Wandering Milwaukee: The Northwestern Mutual Tower and Commons opens today

Posted on August 21, 2017 by danieldschell

Northwestern Mutual Tower and Commons is set to open Monday, August 21.

A rendering via Northwestern Mutual from out on the water, a view I haven’t had.

Monday August 21 will mark the opening of Northwestern Mutual Tower and Commons in the heart of downtown Milwaukee. (Download a fact sheet with a wealth of information here)

Thanks once again to Summerfest, I got another chance (I walked around the site last year; post here) to see the tower in July. Other than work on the three-acre Northwestern Mutual Garden, it looked like a completed construction site. It took a visit to the interwebs to find out Northwestern employees had yet to move in to their new digs. As per the aforementioned fact sheet, workers will start moving in on Friday, four floors at a time, until all have been relocated in October.

32 stories, 550 feet tall, weighing in at a whole lot of tons, the tower will be home to 2,400 Northwestern Mutual employees, and The Commons will be open to the public.

Congratulations to the entire team:

Developers Northwestern Mutual and Hines
Design architect Pickard Chilton
General Contractor Gilbane Building Company
And, of course, the City of Milwaukee. This is a glorious facility.

For more on the opening of Northwestern Mutual Tower and Commons, visit the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel here.

A couple photo galleries for ya:

July 2017

: A rendering via Northwestern Mutual from out on the water.

A few from July 2016

Wolf Point East presents Caisson Theater

Posted on August 17, 2017 by danieldschell

Across the Chicago River, Case Foundation continues caisson work for Wolf Point East.

It’s Air & Water Show weekend in Chicago. Thousands of people will flock to the Lake Michigan waterfront to watch the boats and fighter jets do their thing. But if you’re looking for entertainment while still being able to move from side-to-side, get thee over to Wacker Drive and the Franklin Street bridge, from where you’ll get a great view of Case Foundation’s caisson work on Wolf Point East.

Case had 50 bell caissons to do (those are almost done) and 14 rock caissons to drill (seven of those are done.) Once foundation work is complete, The Big Green W can set about the task of sending the 60-story, 700-unit apartment tower skyward.

: I love this farmstead porch loo.

: Fresh from a Hot Wheels package. Collect all 4!

: I’ve seen some rebar tubes, but I just can’t get oval this one.

Uplifting news: Two towers, two tower cranes at The Lincoln Common

Posted on August 5, 2017 by danieldschell

Caisson work at The Lincoln Common will include foundations for TWO tower cranes.

Friday was a busy day for important permits in Chicago.

You read in our August tower crane update that The Lincoln Common would soon be on the board with a tower crane for one of the two 20-story, 269-unit apartment towers going up on the site. Well, the City of Chicago just doubled down on that wager, permitting a second tower crane for the site.

We’ll need to work out some names for these. For now, the city’s permits dub them “East” and “West.” But since they’re in position to build the north and south (2335 and 2345 North Lincoln Ave) towers, we may need to use “North” and South” for them. Or, perhaps the cranes will share duties on each tower, as opposed to being dedicated to one single building. Minor details. East Crane and West Crane will suffice for now.

This means W.E. O’Neil will not only get on the board; they’ll storm it. And their two tower cranes will make up for the recent losses at Elevate Lincoln Park and the DePaul School of Music. And don’t forget, we could get a crane across the street when the Belmont Village senior-living facility gets rolling. Tower cranes galore for Lincoln Park.

East Crane

West Crane

Wandering Milwaukee: 777 North Van Buren, one year later, is 7SEVENTY7

Posted on July 28, 2017 by danieldschell

7SEVENTY7, at 777 North Van Buren Street, rises is the heart of downtown Milwaukee.

One year ago, we reported in this very space on the large hole in the earth at the corner of North Van Buren and East Mason Streets in downtown Milwaukee. It was there that Northwestern Mutual had just started construction on a 34-story apartment tower to compliment Northwestern Mutual Tower and Commons.

Now known as 7SEVENTY7, some familiar names in the booming Chicago construction scene are involved at 777 North Van Buren Street. Hines, who just broke ground on Wolf Point East, is the developer. The design is by Chicago architecture firm Solomon Cordwell Buenz. Structural engineering is by Magnusson Klemencic Associates, which seems to be on the job in every Chicago skyscraper, including the spectacular work going on at Vista Tower. Wisconsin’s own C.D. Smith Construction is the general contractor.

The 34 stories of 7SEVENTY7 will include 8 floors of parking, 1,400 spaces, meant to be used by employees of the new office tower, residents of the new apartment tower, and the public. Units will include 303 one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments, plus 14 penthouse units.

A Summer 2018 opening means on next year’s visit to Summerfest, 7SEVENTY7 may well be open.

Caisson work is at full bore for The Lincoln Common

Posted on July 26, 2017 by danieldschell

Revcon is in, and in deep, as caisson work revs up at The Lincoln Common.

Here’s a ridiculous overhead view from Curtis Waltz at Aerialscapes.

The noisy red machines of Revcon are tearing into the soil at The Lincoln Common, the mixed-use development coming to the former Children’s Memorial Hospital site in Lincoln Park. Foundation permits were issued back in June, allowing general contractor W.E. O’Neil to get started on the project.

“Foundation permits, plural?” you might ask? Yep. The Lincoln Common seems to have a theme of pairs:

There will be two towers, addressed for now as 2335 and 2345 North Lincoln Avenue, each standing 20 stories tall and containing 269 apartments. (There will be some condos too, plus a senior-living facility across the street.)
There are two developers: Hines, and McCaffery Interests
There are two architecture firms involved in the design work: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, and Antunovich Associates.
There are two red Revcon caisson rigs and two caisson cranes working on the site
I went through two bottles of Gatorade while watching caisson work in the oppressive heat (how do crews stay out there all day in this weather?)

You get the idea.

There was *one* tower-crane permit issued on July 17; will there be a second tower crane for the second tower? We’ll have to wait and see about that prospective pair.

Caisson work is underway at Wolf Point East

Posted on July 24, 2017 by danieldschell

Kayakers get a close-up look at Wolf Point East caisson work.

Rendering of Wolf Point East from Hines.

Who’s ready for Wolf Point East? That’s rhetorical, because ready or not, it’s here.

Skyscraper nerds had already left the fork in the Chicago River for sites like Vista Tower and One Bennett Park, what with Wolf Point West, River Point, and 150 North Riverside all completed and open. But now, time will once again be split, and attention divided, as the next phase begins.

Hines is developing the 60-story, 700-unit apartment tower here, along with land-owners the Kennedy family. A collaboration between architect-of-record Pappageorge Haymes Architects and designer Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, Wolf Point East is the second of the three towers slated for this corner of the river. There will be about 3,500 square feet of retail space as well, plus a whole bunch of parking spots. But don’t worry about eyesores; that parking will be located underground.

Case Foundation is there as we speak, drilling caissons into the ground. Walsh Construction is the general contractor. When their tower crane goes up (soon, please?) it’ll be Walsh’s second in Chicago, having just erected one at 1326 South Michigan, and removing one at Alta Roosevelt over the weekend.

: A kayak river guide explains caissons. I assume.

: This view will be changing very soon.

: A group portrait from across the Chicago River.

: Case Foundation caisson rig parked on site.

: Wouldn’t you park it at home if you had a machine this grand?

The Lincoln Common scores a permit

Posted on June 15, 2017 by danieldschell

The farmland that used to be Children’s Memorial Hospital will soon be transformed into the Lincoln Common.

The Lincoln Common project is ready to roll onto the site formerly occupied by Children’s Memorial Hospital in Lincoln Park.

The first permit, issued Wednesday, calls for a 20-story mixed-use tower, with 269 dwelling units and ZERO parking spaces. A collaboration between Hines and McCaffery Interests, The Lincoln Common also combines the talents of two design firms: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, and Antunovich Associates. W.E. O’Neil will be the general contractor.

A rendering of The Lincoln Common from Antunovich Associates.

The foundation permit.

Will that ugly parking garage go too?

River Point is open!

Posted on December 1, 2016 by danieldschell

Looking north through River Point Plaza, with the Kinzie Street railroad bridge standing at attention on the right.

River Point, the 52-story office tower from Hines, is now open. That’s likely uncontrollably exciting to those of you who have or will have your new office at 444 West Lake Street in the West Loop, but it’s quite a spectacle for the rest of us, too.

I haven’t been inside yet (insert hopeful emoji here), but I took a stroll through River Point Plaza Thursday evening. The one-and-a-half-acre park, designed by landscape architect The Office of James Burnett, sits above the fork in the Chicago River, offering views to the east past the Merchandise Mart, and to the north toward the Kinzie Street railroad bridge. During construction of River Point, Hines promised us a spectacular public park at the foot of the tower. What Hines delivered is, in fact, a spectacular park at the foot of the tower. But don’t take my word for it. Take my photos that follow instead, then get yourselves over and see for yourself.

Kudos to everyone involved in the River Point project, including design architect Pickard Chilton, civil engineer Magnusson Klemencic Associates, and contractors Lendlease and Clark Construction. Magnificent work, all around!

: Looking east along the Chicago River, with the red-and-green-topped Merchandise Mart on the left.

: Paths and trees and lights on the River Point Plaza.

: Looking south across the plaza, with 150 North Riverside in the distance.

: More plaza, more Chicago River scenery.

: Wreaths and arch.

: The view of River Point from Wacker Drive.

: The north elevation, an angle I’ve been waiting to see.

: Looking up at corners.

: Humble beginnings. Seems like forever ago.

: This was a handsome child.

River Point Plaza is starting to look like a park of dreams

Posted on November 2, 2016 by danieldschell

Some day soon, we’ll be able to hang out in River Point Plaza, gazing up at the glorious new tower.

The one-and-a-half-acre park at the foot of River Point looks more and more inviting every day. That means soon, on days like Tuesday when it was in the high 70s in Chicago, the public will be able to take a book out onto the elevated plaza and enjoy the views of the Chicago River below, and the new office tower directly overhead. Developer Hines (remember our visit to 53W53 last week?) plans to have River Point and its plaza open in early 2017.

: River Point Plaza from a swift-moving Green Line train.

New York City construction gallery: 53W53

Posted on October 27, 2016 by danieldschell

A stunning rendering from the 53W53 website.

53W53 will be an 82-story condominium tower in Midtown Manhattan. Designed by noted starchitect Jean Nouvel, 53W53 will feature 160 “high-end” (does New York City have any condos that *aren’t* high-end?) units. Developed by Hines (let’s hear it for River Point!) and Pontiac Land Group, the project will also include 52,000 square feet of exhibition space for the adjacent Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)

You should be quite familiar by now with the general contractor on 53W53; Lendlease is working on several Chicago projects, including 640 North Wells, 151 North Franklin, One Bennett Park, and Riverline.

For extensive coverage of 53W53 construction, please visit New York Yimby here.

For more about the Museum of Modern Art, click here.