There is lumber coming out of the woodwork at 625 West Adams

Posted on September 19, 2016 by danieldschell

From above, 625 West Adams is starting to look three-dimensional.

It’s about wood and scaffolding right now at 625 West Adams in the West Loop. As the future 20-story office tower begins rising above street level, Power Construction crews are climbing and hammering like some sort of Tool Time playground, and Tim Taylor and Al Borland are getting a lot done. Have a look for yourself…

: Gratuitous tower crane shot, sky level.

: Gratuitous tower crane shot, street level.

: It’s a Hall Of Mirrors.

625 West Adams gets Labor Day permit, allowing more labor

Posted on September 7, 2016 by danieldschell

Watching the construction site at 625 West Adams on Wednesday morning.

625 West Adams has received its ultimate building permit from the City of Chicago, one that will allow for the full build of the 20-story office tower. Workers from Power Construction can be seen on-site this morning, celebrating the permit’s filing by arriving at the job site and going about their business like it’s just another day, That’s professionalism right there, folks. Never get too high, never get too low.

The full-build permit, filed by the City of Chicago September 6th.

625 West Adams putting that shiny new tower crane to good use

Posted on September 1, 2016 by danieldschell

625 West Adams, from above. Hard to tell from up here what kind of heights have been reached at ground level.

625 West Adams is right outside our back window. It has a big yellow tower crane. Perhaps you’ve heard me speak of it a time or two. And while that new-crane smell may have worn off by now, the new crane’s purpose is just beginning.

As Power Construction continues to make progress on the 20-story office tower, that cranes been throwing things around the lot like a champ. And for good reason; there’s a lot of work to be done to have 625 West Adams ready for its debut in early 2018.

Gratuitous Tower-Crane-And-Building-Up-Chicago-Office shot.

A 5-day Tower Crane event at 625 West Adams

Posted on August 16, 2016 by danieldschell

Pictured above is the crew from Central Contractors Service, calmly going about their day from the middle of the sky.

If you didn’t know by now, a tower crane was assembled at 625 West Adams over the past few days. Here now are several thousand photos showing the chronology of that process:

: It all started on Thursday the 11th, when Central brought this giant street crane to 625 West Adams.

: Then crane parts started showing up.

: Crane parts were offloaded…

: …and the Central crew started to piece together the street crane.

: Yada yada yada, and this was what greeted me when I got home Thursday night.

: Friday morning, before the weather turned,

: The cab.

: Friday morning.

: The Central crane, from ground level.

: Tower crane parts everywhere.

: There’s the “spire” that will sit atop the main shaft.

: Waiting in line.

: Saturday morning, and parts are lined up.

: More parts are arriving, even as Central assembles what’s on site already.

: NOPE

: The man platform is lifted into place.

: The cab is secured to the main platform.

: Deadlifts.

: Sunday morning now, and the spire is lifted to the top of the main shaft.

: This is when I got queasy. Well, again.

: My fancy time-lapse set-up.

: The first, shorter piece of the boom starts to rise.

: …and comes in for a landing. It looked like the Space Shuttle docking with ISS.

: The first piece is in place.

: If you don’t notice the cable he’s holding, it looks like he’s dancing. He is *not* dancing.

: Double NOPE.

: Climbing down after a long Sunday shift.

: The crew reassembles Monday morning.

: Monday morning, after the climb. The sky crew’s ready.

: The larger section of the boom is lifted.

: Forrest Gump sits on a bench in the background, oblivious to the action behind him.

: Almost…

: Should you be out there?

: It’s a tower crane!

: Tuesday morning, at full staff.

Tower Crane Update: 625 West Adams

Posted on August 13, 2016 by danieldschell

There are tower crane parts all over the West Loop today. And you know what? It’s fantastic.

Crews continue assembly of the giant yellow Liebherr 542 HC-L 18-36 Litronic (I can read permits) at 625 West Adams.

: NOPE

: More parts on the way, even as present parts are being put together.

Quick Look: Tower crane assemblage at 625 West Adams

Posted on August 12, 2016 by danieldschell

This massive street crane was the first piece of equipment on hand for the tower crane assembly.

Most construction companies will tell you they have their own schedules to keep, unaffected by outside influences. That’s okay. I’m still going to pretend I’m responsible for getting the tower crane on site at 625 West Adams.

Parts began arriving Thursday, and crews immediately got to work putting them together. It looks like weather may slow things down today.

: The Central crane stands at the ready.

: The first truck with crane parts arrives.

: Those are paw pads for the street crane.

: This is what greeted me upon my return Thursday night.

: Same shot, more light, Friday morning.

: Friday morning crane meeting.

: The cab waits patiently on Desplaines…

: …and then backs into the lot.

: Cab assembly started as soon as it hit the ground.

Will 625 West Adams ever finish my tower crane?

Posted on August 9, 2016 by danieldschell

Last night, I put instant coffee in the microwave, and almost went back in time.” Steven Wright

I’m guessing Steven Wright was not a patient man. I, on the other hand, have unlimited patience. To a point.

Power Construction is getting a lot done on the lot at 625 West Adams Street in the West Loop. But I’ll be darned if I don’t find myself looking out the window every morning and wishing I could put an instant tower crane in the microwave. Or something. To be honest, it’s not really *my* tower crane. At all.

In the meantime, take a look at what’s been done to this point on 625 West Adams, the new SCB-designed 20-story office tower from CA Ventures and White Oak Realty.

: Is it just me, or does that tower crane stub still look kinda stubby?

: Another maze.

: Instead of one big building…

: …it looks like a series of smaller projects…

: …that will all meld together into one office tower.

: The 625 West Adams site.

: Still lots of rebar.

Check One Off The List: 625 West Adams Plants a Tower Crane

Posted on July 14, 2016 by danieldschell

Setting the tower crane base, bright and early this morning.

It was an inadvertent Tower Crane Tuesday post. And here we are on Thursday, and it’s already obsolete. But in the good way. For no longer are there six tower crane permits awaiting actual tower cranes. No, my friends, now there are five.

https://twitter.com/BuildUpChicago/status/753393411969970176

https://twitter.com/BuildUpChicago/status/753580641397116929

625 West Adams trucked in the base of its new tower crane yesterday, and wasted no time this morning rooting it into the ground. It’s one of those pretty yellow ones, too. And it will be right outside my window. Thank you, Power Construction. You know the way to my heart.

Please let me know if there’s an angle of this crane you’d like to see that I haven’t included below…

: It was still sitting on the truck during last night’s storm.

: But it made it through unscathed.

: Final preps on the foundation…

: …as the base was being offloaded.

: And there it stands, along South Desplaines Street.

: Tower crane crew doing what they do.

: Proof that I stayed behind the fence.

: There’s more foundation work happening besides just the tower crane.

: Old St. Pat’s in the background. 625 West Adams is often referred to as “St. Pat’s Tower.”

The Tower Crane Pipeline Still Runneth Over [Updated]

Posted on July 12, 2016 by danieldschell

Last week, I got pretty excited (okay, way excited — overstimulated even) about the three tower crane stubs being set in the ground around Chicago. One was for the DePaul School of Music, one for the new Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ meetinghouse at 822 North Clark Street, and the third at 8 East Huron Street in River North. But lest you think that puts a wrap on what to watch for, think again.

We still have half a dozen projects out there with tower crane permits itching to climb into the sky. They are:

Atrium Village

Atrium Village received a tower crane permit last week to erect a 31-story apartment building.

Atrium Village, which I also posted about last week, will rise soon in the Near North. The 31-story rental tower, which is Phase One of the multi-phase project by Onni Group to rebuild the entire Atrium Village development, got its tower crane permit July 5th.

625 West Adams

625 West Adams is a busy lot again this morning, following a slow weekend after wrapping up caisson work.

625 West Adams in the West Loop got its tower crane permit on June 28th. The 20-story office tower from CA Ventures and White Oak Realty Partners is happening right outside the buildingupchicago office.

165 North Desplaines

Caisson work is ongoing at 165 North Desplaines in the West Loop.

Also in the West Loop, Gerding Edlen’s 165 North Desplaines continues caisson work, while waiting to install its tower crane. The permit was filed on June 28th, the same day as 625 West Adams. Two brand-spankin’ new tower cranes four blocks apart. Nice. 165 North Desplaines will be a 14-story apartment building with 199 units.

3Eleven

3Eleven still looks like that movie “Holes”

In the early stages of construction, 3Eleven still looks like just a random series of holes. Soon, it will be a 23-story apartment tower from the John Buck Company at 311 West Illinois Street in River North, in what, up until a couple weeks ago, was the parking lot for Assumption Roman Catholic Church.

Apple Store

The new Apple Store at 401 North Michigan Avenue, both upper and lower.

Does Chicago need a new Apple Store? Or just an Apple Store with more space for people to camp out overnight for each new iPhone? Well, Chicago is getting both. At 401 North Michigan Avenue, in Pioneer Court. And it’s getting a tower crane as well, permitted on May 23rd.

171 North Aberdeen

171 North Aberdeen in the West Loop.

The West Loop is a busy place. But you knew that. 171 North Aberdeen is another project in the early stages. They’ve done some scraping, but it may be a while yet until it gets the tower crane it was permitted to have back on May 10th. 171 North Aberdeen, from MCZ Development, will be a mid-rise, mixed-use building combining luxury apartments, retail space, office space, and parking.

[Curiously, the tower permit is the only permit on file so far. No foundation permit has been issued as yet.]

That sentence from the original story is completely, thoroughly wrong. 171 North Aberdeen received a foundation permit on June 6th. I missed it. Sorry for my mistake.

625 West Adams Pours Foundation Equipment Into 465 North Park

Video

Case Foundation made quick work of the caissons for the new office tower at 625 West Adams Street in the West Loop. So what does one do with all that equipment? Well, this is Chicago, and all those tools and toys are in high demand.

Which is why most of it poured into the construction site at 465 North Park Drive in Streeterville. That’s where Power Construction (625’s general contractor as well) has begun foundation work on the 47-story, 444-apartment tower designed by Pappageorge Haymes Partners. There, it will all be reassembled so holes can be dug and caissons can be sunk and a tower can be built.