AVP2-3D, you might say.
Who else could use a quick walk-around out at Atrium Village? That’s where Onni Group is erecting the second tower of the redevelopment for this Near North mainstay. The first tower, Old Town Park, should be opening any day now.
Atrium Village Phase II? Old Town Park 2? 202 Hill Street? The second tower Onni Group is constructing in Near North doesn’t have an official name yet, but it does have a tower crane and a building permit. And those are the important things. That permit calls for a Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture-designed 39-story tower, including a 6-level parking podium, with 428 apartments. Onni Group is once again the developer and general contractor, just as they are next door at Old Town Park, and The Hudson a few blocks away.
Case Foundation is at work in Near North, drilling caissons for Atrium Village Phase Two.
The tower crane is gone from Old Town Park in the Near North neighborhood, but it will be replaced on the same block very soon. Onni Group is doing foundation work on the next phase of the Atrium Village redo, with Case Foundation on site drilling caissons at this very moment.
There isn’t much I can tell you about Phase Two besides what we find in the building permit, which the City of Chicago issued for 202 West Hill Street back on December 8, 2017. That permit calls for a Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture-designed 39-story tower, including a 6-level parking podium, with 428 apartments. Onni Group will act once again as their own builder. Someday soon, this tower is likely to get a fancy new name. We hope.
The permit, issued Friday, for 39 stories at 202 West Hill Street.
We don’t know much, but we do know there’s a brand-spankin’-new permit for the second tower at Atrium Village in the Near North neighborhood. Just as Onni Group appears ready to take down the tower crane at Old Town Park, the City of Chicago granted a permit on Friday to begin foundation work on the second tower, at 202 West Hill Street, of the Atrium overhaul.
This one will be 39 stories high, with 428 units above a six-story podium, and some ground-floor retail space. As with Old Town Park, Onni Group will be their own general contractor, and Hartshorne Plunkard is the design architect.
Sure, we look forward to another tall building, but we’re more anxious to see Onni light up another tower crane!
The moon and the glow crane were out Sunday evening at Old Town Park.
For the second year in a row, Onni Group has strung some serious lights on the tower crane hovering above Old Town Park in the near North neighborhood. Of course, it was still Atrium Village at this time last year. Not to mention construction had barely risen above street level. But now, Old Town Park is topped out at a full 31 stories, and glass has reached the 25th floor, or thereabouts.
Folks, let me just tell you that glow-in-the-dark tower cranes are THE. BOMB. Chicago needs more of them. I would love to see this become a trend here. But at least Onni gets it right. Two years ago, they also lit up the tower crane at The Hudson for the holidays. So kudos to them for their three-year streak. Will we see another this time next year when the next Atrium Village phase is underway?
The topped-out top of Old Town Park in Near North.
With the 32-story, 405-unit Old Town Park at 1140 North Wells Street in Near North topped out, ground work is going deep to its south, and it looks like the start of the Phase 2 tower is imminent. No permits exist for that building yet, but the lot has been cleared and leveled, tress along Hill Street have been chopped down, and there are deep excavations where Atrium Village foundations once stood. Or sat.
Onni Group is developing and building the Hartshorne Plunkard-designed redo of Atrium Village. We’ll keep an eye out for a permit, which will also include a new tower crane, as the second tower isn’t close enough to the first one for the current crane to reach.
Old Town Park rises beyond the rubble of Atrium Village.
The circle of life continues at Atrium Village, as all but the 207 units of 300 West Hill Street have now been reduced to rubble, even as Old Town Park rises on the northeast corner of the development. The first of tower in the rebuilding of the development, Old Town Park has reached the 21st of its ultimate 32 stories. Onni Group, the developer and general contractor, is flying along at better than a one-floor-per-week pace.
Meanwhile, demolition is all but complete, with only rubble to remove, on the remaining buildings of the complex, save for the previously mentioned 300 West Hill, which is staying. **Serious question: At what point will everyone look around at all the new, amenity-laden buildings, look back at this old one, and say “yeah, let’s tear it down after all”? Anyway, the slate will be clean in plenty of time to begin work on the second tower, hopefully in early fall.
This overhead shot from Curtis Waltz at Aerialscapes shows the Old Town Park tower, with Atrium Village demolition at lower left.
Old Town Park rises as part of the new Atrium Village.
As Onni Group continues construction of their apartment tower as part of the rebuilding of Atrium Village in the Near North neighborhood, a new name has emerged on the Onni website. This 31-story, 405-unit rental tower is now going by the name Old Town Park. Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture designed the development for Onni, which will have studio, one-bed, two-bed, and three-bedroom units. 340 parking spaces will also be included.
Do you see it? Cladding installation has begun on the second level of Atrium Village.
Onni Group continues work on the 31-story apartment tower that kicks off the redevelopment of Atrium Village in the Near North neighborhood. The design by Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture encompasses a  large footprint, but the entire site has risen to the seventh floor in relative unison. On the way are 405 apartments and 340+ parking spaces.
There’s also a little surprise for us wrapped around the southeast corner: glass. Not much, but enough to whet our appetite.
Construction at Atrium Village way back in January. The now-safe midrise building at 300 West Hill Street is on the left.
As construction of the new 31-story, 400-unit apartment tower at Atrium Village continues, developer Onni Group sent a letter yesterday to residents of the complex, stating the mid-rise building at 300 West Hill Street will not be demolished, as was the original plan. That means 207 households will no longer be displaced by redevelopment.
Onni cited input and concern from current residents about finding new residences as the reason for the decision, and they have the backing of the city, the Near North Unity Program, and Alderman Walter Burnett.
More January progress photos:
