Quick Look: The Wicker Park Connection tower crane is up

Posted on April 27, 2017 by danieldschell

The finished tower crane over the Wicker Park Connection, Monday evening.

It got started over the weekend, and by Monday evening it was completed. The Wicker Park Connection can begin going vertical, now that there’s a tower crane on site. We watched most of the erecting from the B.U.C. HQ, but a well-timed going-away dinner (Bon Voyage, Steve!) on Division Street meant a good look at the new kid on that block.

: Sunday morning, a crane-building crane went to work.

: Getting ready to lift the first section of the tower.

: And the tower starts to climb on the stub.

: Lifting the top into place.

: The top is on.

: Hoisting the jib.

: NOPE

: Tuesday afternoon shot of the finished crane.

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Updating the tower crane updates

Posted on April 27, 2017 by danieldschell

The brand new crane at the Wicker Park Connection Monday evening.

Turns out, tracking tower cranes in Chicago can be exhausting.

Tuesday, the crane was coming down from Optima II.

We were at 31 Sunday with the loss of 1001 West Chicago’s crane, but then 1101 South Wabash had its crane in the air, but under (my) radar, and the Wicker Park Connection, which had planted a stub, finished its crane. That made 33. For, like, an hour. Because yesterday I noticed the luffing crane coming down from atop Optima II in Streeterville. (That crane seemed to be there for about 9 years, didn’t it?)

Long story longer, I believe there are now 32 active tower cranes in Chicago. *This is an unscientific poll.

Remember, there are stubs planted at One South Halsted and the Cook County Central Campus Health Center that should be up and running soon. Essex On The Park, Aloft Chicago Mag Mile, and Nobu have been issued crane permits. But 3Eleven, the Landmark West Loop, and (I think?) 171 Aberdeen have topped out, so we could lose those cranes any day now.

Maybe in the next few days, we can speculate about which just-underway or soon-to-be-started projects will require tower cranes. You know, McDonald’s “vendor village”, Hoxton Hotel, 808 West Van Buren, and the like. What about 508 West Diversey? That’s 12 stories. Yeah, this seems like a conversation for another day.

Scratch 1101 South Wabash off the “Waiting For Tower Cranes” list

Posted on April 26, 2017 by danieldschell

A new tower crane hovers over 1101 South Wabash.

No longer just a large excavation pit, 1101 South Wabash now has a tower crane to help erect the 30-story hotel coming to the South Loop site. Apparently the shiny red crane has been there almost a week now, but I neglected it for a few days. Sorry, crane. Nothing personal. Ya know I love ya.

According to the CTBUH, this is a development from SB Yen management Group in Hinsdale, and will be the Hilton Homewood Suites and Wabash Suites Hotel.

: Yep, this one’s ALL Crane.

: The foundation has been shored up, and the hotel is ready to rise.

Chicago has 31 tower cranes working. 6 more are on the way

Posted on April 23, 2017 by danieldschell

A photo of the tower crane at 1001 West Chicago, taken Thursday. It was removed over the weekend.

The Cook County Central Campus Health Center tower crane stub.

Last week, we counted the working tower cranes in the sky above Chicago, and came up with 32. We lost the one at 1001 West Chicago this weekend, so that drops the count down to 31. The Landmark West Loop and 3Eleven have topped out, so those cranes will be gone soon as well. But don’t panic. There are six tower cranes already permitted, and most should be active soon.

Here’s the waiting list.

The freshly-planted tower crane stub at One South Halsted.

Three have stubs planted in the ground: Cook County Central Campus Health Center at 1950 West Polk Street in the Illinois Medical District, One South Halsted in the West Loop, and the Wicker Park Connection in Wicker Park.

Two of the unplanted cranes will be at 1101 South Wabash in the South Loop, the Aloft Chicago Mag Mile in Streeterville, both hotel projects. The third unplanted crane is another hotel, Nobu in the West Loop. That one was permitted way back in October of last year, and as you may know, Nobu has had some trouble getting started. Who knows when we’ll see that crane rise up.

How many tower cranes are there in Chicago’s sky right now? (Spoiler Alert: 32)

Posted on April 21, 2017 by danieldschell

Tow of Chicago’s 32 tower cranes hover over the McDonald’s Headquarters site in the West Loop.

You’ve read the story that’s been going around for several months now. It ranked Chicago Number 1 in the country in active residential tower cranes in the air. An earlier national story mentioned Chicago having 56 active tower cranes back in Fall 2016. Sorry, but that seemed too high (heh — tower cranes…high…) to me.

Unable to climb the Sears Tower and get visuals, here’s what I pulled from the far reaches of my brain as Chicago’s current count. And the city’s permit list.

Let’s work our way from north to south (more or less):

Eight Eleven Uptown (Uptown)
Hotel Zachary (Lake View)
Addison & Clark (Lake View)
Elevate Lincoln Park (Lincoln Park)
Atrium Village (Near North)
1001 West Chicago (River West)
Wicker Park Connection (Stub) (Wicker Park)
No. 9 Walton (Gold Coast)
Simpson-Querrey Center x 2 (Streeterville)
Optima II (Streeterville)
One Bennett Park x 2 (Streeterville)
465 North Park (Streeterville)
Apple Store (Streeterville)
8 East Huron (River North)
Hubbard221 (River North)
3Eleven (River North)
Wanda Vista Tower x 2 (New East Side)
171 Aberdeen (West Loop)
McDonald’s Headquarters x 2 (West Loop)
Illume Chicago (West Loop)
One South Halsted (Stub) (West Loop)
625 West Adams (West Loop)
Landmark West Loop (West Loop)
Cook County Central Campus Health Center (Stub) (Illinois Medical District)
Alta Roosevelt (South Loop)
Ancora at Riverline (South Loop)
1136 South Wabash (South Loop)
One Grant Park (South Loop)
1411 South Michigan (South Loop)
The 3 Hiltons (Prairie District)
Solstice On The Park (Hyde Park)

Two more, at One Bennett Park in Streeterville.

31 construction sites with tower cranes, four of them having two cranes, but 3 are just stubs, so they aren’t active. That’s 32 tower cranes by my count. Have I missed any?

Two at Wanda Vista Tower.

There’s some math to do as far as trying to get to 56 from November. We’ve lost a lot of tower cranes since then, but we’ve also added several. But I maintain Chicago did not have 56 active cranes at any time in 2016.

A story by Curbed Chicago in November counted 48 tower cranes active during the 2016 calendar year throughout Chicago, but not all were active at the same time. This Chicago Tribune story, also from November, counted 32 active cranes, calling that a record for Chicago. By the time all three current stubs are active (Cook County Health, Wicker Park Connection, and One South Halsted) we might have lost cranes at topped-out projects 3Eleven, 1001 West Chicago, and Landmark West Loop. So we could break the record in the next couple weeks. if those two cranes hang around long enough.

Of note:

There are no tower cranes in The Loop right now.
6 cranes are non-residential: The 2 at Simpson Querrey Center, the Apple Store, 625 West Adams, the triple-branded Hilton, and the Hotel Zachary.
The stubs at Cook County Health and Aloft Hotel will be non-residential as well.

One South Halsted tower crane stub from the ground, just because

Posted on April 20, 2017 by danieldschell

You’ve seen the overhead shots. Now, the view from street level.

One South Halsted and its shiny yellow tower crane (stub).

: There’s also a large hole in the ground.

Wicker Park Connection joins the Tower Crane fun

Posted on April 20, 2017 by danieldschell

A freshly-planted tower crane stub springs up at the Wicker Park Connection.

How’s this for quick. On Tuesday, the City of Chicago issued a tower crane permit for the Wicker Park Connection. That’s the 15-story, 140-unit Transit Oriented Development Centrum Partners is building next door to the T.O.D. they built at 1664 West Division Street, Centrum Wicker Park. The Wicker Park Connection is another collaboration with Hirsch Associates Architects, who also teamed with Centrum in River North on 412 North Wells and Centrum Hubbard (is it called “Hubbard221” now?)

Where was I? Oh yeah, tower crane permit. Anyway, general contractor Linn-Mathes wasted no time in getting the tower crane stub planted in the ground. Foundation work is still underway, but expect that new tower crane to start lifting heavy stuff off the ground in no time.

: Rendering of the Wicker Park Connection from Hirsch Associates.

: Rendering of the Wicker Park Connection from Hirsch Associates.

: Rendering of the Wicker Park Connection from Hirsch Associates.

Eight Eleven Uptown puts a tower crane in the ground

Posted on April 17, 2017 by danieldschell

Eight Eleven Uptown alters the skyline with a new tower crane.

Planted, sprouted, and in full bloom, there’s now a tower crane high above Eight Eleven Uptown.

The 27-story apartment tower from JDL Development and Harlem Irving Companies at 811 West Agatite Avenue got its permit on April 3, so that’s an impressive jump to action from Lendlease.

American Flag, Water Tank, and Tower Crane (x3) in the West Loop

Posted on April 12, 2017 by danieldschell

An American Flag, Water Tank, and a mess of tower cranes in Chicago’s West Loop.

The water tank is atop 1035 West Lake Street.

The American Flag waves from atop the old Richter’s Food Products factory, now Venue One.

The tower crane in the distance is at the Landmark West Loop. The two closer cranes are at the McDonald’s Headquarters site.

An earlier attempt got a fourth crane, at 171 Aberdeen, but the flag wouldn’t wave.

The topped-out 151 North Franklin drops the tower crane

Posted on April 4, 2017 by danieldschell

Those skies on Saturday! You almost don’t notice the tower crane has sunk below the top of 151 North Franklin.

You knew 151 North Franklin had topped out; The John Buck Company told us when they tweeted from the ceremony a month ago. And now comes the next sign that the future CNA Center is getting closer to completion: the tower crane started coming down this past weekend.

Luckily, a tower crane permit was issued yesterday for Eight Eleven Uptown, so things will even out soon. We’ve also got cranes on the way for One Grant Park (planted), 1101 South Wabash, and One South Halsted.