When I snapped a bunch of South Loop construction photos a few nights ago, I failed to wander far enough to include Ancora at Riverline in the mix. And the guilt got to me. So, to make it up to Ancora, it gets ts own gallery.
Avant reaches for sunlight in the high-rise forest of Melbourne’s CBD.
May Melbourne never stop building.
In a city that seems to have skyscrapers rising on every block, the especially-busy northwest section of Melbourne’s Central Business District is a construction lover’s dream. Let’s take a look at another project in the neighborhood.
Avant is a 55-story apartment tower at 54 A’Beckett Street (I need someone to explain the derivation of that street name; specifically, why there’s an initial, then an apostrophe.) Developed by the Singapore (talk about another bucket-list destination for me!) firm of World Class Global, Avant is yet another sparkling design by Elenberg Fraser, who keep cranking out one stunning building after another.
Avant will feature 456 apartments, with amenities included on floors 10 and 55. Probuild is the builder on this one. We’ve seen their work in Sydney and Gold Coast, too.
I don’t usually include a whole mess of renderings, but the images on Elenberg Fraser’s website of Avant are gorgeous, so here they all are: (construction photos in the 2nd gallery)
All renderings belong to www.pointilism.com.au
And now, the construction shots, which all belong to me 🙂
One big pile of slop, waiting to be heaved into a truck and hauled away from Wolf Point East.
Just before this story went to the presses, a permit came through for a tower crane at Wolf Point East. A Liebherr 420 EC-H 16 to be precise. A SHINY YELLOW TOWER CRANE, to be technical.
Wolf Point East got a tower crane permit on Monday.
When I posted an update on foundation work at Wolf Point East at the beginning of November, there was one factor involved I hadn’t been aware of: flooding.
We were away in Australia (you may have noticed some posts from that trip) when torrential rains caused flooding along the Chicago River in October, and the construction pit at Wolf Point East took the brunt of it, filling with water completely. (You can scroll down this photo gallery from Curbed for a look at the deluge) That explains the mud that remains on site. I was back there over the weekend, and noticed just how sloppy things were, but that isn’t stopping work from continuing. You can see how much deeper work has gone, as Walsh Construction oversees progress on the six subterranean levels of the 60-story tower.
Watpac’s two red tower cranes at Mary Lane, flanked by the blue crane of Skytower and the moon.
Mary Lane Brisbane is a 37-story mixed-use tower being built in the heart of Brisbane’s Central Business District by GMP Management. The Woods Bagot design incorporates 184 luxury residences atop a 286-room Westin Brisbane Hotel. The apartments will be included in levels 17-36; the hotel will rise to the 16th floor. Completion is slated for late in 2018.
The renderings you’ll see in the gallery below are striking, but this project already looks amazing in the Brisbane skyline, thanks to builder Watpac’s pair of lighted-up tower cranes. And as you know, the direct route to my heart is always through lighting tower cranes at night.
If you pretend all those supports are trees, you can envision the winter garden taking shape on the 7th floor of Essex on the Park.
Big milestones in the life of Essex on the Park, the 56-story, 476-unit apartment tower at 808 South Michigan Avenue in the South Loop. After receiving a permit from the City of Chicago on November 8 to jump the tower crane, Power Construction will do just that this weekend.
Also appearing on site are the first few panels of cladding on the exterior. Most of it is hidden at the north, rear corner of the tower, but there are a few small panels installed right out in front. You can also see the extra-tall 7th floor taking shape. That’s where Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture included the infinity pool and winter garden in the design. Hence, the extra space.
Oxford Capital Group is developing Essex on the Park, along with renovations of its namesake hotel next door, the Essex Inn. Work is expected to conclude in 2019.
As foundation work continues, Belmont Village has secured a tower crane permit.
Belmont Village, the 7-story senior living center coming to 700 West Fullerton Parkway as part of the Lincoln Common development, received a tower crane permit from the City of Chicago Wednesday. That makes it three for W. E. O’Neil, who are also utilizing two others for the towers being constructed on the Lincoln Avenue properties.
7-story buildings lie right on the precipice of tower-crane necessity. This one was a tad unexpected, but it’s also not surprising that a tower crane is needed. In the meantime, foundation work for Belmont Village, as you’ll see in the photos that follow, continues in earnest as we wait for the crane stub.
Belmont Village will be a brick building with 149 residential units, built on the site of the former Nellie A. Black Memorial Pavilion. The 120,000-square-foot facility will be able to accommodate approximately 170 residents. It will be connected to The Lincoln Common via a tunnel beneath Fullerton Ave. Completion is expected in Summer 2019.
Swanston Central will deliver 1,039 new apartments to Melbourne.
We’re taking a flight back to Melbourne, Victoria, Australia today for a look at another big apartment tower.
Swanston Central will rise 72 stories at 168 Victoria Street in the Central Business District. It is being developed by Hengyi, a hometown Melbourne company with headquarters just a few blocks from the Swanston Central site. (On a side note, Hengyi developed one of my favorite towers from our entire Australian visit — Light House — which I hope to feature in a post soon.)
A couple familiar names are also involved on this project. One is architecture firm Elenberg Fraser, whose work we’ve seen at Victoria One and Aurora Melbourne Central. The other is builder Multiplex, who I haven’t stopped talking about since seeing their work at Jewel Residences in Gold Coast, and also saw at London’s One Blackfriars.
Swanston Central will contain a whopping 1,039 one-, two-, and three-bedroom residences, and will include parking and retail space.
The tower crane at The Van Buren is the 58th erected in Chicago this year.
The tower crane at The Van Buren (808 West Van Buren in the West Loop) was the 58th crane of 2017 erected in Chicago when Lendlease assembled it last month. However, I’ve done a poor job of getting over there for a good look, so allow me to share a few photos of #58 with you now. Sorry, but the sun has also done a poor job of showing up while I’m near this site.
While we’re at it, we might as well remind you that The Van Buren is a 12-story, 148-unit apartment building from Loukas Development, designed by bKL Architecture.
Hickory Group and UEM Sunrise are building Conservatory Melbourne.
Conservatory Melbourne is another residential tower being developed by UEM Sunrise, the Malaysian company we first learned of at Aurora Melbourne Central. Conservatory will be a 42 story building containing 446 apartments, with retail space on the ground floor. Located at 9-23 Mackenzie Street in the Central Business District, the tower overlooks Carlton Gardens, one of the many immaculately-cared-for parks around this city.
Conservatory Melbourne is a design from Richmond, Victoria-based Cox Architecture. Hickory Group is the builder. The apartments are scheduled for an April 2018 opening.
Be sure to click on the Conservatory link, if for no other reason than to check out the video renderings.
The podium needs some glass, but the residential windows are to the top of 1407 On Michigan.
Save for a few exceptions, where construction hoists get in the way, the curtain wall has risen to the top of the 15-story 1407 On Michigan, Russland Capital Group’s South Loop apartment tower at 1411 South Michigan Avenue.
There’s still some podium work left for Lendlease to do on the BKV Group-designed building, but the bulk of energy on this one is now focused on getting the 199 apartments ready for residents to move in. We’re still looking at the end of the year for that goal, and having all those windows up should certainly help interior work to be a little more pleasant.
Building Up Chicago 