Chicago begins June 2024 with eight tower cranes working the skies

Posted on June 1, 2024 by danieldschell

Chicago has begun June 2024 with eight working tower cranes around the city, down one from the nine we had in May. The base has been planted at 1723 South Michigan, but the crane won’t be erected there until early June.

The South Side still rules, with five of our eight cranes. One South Side crane came down in May (at 4822 S Cottage Grove) but two North Side cranes came down (O’Hare T5 garage and Illinois Masonic.) Here’s a quick survey for June:

What Community Area are the cranes in?

3 – Hyde Park (Hyde Park Labs, UChicago Medicine X2)
2 – Woodlawn (Obama Center, Project H.O.O.D.)
2 – Near West Side (220 North Ada, 919 West Fulton)
1 – Near North Side (400 Lake Shore)

Okay, but what neighborhood?

3 – Hyde Park (Hyde Park Labs, UChicago Medicine X2)
1 – Woodlawn (Project H.O.O.D.)
1 – Jackson Park (Obama Center)
2 – Fulton Market District/West Loop (919 West Fulton, 220 North Ada)
1 – Streeterville (400 Lake Shore)

What are they building?

Cultural Facility – 1 – 6001 S Stony Island (Obama Presidential Center)
Healthcare – 2 – 5644 S Drexel X2 (UChicago Medicine Cancer Care)
Office – 1 – 217 N Sangamon (919 West Fulton)
Community Center – 1 – 6822 S MLK Drive (Project H.O.O.D,)
Life Sciences – 1 – 5201 S Harper (Hyde Park Labs)
Residential – 2 – 220 North Ada, 462 N Water (400 Lake Shore)

Cranes added in May:

220 North Ada
462 N Water Street (400 Lake Shore)

Cranes taken down in May:

900 West Nelson (Illinois Masonic)
O’Hare Airport Terminal 5 parking garage
4822 S Cottage Grove (Northwestern Medicine Bronzeville)

Here are your June 2024 tower cranes, from north to south:

6001 S Stony Island Ave (Obama Presidential Center)

6623 S Dr Martin Luther King Dr (Project H.O.O.D.)

Partial credit for the stub at 1723 S Michigan Ave, to be erected first week of June.

Hyde Park Labs (Harper Court Phase II) has topped out

Posted on February 28, 2024 by danieldschell

The tower crane that topped out Hyde Park Labs, Hyde Park, Chicago.

As reported by Urbanize Chicago earlier this month, Hyde Park Labs has topped out at 5207 South Harper in the Hyde Park Community Area (and neighborhood.) The 13-story, 302,000-square-foot facility includes a 125-space parking garage, plus nine levels of lab and office space. Its anticipated opening is in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Congrats on the topping out to:

Trammell Crow Company and Beacon Capital Partners, the developers.
Elkus Manfredi Architects, the design architect.
Power Construction, general contractor, with an assist from UJAMAA
Adjustable Concrete Construction, concrete contractor.

I hope you all went to the ground floor and got one of those fried catfish Po-boys and a frozen hurricane.

Photos from February 26 (photos of construction, not of the Po-boys):

Enjoying the photos? Metra and CTA rides (and Amtrak trains to Milwaukee), Zipcars, Divvy Bikes, camera lenses, domain fees, snacks & energy drinks, and comfortable walking shoes add up. You can help offset expenses by making a greatly-appreciated donation to Building Up Chicago.

Hyde Park Labs (Harper Court Phase II) has gone 3-D in Hyde Park

Posted on August 23, 2023 by danieldschell

Post-demolition, pre-construction for Hyde Park Labs at 5201 South Harper, 3/1/2023.

Made my first visit to Hyde Park Labs (at that link, click on “View Brochure” for everything you’ll ever want to know about Hyde Park Labs) at 5201 South Harper since this was still a fenced-off dirt lot waiting to get started. Well, not only has it started, but the crane’s in the air and the core has risen to — let’s call it the fifth floor. They’re going up to 13.

Let’s see if I have all the players correct on this project, the 2nd phase of Harper Court:

Trammell Crow Company and Beacon Capital Partners are the developers.
Elkus Manfredi Architects is the design architect.
Power Construction is the general contractor, with an assist from UJAMAA
Adjustable Concrete Construction is the concrete contractor.

Now, how ’bout some permit dates:

Demo of the single-story building previously on this site, issued 1/17/2023
Tower crane, issued 2/22/2023
“Selective” demo for existing building & parking garage, issued 4/6/2023
Caissons, issued 5/9/2023
Full build, issued 6/15/2023

And finally, some photos of progress, taken August 21: