210 North Carpenter is 12-story, 200,000-square-foot office building in the West Loop. Developed by Sterling Bay, it is a design by Solomon Cordwell Buenz. 210’s most important tenant is Leopardo Companies; they were the general contractor, and moved their Chicago offices here upon the building’s completion in March of 2019.
The Mason is a 13-story, 263-unit apartment building in the West Loop that began its life known as 180 North Ada. The L-shaped structure was designed by Brininstool + Lynch for Marquette Companies, with Power Construction on the build. The Mason opened to residents in Spring 2019.
Last week, the Chicago Plan Commission unanimously approved a zoning change for The Mason:
The Applicant is proposing to rezone the property from the current Planned Development #1384 to Planned Development #1384, as amended, to allow for a restaurant and tavern use to be established on the ground floor.
Helping move Restaurant Row further west in the West Loop is a good thing for hungry Chicagoans.
There aren’t many surface parking lots along the west side of Lake Shore Drive. And at the end of 2017, one of them was torn up to make room for a new apartment building.
61 Banks Street in a 58-unit rental development at 61 East Banks St., obvs. At eight stories, it’s short enough that it doesn’t block many views behind it, but since it sits right on the lakefront, its own views must be amazing.
Draper & Kramer, who we just dropped in on recently at 2111 South Wabash, is 61’s developer. Booth Hansen is the design architect; Leopardo Companies was on the build. The building opened to tenants in June 2019.
Renelle on the River, from Across the River.
Renelle on the River is an 18-story condominium tower in the River North neighborhood. It was built atop an existing parking garage at 403 North Wabash Ave once topped by a small plaza park. The garage was built with future use in mind, so no additional caissons were required. It was a unique project to watch get started.
Renelle on the River is a design by bKL Architecture, and was built by James McHugh Construction. Developer Belgravia Group delivered its 50 condos to residents last year.
Coeval has two addresses: 51 East 14th St. and 1419 South Wabash. Ave
I had surgery on a knee as a young adult. I was fascinated by the effects of anesthesia. One moment after drifting off to sleep, my eyes popped open in the recovery room. To me, the surgery happened faster than the snap of the fingers. Like time travel in Back To The Future.
Those questionable analogies are a means of explaining Coeval. I stopped by 14th and Wabash twice; once during demolition of 1415 South Wabash, and once as the rolling crane was being set up on the freshly-demoed lot. The third time I visited, this past week, Coeval was open. Heck, I didn’t even know it was called Coeval now. If only construction could be instantaneous like that.
Coeval is a two-towered apartment development from CMK Companies. Consisting of a 14-story tower to the north, and a 10-story tower to the south, the project contains about 260 units in total. It was designed by Pappageorge Haymes Partners and built by Clark Construction. It opened to residents last summer.
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.
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.
Solstice On The Park, from the park.
The last time I visited Solstice On The Park, it was *almost* done. That was close to a year ago. Now, it’s finished, and being lived in. And still very very cool. I’ll attempt to prove that opinion with the two dozen photos included below.
The basics about Solstice On The Park:
Design Architect – Studio Gang
Developer – Mac Properties
Builder – Linn-Mathes
26 stories, 250 apartments, stunning views from, and of, Hyde Park.
5252, from the 55th Street Metra Electric Line platform, was made for sunny days.
I like that. Just numbers. 5252.
That’s the name of the recently-opened apartment tower at 5252 South Cornell in Hyde Park. This is a development by Mac Properties, the same folks responsible for bringing Solstice on the Park to this neighborhood. The two of them make a striking pair.
Linn-Mathes was the general contractor on 5252, just as they were on Solstice. Solomon Cordwell Buenz was the design architect, and I want to hi-five everyone there for this one. I lucked out and got here on a sunny day — I know, a sunny day in Chicago, right? — and the building looks fantastic in the sunlight.
The 26-story building contains 246 apartments, from studios to three-bedroom units. 5252 opened in Fall 2019.
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.
Building Up Chicago 