Clybourn 1200 Piecing Together Nicely

Posted on June 22, 2016 by danieldschell

Clybourn 1200 is being pieced together by a massive ground crane, like an out-of-hand game of Tetris.

Clybourn 1200 is a new mixed-use, mixed-income apartment project from Brinshore Development. Depending on your perspective, it’s in the Gold Coast neighborhood, the Goose Island area, the Cabrini-Green neighborhood, or the Near North.

The V-shaped building, designed by Pappageorge Haymes Partners to fit in the triangular lot at 1200 North Clybourn Avenue, will have 77 apartments for people, a whole bunch of roof-top hives for bees, and 17,000 square feet of space for retailers, including a day-care center for children.

McShane Construction is on the build, a notable site for its massive red crane parked in the middle of the lot.

: The “front” of Clybourn 1200, facing Division Street.

: This facade faces North Clybourn.

: McShane Construction personnel atop Clybourn 1200.

: The big red crane doing what big red cranes do.

: It picked it up, now it’s setting it down.

: Come on, admit it. That’s an amazing piece of machinery.

: Getting kinda personal, shooting it from the back like this, but you can see the counterweight required for heavy lifting cross a large site like this one.

Alta Roosevelt Sends a New Tower Crane Into South Loop Sky

Posted on June 20, 2016 by danieldschell

The new tower crane at Alta Roosevelt in the South Loop, 801 South Financial Place.

Unless you’re the one who has to climb it every day, it just got a lot easier to move things around at the Alta Roosevelt construction site.

Walsh Construction assembled a tower crane last week at the soon-to-be 33-story apartment tower designed by Pappageorge Haymes Partners. Walsh has been driving piles into the ground since getting a foundation permit from the City of Chicago back in March, while the tower crane permit arrived June 7.

801 Financial tweeted some fantastic photos just after the tower crane was put together.

https://twitter.com/801Financial/status/744170327891054594

It should come as no surprise to you that I have a few more photos of the crane below.

: There’s room for growth.

: Not crane related, just a hole in the ground.

465 North Park Showing Signs of Life

Posted on June 19, 2016 by danieldschell

No, it’s not much. But it’s something. And I’d rather watch something being done than nothing.

Something’s afoot at the foot of the new Loews Hotel in Streeterville. And surprise surprise, it looks like construction.

How’s this for a blast from the past? A 2008 permit for a 50-story tower.

Back in October, the Chicago Plan Commission approved a 47-story, 444-unit apartment tower for the site at 465 North Park Drive. Designed by Pappageorge Haymes Partners (they’re everywhere!). 465 North Park will include 181 parking spaces within its 4-level podium. and, if what I heard at a community meeting last year still holds true, will also include upgrading Ogden Plaza, the small but rundown park at the corner of Columbus Drive and Illinois Street.

: A rendering of 465 North Park from Pappageorge Haymes Partners.

: The lot at 465 North Park, seen from Optima Chicago last fall.

: The two current excavation pieces on site.

: A little dirt scraping is better than this dust lot.

: So far, the only permit on file for 465 North Park is for electric work.

Big Kenect and Little Kenect Progress Kentinues.

Posted on June 9, 2016 by danieldschell

The 14-story tower that makes up about 78% of Kenect’s floorage. If floorage was a word.

At 500 North Milwaukee Avenue in the West Town neighborhood, Akara Partners is developing Kenect, a two-building apartment complex designed by Pappageorge Haymes Partners.

When complete, Kenect will have a 14-story tower on the west side of North Green Street with 179 apartments, and a 4-story structure on the east side of Green Street with 48 units. The two will share 122 car parking spaces and 50 bike parking spaces, while the entire complex will include some 14,000 square feet of retail space.

: Kenect, with outstanding photobombs from River Point and the Sears Tower.

: 4 stories of Kenect, along Milwaukee Avenue.

: The unique framework along Milwaukee Avenue taking form in January .

: That framework looks like this now.

: Looking northwest from Grand Avenue.

: Early work on the 14-story tower, July

: And on the 4-story portion, also July

: Kenect had a wonderful tower crane…

: …so wonderful, that even the moon couldn’t help but visit.

: Kenect got its first glass back in November 2015.

: Yeah, I won’t go up there and do that, what they’re doing. Nope.

: The unfortunate rat traps that were demolished to make room for Kenect.

: The unfortunate rat traps that were demolished to make room for Kenect.

111 South Peoria, By Any Other Name

Posted on June 9, 2016 by danieldschell

Illume (11ume?) Chicago, now with its own signage.

Would still be controversial?

Doesn’t matter anymore.

Never Forget

Try as they might (you can read all about the contentious road this project took here at chicagoarchitecture.com) to quash the project at 111 South Peoria, West Loop NIMBYs (mostly from the two adjacent condo buildings, then just one at the Plan Commission meeting) failed to prevent the brand new condominium development from happening in the current parking lot at the same address.

And now that the contentious plan has met the approval of 27th Ward Alderman Walter Burnett, Jr. and the Chicago Plan Commission, 111 South Peoria has a new name as it moves towards fruition: Illume. But fancy, with three 1s instead of an i and two Ls. But a small 1 and two big 1s. 111ume? Yeah, it’s hard to type it that way.

Illume Chicago was approved by the Chicago Plan Commission back in March. It gave the okay for 79 condos in a 115-foot-tall building. Designed by architecture firm Pappageorge Haymes Partners, Illume is expected to be ready for occupancy in 2017. Along with being the developer, LG will be the general contractor as well.

The rendering of Illume Chicago presented by LG Development at the March Plan Commission meeting.

This parking lot will soon be Illume Chicago.

The very same parking lot, as seen from the Up Chicago office.

Alta Roosevelt Rings In Summer, Then Plants a Crane

Video

Wandered through the South Loop recently? Wondering about that ringing in your ears? Well, ask not for whom the bell tolls. Mostly because those aren’t bells.

As you’ve likely figured out by now, that sound — that really loud sound — is coming from Alta Roosevelt, the 33-story rental tower being constructed at 801 South Financial Place. Designed by Chicago firm Pappageorge Haymes Partners, Alta Roosevelt will have 496 studios, one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments, and a whopping 348 parking spaces to go along with them. In an unusual twist from the current building trend, there will be no retail space included.

According to PHP, the tower will feature “resort-like amenities.” These types of highfalutin perks are becoming the norm for new-construction apartments, not just for condominiums. Developers are looking to provide renters with as many creature comforts as possible, making today’s apartment projects look much more like fancy condo buildings. (You can make the argument that high-end amenities will help developers turn those apartments into condos somewhere down the road, but I’m not going there.)