Related Midwest holds groundbreaking ceremony at 400 Lake Shore

Posted on June 18, 2024 by danieldschell

Dirt goes flying at the 400 Lake Shore groundbreaking ceremony.

Related Midwest hosted a groundbreaking ceremony at 400 Lake Shore on Monday. Because I care deeply about you, the viewer, I braved the stifling heat and accepted an invitation to attend. Three words: Totally. Worth. It.

Not only did I get to sign a beam that will be placed inside the cofferdam, our hosts also allowed us to walk over to the edge and peer down into it. And if you follow me on Twitter (you should) you know how badly I’ve been aching to see down into that thing. It also gave me the opportunity to talk to a few members of the construction crews, and I learned some things.

The mesmerizing 400 lake Shore cofferdam.

Remember when I watched them start cutting the top “ring” of that cofferdam? Well, they aren’t even close to being done. There are three more rings to go. They’re removing four of those sections in total. The top of the concrete core you see in the photo above marks the underside of the lowest floor level. That means there’s a lot of excavation work to be done, but not nearly as much backfilling of the abyss as I thought. Because so much of it won’t be an abyss anymore, once those four sections are cut away.

A huge thank you to Related Midwest and Taylor Johnson for allowing me to join in the celebration Monday, and to everyone involved in prepping the site for us to wander around a little. (They paved a little concrete path for us!) And the tent! Thank you for the tent!)
As I told Nosa Ehimwenman of BOWA Construction and Curt Bailey of Related, I’m the one up there on the Lake Shore Drive sidewalk once a week, watching, and I’ll be back soon.

Curt Bailey, President, Related Midwest, and our emcee for the ceremony.

Nosa Ehimwenman, President & CEO, BOWA Construction, co-general contractors.

Enjoying the photos? Metra and CTA rides (and Amtrak trains to Milwaukee), Zipcars, Divvy Bikes, camera lenses, domain fees, snacks & energy drinks, and comfortable walking shoes add up. You can help offset expenses by making a greatly-appreciated donation to Building Up Chicago.

Hirsch MPG announces imminent start of 3605 North Ravenswood construction

Posted on June 12, 2024 by danieldschell

Rendering of 3605 North Ravenswood from Hirsch MGP

A LinkedIn post from Chicago architecture firm Hirsch MPG announced the imminent beginning of construction at 3605 North Ravenswood in Lake View. On hold for the better part of a year, the development fills in what is now an empty dirt lot, after demolitions of three properties (1744 and 1746 West Addison, and 3609 North Ravenswood) on the northwest corner of Addison and Ravenswood in 2022.

According to Hirsch MPG, there has been a bout a year-long delay in getting construction started at 3605 North Ravenswood, but now they expert work to commence this month. With Macon Construction as the general contractor, Hirsch has designed a six-story, 54-unit apartment building with 12 parking spaces and a rooftop terrace. The ground floor will include 2 retail spaces.

Macon Construction pulls double duty on this one, joining forces with Stocking Urban as co-developers while also serving as general contractor. The New Construction permit is still pending with the City of Chicago; we’ll be on the lookout for that to be issued any day now.

Pending permit for 3605 North Ravenswood via Chicago Data Portal

Lake View Lutheran Church demolition begins, signaling the start of Lakeview Landing

Posted on June 12, 2024 by danieldschell

Demolition begins at Lake View Lutheran Church to make way for 37 affordable apartments.

A demolition permit was issued by the City of Chicago on May 31 for Lake View Lutheran Church at 835 West Addison Street in Lake View. And now demo work has begun. Demolition contractor Quality Excavation is on site as we speak, tearing the church down from the south end forward. Once the rubble has cleared, destruction will turn to creation as Lakeview Landing construction begins.

Rendering of Lakeview Landing from Weese Langley Weese Architects

New building permit, via Chicago Data Portal

Lakeview Landing will be a six-story, 37-unit affordable apartment building designed by Weese Langley Weese Architects. The ground floor will include a meeting room for the church, as well as 12 indoor sparking spaces. All 37 apartments will be one-bedroom, 575-square-foot rental units.

Powers and Sons Construction of Gary, Indiana, is already on site overseeing the demo work, itching to get started on the new build. A New Construction permit was issued back on December 12 of last year, so they’ve been waiting a bit.

Cladding is Darn Near Done at 633 South LaSalle

Posted on June 10, 2024 by danieldschell

Top off your glass for you? That’s what they’re doing at 633 South LaSalle, as the curtain wall/cladding/whatever you wanna call it rises up Q Investment Partners’ 18-story residential tower in the South Loop. Only about one-and-a-half floors remain in need of glazing.

Clark Construction has been working on this FitzGerald-designed development for awhile now, before and after a slight pause in the financing game, with the goal of having residents begin moving in next year. It looks more and more every day like they’ll easily meet that deadline.

As you’ll see by clicking on the Melrose Ascension Capital link above, 633 South LaSalle will have units starting under $1,700/month. For being so close to The Loop, that seems like a nice price.

Chicago’s newest tower crane goes to work at 1723 South Michigan

Posted on June 7, 2024 by danieldschell

There’s a new tower crane in town, picking stuff up and setting it back down, and it’s going to send 1723 South Michigan vertical. This 12-story, 149-unit rental building is being developed by CMK Companies. Along with retail space on the ground floor, the first three levels will include 89 parking stalls.

Congratulations to Brandts Build for their first tower crane on my count. Hopefully there will be a couple more one block west when this one’s finished. Shout-out as well to Goebel Forming, the concrete contractor here.

And now, the tower crane photos:

Chicago begins June 2024 with eight tower cranes working the skies

Posted on June 1, 2024 by danieldschell

Chicago has begun June 2024 with eight working tower cranes around the city, down one from the nine we had in May. The base has been planted at 1723 South Michigan, but the crane won’t be erected there until early June.

The South Side still rules, with five of our eight cranes. One South Side crane came down in May (at 4822 S Cottage Grove) but two North Side cranes came down (O’Hare T5 garage and Illinois Masonic.) Here’s a quick survey for June:

What Community Area are the cranes in?

3 – Hyde Park (Hyde Park Labs, UChicago Medicine X2)
2 – Woodlawn (Obama Center, Project H.O.O.D.)
2 – Near West Side (220 North Ada, 919 West Fulton)
1 – Near North Side (400 Lake Shore)

Okay, but what neighborhood?

3 – Hyde Park (Hyde Park Labs, UChicago Medicine X2)
1 – Woodlawn (Project H.O.O.D.)
1 – Jackson Park (Obama Center)
2 – Fulton Market District/West Loop (919 West Fulton, 220 North Ada)
1 – Streeterville (400 Lake Shore)

What are they building?

Cultural Facility – 1 – 6001 S Stony Island (Obama Presidential Center)
Healthcare – 2 – 5644 S Drexel X2 (UChicago Medicine Cancer Care)
Office – 1 – 217 N Sangamon (919 West Fulton)
Community Center – 1 – 6822 S MLK Drive (Project H.O.O.D,)
Life Sciences – 1 – 5201 S Harper (Hyde Park Labs)
Residential – 2 – 220 North Ada, 462 N Water (400 Lake Shore)

Cranes added in May:

220 North Ada
462 N Water Street (400 Lake Shore)

Cranes taken down in May:

900 West Nelson (Illinois Masonic)
O’Hare Airport Terminal 5 parking garage
4822 S Cottage Grove (Northwestern Medicine Bronzeville)

Here are your June 2024 tower cranes, from north to south:

6001 S Stony Island Ave (Obama Presidential Center)

6623 S Dr Martin Luther King Dr (Project H.O.O.D.)

Partial credit for the stub at 1723 S Michigan Ave, to be erected first week of June.

Stop The Presses! 400 Lake Shore just erected Chicago’s 11th tower crane of May 2024

Posted on May 23, 2024 by danieldschell

The tower crane goes up at 400 Lake Shore in Streeterville.

400 Lake Shore has erected Chicago’s 11th working tower crane for May 2024, nearly matching step-for-step the ascent of the crane over at 220 North Ada. This puts a crane in the Streeterville neighborhood to replace the recently-departed RIU Plaza and Saint Grand cranes.

That’s a big NOPE. This man will never lose his job to me.

All that activity Tuesday, but I didn’t stick around to see the tower crane roll onto the lot. I *knew* I should have packed a lunch and stayed the duration.

Raising the boom, instead of lowering it, at 400 Lake Shore.

This is the tower crane you want to see between the Chicago River and Ogden Slip, a shiny yellow Liebherr that will reflect the sun like a lighthouse. I love this crane, in this spot. Maybe they’ll double the height of 400 Lake Shore so the crane stays overtime.

Old Chicago Spire cofferdam trimming has begun at 400 Lake Shore

Posted on May 23, 2024 by danieldschell

A Lindahl Brothers excavator makes off with the first portion of the old Chicago Spire cofferdam..

Just a little off the top, please.

It should surprise no one that there’s a lot going on at the 400 Lake Shore construction site. Tuesday, they were bringing in parts for the crane that will assemble the tower crane (alas, no tower crane parts or segments had arrived while I was there.) But I did get to see something maybe even cooler than that, and you know how much I like the tower cranes.

There was some concrete demolition on the inside of the old Chicago Spire cofferdam, which has been partially excavated on the north side. There was torch cutting of said cofferdam. Ultimately, a section of the cofferdam one concrete “ring” deep fell outward and was hauled off by the excavator you see in the video above. I’m told that entire top ring of the cofferdam will be removed.

The orange line marks where the steel will be cut, all the way around.

I checked for that cofferdam section on eBay, but haven’t seen it pop up yet. I want it in my office,

On to a few more pics of Tuesday morning’s events and goings-on:

He did not do all that excavating wth a shovel, right?

Quick Look: Waiting for Windows at Clark and Ardmore in Edgewater

Posted on May 22, 2024 by danieldschell

Rendering from Space Architects + Planning

Construction progress has topped out, the exterior is bricked up, and it looks like windows could be added any day, at a four-story, 18-unit building at 5845 North Clark Street in the Edgewater neighborhood. Located at the corner of Clark and Ardmore, the two-tone brick building is being built by Shutler Development, who’s also acting as the general contractor.

Google Streetview look at 5845 North Clark, now demolished.

SPACE Architects + Planners is the designer of this project. A demolition permit was issued May 12 of 2022 to clear the site of the single-story former home of Metro Remittance Center and Bacolod’s Best Kitchen at 5845 North Clark Street. Mulroy Demolition & Excavation was listed as the demo contractor for the tear-down. A New Construction permit followed on November 28, 2022. Using the address of 1548 West Ardmore Avenue, that permit called for parking on the first floor, but unlike so many new construction projects, no ground-level retail space.

New construction permit allows 5-story, 6-unit condo building at 453 West Briar Place in Lake View

Posted on May 22, 2024 by danieldschell

Rendering of 453 West Briar Place via SGW Architecture & Design

A permit was issued Tuesday, May 21 by the City of Chicago to begin construction on a condominium development at 453 West Briar Place in Lake View. Being built by Chicago’s GVP Development, the new building replaces two now-demolished structures on a tree-lined block featuring mostly mid-rise, multi-unit residences.

A five-story, six-unit condo project, 453 West Briar is a design by SGW Architecture & Design. Formerly known as Sullivan Goulette & Wilson, SGW has offices in Chicago and New York City. We’ve seen their work here on the blog at CA6, CA Washington, and Peoria Green, among others.

Via Google Streetview, 453 (left) and 455 (right) West Briar Place, both now demolished.

To make room for the condo building, 453 West Briar was issued a demolition permit on December 8 of 2021. About 16 months later, and New Construction permit for a four-story, three-unit building was permitted. That project doesn’t appear to have started; instead, another demolition permit, this time for 455 West Briar, was issued August 14, 2023, opening up a second lot for new construction. Precision Excavation was the demolition contractor for both properties, according to the demolition permits.