Union Station Tower from near and far

Posted on March 16, 2021 by danieldschell

From the west, Union Station Tower is starting to obscure 311 South Wacker.

If you stand near the base of the under-construction Union Station Tower, it feels like it. and you, are surrounded on all sides by view-blocking height. But wander out of The Loop a few blocks, and you’ll begin to see just how dominant this tower is becoming in its own right.

By the way, you can have your choice of names for this tower aw well. Union Station Tower, BMO Tower, and 320 South Canal all work.

Clark Construction

Goettsch Partners

Riverside Investment & Development Company

An August walk-around at One Chicago

Posted on August 27, 2020 by danieldschell

All photos taken back on August 17. The way it’s going up, One Chicago might be finished by now.

CG: Power Construction

Developer: JDL Development

Design Architect: Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture

Design Architect: Goettsch Partners

No tower crane (yet)? No problem for Union Station Tower

Posted on August 27, 2020 by danieldschell

There’s a stub; it counts.

GC: Clark Construction

Design Architect: Goettsch Partners

Developer: Riverside Investment & Development Company

More photos than I know what to do with: One Chicago Square

Posted on March 3, 2020 by danieldschell

It’s just cool. So freakin’ cool.

March 2 marked the third time in nine days I’ve walked around One Chicago Square, snapping photos and marveling at the progress. Not sure what you do one your days off, but now you know where to find me when I have some spare time. I’ll do you a favor and not post every one of them, but there are a lot of pictures. Good news is, you don’t have to click through them until you really feel you’re ready.

An iPhone update at Union Station Tower

Posted on February 19, 2020 by danieldschell

Goettsch Partners rendering of Union Station Tower.

Caisson work is ongoing at Union Station Tower, and it’s still pretty darn tough to get a good look anywhere but along Clinton Street. Sometimes you have to be satisfied with sticking your phone up to the gaps in the fence and snapping away.

So here you go: A February iPhone Update at Union Station Tower, with a few real-camera shots thrown in for good measure.

New month, new views at One Chicago Square

Posted on February 17, 2020 by danieldschell

Chicago’s coolest chasm, the Tower C cofferdam at One Chicago Square. Photo courtesy of Mike Conlon at Power Construction.

The calendar has flipped to February. That means it’s time to walk around the One Chicago Square site again and check on progress by Power Construction.

Let it be known that I walked around the site on the 10th, but it wasn’t sunny. So I went back Sunday. SUNday. Everything looks better on a sunny day.

Uncraning 110 North Wacker

Posted on January 24, 2020 by danieldschell

A crane to remove a crane, and a plane, at 110 North Wacker.

I thought I’d head over to 110 North Wacker Sunday and watch the tower crane come down. The newsletter from the 42nd Ward warned us about street closures Sunday and Monday to facilitate the removal, and figured I’d make a day of it.

Yeah. I missed it. I can only assume the tower crane had been lowered section by section already, and this past weekend was just a matter of the final disassembly, and loading it up on trucks to haul it away. Cuz by the time I got there…no crane. Just a couple segments. The crane that took down the crane (yes, that’s a thing) is still up top; don’t be fooled by it.

The good news is, I still got to see a topped-out 55-story office tower with a nearly-finished curtain wall. In the sunshine. And that always makes for a good day.

Remember, this is the team that just finished 150 North Riverside and just started Union Station Tower. They know a thing or two about putting up sweet buildings. Clark Construction is on the build. Goettsch Partners is the design architect. Riverside Investment and Development Company, along with The Howard Hughes Corporation, are the developers.

110 North Wacker is scheduled to open late this year.

: Reflections, man.

: The crane!

Zooming in on Union Station Tower

Posted on January 21, 2020 by danieldschell

Union Station Tower is surrounded by construction fence, as you’d expect from a construction site. But man, does it ever get in the way. Monday I got just high enough to zoom in on some of the action.

One Chicago Square: Just the tower cranes

Posted on January 9, 2020 by danieldschell

Tower cranes should be cherished. Two tower cranes should be cherished and celebrated. Three tower cranes should be cherished, celebrated, and should get their own post.

One Chicago Square has three tower cranes. This is their own post.

I Like Big Builds and I Can Not Lie — One Chicago Square Has It All

Posted on January 6, 2020 by danieldschell

A rendering of One Chicago Square from the JDL Development website. Dang.

One Chicago Square has it all right now. Construction has started going vertical above street level, but there’s also still a giant pit. There are yellow and orange wooden forms and beams, with blue fencing all around. Classic Chicago architecture, including Holy Name Cathedral and 30 West Chicago Avenue, provides spectacular photo backdrops. Giant round shoring tubes are still visible in the northwest corner. Excavating equipment is still on site. Oh yeah, and THERE ARE THREE TOWER CRANES!

I don’t use the designation “mixed-use” very often. Everything has retail space in it these days, so calling a residential tower “mixed-use” because there will be a drug store at street level isn’t really mixed-use to me. But One Chicago Square certainly qualifies, as it will include apartments and condos, office space, and retail space, all combined into its own city block.

Some project data: One 76-story tower, and one 49-story tower. More than 700 apartments, and 77 condos. 55,000 square feet of office space. Nearly 200,000 square feet of commercial space. And parking? Oh, lots of parking. Over 800 spaces.

And the team? All-Stars. JDL Development, with a hand from Wanxiang America, is the developer. Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture and Goettsch Partners have shared design duties. And Power Construction is the general contractor.

Yeah, One Chicago Square will be fun to watch for a long time. And then, it looks like it’ll be a fun one to live in. Stay tuned.

And now, a ridiculous number o’photos to keep you occupied. Scroll at your leisure: