Chicago Tower Crane Survey: John Hancock Center Edition

Posted on June 2, 2017 by danieldschell

Looking up to my host, 360 Chicago at the John Hancock Center.

A sunny-day excursion up to 360Chicago reveals most of Chicago’s 33 tower cranes, including all those I missed from the Sears Tower, where we conducted our most recent comprehensive search. Sorry, there are some really bad photos here. Doesn’t change the fact that being 94 stories in the air is a pretty darn cool way to spend an hour or two.

Unavailable for the team photo were: Eight Eleven Uptown, The Apple Store, Ancora At Riverline, Alta Roosevelt, and Hilton McCormick Place. And maybe No. 508, if it’s up.

: Hotel Zachary (right) and Addison & Clark (left)

: Elevate Lincoln Park (yellow) and DePaul School of Music (red)

: Atrium Village

: Wicker Park Connection

: No. 9 Walton

: Simpson-Querrey Center

: One Bennett Park

: 465 North Park

: 8 East Huron (Had to be patient to catch a glimpse of this one.)

: Hubbard221 and 412 North Wells

: Moxy Hotel

: Vista Tower

: McDonald’s Headquarters

: One South Halsted (yellow) and Illume Chicago

: 625 West Adams

: One Grant Park

: One Grant Park and a 1411 South Michigan photobomb

: 1101 South Wabash (left) and 1136 South Wabash (right, yellow)

: Solstice on The Park

: Honorable Mention: The stub for Marlowe’s tower crane had just been planted just on the other side of 676 North LaSalle. You can see the street crane.

There’s a new tower crane stub in town, and her name is Marlowe

Posted on June 2, 2017 by danieldschell

Hey, look over there! Marlowe planted a tower crane!

About a week after receiving a tower crane permit from the City of Chicago, Marlowe planted a stub at 675 North Wells Street in River North on Thursday. Having recently lost cranes at 640 North Wells, The Gallery On Wells, and 3Eleven, the neighborhood needed a burst of excitement, and what’s more fun than a new tower crane?

https://twitter.com/adjustableforms/status/870320994413666306

See? Don’t believe for a second I’m the only one out here excited about tower cranes. Adjustable Forms knows what’s up.

Now the Antunovich Associates-designed 15-story, 176-unit apartment building from Lennar Multifamily Companies can start going skyward, under the careful direction of Power Construction.

: Wow, 676 N LaSalle is gutted.

: The Permit.

Throwback Thursday: 20 Tower Cranes of London

Posted on June 1, 2017 by danieldschell

First off, let me assure you I didn’t spend all our time in London taking pictures of tower cranes and construction sites. That would have been a wasted opportunity to see the English countryside and historic buildings. But I like the cranes, so I didn’t ignore them, either.

I make much of the tower cranes in Chicago. We have a lot. 32.5 at the moment, now that No. 508 is being erected. But London? That city has tower cranes. And if you think the counts are close, let me illustrate the gap by showing you two construction projects, with a total of 20 tower cranes between them.

Battersea Power Station

“Massive” is a popular word in England. I heard it to describe a multitude of things. It’s also become somewhat click-baity here in the States. But this Battersea Power Station redevelopment can be described in no other way. It is indeed massive. It will include architecture by Foster + Partners, Gehry Partners, and more. Features will include an elevator up to an observation deck within one of four existing smoke stacks, and the restoration of two old maritime cranes. Ten tower cranes *and* they’re restoring the two Thames-side cranes? Amazing.

Want to know more? (SPOILER ALERT: You do.) Please click this link to learn more about Battersea Power Station.

: A cool model of Battersea Power Station on the construction site.

: From across the Thames. Do you see 10 tower cranes?

: Crane close-up.

Southbank Place

Like the Battersea project, Southbank Place centers around an existing building, this one being the Shell Centre tower. The 27-story building will soon be surrounded by seven more towers, five of which will be residential, with the remaining two serving as offices. Five different architecture firms are contributing designs to this development. Which is, to be honest, also massive. But duh. Why else would it need TEN TOWER CRANES.

I will not attempt to explain any further, as there is too much to know. Click this link to learn more about Southbank Place.

: Shell Centre, surrounded by 10 (maybe 11?) tower cranes.

: Southbank Place sits just behind the London Eye.

: Crane cluster.

Tower Crane #33 is almost ready to lift heavy stuff at No. 508

Posted on June 1, 2017 by danieldschell

Sorry, we’re building a tower crane here. Please go around.

If you’re wondering why you can’t drive on West Diversey Parkway between Pine Grove and Cambridge Avenues in Lake View, welcome to the world of tower cranes. The street is blocked so crews can utilize a pretty red Stevenson crane to assemble a tower crane at No. 508. They’ve been at it since Tuesday, so hopefully work will be completed by the end of the day Thursday. Then, and only then, can Macon Construction Group begin going vertical on Broder Properties’ 12-story, 53-unit apartment tower.

: Here’s what we’ve got so far.

: Diversey will be closed at least through Thursday.

A post-European-visit Chicago tower crane survey

Posted on May 29, 2017 by danieldschell

There were 32 active tower cranes in the City of Chicago when the B.U.C. staff took a break to look for cranes in London on the 17th of this month. A lot changed during our nine-day absence, and we returned to find…okay, there are still 32 active tower cranes in Chicago. But not all the same ones.

Two cranes from that count are no longer active: 171 Aberdeen, which came down Friday, and 3Eleven, which has been partially lowered and will soon be completely removed.

: 171 Aberdeen tower crane removal.

: 3Eleven tower crane removal.

But two new cranes have taken their places: One South Halsted and the Moxy Hotel. That means the West Loop and River North both lost and gained a crane. Nice synergy.

: The One South Halsted tower crane.

: The Moxy Hotel tower crane.

There are also a few changes on the future tower crane horizon. Aloft Chicago Mag Mile has planted a stub at 243 East Ontario Street in Streeterville, joining No. 508 (508 West Diversey Parkway) as stub-only tower crane sites. And the Marlowe project at 675 North Wells Street in River North received a tower crane permit on Friday.

: The new tower crane stub at Aloft Chicago Mag Mile.

: Still waiting for the rest of the crane at No. 508.

: Marlowe received a tower crane permit Friday. Caisson work is ongoing.

Two sites, Nobu Hotel (854 West Randolph Street) and Essex On The Park (808 South Michigan Avenue) have permits, but continue to keep us waiting on stub planting. Nobu is driving piles; Essex remains on caisson duty.

: Driving piles at Nobu Hotel following the completion of caisson work.

: Caisson work continues at Essex On The Park.

Quick Look: Aloft Chicago Mag Mile plants a tower crane stub

Posted on May 29, 2017 by danieldschell

Streeterville has a new tower-crane stub, thanks to the lovely new seedling sprouting up at the Aloft Chicago Mag Mile at 243 East Ontario Street. Just a little more sand left to dig out of the lot, and Tishman’s 18-story hotel can start going vertical.

Not down yet, but the 3Eleven tower crane is out of commission

Posted on May 29, 2017 by danieldschell

The tower crane at 3Eleven has been lowered below the top of the building. You know what that means.

Having served its city well, the tower crane at 3Eleven (311 West Illinois Street) is on the way down. The John Buck Company’s 25-story apartment building topped out in April, and the cladding has nearly reached the top of the tower. Now the work is done for this pretty yellow Liebherr 316 EC-H 12 Litronic tower crane.

Where will it end up next? Well, this is purely speculation, but the tower crane permit for the Nobu Hotel at 854 West Randolph Street in the West Loop calls for the exact same type of Liebherr crane. “Hmmm,” you might say.

: The jib peeks out across the L tracks.

: That Timberland ASD 35-100 Derrick crane will lift what remains to be lifted.

: Down but not quite out.

The long-awaited One South Halsted tower crane is up

Posted on May 27, 2017 by danieldschell

There it is, finally! One South Halsted put up a tower crane for me.

Old Glory, and a Glorious Golden Tower Crane.

The shiny yellow tower crane stub that tantalized us for so long at One South Halsted has finally blossomed into a full-blown Liebherr 316-EC-H 12 crane, spreading joy and heavy materials throughout the Greektown neighborhood of the West Loop.

Twitter user @iYarn let us know last week while we were enjoying the Tower Cranes of London that assembly had started, and the tower crane was completed and operational upon our return. Sorry to have missed it, but the hours of entertainment it’ll provide will more than make up for that disappointment.

: One South Halsted, b/w The Sears Tower.

: One South Halsted, b/w 625 West Adams.

: 4West Loop cranes, though 171 Aberdeen (top) is now gone.

: Close-up.

: From the Madison Street bridge.

: Crane and Flag.

River North’s Moxy Hotel gets Chicago’s most unique tower crane

Posted on May 26, 2017 by danieldschell

Off in the distance stands one of Chicago’s newest tower cranes, at the Moxy Hotel site.

Tower crane parts are delivered the first week of May.

We knew there’d be a crane at the Moxy Hotel site in River North, but when the parts showed up, I asked someone on site and was told it really wasn’t a “tower crane.” But a piece of paper can make all the difference in the world, and as you can see, the City of Chicago’s building permit says it’s a tower crane:

ENGINEERED SUPPORT FOR A LEIBHERR 81 K.1 TEMPORARY SELF ERECTING TOWER CRANE SUPPORTED ON A BALLASTED BASE AND CRANE

Yeah, Liebherr is the correct spelling, but that’s not important. What matters is that this contraption with the weight stack that looks like the bench-press machine from high school goes in my official book as another tower crane for Chicago.

There were similar cranes to this one spotted during a visit to Phoenix this winter, but they were operated from the ground. Since the Moxy Hotel crane requires an operator to make the climb up to a cab, that gives it even more legitimacy. Count it.

: The Tower Crane Permit.

: Remember high school, when we challenged each other to bench the stack? Yes you do.

: The Captain. 2

: The Ship.

London, OMG!

Posted on May 19, 2017 by danieldschell

You think Chicago has tower cranes? Okay, yes it does. Chicago does have tower cranes. But London has tower cranes like they’re being given away. Every direction you look, cranes. Turn the corner, another crane. Look to the left, you might see 10 tower cranes. On one site. There might be too much home work to do here, but for now, just have a few photos. If I figure out what the words should be, I’ll post ’em later.