Power Construction is doing everything they can to make 625 West Adams look like its renderings. Monday morning, a piece was set in place to form the oculus that will be featured on the upper of two outdoor terraces.
That’s a serious tower crane presiding over Illume Chicago.
It seemed Illume Chicago spent forever working on subterranean things that will never be seen again. There were caisson to drill, piles to drive, and a foundation to dig. But now there are signs of life at street level, as Norcon continues its work on the West Loop condo building. Soon, LG Development’s 10-story, 79-unit Pappageorge Haymes design will start taking shape at 111 (the reason you’ll sometimes see “111ume” spelled with three 1s) South Peoria Street.
A cool rendering from the Illume website, showing how the B.U.C. HQ will look from the new condos.
Demolition at the corner of Washington and Peoria signals the start of 900 West.
The modest one-story building at 900 West Washington Boulevard in the West Loop no longer has much to hide, as a demolition crew from Tierra Services of Frankfort, IL tears it to shreds, exposing it for all the world to see. They’re clearing the site for the beginning of 900 West, a 10-story, 22-unit condominium development from Taris Real Estate.
Designed by Northworks Architects + Planners, 900 West made news earlier this month when Dennis Rodkin at Crain’s reported on the signed contract for one of the building’s two penthouse units for more than $5 million. There will be two-bed, three-bed, and four-bedroom condos, plus that second, aforementioned penthouse unit. Taris plans to have 900 West ready for residents in Summer of 2018.
The final beam is lifted to the top of 625 West Adams. Photo courtesy of Power Construction.
Sadly, 625 West Adams, the 20-story office building from White Oak Realty and CA Ventures, topped out last week.
Let me explain. Of course, topping out is a huge milestone, and should certainly be celebrated. But it also means the days of that pretty yellow Liebherr tower crane right outside the B.U.C. HQ are numbered. Sadder still, 625 topped out while we were in London, so after countless hours of staring out the window at progress, I missed the soiree.
Power Construction was kind enough to share the photo above, taken as the last beam was lifted into place on Monday, May 22.
There it is, finally! One South Halsted put up a tower crane for me.
Old Glory, and a Glorious Golden Tower Crane.
The shiny yellow tower crane stub that tantalized us for so long at One South Halsted has finally blossomed into a full-blown Liebherr 316-EC-H 12 crane, spreading joy and heavy materials throughout the Greektown neighborhood of the West Loop.
Twitter user @iYarn let us know last week while we were enjoying the Tower Cranes of London that assembly had started, and the tower crane was completed and operational upon our return. Sorry to have missed it, but the hours of entertainment it’ll provide will more than make up for that disappointment.
A street crane prepares to take down the tower crane at 171 Aberdeen in the West Loop Friday morning.
The last Friday of May was also the last day the tower crane at 171 Aberdeen stood above the West Loop. A crew started bright and early in the morning bringing the crane down, making the West Loop American Flag, Tower Crane, and Water Tank photo opp much more difficult.
171 Aberdeen (165 N Aberdeen now?) is a mixed-use building from MCZ Development, delivering 90 residential units, with 40,000 square feet of office space and 15,000 square feet of retail space, plus 130 parking spots, to the neighborhood. Novak Construction is the GC. Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture the designer.
Many thanks to Adebayo Onigbanjo (Twitter user @iyarn) for keeping me up to speed on the tower crane at One South Halsted. These photos are from Thursday; alas, the excitement of London got the better of my attention span, so by now, I presume the crane is fully assembled and lifting the heavy stuff.
This is what 1133 West Randolph used to look like. Now, it’s being mashed like a Hot Potato.
You may have heard this already, somewhere, and likely from a reliable source, but property in the West Loop/Fulton Market District is a hot commodity. Chances are, by the time you get your table at Au Cheval, another deal has been made and another building is being decimated to make room for new development.
1132 West Randolph, demolished Winter 2016.
And no properties have been hotter than those that used to be Hot Potato Distributors. Once a presence on both sides of West Randolph Street, the south side buildings at 1133 and 1139 are in the process of being demolished as we speak. 1132-36 was demoed in 2016, and is now an ugly vacant lot.
According to the demolition permits (and the sign on the fence) 1133 is being developed by the DiCosola Group of South Canalport. Demolition is being done by a “Viewpoint Services.”
Putting the Ill in Illume…The tower crane at Illume Chicago needs some repairs.
Expect a street closure Thursday in the 100-block of South Peoria Street, as a street crane sets up to make repairs on the tower crane holding court above Illume Chicago. Weather permitting, repairs shouldn’t last more than a day, and Peoria Street will be back in business Friday.
Tuesday morning:
Monday morning (with sunshine):
Building Up Chicago 