Category Archives: Tower Cranes

#33: Cook County Central Campus Health Center puts a tower crane in the air

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Cook County Central Campus Health Center tower crane

Looked out the window this morning, and there it was. Cook County Central Campus Health Center has a tower crane.

Before I took the time to post photos from Saturday of the tower crane stub at Cook County Central Campus Health Center, Clayco went ahead a put the darn thing up! That’ll teach me to procrastinate. (No, it won’t. It should though.) Not sure exactly which days saw work on the crane, but there it was outside the B.U.C. HQ window this morning, shining in the sunlight.

CCCCHC is now the 33rd active tower crane in Chicago.

And then there were 32: The Landmark West Loop lowers the tower crane

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Landmark West Loop tower crane removal

When the crane disappears behind its own building, that’s a good indication it’s coming down.

Chicago’s ever-fluid tower crane count has changed again, as Landmark West Loop begins to lower its crane at 1035 West Van Buren Street. Landmark topped out March 23, so we knew this day was coming. The loss of this shiny yellow Liebherr EC-12 Litronic model brings our count down to 32.

Landmark West Loop tower crane removal

One South Halsted is waiting for a Liebherr, so…

Your (my) new Chicago Tower Crane count stands at 33

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Chicago tower cranes

Forgotten tower crane at the DePaul School of Music

The conversation with myself went something like this, as I stood on the Fullerton CTA platform Monday morning, waiting for a Brown Line train:

Me: “I’m kinda surprised the tower crane at the DePaul School of Music is still there.”

Also me: “The Depaul School of Music! I forgot the DePaul School of Music!”

So there’s one tower crane I’d forgotten to include. That brings the current (as far as I know) active count to 33. Generally moving north to south, they are:

  1. Eight Eleven Uptown (811 W Agatite)
  2. Hotel Zachary (3630 N Clark)
  3. Addison & Clark (1025 W Addison)
  4. Elevate Lincoln Park (930 W Altgeld)
  5. DePaul School of Music (2330 N Halsted)\
  6. Atrium Village (1140 N Wells)
  7. Wicker Park Connection (1640 W Division)
  8. No. 9 Walton (9 W Walton)
  9. Simpson Querrey Center N (303 E Superior)
  10. Simpson Querrey Center S (303 E Superior)
  11. One Bennett Park E (451 E Grand)
  12. One Bennett Park W (452 E Grand)
  13. 465 North Park (465 North Park)
  14. Apple Store (401 N Michigan)
  15. 8 E Huron (8 E Huron)
  16. Hubbard221 (221 W Hubbard)
  17. 3Eleven (311 W Illinois)
  18. Vista Tower E  (401 E Wacker)
  19. Vista Tower W (363 E Wacker)
  20. 171 Aberdeen (171 N Aberdeen)
  21. McDonald’s HQ W (110 N Carpenter)
  22. McDonald’s HQ E (110 N Carpenter)
  23. Illume Chicago (111 S Peoria)
  24. 625 West Adams (625 W Adams)
  25. Landmark West Loop (1035 W Van Buren)
  26. Ancora at Riverline (720 S Wells)
  27. Alta Roosevelt (801 S Financial)
  28. 1101 South Wabash (1101 S Wabash)
  29. 1136 South Wabash (1136 S Wabash)
  30. One Grant Park (1200 S Indiana)
  31. 1411 South Michigan (1411 S Michigan)
  32. Three Hiltons (123 E Cermak)
  33. Solstice On The Park (1616 E 56th)

At last sightings, we still had stubs in the ground at the Cook County Central Campus Health Center (1950 W Polk), and One South Halsted. There are tower crane permits for 4 properties that haven’t been planted yet:

  1. Aloft Hotel (243 E Ontario)
  2. Nobu (854 W Randolph)
  3. Essex On The Park (808 S Michigan)
  4. No. 508 (508 W Diversey)

Another Flag, Another Tank, Another Crane, for another Friday

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Revisiting a very busy section of the West Loop.

In the foreground, the tower crane at the McDonald’s Headquarters site. To the left, a full view of the tower crane at 171 Aberdeen.

The banner yet waving is atop Venue One.

The water tank belongs to 1035 West Lake Street.

Have a great weekend, construction nerds!

 

Quick Look: The Wicker Park Connection tower crane is up

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Wicker Park Connection tower crane

The finished tower crane over the Wicker Park Connection, Monday evening.

It got started over the weekend, and by Monday evening it was completed. The Wicker Park Connection can begin going vertical, now that there’s a tower crane on site. We watched most of the erecting from the B.U.C. HQ, but a well-timed going-away dinner (Bon Voyage, Steve!) on Division Street meant a good look at the new kid on that block.

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Updating the tower crane updates

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Wicker Park Connection tower crane

The brand new crane at the Wicker Park Connection Monday evening.

Turns out, tracking tower cranes in Chicago can be exhausting.

Optima II tower crane

Tuesday, the crane was coming down from Optima II.

We were at 31 Sunday with the loss of 1001 West Chicago’s crane, but then 1101 South Wabash had its crane in the air, but under (my) radar, and the Wicker Park Connection, which had planted a stub, finished its crane. That made 33. For, like, an hour. Because yesterday I noticed the luffing crane coming down from atop Optima II in Streeterville. (That crane seemed to be there for about 9 years, didn’t it?)

Long story longer, I believe there are now 32 active tower cranes in Chicago. *This is an unscientific poll.

Remember, there are stubs planted at One South Halsted and the Cook County Central Campus Health Center that should be up and running soon. Essex On The Park, Aloft Chicago Mag Mile, and Nobu have been issued crane permits. But 3Eleven, the Landmark West Loop, and (I think?) 171 Aberdeen have topped out, so we could lose those cranes any day now.

Maybe in the next few days, we can speculate about which just-underway or soon-to-be-started projects will require tower cranes. You know, McDonald’s “vendor village”, Hoxton Hotel, 808 West Van Buren, and the like. What about 508 West Diversey? That’s 12 stories. Yeah, this seems like a conversation for another day.

Scratch 1101 South Wabash off the “Waiting For Tower Cranes” list

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1101 South Wabash tower crane

A new tower crane hovers over 1101 South Wabash.

No longer just a large excavation pit, 1101 South Wabash now has a tower crane to help erect the 30-story hotel coming to the South Loop site. Apparently the shiny red crane has been there almost a week now, but I neglected it for a few days. Sorry, crane. Nothing personal. Ya know I love ya.

According to the CTBUH, this is a development from SB Yen management Group in Hinsdale, and will be the Hilton Homewood Suites and Wabash Suites Hotel.

Chicago has 31 tower cranes working. 6 more are on the way

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1001 West Chicago

A photo of the tower crane at 1001 West Chicago, taken Thursday. It was removed over the weekend.

Cook County Central Campus Health Center tower crane stub

The Cook County Central Campus Health Center tower crane stub.

Last week, we counted the working tower cranes in the sky above Chicago, and came up with 32. We lost the one at 1001 West Chicago this weekend, so that drops the count down to 31. The Landmark West Loop and 3Eleven have topped out, so those cranes will be gone soon as well. But don’t panic. There are six tower cranes already permitted, and most should be active soon.

Here’s the waiting list.

One South Halsted tower crane stub

The freshly-planted tower crane stub at One South Halsted.

Three have stubs planted in the ground: Cook County Central Campus Health Center at 1950 West Polk Street in the Illinois Medical District, One South Halsted in the West Loop, and the Wicker Park Connection in Wicker Park.

Two of the unplanted cranes will be at 1101 South Wabash in the South Loop, the Aloft Chicago Mag Mile in Streeterville, both hotel projects. The third unplanted crane is another hotel, Nobu in the West Loop. That one was permitted way back in October of last year, and as you may know, Nobu has had some trouble getting started. Who knows when we’ll see that crane rise up.