W.E. O’Neil raises the tower crane at 1371 West Randolph

Chicago made it back to double digits Thursday, as W.E. O’Neil finished erecting the city’s 10th active tower crane at 1371 West Randolph Street in the West Loop. That crane will build the seven-story parking garage for the Plumbers Local 130, on what used to be a portion of their surface parking lot.

I would once again like to point out that those guys up there, especially out on the jib, are in no danger of losing their jobs to me.

Make a one-time donation

Choose an amount

$1.00
$5.00
$10.00

Or enter a custom amount

$

Your contribution is appreciated.

Donate

W.E. O’Neil plants a tower crane stub at 1371 West Randolph

This week-old stub at 1371 West Randolph will build a parking garage.

As one Randolph Street tower crane goes, so comes another.

The Plumbers Union 130 parking garage has a tower crane stub in the ground as of last Monday, according to the kind folks on site from W.E. O’Neil. The rest of the crane should be up by the end of this week, allowing Chicago to crawl back into double digits.

Not sure why double digits is such a big deal to me, other than indicating some sort of threshold for where we “should” or “shouldn’t” be, tower-cranewise. It means nothing substantial, really. However, I scored in double digits exactly once in my high school basketball career, and that IS important.

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

Make a one-time donation

Choose an amount

$1.00
$3.00
$5.00

Or enter a custom amount

$

Your contribution is appreciated.

Donate

Caisson work has begun at the Plumbers Union 130 parking garage

W.E. O’Neil Construction and Michels Corporation are sending caissons into the West Loop soil for the seven-story parking garage at the Plumbers Local 130 facility. The permit to begin was issued May 14.

Now I know some of you aren’t huge parking garage fans, but this one is requiring a tower crane, so there’s a nice trade-off here. (I’m told not to expect said tower crane until July.)

Enjoying the photos? Metra and CTA rides, Zipcars, Divvy Bikes, camera lenses, and comfortable walking shoes are adding up. You can help offset expenses by making a greatly-appreciated donation to Building Up Chicago.

Make a one-time donation

Choose an amount

$1.00
$3.00
$5.00

Or enter a custom amount

$

Your contribution is appreciated.

Donate

The Plumbers Union parking garage is underway in the West Loop

It didn’t take long after the permit was issued to get work started on the Plumbers Local 130 parking garage at 1371 West Randolph in the West Loop. Crews have begun tearing up the surface parking lot, and a protective tunnel now covers the Randolph sidewalk.

With the building permit coming through Friday, which followed the tower crane permit received May 6, we should start seeing caisson work (and a tower crane stub!) very soon.

Once again, W.E. O’Neil is handling the heavy lifting. OKW Architects is the design firm.

Metra and CTA rides, Zipcars, Divvy Bikes, camera lenses, and comfortable walking shoes add up. You can help offset expenses by making a greatly-appreciated donation to Building Up Chicago.

Make a one-time donation

Choose an amount

$1.00
$3.00
$5.00

Or enter a custom amount

$

Your contribution is appreciated.

Donate

932 W Randolph tops out (its only three stories) in Fulton Market

932 West Randolph

“Modest” doesn’t describe much as far as development goes in the West Loop/Futon Market arena. But this one applies.

932 West Randolph is a modest mixed-use building going up on the corner of Randolph and Sangamon, replacing a modest MB Bank building. L3 Capital is the developer. Here’s what they have to say:

L3 Capital purchased the former MB Bank in October 2019 and immediately began the design and development process to replace the existing 13,351 square foot bank and adjacent parking lot with a 35,000 square foot mixed-use building with 10,000 square feet of prime retail space below two floors of boutique office. The brick and steel building, designed specifically to pay homage to the Fulton Market neighborhood’s industrial roots, will reuse the structural elements of the existing three-story bank to both reduce costs and construction waste. Construction is underway and the Property will be delivered in Q4 2021.

OKW Architects did the design. Walsh Construction is on the build.

Here’s a modest gallery of construction photos: