It’s 640 North Wells vs The Gallery On Wells. may the prettiest under-construction tower win.
Photo Gallery: The War On Wells, late-night edition
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Tag Archives: River North
Glass is in session at 640 North Wells
The curtain goes up at 640 North Wells in River North.
In The War On Wells, 640 North Wells lost the first-glass prize to The Gallery On Wells across the street. But not to worry. 640 rallied, and came back with a curtain wall of its own, one that gleams on sunny days. For now, two rows of glass have moved into the tower. Soon, all 23 stories and 251 units will glisten in the sunlight, as JDL Development moves toward a Summer 2017 opening.
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- You don’t notice the glass from a distance.
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- The The Gallery On Wells reflected in the curtain wall.
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- #FlyTheW!
The Gallery On Wells: No room for amenities? Build them next door.
The Gallery On Wells will have its amenity deck next door, atop 640 North LaSalle.
Yes, that’s what 167 West Erie is called now: The Gallery On Wells. It’s one of the more unique construction projects in Chicago at the moment. Not because it’s pretty. Not because it’s racing floor-by-floor with 640 North Wells across the street. No, this one’s interesting because of where the amenities floor will.
Next door.
That’s right, the rooftop amenity deck for The Gallery On Wells will be atop 640 North LaSalle Street, home the huge Effen Vodka sign. (That means there are three street addresses associated with this project: 167 West Erie Street, 637 North Wells Street, and 640 North LaSalle Street.) A skybridge will connect the residential tower to the outdoor space. MAC Management is a co-developer of The Gallery On Wells, along with Magellan Development Group, and they own 640 North LaSalle. And not just any outdoor space: according to Magellan, the “largest outdoor deck in River North featuring lounge seating, cabanas and grills.” You’re going to want to make friends here.
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- The renovation permit for 640 North LaSalle.
3Eleven grows, and Assumption Catholic Church gets a new story
3Eleven, at 311 West Illinois Street in River North, being constructed on what used to be the parking lot of Assumption Catholic Church.
Progress continues on the 25-story apartment tower 3Eleven in River North. The future home of 245 “luxury” rentals, 3,000 square feet of retail, and 109 parking spaces by the John Buck Company broke ground back in June in the parking lot of Assumption Catholic Church. 3Eleven is a design by FitzGerald Associates Architects. Power Construction is doing the build.
A related project to this is the one-story addition Assumption Church is getting to the priory on the west end of the lot. The architecture firm of McBride Kelley Baurer Architects designed the priory portion; Norcon is the general contractor for the addition.
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- The single-story addition to the priory at Assumption Catholic Church.
351 West Huron buries caissons in River North
Revcon Construction at work on 351 West Huron.
There’s a Revcon rig in River North on the site of 351 West Huron, the 6-unit condominium project from Regency Development Group. And that means caissons are being drilled and filled for the 7-story building designed by Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture. If you recall, this project sat idle for awhile, being finally moving forward in August with the addition of Summit Design + Build as the new general contractor.
If you’re not sure quite where 351 West Huron Street is, picture yourself on North Orleans, grabbing an Italian Beef from Mr. Beef, then heading next door to the Green Door Tavern for a beverage. 351 West Huron will sit immediately behind those two establishments. Mmmmmm, Italian Beef.
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- Is that a caisson rig in the distance? I better get over there.
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- Foundation work on 351 West Huron, under the watchful eye of the still-under-construction 400 West Huron.
640 North Wells stakes its claim as prettiest Chicago construction
640 North Wells, rising in River North.
Exhibit on Superior held the title for awhile. But then they covered up all the construction materials with finishing work, so a new leader had to be chosen.
I give you 640 North Wells. All orange and blue. On a sunny day, you can’t beat it. Though the Marriott Marquis comes close.
Shut-out to Lendlease for the nice artwork.
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- Next door is 167 West Erie, and it ain’t so bad itself.
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- Gratuitous, albeit artsy, tower crane shot.
Centrum Hubbard digs itself a great big hole
They’re digging down below grade for Centrum Hubbard.
The tower crane’s in place, and now Power Construction crews are really getting down to it. Literally. There’s a big hole in the earth from which the 23-story Centrum Hubbard residential tower will rise. On the other end of the lot, 412 North Wells….well, let’s just say its time will come.
Quick reminder on Centrum Hubbard: 23 stories, 193 apartments, 91 parking spots, and 6,000 square feet of retail space. The design is by Hirsch Associates; the developer is Centrum Partners.
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- There’s been a bit of digging going on at 412 North Wells, too.
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- Do you mind? Trying to take photos here.
In the War On Wells, 167 West Erie outglasses the competition
Windows have arrived at 167 West Erie in River North.
Construction milestones. Let’s see, you have your first permit, groundbreaking, tower crane, topping off, and grand opening. And wedged in there between tower crane and topping off would be the first glass. Be it windows, cladding, skin, whatever your blueprints call it.
Up on Wells Street in River North, there’s been a battle brewing on opposite sides of the street. 640 North Wells is the 23-story apartment tower on the west side of the street, and 167 West Erie, which sits at 637 North Wells Street, or thereabouts, competes from the east side with its 39-story endeavor. Both started construction about the same time, both erected tower crane just days apart, and have been racing ever since toward completion. (My money’s on the tower that’s just over half as tall. Duh.)
But we can declare a winner in the battle for window supremacy. (Side note: 167 West Erie won the tower crane race too, per this from the Chicago Architecture Blog) And it ain’t even close. 167 West Erie has installed glass on a few floors, while 640 remains as open to the elements as the day it was born.
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- Sorry, 640 North Wells, but we can’t count those.
Tower Crane Update: Centrum Hubbard and 412 North Wells
The tower crane is real. And it is spectacular.
The stump has been planted, the foundation poured and cured, and all the parts are assembled in mid-air. The tower crane at Centrum Hubbard and 412 North Wells is ready to go.
That single tower crane will erect both the 9-story office building (412 North Wells) and the 23-story, 193-unit residential tower (Centrum Hubbard) in the lot at Wells and Hubbard. Both buildings were designed by next-door neighbor Hirsch Associates. And with it now in place, it’s time for digging some foundations. Not by the tower crane though. The excavation equipment will handle that task.
Gallery I: Tuesday assembly
Gallery II: The finished crane and the foundation dig.
Your late-night preview of the Centrum Hubbard tower crane
In pieces for now, a future tower crane awaits assembly on the Centrum Hubbard/ North Wells lot.
A tower crane waits for no man.
Except for the men who have to assemble the crane. Which means the tower crane at Centrum Hubbard/412 North Wells will have to wait until Tuesday morning to continue climbing into the sky. But crews got a good start on Monday, stacking a few sections atop each other, while filling the lot with more crane parts, including the ever-important sky cab. Which is what I’m calling it, starting just now.
Have a look at the progress so far, night-vision style.
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- Foundation work for the crane on Thursday the 22nd.
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- The crane-building crane was on site Monday morning.
Building Up Chicago 