Chicago’s newest tower crane is on the job at Rush’s Rubschlager Building

Posted on February 13, 2020 by danieldschell

Two cranes and a skyline at Rush’s Rubschlager Building.

The tower crane is up and running for Power Construction at 1520 West Harrison Street, the site of Rush University Medical Center’s Joan and Paul Rubschlager Building.

I could be wrong, but it appears the tower crane is working on the cofferdam, while the steel is being erected by the rolling crane. (Rolling crane? Street crane? What should I be calling those things?) Whatever they’re called, and whichever is doing what, this dynamic crane duo is piling iron atop iron as the Rubschlager begins its 10-story journey.

The tower crane I missed at Aspire is missed no more

Posted on February 12, 2020 by danieldschell

You all are The. Best.

Just a day after I posted about not making it to 2111 South Wabash in time to snap the tower crane, Robert Burke comes along and fills my inbox with photos. Crane going up, crane coming down, crane building a building, the whole sequence. Thank you, Robert!

All photos are from Robert Burke:

2111 South Wabash Aspires to be clad all over

Posted on February 11, 2020 by danieldschell

Aspire Residences, at 2111 South Wabash, glassing up the joint.

Our final project to top out in 2019 – congrats to the team at 2111 S Wabash on reaching the top elevation of their 24-story mixed-use tower! @PMAGetsIt @ujamaaconstruct @draperandkramer @scbchicago pic.twitter.com/LSLvXvtDxr

— Power Construction (@Power_Construct) December 16, 2019

That’s Power Construction in the tweet above, letting the world know about the topping out of 2111 South Wabash in the South Loop back in December. That same week, Draper & Kramer, the developer of 2111, announced not only the topping out, but also the project’s new name — Aspire Residences.

The 24-story, 275-unit apartment building took down the tower crane in late January. (A tower crane I saw, but didn’t get a photo of. I hate missing them.) Aspire is a design by SCB. It’s on schedule to open this summer.

Stuff That’s Done: Union West

Posted on February 10, 2020 by danieldschell

Union West is 357-unit apartment development in the West Loop. Its two 15-story towers occupy a large portion of the city block bounded by Washington, Sangamon, Madison, and Morgan, with part of its footprint touching all four streets. It was designed by bKL Architecture for ZOM Living. Power Construction was on the build.

Union West opened in Fall 2019.

: The crazy Union West footprint.

Stuff That’s Done: Essex on the Park

Posted on February 7, 2020 by danieldschell

Essex On The Park, standing tall over Grant Park in Chicago’s South Loop.

This is Essex On The Park. Built at 808 South Michigan Avenue, the shiny new tower brought 476 new apartments to the South Loop. It stand 56 stories and 620 feet high, looming over the western edge of Grant Park. Essex On The Park opened to residents in March 2019.

The Team:
Developer — Oxford Capital Group
Design Architect — Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture
General Contractor — Power Construction
Foundations — Keller NA
Demolition — Heneghan Wrecking

You’ll see all their work, in one form or another, in the gallery below, spanning from January 2017 to February 2020.

Stuff That’s Done: 333 North Green

Posted on February 3, 2020 by danieldschell

333 North Green stands ready to welcome its first office tenants.

It’s just about time to fling open the doors at GR333N.

The 19-story, 555,000-square-foot office tower 333 North Green has completed construction, and the first tenants are expected to move in within the next several weeks, according to developer Sterling Bay. One of those tenants will be Sterling Bay itself, which confirmed to Crain’s Chicago in November that it will take up residence in its new building.

333 North Green is a design by Gensler. Power Construction (new website!) is the GC.

Darn Near Done: North+Vine approaches its opening

Posted on January 29, 2020 by danieldschell

North+Vine, at 633 West North Avenue in Old Town.

We don’t need another category of blog posts around here, but if we did, it would be Stuff I Didn’t Get To Until It Was Darn Near Done.

It’s hard to tell just walking by whether North+Vine is open yet. Sure, there’s work to be done inside, but are those the retail spaces? The lobby? Hmmm.

North+Vine, at 633 West North Avenue in Old Town, is a collaboration from developers White Oak Realty Partners, CA Residential, and GID. A design by West Loop firm FitzGerald, the 11-story rental building brings 260 apartments to the old Father & Son Plaza site. This is a Power Project, and again, it looks like the have it darn near done.

: My only tower crane shot, from August 2019.

That’s a wrap for Panorama caisson work at 3300 North Clark

Posted on January 28, 2020 by danieldschell

bKL Architecture rendering of Panorama, 3300 North Clark Street in Lake View.

Panorama is an eight-story rental building coming to the Lake View neighborhood at 3300 North Clark. Developed by Blilzlake Partners and designed by bKL Architecture, Panorama brings 140 units a block away from the Belmont CTA station. It will include 140 units, 9,000 square feet of retail space, and parking for 20 cars.

I set out Monday morning to watch caisson work, and got there just in time to watch Revcon their caisson equipment onto flatbeds and haul it away. Time, you see, waits for no one. A return trip to the site Monday afternoon shows an empty site.

Power Construction is on this build. If you’re wondering whether Panorama’s eight stories are enough for a tower crane, and I know you are, a tower crane permit has already been issued for this construction, back on December 3rd.

One Chicago Square: Just the tower cranes

Posted on January 9, 2020 by danieldschell

Tower cranes should be cherished. Two tower cranes should be cherished and celebrated. Three tower cranes should be cherished, celebrated, and should get their own post.

One Chicago Square has three tower cranes. This is their own post.

It’s Crane Time at Rush University Medical Center’s Joan and Paul Rubschlager Building

Posted on January 6, 2020 by danieldschell

Look at all that glorious tower crane gear. It’s time for the Joan and Paul Rubschlager Building to start going vertical.

The Chicago Medical District is getting a new toy. Monday, crews were seen getting ready to erect a tower crane at 1520 West Harrison Street, the site of Rush University Medical Center’s Joan and Paul Rubschlager Building. Ground was officially broken back in June.

Designed by West Loop firm Nia Architects in collaboration with HDR, the Joan and Paul Rubschlager Building will be a 10-story, 480,000-square-foot outpatient care facility at the corner of Ashland and Harrison. An elevated walkway over Ashland will connect the new $450,000-million building to the main tower of the hospital. The cancer center, and its accompanying 6-story parking structure, are expected to be open in Spring 2022. Power Construction is serving as the general contractor.

This is a wonderful story. Two amazing people donated a lot of money to bring this much-needed project to fruition. I’ve included several links below for you to learn more about it. I hope you’ll read them. You don’t need words from me; my job is to show you what’s happening from the fringes of the job site.

Joan and Paul Rubschlager Building

Rush University Medical Center

Nia Architects

Cotter Consulting

Crain’s Chicago Business