Solstice On The Park tops out, puts on new glasses

Posted on July 26, 2017 by danieldschell

Solstice On The Park, the 27-story residential tower in Hyde Park, topped on on Monday, according to a tweet to us from Studio Gang. Also on Monday, Studio Gang also shared a photo on its LinkedIn page showing some pretty impressive glass panels being installed on the ground floor. What does one do when there’s new glass to be seen? One heads down the Metra Electric Line and has a look for oneself.

https://twitter.com/studiogang/status/890302868527435776

Glass installation at Solstice On The Park, from Studio Gang’s LinkedIn post.

Congratulations to Studio Gang, Linn-Mathes, Antheus Capital, Mac Properties, heck, to all of Hyde Park on the topping out! It looks like Chicago’s south-most tower crane is in danger of disappearing soon, but that’s the price of progress.

Vista Tower takes a new angle

Posted on July 5, 2017 by danieldschell

The WOW Factor just kicked up a notch at Vista Tower.

There’s an age-old axiom in architecture that I just made up that says “You can’t build frustums without angling some columns.” And it makes a lot of sense, if you don’t give it much thought.

Frustums on frustum in this Studio Gang rendering of Vista Tower.

It’s happening now at Vista Tower. McHugh Construction has the beginnings of four concrete columns sticking out of the north elevation at an impossible-not-to-notice angle, to which they’re adding rebar and concrete forms, making an already photo-worthy work site nearly impossible to walk away from. It’s also what Paul Simon was referring to in You Can Call Me Al with the lyric “angles in the architecture, spinning in infinity…” That is, *if* you happened to get liner notes with typos in them. (**Graceland reference due entirely to Paul Simon concert in Milwaukee over the weekend. I won’t make it a habit.**)

Those cool new beams (that’s what the teenagers say all the time: “Cool beams!”) should keep Vista Tower construction very entertaining as they’re repeated throughout the process. Not that any of us needed another reason to keep going back. But we’ll take it.

Many, many photos, as Solstice On The Park continues upward

Posted on June 9, 2017 by danieldschell

Solstice On The Park is next to a park. You get lots of views like this one.

Solstice On The Park, the 27-story high rise by storied Chicago architecture firm Studio Gang, has climbed to the 20th floor on the corner of 56th Street and Cornell Avenue in Hyde Park. Antheus Capital and Mac Properties are putting up 250 apartments in the tower, on what used to be a surface-and-underground parking deck. That lost parking will be replaced by 300 spaces in a multi-level parking deck on the north side of the development.

It’s been more than three months since I’ve checked on Linn-Mathes’ progress here, so…*lots* of photos to get you caught up.

: Yep, that’s a human up there.

Catching up at Vista Tower

Posted on June 5, 2017 by danieldschell

Vista Tower continues to rise.

It’s been a month since we took a look at progress on Vista Tower, the magnificent supertall by Studio Gang and bKL Architecture. You may think workers would be discouraged that I haven’t been dropping by daily, but McHugh Construction crews seem to be getting a lot done despite my absence. Certainly not because of it.

Anyway, I’ll need to borrow some balconies soon, for as Vista climbs higher, our scenic views from Wacker Drive and Lakeshore East are going to be well below where the action is.

More from Vista Tower, just because

Posted on May 5, 2017 by danieldschell

The two cores of Wanda Vista Tower, Chicago’s best free entertainment.

I could do three posts a week on the changing landscape that is Vista Tower construction. The site looks that different from day to day. The number of small individual projects going into making this one huge project a living, breathing being are fascinating to watch, even when I have no idea what most of it is. Combine that with the viewing platforms of Upper Wacker Drive to the north and the walkways along the south, and Vista Theater provides hours of entertainment for passing construction nerds.

But pulling up a lawn chair and camping out is not only discouraged by nearby residents and construction firms alike, but somewhat impractical in spring’s temperamental weather conditions. I can still offer to go by a few times each month though, and when I do, I’ll share bunches and bunches of photos with you, and then it’s like we’re all camped out there. And remember, when this thing climbs above Upper Wacker level, there won’t be nearly as much to see. You won’t get tired of photos before that happens.

Sound like a plan?

They keep building Vista Tower, and we keep coming back to watch

Posted on April 24, 2017 by danieldschell

Looking east to west across the ever-changing scene of Vista Tower.They

Three weeks is far too long to go between photo galleries of what’s going on at Vista Tower. Especially when the landscape changes on a daily basis. McHugh Construction continues to entertain with lumber, rebar, concrete, and tower cranes. There’s a lot happening here, as you’re about to see.

: Gratuitous double tower crane shot.

: I was told they’d be no math.

: Ugh. The pool needs cleaned.

: Side job.

: Concrete trucks are staging on Upper Wacker.

: A tower crane looks on from One Bennett Park.

: I couldn’t do the climb.

: A ladder to go up, but not one to come down?

: We need them on that wall.

Two cores compete for attention at Wanda Vista Tower

Posted on April 4, 2017 by danieldschell

It’s East Crane vs. West Crane in the Battle of the Cores at Vista Tower.

It’s time for another installment of Vista Tower Photo Gallery. What’s new in the New East Side? There are two cores competing for sunshine, the way trees do in a crowded forest. It would make a good reality show, if it wasn’t McHugh Construction responsible for building both segments. There’s no reason they crews at each core should compete against each other. Unless a passing photographer started some trash talk about how much faster West seems than East. But no one would do that. Right?

: Sometimes I forget where I am…

: …so this signage helps.

: The view from Lakeshore East Park.

Fact: Even in the snow, Vista Tower construction is still cool

Posted on March 20, 2017 by danieldschell

A cold, sunny day at Vista Tower.

While last week’s wintry weather threatened to slow down air traffic and snarl roadways, it didn’t cancel the show at Vista Theater, as McHugh Construction crews plowed through snowy conditions to continue progress at Vista Tower.

Similar to the McHugh project over at the new McDonald’s HQ, Vista Tower seems to have several separate sections of different activities ongoing, from holes being dug and ramps being started to the continuing extension of Upper Wacker Drive.

One request though, if I might add to the growing list of chores to be done: Can we get a pedestrian bridge over Field Boulevard? That long walk around The Tides, GEMS Academy, the Shoreham et al to get optimal views is starting to wear on me. Or maybe just have a tower crane hoist us across the Field void. Thanks.

: All’s weld that ends welded.

: One level above Field Blvd.

: Looking into the guts.

: Ramp.

: Wacker Drive extension.

: Taking out the trash.

: Ramp.

: We want you on that wall. We need you on that wall.

: Considering there are 2 tower cranes, one gratuitous tower-crane shot doesn’t seem all that gratuitous.

: Hammering away at a brand new concrete column.

: Tightrope walking.

: Road’s closed.

: Top of ramp.

Yep, I got more from Wanda Vista Tower for ya

Posted on February 24, 2017 by danieldschell

There’s still a lot going on, so why wouldn’t construction and skyscraper nerds take more photos? Really, it’s out of our control. So here ya go, another slew of action shots from this week at the ever-changing Vista Tower site.

Construction Progress: Studio Gang’s Solstice on the Park

Posted on February 23, 2017 by danieldschell

Solstice On The Park will reside at the corner of South Cornell Avenue and East 56th Street.

On a previous visit to Hyde Park, less than two months ago, Solstice On The Park had just erected its tower crane, and construction was still in the groundwork stage. Apparently, crews from Linn-Mathes have continues to work even though I wasn’t around to track their progress.

Solstice On The Park, the “other” big residential project from Studio Gang (I assume you’ve heard of Wanda Vista Tower?) is coming along quite nicely. A development from Antheus Capital, it will deliver 250 apartments within its 27 stories, stacked atop 300+ parking spaces, all capped off by a green roof.