The glassy, sunny Paragon Chicago is growing into its lot at 1326 South Michigan Avenue in the South Loop.

Few of the city’s construction sites bask in the sunlight quite like The Paragon Chicago.

Walsh Construction continues to make upward progress on the future 47-story apartment tower by Solomon Cordwell Buenz. The joint effort by Murphy Development Group and CIM Group will deliver 500 new units to the South Loop upon its opening next spring.

There’s a gorgeous new rendering of The Paragon Chicago at theparagonchicago.com

1326 South Michigan is now The Paragon Chicago!

That news was delivered to us this evening by Murphy Development Group, which hinted about a name change for the SCB-designed tower way back in August, then kept us in suspense until now. This was the second big news we got Thursday about 1326 South Michigan, the first being the discovery of all that new glass on the front facade.

That glass, plus the height the core has risen to, proves Walsh Construction has been busy in the South Loop this winter. The 47-story Paragon Chicago, a co-development from Murphy and CIM Group, will deliver 500 luxury apartments to the neighborhood. “Luxury” means you should expect all the high-end amenities today’s rental construction demands, including an outdoor deck with swimming pool, a dog park, fitness center, cabanas, grill stations, and a library. The 47th floor will also include a fitness center overlooking Lake Michigan, and an entertainment room.

You’re going to have to wait a little while before moving your stuff in though; The Paragon Chicago is slated for a Spring 2019 opening. Be patient though; it sure looks like it will be worth the wait.

Now, let’s get you some photos, from a very foggy Chicago morning, of what The Big Green W has been doing these last few months…

It’s going to be 47 stories tall. Nothing should surprise me about 1326 South Michigan starting to rise up from the ground. But sometimes foundation work can seem like such a chore, you forget there will be action above the surface. And now, 1326 is giving us such action.

Walsh Construction is getting the most out of their single Chicago tower crane, as the podium is starting to take shape at this South Loop site. (Don’t forget, Walsh will have a tower crane at Wolf Point East in the very near future, too.) The core is up about five stories too, making work much easier for to observe. Not to mention the peephole Walsh cut out for us along Michigan Avenue. That’s a company that cares, right there.

This one isn’t due to open until late in 2018, which seems a long way off now, but will be here before you know it. The SCB-designed tower will deliver 500 new apartments to the very busy neighborhood, thanks to co-developers Murphy Development Group and CIM Group. We got wind of a possible name change almost two months ago; hopefully we know the new moniker before Opening Day.

Someday, this gate will open, leading you up the ramp to the parking podium at 1326 South Michigan.

Standard joke. When you see the beginnings of the ramp that will lead to a parking podium, you make the pun. It’s the law.

1326 South Michigan, the shiny new 47-story apartment tower underway in the South Loop, is in that phase. As support columns start rising from the ground, the parking ramp is taking form off the alley at the back of the site. It will provide access to the 180 indoor parking spaces allocated for the 500 or so apartments being built at the SCB-designed tower.

Walsh Construction, who just erected a tower crane here to make up for the one they took down at Alta Roosevelt, is efforting to meet Murphy Development Group’s (along with CIM Group) goal of a Fall 2018 opening for 1326.

Column forms are starting to protrude from the ground at 1326 South Michigan.

The full-build permit, issued July 24, 2017.

On Monday of this week, 1326 South Michigan received its full-build permit from the city of Chicago. That means crews from Walsh Construction can keep right on working at a frantic pace and start sending this one vertical. To the tune of 46 stories, to be exact. And within those 46 stories? 500 apartments, developed in tandem by Murphy Development Group with CIM Group, and designed by SCB.

Twitter user @ChrisAHorney, who works as MDG and last month clued us in to the tower crane being erected on this site, tells us today we can expect a name change for 1326 South Michigan in the coming weeks. And we always look forward to that kind of news.

As for that permit, The Big Green W didn’t seem to take much time celebrating its arrival; 1326 South Michigan is frantic with activity today, as you’ll see in the time-lapse video and photos below.