSD ramp
Begin installation of concrete walls inside the cofferdam

Week of 4/29:

Continue excavation at Ogden slip
Begin installation of concrete walls inside cofferdam
Begin pouring of cofferdam walls and tower crane foundation

This may shock you, but I took a few photos while I was visiting on Thursday, April 25. They kinda look like a sandbox full of toys. Really cool toys. Here’s proof:

Glass goes up, tower crane comes down, at 633 South LaSalle

Posted on April 8, 2024 by danieldschell

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Carl Simmons (@life_in_da_rustbelt)

Carl, working high atop the South Loop, taking down the tower crane.

There’s glass, but alas, the tower crane has passed. And so 633 South LaSalle attains a couple milestones of progress.

Friday and Saturday were the crane-removal days, as you can see in Carl’s Instagram video above (give him a LIKE). That’s Central Contractors Service’s rig out there wrapping up the dismantling. As for glass installation, that’s been going on for a couple weeks now.

As a reminder: Q Investment Partners and Melrose Ascension Capital are adding 358 beds (apartments and co-living units) to the South Loop, next to Metra’s LaSalle Street station. As long as all goes to plan from here on out, those beds should be sleep-in-able early in 2025.

Photos were taken on the second day of crane removal, April 6:

Two Questions at 400 Lake Shore

Posted on April 3, 2024 by danieldschell

These caissons are awfully far from the pit of despair.

Question #1. Are we getting two tower cranes here?

Question #2. There are a few caissons well to the south of the Spire hole. Is the footprint of the North Tower that large? Or are some of the caissons for the South Tower being drilled now?

Photos were taken March 29, 2024: