Glass climbs the topped-out and craneless 345 North Morgan

Posted on March 30, 2022 by danieldschell

345 North Morgan, viewed from Halsted Street.

The tower crane is gone, but work hasn’t skipped a beat at 345 North Morgan in the Fulton Market District.

Sterling Bay’s latest boutique office building is installing windows on what is shaping up to be my favorite new building for nighttime views. And I say that having only been there on sunny days. But mark my words; this is one of those sites you’ll want to get to just as it gets dark at night with the interior lights shining brightly.

345 North Morgan is a ten-story, 200,000-square-foot office building designed by Chicago’s own Eckenhoff Saunders Skender is the general contractor. Their task, along with Adjustable Concrete Construction on concrete, is to have this office building ready for tenants before we close the door on 2022.

The old 345 North Morgan, taken from the original B.U.C. HQ in the West Loop.

Demolition wrapping up, December 16, 2019.

Stalworth Underground doing caisson work, 08/31/2021

It wasn’t until I looked up the permit history that I remembered 345 having a little trouble getting started. Of course, over the past 24 months, who among us *hasn’t* had a little trouble getting started. The old paint store at 345 North Morgan got a demolition permit on December 5 of 2019. (I still have an unfinished draft that I started in January of 2020.) The foundation permit for the new building was next, issued March 12, 2020. But then things went idle for awhile before caisson work began in August of last summer. The full build permit was issued in June of 2021, and the tower crane was permitted on September 3. And here we are.

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1200 West Carroll is a blank canvas

Posted on July 22, 2021 by danieldschell

Speaking of Carroll Avenue demos . . .

With demolition all but wrapped up, the northwest corner of Carroll and Racine in the West Loop is ready for redevelopment at the hands of Sterling Bay. Here’s our May story about the demolitions, and the new office building on the way, 1200 West Carroll.

Here’s the progression of demolition from late May into July.

Nothing but silos now at ADM

Posted on July 22, 2021 by danieldschell

Heneghan Wrecking is getting down to the last of the concrete silos at the former ADM Milling Company at 1300 West Carroll in the West Loop. I wouldn’t say progress has slowed, but I will venture the opinion that large, thick columns of solid concrete aren’t easy to break up. Again, just my opinion.

Here are photos taken Monday, July 19:

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ADM Demolition, June 2021

Posted on July 1, 2021 by danieldschell

Just because I haven’t posted demolition progress at the ADM Milling Co. demolition since May doesn’t mean I haven’t been over there watching.

The silos seem to have gotten a bit of a reprieve while efforts were concentrated on bringing down the office building. That’s completely gone now, save for the rubble, and Heneghan Wrecking has started punching holes in the silos again.

Chronologically, here’s a metric ton of photos taken throughout June. I wish there had been a way to stack them like a pile of bricks:

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End-of-May update of what remains at ADM mill and silos

Posted on May 28, 2021 by danieldschell

I admit to a morbid fascination in watching demolition. And a little bit of guilt, as if I’m violating personal space by seeing, and photographing, anything so laid open and exposed.

ADM Milling Company and silos, photographed May 26, 2021.

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Carroll Avenue demolitions continue in Fulton Market, with more on the horizon

Posted on May 27, 2021 by danieldschell

As demolition by Heneghan Wrecking at ADM Milling Company and 1200 West Carroll continue, comes news that Carroll Avenue could see a lot more tearing down and redeveloping in the very near future.

Brick by brick, the ADM office building at 1300 West Carroll is being taken apart.

And the ADM silos at the west end of the 1300 block are being chipped away as well.

The former Midtown Transfer buildings in the 1200 block are all but gone.

The Happy Tails & Trails building at 1240 is the only building remaining on the north side of the 1200 block. For now.

Crain’s Chicago and Urbanize Chicago both reported this week about plans to redevelop both sides of West Carroll’s eastern 1100 block. We know Trammell Crow from their work just north across the Metra tracks at Fulton Labs (which only has one level of curtain wall to go, btw.)

315 N May. It wouldn’t take much to improve this site.

On the south side of the 1100 block, 315 North May fronts May Street, Carroll Ave, and Aberdeen Street.

On the north side of the 1100 block is a Ryder truck-rental lot.

The Ryder lot at 1100 W Carroll. Even easier to improve this site.

The Ryder “building” at 1112 West Carroll. Fulton Labs is in the background.

Stay tuned. The ever-changing Fulton Market District is in for even bigger changes.

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1200 West Carroll is coming even sooner than we thought

Posted on May 24, 2021 by danieldschell

Heneghan Wrecking is making short work of 1212 West Carroll, et al.

Single-story structures stand no chance when they’re in the way of progress. Don’t believe me? Ask the old Midtown Transfer complex in the Fulton Market District. We just found out last week Sterling Bay plans to develop 1200 West Carroll on this site, and Heneghan Wrecking has already accomplished a majority of the demolition work, even as they batter away at the ADM Milling Company office building and silos a block west. Let’s get that rubble hauled outta here and get started on construction.

Side note: It’s tough to see any project in the Fulton Market District without spotting another one in the background. You can see ADM demolition and Fulton Labs in the backgrounds of these 1200 West Carroll demo photos.

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Demolition about to begin at 1200 West Carroll for Sterling Bay office building

Posted on May 17, 2021 by danieldschell

A demolition permit was issued Thursday, May 13 for 1212 West Carroll. Coming down will be a metal building at the corner of Carroll and Racine, as well as a brick structure to its west. They comprise what used to be the Midtown Transfer facility. Heneghan Wrecking, already busy a block away with the AMD Milling Company demolition, is wasting no time, having already set up demo fencing around the perimeter, as you’ll see in the photos below.

Going up will be another West Loop office project from Sterling Bay. 1200 West Carroll will be a 14-story, 485,000-square-foot Class A office building designed by Gensler. You can learn all you’ll ever need to know by following this Urbanize Chicago link, or see what Sterling Bay themselves have to say about 1200 West Carroll here:

1200 West Carroll is a 484,617 SF new construction, Class A office building on the west end of Fulton Market. Featuring elevated architecture, smart design, and reimagined offices and amenities, 1200W sets a new office standard in one of Chicago’s most dynamic submarkets. 1200W presents a unique opportunity for forward-thinking companies seeking sophistication and excitement, both in and around the building. Enjoy unparalleled access to the places and spaces you need to enhance employee satisfaction and productivity and take your business to the next level.

As our world adapts to a new normal, a new way of working, 1200 West Carroll rises to a new standard in wellness and sustainability. This shift presents a valuable new opportunity to re-think the value our building can provide – for our tenants, our community, our city, and the world.

Before (demolition fencing) and after. Some photos show ADM demolition a block away.

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Just a matter of days until the complete erasure of ADM

Posted on May 12, 2021 by danieldschell

There had been some speculation that the office building at Carroll and Elizabeth would be saved, because of the way everything around it had been delicately carved away. Nothing doing. It’s all coming down. Get over there fast.

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