Yes, caissons are done, but not foundation work, on the RIU Plaza Hotel site at 150 East Ontario in Streeterville. W.E. O’Neil and crew are driving piles into the soil to help support the weight of the 28-story, Lucien Lagrange-designed hotel.
Hey, you know what we should be seeing soon here? Yep. Tower crane permit.
The lot that sat empty at 150 East Ontario for what seemed like an eternity is finally seeing action. Big action.
The RIU Plaza Hotel construction has begun in Streeterville. The City of Chicago issued a permit for caissons and foundation on July 19 for a 28-story, 390-room hotel. W.E. O’Neil is the general contractor. Lucien Lagrange Studio is the design architect. And that’s a big yellow Keller North America rig drilling caissons.
We stopped by in late July to have a first look at site prep, then headed back over this week to see the caisson action. And action we got. Very happy to see work started on this site.
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DonateA matter of mere days after I’d finally come to grips with no longer having two tower cranes at the new McDonald’s Headquarters in the West Loop, word came that the East Crane at Vista Tower was coming down. I made the pilgrimage over to Streeterville to take a few shots from across the Chicago River, turned to look behind me, and what else do I see? One tower crane at One Bennett Park! I appreciate everyone’s progress here, but noooooooo!
We’re counting on you to never finish, The Lincoln Common!
Vista Tower’s East Tower Crane is at half-mast.
What’s funny is, I took this photo earlier Saturday morning for the single crane at Vista Tower, not noticing the half a crane atop One Bennett Park.
Now seems like as good a time as any to revisit and celebrate the TEN TOWER CRANES(!) of Battersea Power Station in London, and the 5-pack of cranes at Jewel Residences in Gold Coast, Australia.
Please never leave us, Lincoln Common tower cranes! (Announcer voice: The Lincoln Common is almost topped out, so….)
One Bennett Park, seen from the Adler Planetarium.
Admittedly, I often lose interest in new construction once the tower crane comes down. Not just because I’m obsessed with tower cranes, but because when the crane comes down, it signals the end of visible work from the exterior of a building.
There are also those projects that rise so high, it’s hard to see what’s going on, even when they *do* still have their cranes. Case in point: One Bennett Park in Streeterville. I have been neglecting this magnificent tower lately on this blog. I’ve still been taking photos of it, but it’s hard to mark progress on a tower as tall, and as close to completion, as One Bennett Park.
The following gallery represents random pictures taken throughout the month of May, from close-up, far away, and in between. One Bennett Park has an amazing presence already from Adler Planetarium; that’s my favorite view. (I’ve yet to see it from the lake; boats aren’t really my thing.) Enjoy.
A tower crane at half-mast; you know a tower is nearing completion.
Remember when the stub photobombed groundbreaking ceremony? (Photo courtesy 465 North Park)
A year and a half after being put into service above Streeterville, the tower crane at 465 North Park came down last week. Power Construction used it to erect the 48-story, 444-unit apartment tower by Pappageorge Haymes Partners for Jupiter Realty, but with the exterior topped out and glazed, it’s time to concentrate on getting interiors ready for the anticipated opening later this year.
You can reminisce about tower crane assembly at this link, then check out the gallery of the crane coming down below.
The Simpson Querrey Biomedical Research Center, at 303 East Superior Street in Streeterville.
My apologies in advance for not making it here in nicer weather. This curvy-on-one-side glass beauty deserves to be viewed under blue skies.
Gone are the two tower cranes that held court atop the Simpson Querrey Biomedical Research Center that Northwestern University is building in Streeterville. Power Construction has been hard at work on this one since ground was broken back in May 2015. Designed by Perkins+Will, the exterior looks nearly complete, while interior work continues, with the goal of a late-2018 opening.
This gallery contains 12 photos.
With that Instagram photo, One Bennett Park posted a selfie and announced last week that Lendlease crews have reached to within five floors of topping out the 69-story residential tower.
The Related Midwest project is combined design of Robert A.M. Stern Architects and GREC Architects, bringing a mix of 348 apartments and condominiums to the Streeterville neighborhood. Completion is scheduled for 2019 move-ins, so there’s still a lot of work to be done. But topping out soon will be a big milestone, even if it means the beginning of the end for One Bennett Park’s two pretty, yellow tower cranes.
Because it’s tradition in some parts of the world — a tradition I just invented — to celebrate the topping out of a building three times, here are more photos of the newly-topped 465 North Park. This time, taken on a gorgeous Chicago fall evening that felt like spring. Enjoy.
Fresh glass at the aLoft Chicago Mag Mile in Streeterville.
Don’t look now (you can look when we get to the photo gallery) but Tishman has the *aLoft Chicago Mag Mile nearing the top (on or about the 15th floor, I’d say) of its 18-story goal at 243 East Ontario in Streeterville. And as if that wouldn’t be enough of a milestone, they’ve also started installing glass, on level 3 of the Valerio Dewalt Train-designed hotel.
When completed next winter, the aLoft Chicago Mag Mile will open 336 new guest rooms to Chicago’s most vibrant shopping neighborhood.
*Looks like I’ve been spelling it wrong all this time. “aLoft” – little ‘a’ big ‘L’
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