Crews set rebar for the tower crane foundation at 465 North Park.
465 North Park, the Pappageorge Haymes Partners-designed, Jupiter Realty Company-developed 48-story, 444-unit apartment tower in Streeterville, received a tower crane permit from the City of Chicago on Tuesday of last week. On Tuesday of this week, Power Construction crews could be seen setting the foundation that will hold the crane in place.
That’s a crane-building crane (in yellow) building a building-building crane (in red)
Headphone jack or no headphone jack, it was hard to miss the tower crane being assembled at the new Chicago Apple flagship store on Michigan Avenue Thursday. Although, if you happened to be looking for it, but missed it, it could be because you were looking too high. Unlike most tower crane, which tend to, you know, “tower” over their respective job sites, the Apple Store crane stands barely three stories in the air. But that’s really all the height you need, when your two-story building has only half its height above street level.
We’ve been waiting for this tower crane for weeks. Luckily, Twitter user @RobertLoerzel, as he’s known to do from time time, was wandering around town Wednesday night tweeting photos, including these, showing tower crane parts awaiting assemblage.
https://twitter.com/robertloerzel/status/773717730319097857
Clearly, that meant I had to be on Michigan Avenue in the morning to catch the action. Which leads to this: more photos of the Chicago Apple Store than you would ever really appreciate. But I took them for you anyway. A few from the morning, and then a few later in the day, after the boom had been attached. Enjoy.
In the foreground, South Crane grabs the spotlight, as North Crane fades to the back, like that other guy in Wham!
At the beginning of August, I promised you a second tower crane would appear at Northwestern University’s Louis A. Simpson and Kimberly K. Querrey Institute for BioNanotechnology in Medicine in Streeterville. Problem is, I told you to wait until the end of August at the earliest, yet upon visiting Tuesday, there was South Crane, standing even taller than North Crane.
The Simpson-Querrey Institute joins The Sinclair in the Gold Coast as the only two projects in Chicago requiring dual tower cranes. Double the fun!
The greenish upper cladding of Optima Chicago Center II. Kinda looks like the Chicago River.
Located at 220 East Illinois Street in Streeterville, Optima Chicago Center II will be a 54-story, 381-unit apartment tower. It was designed by Optima, Inc., and is being developed and built by Optima. because why pay a bunch of other companies to do the things you can do yourself? Its red and green glass will fit wonderfully beside its blue and black glass neighbor and predecessor, Optima Chicago Center.
An eagle’s eye view of foundation work at One Bennett Park.
Instead of a series of little holes, there’s now one large crater on East Grand Avenue. That’s where Lendlease is building Related Midwest’s One Bennett Park. Don’t worry if you blinked; One Bennett park will be in production for a good long time. Its 69 stories of splendor aren’t expected to be complete until 2019.
I’m still struck by how barren a lot looks just after caisson work concludes. This is 465 North Park, once again a blank canvas.
“Life moves pretty fast” Ferris Bueller once said. “If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” For instance, wait three weeks to go check on caisson progress at 465 North Park, and find out you’re too late. Yep. Life moves pretty fast.
Power Construction has begun digging a foundation, now that the heavy drilling is out of the way. They’re working on Jupiter Realty Company’s 47-story, 444-unit apartment tower at 465 North Park Drive in Streeterville. The Pappageorge Haymes design will include 11,650 square feet of retail/commercial space, and 181 parking spaces.
Looking down at the Apple store construction from LondonHouse Chicago.
You didn’t need another post about the Apple flagship store being built in Pioneer Court on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile. You’ve seen the concrete cutters, you’ve seen the tower crane stub. By now, you’re ready to see the actual store.
But I couldn’t help it. From the spectacular 22nd-floor lounge of the brand new LondonHouse Chicago across the river, you can get an amazing bird’s-eye view of the goings-on at Apple down below.
So here, enjoy the third update of the same construction site this week. And enjoy the view from LondonHouse. You’ll want to get up there yourself soon; it really is amazing.
A crane grows up in Streeterville. A red crane up in Streeterville. (Apologies to Ben E. King)
You remember that tower crane bulb planted at Northwestern University’s Louis A. Simpson and Kimberly K. Querrey Institute for BioNanotechnology in Medicine from a couple weeks ago, right? Well, that has bloomed into a beautiful crane butterfly. Of sorts. But before you wander off aimlessly looking for more crane photo ops, bear in mind there will be another tower crane on this construction site. Though I’m told that likely won’t appear until the end of August at the earliest.
In the meantime, the foundation dig continues, particularly at that south end, where Crane #2 will rise from the earth. But for now, one is reason enough to snap off another round of pictures.
I should have waited one more day to post about the new Apple flagship store on the Magnificent Mile. Now, for one of the best possible reasons, I have to take you to 401 North Michigan Avenue for the second day in a row: Chicago’s new Apple store has a tower crane stub!
Power Construction, contractors general (is that a thing) for the new gadget haven, anchored the first section into the ground today. And as luck would have it, I was in the very same neighborhood today. Crazy, right?
If Pioneer Court is a sacred place to you, look away.
Yes, it’s “Court.” Pioneer Court. I was trying to make two Apple jokes in one headline. It was a miss. Let’s move on.
The Chicago Tribune printed much of the detail about Apple’s new Chicago flagship store back in November. As for me, I just have a few photos of what’s going on in, and under, Pioneer Court, up to and including the anticipation of a tower crane.
“A tower crane?” you say. “For a 2-story building?” Hey, I don’t make the rules. Or the permits. And there’s a permit for a tower crane.
Crews have cut away a good portion of the south side of the court. Expect more demolition before this space starts looking like a retail store.
Building Up Chicago 