Category Archives: South Loop

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

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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:

The newly-craneless 633 South LaSalle.

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633 South LaSalle has topped out in the South Loop

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Clark Construction’s Instagram announcement that 633 South LaSalle has topped out.

633 South LaSalle has topped out in the South Loop. Clark Construction said so on their Instagram (and Twitter) account Friday afternoon, stating the project had topped out earlier in the week. The 18-story tower will have apartments and co-living spaces.

Congratulations are in order for the entire 633 team, including:

Q Investment Partners – Developer
Melrose Ascension Capital – Developer
Clark Construction – General Contractor
Adjustable Concrete Construction – Concrete Contractor
FitzGerald – Architects
Berkelhamer – Architects

Completion is expected in 2025.

Fear not. 633 South LaSalle is back in action

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633 South LaSalle under bright sunny skies.

If you compare today’s photo gallery with those from our last visit to 633 South LaSalle, you may be a tad taken aback by the elevation change. You’d be forgiven, as this one seemed to go on a brief sabbatical over the winter.

Chicago YIMBY has the story of some new financial arrangements that assure 633 South LaSalle will continue on to completion.

The Team:

Q Investment Partners – Developer
Melrose Ascension Capital – Developer
Clark Construction – General Contractor
Adjustable Concrete Construction – Concrete Contractor
FitzGerald – Architects
Berkelhamer – Architects

The Permits:

Tower crane – issued 03/24/2023
Caissons – issued 04/25/2023
Full building – issued 06/01/2023
Passenger elevators – issued 09/06/2023
Hoist – issued 09/08/2023

The Pics (taken 03/02/2024):

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Progress Update: 633 South LaSalle

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The 633 South LaSalle construction crane towers over the South Loop.

Some progress photos at 633 South LaSalle, as Clark Construction and Adjustable Concrete Construction continue work on the Berkelhamer-designed 18-story, 117-unit student-living tower in the South Loop.

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1000M, for the final construction visit?

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1000M stand tall above Grant Park.

The days of watching construction at 1000M are drawing to a close. Just a handful of the top levels remain unglazed. Soon the tower crane will come down and this will look like a finished product while crews work on the interior.

1000M gave us the rare thrill of watching a skyscraper begin twice. First when caisson work got underway, and then again, after a pandemic-induced delay left the site dormant for months and months. The tower crane base that had been planted was removed, it went from condos to apartments, the design was tweaked, and it roared back to life early in 2022.

It’s always weirdly sad to me when a building wraps up construction and there’s nothing to watch anymore, but this one legit tugs at the heartstrings, knowing Helmut Jahn isn’t here to enjoy its completion.

1000M should be open to residents in 2024. And please, if you get one of these apartments, invite me over. I’ll even help you move in, if that’s what it takes.

633 South LaSalle (at long last) puts up a tower crane and rises out of the ground [Corrected]

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This post has been corrected to show Q Investment Partners of Singapore as the developer.

The tower crane at 633 South LaSalle in the South Loop.

633 South LaSalle has avoided a forced vacation to Spireville and is now underway in the Printers Row area of the South Loop. The tower crane is up, the core has gone 3-D, and any and all delays — pandemic-related or otherwise — are a thing of the past. Thrilled and relieved to see this one get going.

This will be an 18-story co-living development, consisting of 117 units and 381 beds. Why co-living in the South Loop? Students. Roosevelt University, Columbia College, DePaul, East-West University, etc. Lots of kids need lots of places to stay.

Tip o’the cap to Chicago Cityscape for letting me know the tower crane was up.

Here are the players at 633 South LaSalle:

Clark Construction is the general contractor.
Adjustable Concrete Construction is the concrete contractor.
Berkelhamer is the design architect.
FitzGerald is the architect of record.
Q Investment Partners is the developer.

Was I hallucinating when it came to old permits here? There were a bunch of them, I swear. But now there are only three on the City of Chicago website:

Tower crane, issued 3/24/2023
Caissons, issued 4/25/2023
Full build, issued 6/1/2023

Here are some pics. Some much more compelling pics than the bare lot I’ve visited in recent months:

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More from 1000M as it rises into Chicago’s skyline

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1000M is at that age where the up-closes aren’t as dramatic as the far-offs. Which is why this post exists in the first place. Wednesday the 12th was as perfect a day as Chicago ever sees in mid-April, and while I didn’t set out to take more progress photos of Helmut Jahn’s South Loop apartment tower, the views once I backed away had their way with me.

So here ya go. A bunch more 1000M photos taken from a variety of perspectives, including Northerly Island (my first real visit there and OMG!), Grant Park, and the Museum Campus. Please enjoy:

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 using the form below.

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Sun’s out, One’s out

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1000M
1000M, 1000 South Michigan Avenue in Chicago’s South Loop.

That’s “One” as in “One Thousand M,” though most folks ’round these parts refer to it as 1000M.

I know I was just here, but it wasn’t sunny that day. So I came back. Nuff said. Here are the pics:

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 using the form below.

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Catching up on 1000M, the sky-high apartments coming to the South Loop

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1000M construction progress, taken from Grant Park, looking west.

1000M got started, then it stopped. And we had to wait a long time for it to getting revved up again. Sort of like when the sequel to your favorite movie is announced, but then the release is delayed. Once it comes out, you’re the first in line to see it. Then you see it 17 more times over the nest week and a half. That’s what I was going to do; watch progress at the rejuvenated 1000M. But, well, I didn’t.

But I did take a look this past Sunday, in the cold of late January. The JAHN-designed tower bringing apartments in the sky to the South Loop looks to have reached the high 30s in floor count, with glazing covering about 20 0f those. And here are some photos to prove I was there:

Is that light? Is that blue sky? This was taken the same day as all the others.

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 using the form below.

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The Reed tower crane is no more

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Topping out is such sweet sorrow. Sure, no one wants to live in a tower that hasn’t topped out yet. But at what cost? Losing another tower crane? Alas, The Reed at Southbank’s topping out meant the loss of its crane was inevitable, and the painstaking process of disassembly is underway.