Stuff That’s Done: Twelve01West

Posted on February 21, 2020 by danieldschell

Twelve01West is a new office building at 1201 West Lake Street in the West Loop. It’s a favorite around here ever since developer McCaffery Interests lit up the tower crane back in the winter of 2018. Its ground floor also offers Chicago’s best spot to get your coffee fix and your bicycle fixed, Heritage Bikes & Coffee.

Twelve01West is a seven-story building designed by Antunovich Associates. It has 135,000 square feet of rentable office space, almost 12,000 square feet of retail space, counting the aforementioned Heritage location, and 45 parking spaces. It opened in March 2019.

W.E. O’Neil was the builder. Their link includes a cool shot of that purple tower crane.

: 1201 West Lake

: Twelve01West is rising at 1201 West Lake Street in the West Loop.

: Twelve01West flying The Colors on Memorial Day.

Stuff That’s Done: 61 Banks Street is open on Lake Shore Drive

Posted on February 20, 2020 by danieldschell

There aren’t many surface parking lots along the west side of Lake Shore Drive. And at the end of 2017, one of them was torn up to make room for a new apartment building.

61 Banks Street in a 58-unit rental development at 61 East Banks St., obvs. At eight stories, it’s short enough that it doesn’t block many views behind it, but since it sits right on the lakefront, its own views must be amazing.

Draper & Kramer, who we just dropped in on recently at 2111 South Wabash, is 61’s developer. Booth Hansen is the design architect; Leopardo Companies was on the build. The building opened to tenants in June 2019.

: 61 East Banks

: 61 East Banks has begun to rise at Lake Shore Drive and Banks Street.

Stuff That’s Done: Renelle on the River

Posted on February 18, 2020 by danieldschell

Renelle on the River, from Across the River.

Renelle on the River is an 18-story condominium tower in the River North neighborhood. It was built atop an existing parking garage at 403 North Wabash Ave once topped by a small plaza park. The garage was built with future use in mind, so no additional caissons were required. It was a unique project to watch get started.

Renelle on the River is a design by bKL Architecture, and was built by James McHugh Construction. Developer Belgravia Group delivered its 50 condos to residents last year.

: Renelle on the River (403 North Wabash)

: Renelle on the River (403 North Wabash)

: Renelle on the River (403 North Wabash)

: Plaza demolition as of August.

Stuff That’s Done: Coeval

Posted on February 13, 2020 by danieldschell

Coeval has two addresses: 51 East 14th St. and 1419 South Wabash. Ave

I had surgery on a knee as a young adult. I was fascinated by the effects of anesthesia. One moment after drifting off to sleep, my eyes popped open in the recovery room. To me, the surgery happened faster than the snap of the fingers. Like time travel in Back To The Future.

Those questionable analogies are a means of explaining Coeval. I stopped by 14th and Wabash twice; once during demolition of 1415 South Wabash, and once as the rolling crane was being set up on the freshly-demoed lot. The third time I visited, this past week, Coeval was open. Heck, I didn’t even know it was called Coeval now. If only construction could be instantaneous like that.

Coeval is a two-towered apartment development from CMK Companies. Consisting of a 14-story tower to the north, and a 10-story tower to the south, the project contains about 260 units in total. It was designed by Pappageorge Haymes Partners and built by Clark Construction. It opened to residents last summer.

Stuff That’s Done: Union West

Posted on February 10, 2020 by danieldschell

Union West is 357-unit apartment development in the West Loop. Its two 15-story towers occupy a large portion of the city block bounded by Washington, Sangamon, Madison, and Morgan, with part of its footprint touching all four streets. It was designed by bKL Architecture for ZOM Living. Power Construction was on the build.

Union West opened in Fall 2019.

: The crazy Union West footprint.

Stuff That’s Done: Essex on the Park

Posted on February 7, 2020 by danieldschell

Essex On The Park, standing tall over Grant Park in Chicago’s South Loop.

This is Essex On The Park. Built at 808 South Michigan Avenue, the shiny new tower brought 476 new apartments to the South Loop. It stand 56 stories and 620 feet high, looming over the western edge of Grant Park. Essex On The Park opened to residents in March 2019.

The Team:
Developer — Oxford Capital Group
Design Architect — Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture
General Contractor — Power Construction
Foundations — Keller NA
Demolition — Heneghan Wrecking

You’ll see all their work, in one form or another, in the gallery below, spanning from January 2017 to February 2020.

Stuff That’s Done: Solstice On The Park

Posted on February 6, 2020 by danieldschell

Solstice On The Park, from the park.

The last time I visited Solstice On The Park, it was *almost* done. That was close to a year ago. Now, it’s finished, and being lived in. And still very very cool. I’ll attempt to prove that opinion with the two dozen photos included below.

The basics about Solstice On The Park:

Design Architect – Studio Gang

Developer – Mac Properties

Builder – Linn-Mathes

26 stories, 250 apartments, stunning views from, and of, Hyde Park.

Stuff That’s Done: 5252 South Cornell shines in Hyde Park

Posted on February 4, 2020 by danieldschell

5252, from the 55th Street Metra Electric Line platform, was made for sunny days.

5252

I like that. Just numbers. 5252.

That’s the name of the recently-opened apartment tower at 5252 South Cornell in Hyde Park. This is a development by Mac Properties, the same folks responsible for bringing Solstice on the Park to this neighborhood. The two of them make a striking pair.

Linn-Mathes was the general contractor on 5252, just as they were on Solstice. Solomon Cordwell Buenz was the design architect, and I want to hi-five everyone there for this one. I lucked out and got here on a sunny day — I know, a sunny day in Chicago, right? — and the building looks fantastic in the sunlight.

The 26-story building contains 246 apartments, from studios to three-bedroom units. 5252 opened in Fall 2019.

Stuff That’s Done: 333 North Green

Posted on February 3, 2020 by danieldschell

333 North Green stands ready to welcome its first office tenants.

It’s just about time to fling open the doors at GR333N.

The 19-story, 555,000-square-foot office tower 333 North Green has completed construction, and the first tenants are expected to move in within the next several weeks, according to developer Sterling Bay. One of those tenants will be Sterling Bay itself, which confirmed to Crain’s Chicago in November that it will take up residence in its new building.

333 North Green is a design by Gensler. Power Construction (new website!) is the GC.

Stuff That’s Done: I welcome our bedtime-robot overlords at Avenir

Posted on February 1, 2020 by danieldschell

Crain’s Chicago visited the new Avenir apartment tower at 730 North Milwaukee Avenue in River West recently. The 23-story, 196-unit rental building opened to its first tenants January 16, per Crain’s.

Avenir is a design by Antunovich Associates. It was developed and built by Tandem.

Check out the article linked above by Crain’s. You’ll get to see a video about how livable a studio unit can be when a robot does the heavy lifting for you.