The Wicker Park Connection digs in

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Wicker Park Connection

A rendering of the Wicker Park Connection from Hirsch Associates Architects.

After filing a foundation permit late in 2016, the Wicker Park Connection is burrowing into the soil on its lot at 1640 West Division Street. The 15-story project from Centrum Partners will sit right next to the nearly-completed Centrum Wicker Park, another collaboration between Centrum and Hirsch Associates Architects.

Revcon is out there drilling caissons now; Linn-Mathes is the general contractor assigned to sending the 140 apartments skyward.

Clarkview wedges its way into Lake View

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Clarkview

The view of the saved facade from inside Clarkview as Stalworth begins caisson work.

If you’re claustrophobic, you may need to open a window before reading on, as this is a story about tight spaces.

There is no room for error — heck, there’s no room for much of anything — in the tiny space at 3226 North Clark Street in Lake View, where Stalworth Underground has squeezed caisson equipment through the alley to begin work on a new Transit Oriented Development.

Clarkview, a design from Jonathan Splitt Architects (you remember them from the Blue Plate Catering digs) will be seven stories tall and weigh in at 24 residential units. Once home to The Alley, where the cool kids dressed, the facade of the old structure is being preserved and implemented into the new building. That means access to the lot from Clark Street isn’t possible, leaving the alley off Belmont next to the new Lakeview 3200 as the only way in and out.

Stalworth sent over some photos showing just how tight the squeeze was. I looked, and couldn’t find the smallest morsel of sawdust under any of the electrical poles. That’s allowed them to stockpile caisson equipment and get to work in the tiny, enclosed lot.

Stalworth brings in gear

Caisson Work

 

Wanda Vista Tower starts going 3-dimensional

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Wanda Vista Tower

Those kinds of heights are right about at my level. And you want me on that wall. You *need* me on that wall. 

Tired of Wanda Vista Tower photos yet? Don’t be. Because before you know it, all the fun construction will be hundreds of feet in the air, and much harder to watch. So let’s enjoy Vista Theater being presented by McHugh Construction while it lasts.

With the gigantic mat pour done (the junior mat at the east end of the site has been poured too), the tower has started going vertical. I was especially happy to see guys hanging on a wall, four feet off the ground. I could do that; anything over six feet high would have to be someone else’s job, though.

 

A Sunny Day At: Alta Roosevelt

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Disclaimer: This post is actually the culmination of more than one sunny day. Yes, the photos are a few days apart, and therefore may appear to show construction at different stages. This is not an attempt to mislead my dear rather; rather, it is a product of my inability to use all the photos I take in a timely manner.

Seriously though, I think these pictures are about a week apart. That’s not a big deal, right?

Alta Roosevelt, or 801 South Financial as it’s sometimes known (even by its own Twitter account) continues to grow up before our eyes, and the eyes of everyone in the South Loop. 33 stories, a whopping 496 apartments from Wood Partners, designed by Pappageorge Haymes, and built by Walsh Construction, conveniently located between the Roosevelt Collection and the LaSalle Street Metra station. You can grab a movie, rush home for a shower, and jump on the Rock Island train to Joliet without even needing a Lyft.

 

Construction Progress: 151 North Franklin glazes a trail in The Loop

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CNA Center

Just a couple guys, hanging out, and in, and over, 151 North Franklin.

151 North Franklin, the future CNA Center in The Loop, keeps getting taller and shinier. Go by at any time of day, and you’ll see crews on a couple sides of the building hanging glass panels. It’s the kind of work that’s fun to watch from down here, until you see someone lean out over the edge to watch what’s happening below them, and you need to move on before you lose your lunch.

Here, have a bunch of progress photos, all taken without having to dangle precariously from, over, or above anything.

Construction Progress: Chicago Blackhawks Community Training Center

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Chicago Blackhawks Community Training Center

Work continues on the Chicago Blackhawks Community Training Center.

At 1801 West Jackson Boulevard on the west side, McHugh Construction continues working on the Chicago Blackhawks Community Training Center. Wingers, defensemen, and goalies will be able to use it too though. The two-story, 125,000-square-foot facility, designed by HOK, replaces the original, now-demolished Malcolm X College, which became expendable when a new facility was built across the street.

In addition to providing practice surfaces for the Blackhawks and visiting NHL teams, the center will provide youth hockey development, and host recreational hockey leagues as well. It is expected to open in December of this year.

As 150 North Riverside opens, a look back

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150 North Riverside

150 North Riverside, casting gorgeous reflections onto Randolph Place, though I’m sure condo owners aren’t pleased with their new views.

150 North Riverside is the first construction project that caught, and kept, my attention. I wandered past it daily when it was still a figment of someone’s imagination, curious about the oil-drilling-rig-looking thing sitting in an empty lot along the Chicago River. Of course, I’d learn later that I was looking at a soil-sampling rig, but that had no significance to me at the time.

Shortly after construction started, some genius in Public Relations came up with a fool-proof way to garner publicity; crews excavating soil form the site sank a barge. Sure, it *looked* like an accident, but suddenly 150 North Riverside was thrust into the spotlight. And there it remained, though it didn’t hurt bringing in a giant red floating crane to erect steel trusses that stopped pedestrian traffic on the Randolph Street Bridge.

That was 28 months ago. And now, on Monday, February 13, 2017, 150 North Riverside opens its doors to office workers. Had I not dropped a hard drive on the ground and lost them, I could show you at least 1,000 photos I’ve taken of this beauty in the last 2+ years. Instead, have a look at a select few along the way. Then, make sure you stop by the tower and check out the media stream.

The Team

Goettsch Partners: Design architects

Riverside Investment & Development Company: Developer

Magnusson Klemencic Associates: Structural engineer

Clark Construction: General contractor

150 North Riverside along the way

150 North Riverside today

A Sunny Day At: 1035 West Van Buren

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1035 West Van Buren

Okay, this one isn’t from a sunny day. I just really like the way 1035 West Van Buren looks at night. I won’t try to fool you again.

Another segment in the A Sunny Day At series. This time, it’s 1035 West Van Buren. With its new rows of glass, yellow forms, and red wraps, it begs to be photographed when the sun is out.

1035 West Van Buren

1035 West Van Buren works its way into Chicago’s western skyline.

New Wanda Vista Tower means an Extension for Upper Wacker Drive

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Wanda Vista Tower isn’t the only construction happening along East Upper Wacker Drive. The roadway itself is getting an upgrade too, as crews extend the dead-end portion of the elevated street that will front the new tower. This is the reason you have to turn around and go back west a tad earlier than you used to. What, you thought you could get to Lake Shore Drive from up here?

Upper Wacker Extension

 

Caisson work begins on the Cook County Central Campus Health Center

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Cook County Central Campus Health Center

The unmistakable yellow masts of Case Foundation drilling caissons at the new Cook County Central Campus Health Center.

Case Foundation is on the case in the Illinois Medical District, as caisson work is underway for the new Cook County Central Campus Health Center. The nine-story, 282,000-square-foot facility at the corner of Damen Avenue and Polk Street was designed by Gensler, in collaboration with Forum Studio. Also joining the design/build team is Clayco, Inc. which is serving as the general contractor as well.

*** Forum and Clayco share a motto, “The Art & Science of Building” and an address, at 35 East Wacker. Their involvement in this together is no coincidence. ***

The Cook County Health & Hospitals System broke ground on the new digs back on December 1, 2016. A foundation permit was filed by the City of Chicago January 20.

You can read the entire press release immediately below the photo gallery.

 

Construction Begins on New Cook County Central Campus Health Center

December 1, 2016

Today, the Cook County Health & Hospitals System (CCHHS), Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, and the Cook County Board of Commissioners broke ground on a new state-of-the-art health center in Chicago.

“The Central Campus Health Center represents a true and lasting commitment to the Cook County Health & Hospitals System, the patients it serves, and our greater community,” said President Preckwinkle. “Today’s celebration is not just about the construction of a new building, but about the promise this project brings to people across Cook County who are in need of expert health care.”

The new 9-story, 282,000 square foot building located at the corner of Polk Street and Damen Avenue, will be completed in 2018. The construction of the new Central Campus Health Center represents a more than $100 million investment by Cook County.

“Thanks to the support from the Cook County Board of Commissioners, the health system will have the modern space and amenities it needs to thrive and expand its capacity to serve,” said M. Hill Hammock, Chair, CCHHS Board of Directors.

Clinical services provided in the new health center will include outpatient specialty services such as dental, ophthalmology, oncology, infusion, dermatology, diabetes and endocrine and adult medicine. The first four floors will house clinical space, with the remaining floors serving as administrative space. The flexible building design allows for administrative  to be turned in to clinical space as necessary.
“The new health center will provide our patients an updated, welcoming space, reflective of the high-quality care they receive,” said Dr. Jay Shannon, CEO, CCHHS. “With this project we are coming closer to realizing our future as a modern, integrated person-centered health system, providing expert care while fulfilling our historical mission to care for all in need. Our patients deserve no less.”

Demand for primary and specialty care on the Central Campus is significant. CCHHS cares for more than 300,000 unique patients across the county each year, seeing approximately one million outpatient visits annually- more than half of which take place on the health system’s Central Campus.

“The development of this health center will transform the inner core of Chicago’s West side,” said Cook County Commissioner Robert Steele. “In addition to better serving the patients of our county health system, the construction of the health center will generate new jobs, stimulating our local economy.”

With the new health center, CCHHS will be able to decommission the dilapidated Fantus Health Center, as well as the outdated Administration and Hektoen buildings. Together, these buildings would otherwise require $128 million in deferred maintenance.

“The Central Campus Health Center project is an exciting development opportunity for both the 27th Ward and all of Cook County; a welcomed addition to the Illinois Medical District and upgrade to the way specialized and ambulatory health care services are delivered to all its patients,” said Chicago Alderman Walter Burnett, Jr.

Clayco, the developer and design/builder in partnership with project manager CBRE, has assembled a world-class team including executive architect Forum Studio and design architect Gensler, along with numerous local minority- and women- owned business enterprises. The health center’s design is intended to meet LEED Silver standards for energy-efficiency and environmental impact.

“We are honored to be a partner in the development and delivery, of not only an amazing architectural building, but an integrated health center that meets patient needs,” said Robert G. Clark, CEO, Clayco. “We are committed to reaching out into the community for a diverse workforce and to truly make an impact in Cook County.”

The Central Campus Health Center building and a complimentary project to construct a women and children’s center inside CCHHS’ Stroger Hospital were approved by the Illinois Health Facilities Planning & Services Review Board in September 2016.