Walsh Construction and Case Foundation keep doing stuff at Wolf Point East

Posted on September 13, 2017 by danieldschell

Chicago Water Taxi cruises past Wolf Point East on Tuesday.

I thought the caissons were done. I guess they’re not quite. Sheeting might be done, because the pile driver is folded up like it’s driving away soon. But maybe not. I don’t know.

The Big Green W and Case Foundation are doing work at Wolf Point East, and I have no idea what it is. But they have cool toys, and they all seem to know what they’re doing. So I took some photos and now you can see them too.

The end.

: I ain’t the only one out here.

The Bentham has a clean slate, and a tower crane permit, to begin construction

Posted on September 13, 2017 by danieldschell

Even the rubble is gone, providing a blank canvas at Erie and LaSalle for The Bentham to begin.

The old Erie-LaSalle Body Shop has been torn down and hauled away, clearing the lot to make way for The Bentham. Sedgwick Development is building the 15-story condo tower, which they also designed. There will be 31 units, all of the 3-bed, 3-bath, open-floor variety. The 15th floor will be the rooftop deck.

NW Construction of Forest Park is the general contractor. Congrats, NWC, on getting on the Chicago Tower Crane board! Adjustable Forms will be on hand for masonry work.

: A rendering of The Bentham, coming soon to River North.

: A tower crane was permitted on Sept 11. That’s the only permit issued for construction so far.

: Gone is the Erie-LaSalle Body Shop, now located at 1005 W Huron.

: While The Ardus rises next door, The Bentham gets ground prep.

Construction Progress: No. 508

Posted on September 11, 2017 by danieldschell

No. 508, at 508 West Diversey in Lake View.

Crews from Macon Construction continue to grow No. 508 up on the city’s north side. A development from Boston-based Broder, the building at 508 West Diversey in Lake View will bring 53 luxury units to the neighborhood, and is designed by Pappageorge Haymes Partners.

The 12-story tower will include commercial space on the ground floor, parking on levels 2 and 3, residential units on floors 4-11, and amenities on the 12th floor, all topped off by a green roof.

The link to Broder’s website for No. 508 tells you it will be ready this year; don’t count on it. This project got off to a slow start, and with construction having only reached the fifth floor so far, a 2017 opening seems awfully ambitious. But, Macon *does* have an almighty tower crane at its disposal (they’re about to get their second one in the Chicago skies, at Hayden West Loop), so maybe we shouldn’t completely discount them.

: Gratuitous tower crane shot(s)

Seven 10 West is topped out and shining bright in River West

Posted on September 11, 2017 by danieldschell

Seven 10 West has topped out, mostly in yellow, at 710 West Grand in River West.

That glow you’ve seen lately in the River West neighborhood might be coming from an unlikely source: construction. Not just any construction though. It’s coming from lots and lots of yellow building materials wrapping Seven 10 West, the nine-story apartment building from Wicker Park Apartments and Outlook Development Group.

The Brininstool + Lynch-designed project will deliver 105 studio, one-bed, and two-bedroom units, along with parking for 45 cars and retail space on the ground level. You might look at the photo gallery follows of the topped-out structure, and think this is, in fact, an eight-story building, but the ninth floor you can’t see is the amenity floor up on 9, and its smaller floor plate hides it from the street and many angles.

Arco/Murray is the GC on Seven 10 West. They’ve been tasked with having the new apartments open for residents in early 2018.

With caissons done, Walsh Construction drives piles at Wolf Point East.

Posted on September 8, 2017 by danieldschell

Walsh Construction drives piles at Wolf Point East, as seen (humble brag) from the 35th floor of 150 North Riverside.

If you’re in Chicago’s Loop, you don’t need to be told that Walsh Construction is driving piles deep into the ground at Wolf Point East. It creates quite a ruckus. But it also creates quite a foundation. And 60-story towers need good foundations. So please forgive the noise for a little while longer, and be thankful the city doesn’t allow work to be done around the clock on a regular basis. The weather just got to where we can keep the windows open at night; pile-driving isn’t particularly conducive to that.

Here’s some video; turn up the volume and enjoy.

If you don’t already know, or if the din has clouded your memory, Walsh is building the 700-unit apartment tower for the joint effort of Hines and the Kennedy Family, which owns the land. Also a joint effort is the design, handled by architect-of-record Pappageorge Haymes Architects and designer Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects. It is the second of three towers planned for the confluence of the Chicago River, with Wolf Point West already inhabited, and Wolf Point South slated for future construction.

Hayden West Loop begins caisson work; will a tower crane follow?

Posted on September 8, 2017 by danieldschell

Revcon gets to drilling at Hayden West Loop.

Revcon caisson rigs are drilling holes at the corner of Washington Boulevard and Aberdeen Street in the West Loop. Not for no reason, of course. They’re building a foundation on which to rest the Hayden West Loop, a new condo building from Sulo Development. Those caissons have to support 28 new units, as well as 83 (83?) parking spaces in the Booth Hansen design.

The Hayden West Loop architectural model. Is this tower crane territory?

You remember that gorgeous model we spotted at the Hayden West Loop sales center? It got us to thinking: Hayden will be nine stories tall, which isn’t all that high. But it sits on a fairly large footprint. Don’t you think Macon Construction, the general contractor, will need a tower crane for that? We sure hope they do. It would give Macon their second crane on the Chicago count, to go along with No. 508 up at 508 West Diversey in Lake View. Here’s hoping.

With caissons wrapped up, 808 West Van Buren scores a tower crane permit

Posted on September 7, 2017 by danieldschell

808 West Van Buren received a tower crane permit Wednesday.

The hideous garbage hole that used to occupy the Greektown corner of Halsted and Van Buren will soon be beautified by a tower crane.

808 West Van Buren, the bKL Architecture-designed 12-story apartment building from Loukas Development, has a clean slate of smooth dirt now that all the caissons have been dug. A few remained to be filled along the north end of the lot Tuesday, but those are probably done by now. The next step for Lendlease is to get that new tower crane in the air and send the 148-unit tower skyward.

: A smooth, clean slate at 808 West Van Buren.

: Hauling off equipment.

Power Construction plants a tower crane at 900 West

Posted on September 6, 2017 by danieldschell

Is that what I think it is, peeking over the construction fence? Yep. 900 West has a tower crane stub.

Not all of the tower crane news coming out of the West Loop is bad.

A tower crane stub has been planted at 900 West Washington Boulevard, the site of 900 West. You may recall our mid-August visit when we stopped by to check on Caisson work. At the time, Power Construction had just received the full-build permit from the City of Chicago to erect the entire 10-story, 22-unit condominium project from Taris Real Estate.

One week later, on August 24, another permit came through, this time for the tower crane. Now, we don’t know exactly when the stub was planted (August 26 was the most recent day we’ve walked by until now) but lo and behold, there was the fresh stub on Tuesday. So, expect Power to send 900 West rocketing skyward now that they’ve got the heavy lifting covered.

: The Tower Crane Permit.

: No crane here August 26. Just caissons to be filled.

: 900 West rendering from Taris Real Estate.

Eight Eleven Uptown continues upward up in Uptown

Posted on September 5, 2017 by danieldschell

Multiple levels, as Eight Eleven Uptown rises at Montrose and Clarendon (and Agatite)

Way up in the Uptown neighborhood, Chicago’s northern-most tower crane is making progress on Eight Eleven Uptown, the 27-story apartment tower from co-developers JDL Development and Harlem Irving Companies.

Designed by Hartshorne Plunkard Architects, Eight Eleven Uptown will deliver 381 rental units and nearly 300 parking spaces. Many of those parking spots will be used for the Treasure Island food store to be included in the 36,000 square feet of planned commercial space.

Amenities? Of course there will be amenities. And then some. Harlem Irving’s website says we should expect “an acre and a half of outdoor space, a full size pool, vast greenscape, BBQ area, deck seating, a jogging track, cabanas, dog area, fitness room, lounges, small and large party rooms, a theatre, and a business center” on the project’s fourth level. That should be enough creature comforts to satisfy today’s apartment seeker.

As you’ll see in the photos, Lendlease has built the sprawling site up to the fourth floor. Sorry, the pool isn’t done yet.

One Grant Park jumps the big tower crane as we wait for the little one

Posted on August 31, 2017 by danieldschell

That’s a good looking group of recruits lined up for the One Grant Park tower crane jump.

Thursday was crane-jumping day at One Grant Park in the South Loop, as crews got ready to raise the tower crane to Phase Two. McHugh Construction got a permit tie in for phases 2-thru-5 back on August 4. How many tower-crane phases will there be for the 76-story tower? Well, that’s a question I wish I hadn’t asked, because I have no idea. Let’s pretend that sentence isn’t here.

The second tower crane permit, issued 08/24/17.

As for the “little one,” the City of Chicago issued a permit for a “FREE STANDING PECCO SN 160 TOWER CRANE” on the 24th of this month, then followed it up with a foundation permit for said crane on Tuesday of this week, the 29th. So yes, One Grant Park will have two tower cranes.