The Lincoln Common brings the pane

Posted on April 24, 2018 by danieldschell

In the distance, the two towers of The Lincoln Common rise in Lincoln Park.

As the two 20-story towers of The Lincoln Common climb towards the sky, there’s considerable action down near the lower floors. Glass action. And the glass action suits this project just fine. Thank GC W.E. O’Neil for the shiny new panes.

The Lincoln Common is being co-developed by Hines and McCaffery Interests. Two architecture firms are involved in the design of the two towers as well: Skidmore Owings & Merrill, and Antunovich Associates. This portion of the old Childrens Memorial Hospital site will deliver 269 apartments in each tower.

: In the distance, the two towers of The Lincoln Common rise in Lincoln Park.

The core is rising at Twelve01West

Posted on April 20, 2018 by danieldschell

Twelve01West is rising at 1201 West Lake Street in the West Loop.

The core is springing up from the middle of the lot at Twelve01West, the new seven-story office building at 1201 West Lake Street from McCaffery Interests. Probably because we finally got a (somewhat) warm, sunny spring day, and because W.E. O’Neil has that glowing tower crane at their disposal.

Designed by Antunovich Associates, Twelve01West got its foundation permit back in October, and a tower crane permit in January. The building will include 135,000 square feet of office space, and 11,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space, plus parking for 45 vehicles. McCaffery plans an early 2019 opening.

: Twelve01West is rising at 1201 West Lake Street in the West Loop.

Twelve01West lights up the West Loop sky

Posted on March 7, 2018 by danieldschell

More of this, Chicago!

Dear McCaffery Interests:

I can not thank you enough for the Glowing Tower Crane at Twelve01West.

That is all.

Love, Chicago & I

cc: Central Contractors Service

Twelve01West wins The Great March Tower Crane Race

Posted on March 5, 2018 by danieldschell

In the distance, a tower crane rises at Twelve01West.

Maybe it wasn’t so great after all, if it’s already decided this early in the month.

Last week I speculated that March’s first tower crane would be erected at GEMS World Academy Upper School, since there had just been a stub planted on the Lakeshore East site. Little did I know that a stub had earlier been planted on the Twelve01West site at 1201 West Lake Street in the West Loop. Over the weekend, Central Contractors Service was over there assembling the tower crane. By my count, that would be Chicago’s 35th tower crane of 2018, and the fourth crane currently in the air for W.E. O’Neil.

Quick Look: The lowdown on Belmont Village

Posted on February 27, 2018 by danieldschell

Work remains below street level at Belmont Village, the new senior living facility at 700 West Fullerton in Lincoln Park.

Competition is fierce, as the two towers of The Lincoln Common rise in Lincoln Park

Posted on February 23, 2018 by danieldschell

Somewhat of a side-by-side shot of two towers at The Lincoln Common rising in Lincoln Park.

Only in my own mind is there a raging competition at The Lincoln Common between W.E. O’Neil crews on the North and South towers. It’s only my imagination conjuring up images of hidden hammers and missing rebar, as the North Team does anything it can to infiltrate the South and sabotage their efforts. You simply can’t complete a 20-story building if one of your work boots is stolen every morning.

Yet somehow, both towers seem to be coming along quite nicely. As if everyone’s working together instead of getting in each other’s way. Novel concept, is it not?

Caisson work is underway at Twelve01West

Posted on February 22, 2018 by danieldschell

1201 West Lake caisson work is underway, as seen from the Green Line.

We’re still in the West Loop, and we’re still watching the goings-on along Lake Street.

Caissons are in the works for Twelve01West, the new seven-story office building at 1201 West Lake Street from McCaffery Interests. (You know them from The Lincoln Common project.) Revcon is on site as we speak, drilling holes into the earth just two blocks from another gig of theirs over at 180 North Ada. This time, they’re working with W.E. O’Neil, the general contractor on 1201 West Lake. This is familiar territory for W.E. O’Neil; their Chicago office is just a couple blocks away on Washington Blvd.

Designed by Antunovich Associates, Twelve01West got a foundation permit back in October, and a tower crane permit in January. The building will include 135,000 square feet of office space, and 11,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space, plus parking for 45 vehicles. McCaffery plans an early 2019 opening.

: Rendering of Twelve01West from Antunovich Associates.

: Rendering of Twelve01West from Antunovich Associates.

: Rendering of Twelve01West from Antunovich Associates.

: Rendering of Twelve01West from Antunovich Associates.

: Rendering of Twelve01West from Antunovich Associates.

: The Foundation Permit.

: The Tower Crane Permit.

Chicago’s 62nd (and final?) tower crane of 2017 is up at Belmont Village

Posted on December 8, 2017 by danieldschell

This shiny red tower crane is ready to lift heavy stuff at Belmont Village.

Unless you’re a big Tunch Ilkin fan, the number 62 might not mean all that much to you. But it’s somewhat of a landmark here in Chicago, as we’ve reached 62 tower cranes for the year.

And while we still have a stub planted in the ground (at Hayden West Loop) we don’t have a date on that tower crane going up, so Belmont Village may very well be our final tower crane of the year.

Chicago surpassed its all-time high (heh — high) in tower cranes back in September, when the Mayor’s office announced we’d erected our 54th crane of the year. But we didn’t stop there.

The crane at Belmont Village, the 7-story senior living facility being built at 700 West Fullerton, marks the third tower crane for The Lincoln Common, GC W.E. O’Neil, and for Lincoln Park. They make a handsome trio.

If indeed this is our final tower crane of 2017, it deserves a big photo gallery of assembly. So here you go, taken over the course of three days (Dec 6-8)

Belmont Village hides a tower crane stub in Lincoln Park

Posted on December 4, 2017 by danieldschell

Deep down, that’s a very nice tower crane stub at 700 West Fullerton for the Belmont Village project.

It’s there, the tower crane stub that will soon grow into W.E. O’Neil’s third tower crane at The Lincoln Common development on the old Children’s Memorial Hospital site in Lincoln Park. But you have look hard.

The red stub is planted along the east side of the new Belmont Village senior living site, along Orchard Street, at 700 West Fullerton. But it’s rooted so deep into the foundation that, until the rest of the crane is erected, it goes largely unnoticed.

We expect the tower crane to be erected in full this week, which would make it our 33rd active tower crane in Chicago, and #62 for 2017.

: It’s there…

: …but you’ll really have to look.

Two towers of The Lincoln Common are starting to rise

Posted on November 20, 2017 by danieldschell

One of two cores that will become 20-story towers at The Lincoln Common.

Cores for the dual 20-story towers at The Lincoln Common are starting to rise from the deep excavations along Lincoln Avenue in Lincoln Park. W.E. O’Neil has a pair of tower cranes working on-site, so we’re going to assume there’s a little friendly competition going on over there over which tower grows faster.

We’ve pointed this out before: The Power Of Two is hard at work at The Lincoln Common.

There are 2 developers: Hines, and McCaffery Interests
There are 2 design firms: Antunovich Associates, and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
There are 2 initials in general contractor W.E. O’Neil’s name
There are two 20-story towers, each containing 269 units
There are two tower cranes (this is the most improtant pair, of course)

There were a couple newsworthy events at other phases of The Lincoln Common last week. First, a tower crane permit was issued for Belmont Village at 700 West Fullerton. Later in the week, a full permit was issued for the 6-story office building at 2350 North Lincoln, directly across the street from the dual towers. W. E. O’Neil is the CG on those two projects as well.