Alta Roosevelt Tower Crane, September 25, 2016.
There’s more to construction than tower cranes.
But man, tower cranes are cool.
From the West Loop, the photo above shows the tower crane at Alta Roosevelt (801 South Financial Place) with 1001 South State serving as a backdrop.
You remember 1001 South State, right? Yep: Moon Crane
https://twitter.com/801Financial/status/768916034526904320
If you ever need up-to-the-minutes status reports on the progress of Alta Roosevelt (801 South Financial Place) in the South Loop, look no further than Alta’s own Twitter account. They’re on top of all things constructive as Walsh Construction continues to work on the future 33-story apartment tower. Designed by Pappageorge Haymes Architects for developer Wood Partners, Alta Roosevelt will sport 496 rental units, 348 parking spaces, and zero square feet of retail.
There’s a lot of work happening at ground level. Here are a few pictures of the first floor taking shape, though I can’t get as close (nor as high in the tower crane) as the Alta Twitter account.
Shiny, newly-installed windows stand along East Balbo Avenue in the new 30 East.
30 East is a residential tower from Gilbane Development Company that will cater to students from the multitude of colleges in and around the South Loop. And when better than Chicago’s official first day of class to tell you about 30 East’s first day of glass?
Last week, Power Construction crews began installing windows along the tower’s third level. In all, there will be 16 floors with 134 furnished apartments, ranging from studios to 4-bedroom units. Designed by Solomon Cordwell Buenz, 30 East will also have 8,000 square feet of retail space at the ground level. Gilbane expects to have the tower ready for Fall 2017 classes.
It was pretty. Not the original paint scheme probably, so I have to thank the taggers for this.
Let me preface this by saying: I hate tagging. Simply put, it’s vandalism. Doesn’t matter to me how talented you are, if your drawings are on someone else’s building, or water tank, or train car, you’re a vandal.
Ditto trespassing. Partly because I’m too wimpy to risk getting caught, because there are places everywhere I’d love to sneak into for a photo or 60. But it’s not my property, I have no business being there without permission, so I stay away.
The W.M. Hoyt Co. building is available. Contact the firm of Ash Andy Angel Boogr Cushman + Wakefield for details.
This rant is related to the W. M. Hoyt Company Building at 465 W. Cermak Road in Chicago’s Cermak Road Bridge District. Built in 1909, it sits empty now, save for the spray painters who stop by to add to their work. It’s become something of a Taggers Paradise, and I have to admit, it looks pretty darn cool.
On July 20 of this year, the City of Chicago filed a demolition permit for the water tank atop this building. (The address is listed on the permit as 2210 South Grove Street: it’s the same building.) This was a “character tank,” a designation bestowed by me on any tank that stands out from the others, usually because of how it’s been painted. This one had been tagged more times than the slowest runner at recess. I really wanted to get on the roof before they dismantled it, but, you know, trespassing. And fear of heights.
I made it my mission to photograph the tank from as many angles as I could before it was gone. I didn’t know it at the time, but that gave me until August 13; that was the morning I looked out the window and saw that most of it had been attacked by the cutting torch.
The mysteriously demolished tank at 1882 South Normal Avenue.
August 13 was also the morning I discovered the water tank at 1882 South Normal Avenue had been taken down. That came as a surprise, since I’ve yet to find any permit allowing that demolition.
On August 30, a permit was filed to demolish this water tank as well, at 809 North Racine Avenue.
Do you have photos of the now-demolished Chicago Water Tank at 2210 South Grove Street? I’d love to see them. Send them my way, and let me know if you’d like me to post them here on Building Up Chicago.
921 South Jefferson looks nothing like you’d expect a building with a 2-month-old demolition permit to look.
Just yesterday, I mentioned the urgency of most Chicago demolition permits, and the developers eager to execute them so they can get on with the business of developing.
But there are exceptions to every rule. 921 South Jefferson got its death warrant on June 2nd. Yet there is sits, untouched. And not because anyone’s chained themselves to the foundation in protest of its demise. No, there doesn’t appear to be any good reason to save this dilapidated one-story structure. I’m left to guess no one’s in any particular hurry to get at this piece of property, despite the sign promising the opening of a new “Retail Mall in Spring of 2017.”
I suppose there’s still time. If it’s a small mall, y’all.
From what I’ve seen of this building, leave it alone for a couple more months and it might demolish itself. Have a look:
It’s all over but the hauling away for 1411 South Michigan.
A demolition permit was filed for the old National Association of Letter Carriers building at 1411 South Michigan Avenue on July 7th. My bad for not checking back with it sooner, because a visit Sunday produced multiple angles of nothing but rubble shots. And that’s no surprise. Demolitions this close to downtown usually mean someone’s salivating over the future empty lot said demo will produce.
Such is the case at 1411 South Michigan, where Russland Capital Group is developing a 15-story apartment tower. The Boarman Kroos Vogel Group design will have 199 rental units ranging from studios to 3-bedroom apartments, with 40,000 square feet of commercial space. Lendlease will serve as the general contractor.
Alta Roosevelt, 801 South Financial Place, in the South Loop.
Has the ringing in your ears subsided? Good. That’s because Walsh Construction is done pounding piles into the ground at 801 South Financial Place in the South Loop. Alta Roosevelt is now focusing on height, instead of depth.
Let’s refresh: Alta Roosevelt is a 33-story, almost-500-unit apartment tower designed by Pappageorge Haymes Partners. It’ll have a whole bunch of parking spots, tons of amenities, and no space for retail. The core is rising out of the ground now, and a full-build permit should be filed in the very near future.
30 East s starting to show itself at the corner of Balbo and Wabash.
Ah yes, 30 East. This is a new concept for me. A rental tower aimed at the student population in the South Loop. Roosevelt University. Robert Morris University. Columbia College. East-West University. Heck, there were 170 kids in my high school graduating class, so Jones Prep looks like a college to me. Even DePaul has a campus nearby. All crammed within a few urban blocks. And those students — not all of them, but many — need places to live.
30 East, at 30 East Balbo Avenue, is going to be a 16-story apartment building catering to those students. 134 apartments, all furnished. 255 beds. No bring-your-own-mattress-and-desk here. There will be studio, convertible, one-, two-, three-, even four-bedroom units. There will be a service to match residents with roommates. Plus all the amenities you’d expect from today’s new residential construction.
Gilbane Development Company is responsible for the project. Solomon Cordwell Buenz designed the tower. Power Construction is the general contractor. Opening is expected in late summer of 2017, just in time for fall classes.
Have a look at the progress Power has made so far:
The McCormick Place Event Center and the Marriott Marquis Chicago.
Yes, DePaul University will play its basketball games here. But it will be much more than a basketball arena.
The new McCormick Place Event Center is being constructed in the Prairie District of the South Loop. In addition to being a 10,000-seat arena, the Event Center is also expected to host concerts, conventions, business meetings, and other sporting events not featuring the Blue Demons.
The architect of record for the McCormick Place Event Center is Curtis Moody, of Moody Nolan, while Pelli Clarke Pelli and Goettsch Partners lead a who’s-who of architecture firms also involved in the project. Similarly, Clark Construction is the general contractor, but you’ll find a number of other companies involved in construction, including Bulley & Andrews.
They hoop (see what I did there?) to have the court open in time for the 2017-18 NCAA basketball seasons.
Steve’s out, and a big yellow crane is in, setting the pedestrian bridge in place.
Part of The Collection at McCormick Square, the Marriott Marquis Chicago hotel is growing by leaps and bounds in the South Loop. There will be two pedestrian bridges included in the new development, one connecting the Marriott to the McCormick Place Events Center, and one that will carry people over Cermak Road, between the hotel and the West Building of McCormick Place.
That second bridge is half in place. Not quite connected to the West Building yet, it’s just kinda hanging out over the sidewalk along Cermak.
Building Up Chicago 