That’s the top of the topped-out 727 West Madison in the West Loop.
If it seems like 727 West Madison hasn’t gotten any taller the past few days, it’s for good reason: The 44-story apartment tower by FitzGerald has topped out. Lendlease accomplished the feat some time during the end of May.
You might also have noticed the parking podium is wearing a new outfit. Panels have been added on the south facade to help disguise the parking portion of the building. And it’s a good look.
That’s not glass on Harrison Hall, but we’re clad to see it anyway.
There’s no glass on UIC’s Harrison Hall yet, but swing by the site these days and you’ll notice the exterior getting a new outfit. Pepper Construction is cladding the outer layer, just not with windows. And most impressively, they’re doing it without the tower crane, which is down from the site already. Just one more surprisingly-fast step in progress on the new academic & residential center.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BjaperMBZ-8/
Well now, this is news.
A couple new Instagram accounts popped up in our feed last night. And they announced the same thing: There’s a new development coming to the southwest corner of Harrison and Wells in the South Loop: Alta Grand Central.
Alta Grand Central looks like it will be an apartment development comprised of two 14-story towers, with a total of 346 units. Wood Partners is the developer, Pappageorge Haymes Partners the design architect, and Walsh Construction will be the general contractor. If those names sound familiar, just look around the corner for Alta Roosevelt.
According to that Instagram post, site prep got started Wednesday. No permits as of Tuesday, but we should get a fresh round of those any minute now. Congrats, Alta Team!
As seen from North Avenue Beach, 61 East Banks is making quite an impression along the Lake Michigan and Lake Shore Drive.
Granted, it would be even better with another 40 stories or so. But I can’t stop imagining the views from 61 East Banks, the new apartment building that took over a surface parking lot on Lake Shore Drive in the Gold Coast neighborhood.
At just eight stories, residents of the 60 new units won’t have elevated views of Lake Michigan, but since they’ll be right on the water, they won’t need height. Location is key here.
Draper & Kramer is the developer of 61 East Banks; Leopardo Companies is handling general contractor duties. Designed by Booth Hansen, 61 East Banks has already risen to its 8-story goal. That pretty yellow tower crane along the water will probably come down soon, but you can still marvel at it from the lakefront path for now.
Eight Eleven Uptown sits nearly complete at Montrose and Clarendon.
The tower crane is gone, cladding is complete, and Lendlease has entered the home stretch at Eight Eleven Uptown.
Designed by Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture, and co-developed by JDL Development and Harlem Irving Companies, the residential tower at 811 West Agatite in the Uptown neighborhood will deliver 381 apartments and 36,000 square feet of retail space upon completion.
Opening will include a new Treasure Island grocery store, which this neighborhood badly needs.
A rendering from CRG of Sheridan & Wilson, coming to 4555 N Sheridan in Uptown.
A foundation permit was issued Wednesday for 4555 North Sheridan Road in Uptown. Developed by CRG, Sheridan and Wilson will be a 12-story tower containing 149 apartments. Included will be 5,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor, and outside parking spots for 29 cars.
This is a real in-house development. The design architect, BatesForum, and general contractor, Clayco, are both integrated companies with CRG under the Clayco brand. (You may recall this team from the Cook County Central Campus Health Center build.) Because when you want something done right, sometimes it’s best to do it all yourself.
As you can see in the photos, site prep is underway. No word yet on an anticipated opening date.
An idle day at Wolf Point East.
Not Spire-abandoned, of course. But rainy-and-it’s-Saturday-so-there’s-no-good-reason-to-go-to-the-site abandoned. This was Wolf Point East over the weekend, when it was chilly, gloomy, and empty.
es
Construction fencing and Clark banners went up around the surface parking lot at 14th and Wabash in April.
CMK Companies has something big happening at the corner of 14th Street and Wabash Avenue in the South Loop. Maybe not Riverline big, but still big. And kinda mysterious.
Back in April, on the 19th and 20th, two separate foundation permits were issued by the City of Chicago for this site. The first called for H-Piles to be pounded into the earth to support a 10-story, 62-unit building at 1419 South Wabash. Then another permit was issued calling for more H-Piles at 51 East 14th Street, but these would be for a 14-story, 199-unit building. The permits show both structures to be Pappageorge Haymes Partners designs, and Clark Construction is named as the general contractor for both.
On May 16, a demolition permit was issued to wreck and remove the single-story mural-covered building at 1415 South Wabash that used to belong to Columbia College. (CMK bought that building back in October. Crain’s reported on it here.) And that work has indeed begun, courtesy of American Demolition.
Demolition is complete at the corner of Adams and Peoria Streets in the West Loop, leaving just a silky-smooth lot with which to begin Milieu, the 275-unit apartment project from co-developers White Oak Realty Partners and Crayton Advisors.
It looks like Stalworth Underground will hit the site first, as they’re equipment is already on the lot. They’ll help take care of foundation work for GC Power Construction, tasked with sending Milieu up to its desired 19-story height. Designed by the West Loop’s own FitzGerald, Milieu brings 13,000 square fete of retail space, as well as parking spots for nearly 200 cars.
For now, Power has a permit to build up to the 5th floor. Soon they’ll get a tower crane permit as well, then the full-build will follow. Milieu is expecting a Summer 2019 opening.
Is a tower crane still a tower crane if only the cab remains on the tower? I think not.
It was only November when Renelle on the River made news by erecting Chicago’s 60th tower crane of 2017. It took McHugh Construction and that tower crane just six months to erect the 18-story bKL Architecture design that will soon contain 50 of the city’s newest, nicest condominiums. last week, it came down.
Don’t worry though, there’s still a lot of work to be done here. Only one level of curtain wall has been installed so far, so we’ll have that to watch before all that’s left to do is interior work on those 50 condos.
Building Up Chicago 