The Big Green W is building a bridge at Wolf Point East, and I can’t get over it

Posted on October 2, 2017 by danieldschell

Walsh Construction is building a trestle bridge at Wolf Point East to give equipment easier access the site.

It’s not a building permit you see every day.

CONSTRUCTION OF TEMPORARY TRESTLE BRIDGE FOR CONSTRUCTION PURPOSES ALL WITHIN PRIVATE PROPERTY.

As part of the Wolf Point East tower project, Walsh Construction is building a trestle bridge. Why? Well, they can, for one. But seriously, they gave a much better explanation on Twitter:

Looking like trestle will allow access to adjacent property for job site construction traffic.

— Pete Doherty (@dohertytweets) September 17, 2017

There you have it. Equipment needs to get to the site one way or another. Sometimes, you just have to build “another.”

: A permit you won’t see often.

56 West Huron gets permission for 11 condos in River North (updated)

Posted on September 30, 2017 by danieldschell

Rendering of 56 West Huron from Kiferbaum Development Group.

56 West Huron is for real.

The 13-story, 11-unit condominium tower from Kiferbaum Development Group got the green light from the City of Chicago Friday, allowing construction to begin in River North.

The Studio Dwell-designed project boasts 10 full-floor condos and one duplex penthouse. Each unit will have one parking space apiece. According to the 56 West Huron website (link above) condos begin at $1.375M, with one unit already sold.

Gilbane Building Company will be the general contractor. Kiferbaum’s plan has 56 West Huron opening in Summer 2018.

: All the signs are there; soon, the building will be, too.

: I *think* the former Van Cleef salon is to be demolished.

: Bye bye empty lot.

: The Permit.

: And there it is. A demo permit for the Van Cleef building issued Monday Oct 3.

*** This story has been updated to show the demolition permit for the former Van Cleef salon building.

It’s Go Time for Renelle on the River

Posted on September 28, 2017 by danieldschell

It’s official: Construction may begin on Renelle on the RIver.

A building permit issued yesterday by the City of Chicago signals the official start of Renelle on the River at 403 North Wabash Avenue in River North. The bKL Architecture design is being developed by Belgravia Group, and it will deliver 50 new condominiums to the former plaza next to Trump Hotel and Tower. McHugh Construction will be the general contractor.

We’ve been waiting on this one for awhile. Construction fencing went up around the plaza early this year, but demo didn’t begin until summer. But with permit in hand (and at least 40% of those 50 condos already sold) it’s finally time to get busy and get Renelle on the River on the plaza.

: bKL rendering of Renelle on the River.

: Plaza demolition as of August.

Quick Look: The glass is half full at 1407 On Michigan

Posted on September 26, 2017 by danieldschell

Showing no ill effects of losing its tower crane a couple weeks ago, 1407 On Michigan continues to progress towards completion. The following photos were taken late (it’s gets dark at 6:30 now 😟) Tuesday afternoon. Late-day sunlight serves this project well.

The Viridian on Sheridan tops out in Lake View

Posted on September 26, 2017 by danieldschell

A Facebook post yesterday from Hirsch Associates Architects announced the topping out of The Viridian on Sheridan, a new 10-story apartment building from Vermilion Development.

The 100-unit building sits on the corner of Sheridan and Broadway, at 734 West Sheridan Road. The Hirsch design includes one-bed, two-bed, and three-bedroom units, with a top-floor amenity level, all sitting under a green roof that will include a vegetable garden. (Of course, renters won’t want to tell their moms that, or they’ll be told they have to eat more vegetables.) Ground-level retail space will also be included, as will 59 parking spots.

Work on The Viridian on Sheridan got started this past winter, when a demolition permit was issued in late February to wreck and remove the gas station formerly on the site. The the City of Chicago issued the building permit for the new property in April of this year, and general contractor Arco/Murray got to work on construction.

Vermilion plans to have residents in their new digs in Spring 2018. Congratulations to the entire team on reaching the top!

Marlowe nears full height in River North

Posted on September 26, 2017 by danieldschell

Power Construction has Marlowe near the top in River North.

Over on the busiest block in River North, Marlowe (675 North Wells Street, 169 West Huron Street, whichever you prefer) is getting dangerously close to topping out. Power Construction might be setting some land-speed records with the future 15-story apartment building, which was only at the fifth floor when last we checked in on it in early August. Now, we can see the underside of 13, maybe even 14 floors already. That’s gettin’ it done in a hurry.

Lennar Multifamily Companies is developing the 176-unit Marlowe, designed by Antunovich Associates. They want to have it ready for move-ins next year, but at this pace, it might be open tomorrow. (No it won’t.)

The Ronsley plants a rooftop garden

Posted on September 26, 2017 by danieldschell

A yellow crane in front of a yellow building draws attention.

A shiny yellow street crane in River North caught my eye last week. Usually, that signifies a tower crane being planted. But this time, the planting was strictly by a crane, not for a crane.

Trees were being dispatched to the rooftop garden atop The Ronsley, a good indication LG Construction + Development is nearing the home stretch in their ambitious, Antunovich Associates-designed renovation of, and addition to, the existing building at 676 North Kingsbury, which brings 41 condos over nine stories to the neighborhood.

808 West Van Buren plants a tower crane stub

Posted on September 25, 2017 by danieldschell

A tower crane stub was planted last week at the 808 West Van Buren construction site.

Hey, who remembers my prediction about where the tower crane would be at 808 West Van Buren in the West Loop? Yeah, forget that. My guess that a concrete pad may have been prepped for the crane at the far north end of the site was off by about 98.8%. The tower crane stub popped up last week (I don’t know which day; I missed another one) near the southwest corner of the lot. The City of Chicago issued a permit for a Peiner SK-415 back on September 6.

There’s still a lot of foundation digging happening at the future 12-story residential building from Loukas Development, but this first sign of a tower crane means Lendlease will start shooting skyward on the bKL Architecture design in the very near future.

With Haymarket Monument back in place, EMME gets ready to open at 165 North Desplaines (Updated)

Posted on September 22, 2017 by danieldschell

The Haymarket Monument is back home at 165 North Desplaines, where it will greet residents of EMME.

It was 165 North Desplaines for most of its formative months, but now the name is EMME, and crews are putting the finishing touches on the new apartment building from Gerding Edlen in preparation for its first residents. One has already moved back home; the Haymarket Monument, moved off site to Union Park for safe-keeping during construction, is back in place on the sidewalk near the corner of Desplaines and Randolph.

*** Sept 25: We hear from Greystar Real Estate Partners that EMME has, in fact, already welcomed its first residents, who started moving in September 16. ***

EMME is a 14-story, 199-unit project designed by GREC Architects and built by Power Construction. Units include studios, one-bed, and two-bedroom units, and features include a rooftop pool, fitness center, an outdoor grilling area and a chef’s kitchen, and two produce gardens.

Here comes Tower Crane #2 at One Grant Park

Posted on September 20, 2017 by danieldschell

One Grant park’s original tower crane stands proudly over its latest project: Tower Crane #2.

As One Grant Park continues to grow, we saw growth of another kind on Tuesday: Tower Crane #2 has sprouted up from the stub planted on the site last week.

When I arrived late in the afternoon, the crane’s tower had grown, but the crawler crane on the lot last week planting the stub was nowhere to be found. That tells me Tower Crane #1 is putting Crane #2 together. Doesn’t that kind of teamwork just melt your heart. Crane #1 will continue working on the residential of the tower (that being the 792 apartments we all want to see the views from) and Crane #2 will work on the parking deck that extends up through the 16th floor.

As for the rest of work at One Grant Park that doesn’t involve assembling tower cranes, McHugh Construction crews look like they’ve reached the 15th floor, by my count. Just 61 stories to go to reach 76. We’ll have plenty of progress to watch for over the coming fall and winter months.

And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for: More photos than you’ll ever need of a tower crane that isn’t even finished yet… plus the rest of progress on One Grant Park.