After site prep work at 410 South Wabash to dig out under Van Buren Street, crews were pumping concrete into a new wall under the sidewalk Monday. There wasn’t a whole lot to see from the street, but I still spent far too much time watching.
Come at me if you want to, but there’s a new brand of NIMBYism out there these days: Instead of just complaining about a building blocking the view from your living room, you now get to complain about a new building blocking your view of something else, but not when you’re at home. No, this pertains to being out and about throughout the city. Or from that one particular spot you like to stand. This is next-level stuff.
Such seems to be the case with 300 North Michigan. Folks are upset that it will block the view of the Carbon and Carbide Building across the street. How about that. The rules are now such that you can’t build anything anywhere that will obstruct the view of anything anywhere. Looks like our next skyscraper will have to be built in DeKalb. (But I can’t see my corn field from the water tower now!)
Anyway, this is what 300 North Michigan looked like Monday, July 26. Using the markings on the skip, it looks like Linn-Mathes has reached the 40th floor, with the elevator core a couple stories higher, on their way to their ultimate 47-story height:
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Sorry to rub it in if yer one o’ them NIMBYs who’s upset that the parking lot you use once a month when you drive to The Loop is gone. But the rest of us are pretty happy about it.
More than a year and a half after a foundation permit was issued, the surface parking lot at 410 South Wabash has been torn to bits, to be replaced by a 25-story residential tower. And it’s pretty cool to see, too. You can get a good view under the sidewalk and even a little bit of the seamy underbelly of Van Buren Street.
Back in January 2020, this very blog wrote, and I quote:
College students don’t need parking lots. College students do need beds. That might be a little oversimplified, but that’s how I prefer to look at 410 South Wabash in the South Loop.
A foundation permit issued by the City of Chicago beck in December launched the beginning of 410 South Wabash. Developed by Lennar Multifamily, or LMC, this new residential building in the South Loop promises to deliver 344 dwelling units in a 25-story, 260-foot-tall tower.
The site sits at the foot of the T intersection of the CTA’s elevated train lines at Wabash Avenue and Van Buren Street, offering future residents unlimited opportunities to take cool Instagram shots of the L coming and going into and out of The Loop. Orange, Pink, Green, Brown, and Purple Line trains all pass through here, and when the Christmas Train passes by at night, lucky tower dwellers will be directly above the action.
4th Ward Alderman Sophia King held a community meeting in May, from which there comes a veritable cavalcade of information on 410 South Wabash. Floor plans show a mix of 1-bed, 2-bed, and 3-bed units, plus studios, convertibles, and micro-apartments. Though no indication is given that this tower is targeting the South Loop student population, those smaller units sure seem to be good options for the college kids.
410 South Wabash will also include 103 parking spaces, which goes against my thoughts on students needing to park, but definitely fits in with 3-bedroom homes. There will also be about 8,000 square feet of commercial space.
Antunovich Associates is the architect of record; Pepper Construction is the general contractor.
Some things have changed since then, which I started writing about in March 2020, but held off on publishing in the hopes of hearing news that construction was about to start. Something known as an Easy Process Permit was issued by the city March 5 of 2020, changing the general contractor to Power Construction, and naming Adjustable Concrete Construction as the concrete contractor. Then (you still with me? Or did I lose you at “sorry to rub it in”?) two reinstatement permits were issued by the city: the first in January of this year, and another the last week of June. And it looks like that second one is what broke through the ice jam and got this project flowing again.
Which brings us to July 2021, wherein I make it down to 410 South Wabash in The Loop and verify that work has indeed begun. End of story.
Enjoying the photos? Metra and CTA rides (and Amtrak trains to Milwaukee), Zipcars, Divvy Bikes, camera lenses, and comfortable walking shoes are adding up. You can help offset expenses by making a greatly-appreciated donation to Building Up Chicago.
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DonateBecause when you start glazing a skyscraping, you don’t just stop.
300 North Michigan got the first of its curtain wall about a month ago, and it’s getting shinier by the day. It’s also growing more visible above some of its neighbors, with a great view of it from Fulton Street in the West Loop.
The rumors are true; there’s a fresh, shiny row of glass on 300 North Michigan in The Loop. Plus a little bit installed out back along MacChesney Court. Chalk up another Milestone Achieved for Sterling Bay, Magellan Development, bKL Architecture, and Linn-Mathes.
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A quick spin around 300 North Michigan as construction continues on the joint development effort from Sterling Bay and Magellan Development Group. Hotel rooms and apartments smack dab in the middle of the Cultural Mile and Magnificent Mile? Yes, please.
Below you’ll find photographic proof of progress. (The dude on the corner with the tape measure though? No, thanks. You’re job is safe from me.)
300 North Michigan between the Magnificent and Cultural Miles of Chicago’s Michigan Avenue.
There aren’t many projects happening in Chicago that this blog considers “mixed-use.” Since everything includes retail these days, an office tower or residential building with ground-floor commercial space doesn’t split the vote.
300 North Michigan qualifies as mixed-use. The bKL Archtecture-designed tower will deliver 289 residential units and 280 hotel rooms across its 47 stories. A joint venture between Sterling Bay and Magellan Group, 300 North Michigan got its tower crane permit back in August 2020, and its foundation permit (with an assigned address of 88 E Wacker Pl) about three weeks prior. The full-build permit arrived in late September.
Linn-Mathes is the general contractor.
A tower crane permit was issued yesterday, August 27.
Design Architect: bKL Architecture
Developer: Magellan Development Group
The Green Line rolls by Parkline.
It’s time to drop in from below at Parkline, the condominium/apartment combo from developer Moceri + Roszak. Why check out Clark Construction’s progress from below? Cuz I ain’t allowed upstairs no more. Sad.
Per Dennis Rodkin Monday in Crain’s, opening is expected next summer. He got a good preview of Millennium Park views from the higher-floor condos once they’re completed. It’s a good read.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B7EJX6QFVlk/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
The parking lot at 60 East Benton that used to be next to the parking garage that used to be at 50 West Randolph is no more. Confused? Suffice it to say Chicago has successfully erased another surface parking lot from existence, right next to a parking garage that was recently demolished.
The above Instagram post from Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture announced back on January 8 that MDA 2 was on its way. 60 East Benton sits along Wabash Avenue between the Parkline construction site to the south, and Elephant & Castle to the north. The latter occupies space at ground level of MDA City Club Apartments, to which MDA 2 will be connected by a sixth-floor pedestrian bridge.
January 30 saw a foundation permit issued by the City of Chicago, allowing for work to begin for seven stories and 81 units. As you can see in the photos, site prep is underway.
