The Reed tower crane is no more

Topping out is such sweet sorrow. Sure, no one wants to live in a tower that hasn’t topped out yet. But at what cost? Losing another tower crane? Alas, The Reed at Southbank’s topping out meant the loss of its crane was inevitable, and the painstaking process of disassembly is underway.

One Six Six drops the tower crane

We lost our third tower crane of August last week, as the Golden Lifter Of Heavy Things was dismantled and hauled away at One Six Six (166 N Aberdeen). It joins 160 North Elizabeth and 853 West Blackhawk (Big Deahl) in the history books. We thank them all for their service.

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.

1400 South Wabash hits the teens in Chicago’s South Loop

1400 South Wabash

I haven’t posted an update at 1400 South Wabash since May? That’s barely tolerable, if not entirely unacceptable. Let’s fix that now, as there’s been a lot of progress by Lendlease and Pepper Construction here. Looks like they’ve reached level 14-ish.

Some reminders:
Developer – CMK Companies
Design Architect – Pappageorge Haymes Partners
General Contractor – Lendlease
Concrete Contractor – Pepper Construction
30 stories
299 apartments
155 parking spaces
3,300 square feet of ground-level retail space
Scheduled opening – early 2023
Quirky-but-true fact – Green and Orange line trains practically run right through the parking deck

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.

166 North Aberdeen hits the Construction Trifecta: It’s topped out, glassy, and renamed. Hello One Six Six

One Six Six Chicago in the West Loop

166 North Aberdeen used to be on the rise, glassless, and 166 North Aberdeen. You can forget all of that.

One Six Six is now topped out, and the first couple levels above the podium are glazed. Those are all big milestones for the 21-story, 224-unit apartment tower from MCZ Development and Greystar. (The tower topped out two weeks or so ago.) Congratulations are in order for the construction team of Lendlease (GC) and Pepper Construction (concrete) and design architect Solomon Cordwell Buenz.

How that topping out has been achieved, crews need to get the rest of the exterior glazed and the interior ready for One Six Six’s anticipated Fall Opening.

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.

Progress Photos: 1400 South Wabash


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.

You Got This. (It’s glass; The Reed’s got glass)

Lendlease has got this, indeed.

The first two levels of glass are being installed on The Reed, the second residential tower at Southbank, Lendlease’s neighborhood development on the South Branch of the Chicago River. You’re probably familiar with The Reed because of the tower crane in the South Loop that looks like a red hammerhead shark. If you squint and are slightly dehydrated. Whatever. It’s a cool crane.

First glass is always a favorite milestone of mine when it comes to construction. So this was fun to see, which resulted in lots of photos. (And these don’t even include my two previous visits to The Reed that I didn’t get around to posting.) I know; you’re shocked.


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.

Progress Update: 166 North Aberdeen

166 North Aberdeen

166 North Aberdeen is:
A 21-story, 224-unit apartment tower
A development from MCZ Development
A design by SCB
A build by Lendlease
A concrete project of Pepper Construction

It looks like progress is close to, if not at, level 10. Yep, right around the halfway mark. Math.

1400 South Wabash has gone 3D

You don’t have to be up in the sky to watch progress at 1400 South Wabash anymore. Construction has risen above street level, on its way to 30 stories and 299 units. That’s Lendlease and Pepper Construction sending the Pappageorge Haymes Partners design onward and upward.

1400 South Wabash: An insider’s view

Hey, do you all remember that time I posted a photo of 1400 South Wabash sent to me by Chad Czerwinski at Pepper Construction? Of course you do, because it was yesterday.

Well, I just hit the jackpot. Or Chadpot, if you will. Because Chad sent over a whole slew of photos documenting the early stages of construction, beginning February 2 and continuing through this past week.

There are some BIG files in the following gallery, all courtesy of Chad, but they’re fantastic images, so I included them all.

Thanks again SO MUCH, Chad!

1400 South Wabash rises beneath Chicago’s newest tower crane

Chad Czerwinski from Pepper Construction sent over this photo, looking down at the first signs of three-dimensionalness (it’s a word now) at 1400 South Wabash.

Chicago’s newest tower crane is at 1400 South Wabash, and it’s just beginning to send this new South Loop tower vertical.

A 30-story tower from CMK Companies, 1400 South Wabash will deliver 299 rental apartments to the neighborhood. If “CMK” and “South Wabash” sound like a familiar combination, then you’ve heard of Coeval, they’re recently-opened development on the east side of Wabash.

Lendlease is the general contractor on 1400 South Wabash, with the assist on concrete by the aforementioned Pepper Construction. Pappageorge Haymes Partners is the design architect.

There are two permits issued here: the foundation permit came through 11/30/2021, and the ever-important tower crane permit was issued 1/20/2022. The crane was erected a couple weeks ago, which Chad also documented on his Linkedin page.