You all are The. Best.
Just a day after I posted about not making it to 2111 South Wabash in time to snap the tower crane, Robert Burke comes along and fills my inbox with photos. Crane going up, crane coming down, crane building a building, the whole sequence. Thank you, Robert!
All photos are from Robert Burke:
The tower crane permit for 1125 West Van Buren, issued Feb 6, is the first new construction permit issued for the future apartment tower.
To be fair, the demolition permit in March of last year was probably the real start of construction at 1125 West Van Buren, but a tower crane permit is far more glamorous. And that was issued yesterday.
1125 West Van Buren will be a 20-story, 200-unit apartment building from Tandem, who will also be performing general contracting duties. The tower is a design by Antunovich Associates. If that combo sounds familiar, this is the same team that just wrapped up Avenir in River West.
A rendering of 1125 West Van Buren from Antunovich Associates.
Taylor Excavating doing demolition work on the site in January.
The sun (THE SUN!) was shining on 369 West Grand Sunday.
Tower cranes are cool. Putting them up is cool, and even taking them down is cool. But the coolest phase of tower cranedom might be The Jump.
Onni Group has a tower crane out at 369 West Grand, and Sunday they were adding sections to it. Guess what? I snapped a few shots.
NOPE
The tower crane at Fulton East has done its duty, and is on the way down. I was happy to see I wasn’t the only standing out in the West Loop Monday watching and taking photos of the crane being disassembled. It’s not even about the crane; it’s more about the folks standing out on that thing, 16 miles above the surface of the earth. Kudos, guys. You’ll never have to worry about me trying to get up there and stealing your jobs.
What’s that old saying I just made up a couple weeks ago? Oh yeah, I remember:
Tower cranes should be cherished. Two tower cranes should be cherished and celebrated. Three tower cranes should be cherished, celebrated, and should get their own post.
It’s true at One Chicago Square just as it’s true at Cirrus & Cascade in Lakeshore East. What’s more, these are three shiny yellow Liebherr cranes. My favorite cranes (that aren’t lit up.)
This is their own post.
A quick trip to Pittsburgh and back gave me a chance to check out (sadly, not at night though) the Royal Dutch Shell (they’re spelling that name wrong, imho) cracker plant along the Ohio River in Monaca, PA.
Until yesterday, I had no idea what a cracker plant was, outside of baking snacks. Luckily for all of us, The Times is on it. I’ll do the easy part and share a few photos from across the river. And then you can read the article in the New York Times to learn more.
FYI: Near as I can tell, there’s only one tower crane on this site. And then a whole bunch of varied, humongous others.
Tower cranes should be cherished. Two tower cranes should be cherished and celebrated. Three tower cranes should be cherished, celebrated, and should get their own post.
One Chicago Square has three tower cranes. This is their own post.
167 Green Street only has one of its tower cranes left. But one is all you need to lift the moon into place at night.
“Onni” is Vancouverian for “It’s lit”
You never tell your children one of them is your favorite. That’s Parenting 101. It’s equally dangerous to announce personal affection for any one particular tower crane. But in a city where lighting tower cranes doesn’t really seem to be a thing, Onni Group once again shines through with their workhorse high overhead at Old Town Park Tower III. Watch for it next time you ride a Purple or Brown Line train between Chicago Avenue and Sedgwick. It’s pretty darn close to the tracks, so look up, or better yet, ride in the rear car and watch out the back window.
Onni’s put on this show before, not only at previous phases of Old Town Park, but also a few blocks away at The Hudson. They’re also working at 369 West Grand, but I forgot to look west from the train to see if that tower crane was glowing as well. Someone let me know, please?
845 West Madison
845 West Madison
Building Up Chicago 