817 West Lake Street to Become West Loop’s Latest Eatery

Posted on June 21, 2016 by danieldschell

This two-story brick building at 817 West Lake Street will be a bar/restaurant.

LG Development, already busy in the West Loop, has a permit on file with the City of Chicago as of yesterday to turn the two-story brick building at 817 West Lake Street into a bar and restaurant.

Got it.

The permit calls for “adaptive re-use” using designs from Jay Keller of Space Architects + Planners. Space has done work on the brand new Federales in the West Loop, as well Half Acre Beer Company and Bleeding Heart Bakery.

LG, meanwhile, looks to be busy for the foreseeable future in the West Loop. It has a big project coming up at 111 South Peoria Street, Illume, and numerous other projects around town, including 1101 West Randolph, where a third story is being added to a two-story building under renovation.

: The new bar and restaurant at 817 West Lake Street will be at the foot of the soon-to-open Parker Fulton Market.

: The Permit.

: 817 West Lake Street would like you to know something…

: LG’s rendering of Illume, 111 South Peoria.

: LG’s renovation at 1101 West Randolph Street

More Photos Than I Know What To Do With: The Byrne Flyover

Video

The newest section of the Jane Byrne Flyover.

I cannot recommend enough that everyone live where construction is right outside your window. Quiet construction. Relatively un-dusty construction.

Like the Jane Byrne Flyover, for example. Close enough to be mesmerizing, yet far enough away that nary a peep can be heard.

They’re building a new ramp from the inbound Dan Ryan Expressway to the outbound Eisenhower Expressway. As soon as I see equipment amassing inside the Circle Interchange (as it used to be known) I get the coffee hot and the Red Bull cold for optimal night-work spectating. That’s when McHugh Construction lifts the beams into place that form the roadway. Usually. They did some day-time work this time around, as well.

The photos that follow are from two phases of work: One from June 6-8, and just this past weekend, June 17-19.

: When the trucks start lining up with beams, you know there’s a show coming to town.

: They try to hide from me, but I see ’em.

: Bridge supports on either side of the Halsted Street bridge.

: Two things to note: Steve, who does all the heavy lifting. And those support pillars lying on the ground.

: Here, with Steve’s help, those support pillars are up and ready for beams.

: Steve lifts a beam into place on June 7, when this first portion of this round of beams went up.

: …and another, this one on the morning of June 8.

: Traffic nightmare: The Kennedy ramp to Congress Parkway was closed for the next round of Flyover work.

: Traffic goes by to the outbound Dan Ryan as a beam is set on the Congress Parkway ramp.

: Then, on June 16, beams are staged on the Kennedy-to-Congress ramp.

: Cross bracing is set on the ramp, to be fastened to the beams before they’re lifted into place.

: A finished section, and a ramp full of beams for the next section.

: More beams are unloaded form semi trailers.

: It’s now Saturday evening, June 18, and McHugh Construction crews are preparing to set beams into place.

: Gwetting ready to lift the first beam. To the right, the Congress-to-Ryan ramp has been closed.

: Here’s the scene.

: A second crane is up and ready to go in the “outbound” lane.

: Both cranes are ready.

: Another look at Steve. He was born to do this.

: Bridge crews atop the bridge support, ready to secure the beam once it’s been lifted.

: Lift-off, just inches off the ground.

: And now almost in place.

: Beam #1 is in place, and crews work to secure it.

: Here, Beam #2 is almost in place next to the first beam.

: Bright and early Sunday morning, the fruits of their labors: six beams all in a row.

: A few ground-level views, taken Sunday morning, June 19.

: Bridge work and stuffed pizza. What more is there to life?

Drillin’ and Fillin’ at 625 West Adams

Posted on June 16, 2016 by danieldschell

625 West Adams is a beehive of activity.

Monday, I showed you photos of foundation equipment being moved into the construction site at 625 West Adams Street that is soon to become 625 West Adams, a 20-story office tower from CA Ventures and White Oak Realty Partners.

Well, let me do some math for you: That was THREE DAYS AGO. And here we are on Thursday, and Power Construction crews are ripping holes in the earth for caissons like the foundation rigs are due back tomorrow. At this rate, the SCB-designed 625 West Adams might be move-in ready by Tuesday. (Well, not *this* Tuesday, I guess. But *a* Tuesday, for sure.)

: Foundation work is in full force at 625 West Adams.

: It’s like watching dancers. Costumes are kinda cool, too.

: testing the eastern-m ost limits of the lot.

: You know you’re at the edge when the fence has to be opened.

: Rebar teams a fashioning rebar cages to be sunk into the caissons.

: Here comes the cement.

: Cement is being poured into caissons as fast as they’re being drilled.

: Caisson inspection.

: Another delivery.

: Caisson equipment.

: Mounds of dirt are being created…

: …and trucked away.

: New equipment is constantly being delivered to the construction site.

: …and beng moved around. Turn your back, and everything’s in a new place.

Demolition Permit Signals Start of CA Washington

Posted on June 14, 2016 by danieldschell

Bye bye, garage. Hello CA Washington.

A demolition permit filed Monday for the auto repair garage at 1045 West Washington Boulevard in the West Loop signifies the first step in construction for the new CA Washington project.

This small sign on the fence proclaims CA Washington’s imminent arrival.

CA Washington is the latest from Belgravia Realty Group. You’ve seen their work in progress from the Brown Line train on Sedgwick at Locust. This time, Belgravia is building 3-bed, 3-bath condos in the heart of the West Loop.

Oh, and have you heard who the neighbor will be across the street? Multiple reports say McDonald’s will make its new home in the former Harpo Studios on the other side of Washington Blvd. Hmm. I wonder if that will drive condo values up at all?

A rendering of CA Washington from Belgravia Realty Group.

Soil sampling across the street at Harpo Studios earlier this month. Expect lots of activity.

165 North Desplaines Gets a Foundation Permit

Posted on June 14, 2016 by danieldschell

152 North Jefferson. It remains, and is being renovated.

The long, three-story building at 152 North Jefferson stays, but the additions it spawned in the back lot have been leveled into a smooth, blank canvas. And now there’s a foundation permit on file with the City of Chicago, as of yesterday, to start construction on the new 14-story residential tower at 165 North Desplaines Street in the West Loop..

Our permit tells us to expect 199 apartments, with 99 parking spaces and some ground-floor retail. Power Construction is on the clock as your general contractor. Donald Copper from GREC Architects of Chicago did the design chores. Gerding Edlen is the developer.

This officially puts us on Tower Crane Alert!

: A rendering of 165 North Desplaines from GREC Architects.

: What the “back lot” used to look like…

: …before Heneghan Wrecking came in.

: The Haymarket memorial along Desplaines Street.

: It was packed up and moved to avoid damage during construction. It will be back.

: Another GREC render, showing the Haymarket memorial back in place.

: Even the rubble is gone now.

: Blank slate.

Foundation Toys Take Over 625 West Adams Site

Posted on June 13, 2016 by danieldschell

Caisson drill bits arrived by truck Monday morning.

It’s move-in day at 625 West Adams in the West Loop.

No, they didn’t build a 20-story office tower over the weekend. It’s not tenant move-in day; it’s foundation equipment move-in day.

Another truck, more foundation materials.

Bright and early Monday morning, Case Foundation could be seen flooding the 625 West Adams work site with materials and gear they’ll use to begin work on the joint development from CA Ventures and White Oak Realty Partners.

On its way to Chicago is a 20-story office building with 400 parking spaces on levels 1-5, 2,500 square feet of retail space, and three outdoor terraces mixed into the upper floors. Designed by architect Martin Wolf of Solomon Cordwell Buenz, 625 West Adams was approved way *way* back in November of 2012, and developers have decided now is the time to build, and they’ll sign on tenants as they go. The City of Chicago filed a foundation permit last month, and the arrival of all that equipment means things will be very busy at Adams and Desplaines for quite awhile.

: As Old St. Pat’s stands watch, “St. Pat’s Tower” equipment awaits unloading along Desplaines Street.

: Waitin’ for something to do.

: Lots fill up fast when the big gear starts showing up.

: Case Foundation equipment at the ready at “Old St. Pat’s Tower” site.

: Caisson drilling equipment.

111 South Peoria, By Any Other Name

Posted on June 9, 2016 by danieldschell

Illume (11ume?) Chicago, now with its own signage.

Would still be controversial?

Doesn’t matter anymore.

Never Forget

Try as they might (you can read all about the contentious road this project took here at chicagoarchitecture.com) to quash the project at 111 South Peoria, West Loop NIMBYs (mostly from the two adjacent condo buildings, then just one at the Plan Commission meeting) failed to prevent the brand new condominium development from happening in the current parking lot at the same address.

And now that the contentious plan has met the approval of 27th Ward Alderman Walter Burnett, Jr. and the Chicago Plan Commission, 111 South Peoria has a new name as it moves towards fruition: Illume. But fancy, with three 1s instead of an i and two Ls. But a small 1 and two big 1s. 111ume? Yeah, it’s hard to type it that way.

Illume Chicago was approved by the Chicago Plan Commission back in March. It gave the okay for 79 condos in a 115-foot-tall building. Designed by architecture firm Pappageorge Haymes Partners, Illume is expected to be ready for occupancy in 2017. Along with being the developer, LG will be the general contractor as well.

The rendering of Illume Chicago presented by LG Development at the March Plan Commission meeting.

This parking lot will soon be Illume Chicago.

The very same parking lot, as seen from the Up Chicago office.

1400 West Washington Getting a New Plumbers Training Center?

Posted on June 7, 2016 by danieldschell

A rendering of the new Plumbers Local 130 Training Center, from the W.E. O’Neil website.

Thanks to a heads-up from Twitter user @ponjeters, it appears the recently-demolished Plumbing Industry Center posted last night will be replaced by a new, state-of-the-art Plumbers Local 130 Training Center.

Another render from the W.E. O’Neil website.

According to the website of contractor W.E. O’Neil, they are tasked with building a 120,000-square-foot facility that will replace the one Heneghan Wrecking just finished tearing down. Per the website:

“The project is being designed as (a) teaching tool for apprentices and will incorporate state-of-the-art technology and plumbing training workshops.”

The O’Neil website lists Gensler as the architect, and Chicago Journeymen Plumbers as the client.

The website has no location information other than “Chicago,” which still has a few more spaces to fill in besides this one at 1400 West Washington Boulevard. I sent an email to O’Neil last night in hopes of verifying the project’s address.

The now-destroyed Plumbing Industry Center at 1400 West Washington Boulevard in the West Loop.

1400 West Washington Blvd is a Hole in the Ground.

Posted on June 6, 2016 by danieldschell

A large hole in the ground where 1400 West Washington used to sit.

Hasn’t always been that way, of course. What used to be the “Plumbing Industry Center” (among other uses) building at 1400 West Washington Boulevard in the West Loop was a nice looking structure. But someone wanted it gone, so down it came. No word on what, if anything, will take its place. Maybe they just needed more room for the Randolph Street Market next door.

Don’t judge it by this gloomy day; it was a handsome structure.

There were excellent columns out front.

And this fantastic piece, front and center, at the top of the building. I hope this was saved.

Heneghan Wrecking, working from the back of the building toward Washington Blvd.

It always feels like such an invasion of privacy to see a building laid open like this.

A brief look inside.

“PUBLIC” no more.

The death certificate, if you will.

Introducing RP150 to the Chicago Skyline

Posted on June 6, 2016 by danieldschell

May, 2016. RP150 rises above the Metra tracks in the West Loop.

Eurythmics. Wham. Go West. Daft Punk. Air Supply. Names that conjure up images of groups, yet only represent a duo. Now you can add a Chicago act to that list: RP150.

You may know RP150 as two separate entities. But to me, they’re like peas and carrots. It’s hard to remember what this city looked like without them, and now they’ll be here, together, forever.

150 North Riverside is a 54-story office building, designed by the Chicago architecture firm Goettsch Partners, between Lake Street, Randolph Street, and the Chicago River. Right next to it, on the north side of Lake Street, is River Point, a 52-story office tower at 444 West Lake Street designed by Pickard Chilton. Being developed by Riverside Investment & Development Company, and Hines, respectively, the two neighbors will deliver about 2,250,000 rentable square feet to the West Loop. There will also be nearly three full acres of public park space, for those of us who don’t need to rent an office in either building. And glass. Lots of shiny glass.