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

Posted on July 22, 2021 by danieldschell

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.

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

Posted on July 20, 2021 by danieldschell

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.

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Caisson work has begun at the Plumbers Union 130 parking garage

Posted on June 11, 2021 by danieldschell

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.

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The Plumbers Union parking garage is underway in the West Loop

Posted on May 18, 2021 by danieldschell

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.

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

Posted on April 4, 2021 by danieldschell

“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:

Punch Bowl Social picks up a spare, right up their alley

Posted on December 14, 2016 by danieldschell

The restored facade of ~~Brooklyn Bowl~~ Punch Bowl Social in the West Loop.

All the work that went into preserving the historic facade at West Fulton and North Peoria in the West Loop’s Fulton market District isn’t for Brooklyn Bowl, as it turns out. The space, which looks nearly complete, will now be occupied by Punch Bowl Social.

That’s the news we got from Eater Chicago last week. A quick walk around the facility this week shows a venue that looks close to being open; the Punch Bowl Social website says to expect it in 2017. And remember, 2017 is less than three weeks away.

: You can see from here, still some work to do on the top level.

Brooklyn Bowl Rolling Into the West Loop

Posted on July 15, 2016 by danieldschell

The historic facade that Brooklyn Bowl saved, and will integrate into the new facility.

There’s no time to spare. Brooklyn Bowl, coming to the West Loop at 832 West Fulton Market, has been in the works for years, and developer Convexity Properties had hoped of opening in 2015. That frame ended up a gutter ball. But Brooklyn Bowl is rolling right down the center of the lane again.

A rendering of the new Brooklyn Bowl from Convexity Properties.

W.E. O’Neil, the general contractor on the project, has been toiling away since last summer, when the century-plus-old cold storage buildings came down. All except for two walls, that is. Historic Preservation architects AltusWorks, tasked with preserving the facades, left two walls up — one along Fulton Market, one along Peoria Street — and will rebuild the portions they disassembled.

Designed by the West Loop’s own OKW Architects, Brooklyn Bowl will be a three-story building: the ground floor will be retail, while the second and third floors will comprise the bowing lanes and entertainment/event spaces. There will also be one level below grade for parking.