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Tower Crane Update: 1411 South Michigan
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Category Archives: Tower Cranes
Vista Tower Crane Update: East Crane is planted as West Crane blooms
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Even when they’re on the ground, tower cranes are cool.
West Crane will always be able to sneer at East Crane with a knowing, I-Was-Born-First smirk. But only by a couple of days. No sooner had construction crews rooted the first crane into the ground, the second one found a rebar bed of its own.
As one does when it’s about 10 degrees outside, dedicated skyscraper nerds (skyscraperds?) hung around Thursday afternoon to watch West Tower reach sky-cab status. Meanwhile, Eastie’s resting comfortably in place, waiting for concrete to be poured into its foundation.
There’s also the matter of the large hole in the middle of the site, that everyone but me seemed to be allowed to climb into. Unfair.
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- The Navy Pier Ferris wheel creates a backdrop for West Crane assembly.
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- Your cab awaits.
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- More parts. I don’t know what they’re called, but I bet they’re important.
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- East Crane can only watch for now. Like the rest of us.
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- The cab has been readied for moving.
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- And now the climb back to the top begins.
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- Taking a breather. That’s a lot of stairs.
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- The four crewmen have climbed to the top, and are now hailing a cab.
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- And here it comes.
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- Almost there.
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- The four crewmen secure the cab in place atop the stem.
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- And there it is. West Crane has a cab.
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- Another angle of East Crane.
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- The pool’s almost filled.
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- Now…
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- …..about that fortified hole in the ground.
How about a McDouble? There will be a pair of tower cranes at McDonald’s headquarters
That tower crane obscured by all the caisson equipment doesn’t belong to the McDonald’s HQ site. But soon, there will be two of them here.
By now you know, tower cranes are a favorite of mine. Two tower cranes? I can barely contain my bliss. We’ve seen them here in Chicago within the past 12 months at The Sinclair, the Simpson-Querrey Biomedical Research Center, and most recently, at Vista Tower. And coming soon, McDonald’s HQ. (HQ stand for headquarters, not headquarter-pounders)
On December 15, the City of Chicago filed permits for the two cranes at 110 North Carpenter Street in the West Loop, and look what they did! They’ve already named them West Crane and East Crane! Which really takes the pressure to come up with clever crane monikers off me.
They’re still busy with caisson work at the new Home of the Golden Arches, so don’t expect cranes to sprout right away. But they’ll be here soon enough. Now, if that completes your order, please pull up to the next window.
East Crane.
West Crane.
First of two Vista Tower cranes is in the ground
The two cranes of Vista Tower. West Crane, on the right, is set in its foundation. East Crane, to the left, is awaiting its turn.
Not only does Vista Tower win the First Tower Crane of 2017 Award, it wins the second tower crane of the year plaque as well.
Just as the City of Chicago promised us with the two permits filed on the last day of October and the second day of November, Vista Tower is putting two tower cranes into the freshly-caissoned ground in the New East Side neighborhood.
You’ll notice a striking difference between the two stub sections of crane that are now on site. “West Crane” where the taller towers of Vista will stand, looks like it’s on steroids when compared to “East Crane.” I wouldn’t advise messing with either of them, though.
Shout-out to bKL Architecture for being on-scene Tuesday morning and breaking the big crane news with an Instagram photo.
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- In the distance, West Crane.
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- Crews secure West Crane into position atop its foundation.
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- East Crane looks on and waits.
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- Lower Wacker Drive is a staging area of tower crane parts.
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- Working on the foundation for East Crane.
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- Another large hole in the ground.
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- Upper Wacker Drive is getting some work done of its own.
The 14 Best Things To Happen To Building Up Chicago In 2016
It was a monumental year for Chicago construction. And this blog was around to watch 7/12 of it. So here, in no particular order, are the 14 Best Things This Blog Saw in 2016:
St. Boniface Church Is Saved
When demolition is involved, nothing stirs our collective emotions like losing a church. St. Boniface Church in Noble Square got a demo permit, but was spared from the wrecking ball at the 11th hour.
St. Boniface Church will be redeveloped instead of being demolished.
625 West Adams puts a tower crane right outside the window
625 West Adams was the subject of this blog’s very first post. I was rewarded with a tower crane right outside the living room window. And as an added bonus, the fine folks at Power Construction invited me down for a walking tour of foundation work.
625 West Adams puts up a tower crane, right outside Building Up Chicago HQ.
151 North Franklin puts a tower crane over the sidewalk
After completely misunderstanding the type of crane to be utilized at 151 North Franklin in The Loop, they erected one anchored by the coolest of iron supports, hovering above the Franklin Street sidewalk.
151 North Franklin floated a tower crane above the sidewalk.
The Apple Store puts up a crane three stories high
When building a two-story structure, one of which will be underground, you don’t need much height from your tower crane. Take a walk past the new Apple Store at 401 North Michigan Avenue, and you can just about high-five the crane operator.
The tower crane at the new Apple Store soars three floors above Michigan Avenue.
Simpson-Querrey Biomedical Research Center puts up 2 tower cranes
As long as the city permits, anyone can have a tower crane. But few can match the Simpson-Querrey Center. There are *two* tower cranes hard at work on the Northwestern University facility.
Dual tower cranes at the Simpson-Querrey Center.
Onni Group lights up their tower crane at Atrium Village
Just as they did at The Hudson for Christmas 2015, the Onni Group decked out their tower crane at Atrium Village in Tron-like lighting.
The Atrium Village Christmas crane, by Onni Group.
The amazing outdoor ceiling at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab
By all means, drive carefully at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab! But also make sure to look up at the wonderfully colorful ceiling above the entryway.
Look up at the ceiling of the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab.
215 West Lake/Level Apts/Linea surrounds itself with 3 parking garages
Ironically, a parking garage was demolished to make room for (what’s now called) Linea. There are still parking garages remaining on three sides of the construction site, allowing for lots of different viewing angles.
One overhead angle of Linea, at 215 West Lake Street in The Loop.
River Point opens
Honestly, it deserved more fanfare. But River Point opened in November, including River Point Plaza, the acre-and-a-half park overlooking the Chicago River.
River Point Plaza at night.
River Point, straight up.
One Bennett Park begins construction
Some people think One Bennett Park looks like something New York City would build. I’m one of them. And I say that in a good way. This will be a fun one to watch. (Of course, they’re all fun.)
Early construction at One Bennett Park.
Vista Theater begins
You know those surgical theaters hospitals have for teaching? (Think Seinfeld and Junior Mints.) Then you understand work happening at Vista Tower along Wacker Drive. With elevated observation areas all around, it’s a great place to kill a few hours, watching caissons disappear into the earth.
Caisson workers at Vista Tower.
St. John Cantius Church is open for OHC20
As part of Open House Chicago 2016, St. John Cantius Church opens its doors to the public. And for good reason. It is simply spectacular inside.
The spectacular sanctuary of St. John Cantius Church.
Visiting New York City’s mind-boggling skyscraper craze
They’re building ’em big in New York City. And they’re building a lot of them. I got to see a few during a quick visit in October.
New York City skyscrapers under construction.
THE CUBS BUILD WORLD SERIES WINNER!! And some other stuff.
A hotel. An office building. A WORLD SERIES CHAMPION! Forget the rebuilding years. The Chicago Cubs are in a Construction Renaissance.
CUBS WIN! And build. But mostly, CUBS WIN!
Solstice on the Park has a tower crane, just in time for longer days
Hyde Park’s newest tower crane reigns high above Solstice on the Park.
About the same time the Winter Solstice was making its appearance, Solstice on the Park was planting a tower crane at 161 East 56th Street in Hyde Park. And now that the days will be getting longer (I’m ignoring the part about them getting colder, too), Linn-Mathes can really get busy on the foundations.
Note the parking configuration on this elevation drawing from Studio Gang.
The building Studio Gang designed for developer Antheus Capital will fit 250 apartments and a whopping 316 parking spaces into the 26-story tower. **Those parking spaces appear to be spread over six stories, two of which may be below grade, if the elevation rendering on the Studio Gang website is to be taken literally. The foundation permit calls for five levels of parking.**
Studio Gang, Antheus Capital, and Linn-Mathes comprise the same team responsible for building City Hyde Park, which opened late last year.
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- See that tower crane way over there? I think that’s Solstice on the Park. Somewhat kinda pretty sure.
1136 South Wabash still has Flyboy, and adds a tower crane
The tower crane at 1136 South Wabash, looming high above the South Loop.
Hebru Brantley’s Fly Boy mural on the south-facing exterior wall of 1132 South Wabash Avenue won’t be visible in the South Loop forever. That’s because 1136 South Wabash will soon obscure our view. But for now, Flyboy remains, supervising Lendlease construction crews as they go about the task of erecting the CA Ventures project.
Remember, 1136 South Wabash got a foundation permit and a full-build permit on the same day, October 4. Caisson work is done, and that’s why the tower crane has been brought in, to start taking this SCB design vertical. Expect a 26-story tower with 320 rental units, 143 parking spaces, and retail on the first floor.
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- Fly Boy, supervisor extraordinaire.
Onni Group’s Christmas Crane returns to light up Chicago
Onni Group, developer and general contractor on the Atrium Village redevelopment in the Near North, is lighting up the Christmastime skies over Chicago for the second year in a row. The shiny blue neon adorning the tower crane above Atrium Village is a dead ringer for the tower crane Onni lit up last Christmas at The Hudson.
The Christmas Crane, and a view of progress at Atrium Village, from Twitter user @joecarpita
In the meantime, the pretty crane still has a job to do, and that’s piling parts on top of pieces to bring this 31-story tower to fruition. Pictures of progress, and a few more angles of the neon crane, follow:
Atrium Village Christmas crane
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- This was the Christmas Crane at The Hudson from Christmas 2015.
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- Couple things: 1. The lights are impressive. 2. The crane extends across Wells Street. Also impressive.
The Cubs get a tower crane with 11 Ws
The moon and the tower crane shine bright next to Wrigley Field, where the Chicago Cubs play baseball. They just won the World Series. Have you heard about that?
That’s right, it’s a towwwwwwwwwwwer crane. Because when you win the last three series of your season – 3 wins, then 4, then 4 more games – and finish 2016 as The World Series Champions, you use 11 Ws wherever you want to use them.
It’s not the Cubs Hotel, but the Hotel Zachary being built at 3630 North Clark Street in Lake View. It’s right across the street from Wrigley Field (perhaps you’ve seen something about that ballpark in the news recently) and its developer is Hickory Street Capital, an entity of the Ricketts family, who own the Chicago Cubs. So you see, it’s all connected. I think The Hotel Russell on Addison would be a better name, but I haven’t been asked for my input.
Anyway, the tower crane went up at some point during the Playoffs. I was too stressed by the Cubs not sweeping their 11 wins to notice much construction-wise around Wrigley. If you’ll recall, the Hotel Zachary will be a 7-story, mixed-use facility with 175 guest rooms (known as “keys” in some spaces), retail space, and several restaurants.
Remarkably, crews were still digging sand from the site on Monday. A quick survey of Walsh Construction workers (two of them) confirmed there is a surprising quantity of the stuff. Did Lake Michigan really extend as far west as Clark Street back in the day?
IMPORTANT REMINDER: EVERY TEAM IN EVERY MAJOR SPORT HAS WAITED LONGER FOR A CHAMPIONSHIP THAN THE CHICAGO CUBS!
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- Just a quick reminder.
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- He’s on to something up there; that would be a great season ticket.
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- Tower crane on the left, Flying The W on the right.
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- Wrigley Field, home of who? The 2016 World Series Champion Chicago Cubs, that’s who!
Elevate Lincoln Park raises a tower crane
Having ceremoniously broken ground on the first of the month, Elevate Lincoln Park has begun celebrating yet another milestone; a tower crane is being assembled on the site of the future rental development. It’s a shiny yellow one too, the best kind. And you’ll be able to see it next to the elevated tracks when riding the Red, Brown, and Purple Line trains. It more than makes up for not getting to watch people play tennis atop the old Lincoln Centre condos, right? Wait. Did anyone ever play tennis up there?
Moot point. What’s important here is this: Elevate Lincoln Park, a Baker Development project, will feature 191 apartments, three levels of parking, and ground-floor commercial space, designed by Solomon Cordwell Buenz.
Building Up Chicago 