The Lincoln Common scores a third tower crane permit at Belmont Village

Posted on November 16, 2017 by danieldschell

As foundation work continues, Belmont Village has secured a tower crane permit.

Belmont Village, the 7-story senior living center coming to 700 West Fullerton Parkway as part of the Lincoln Common development, received a tower crane permit from the City of Chicago Wednesday. That makes it three for W. E. O’Neil, who are also utilizing two others for the towers being constructed on the Lincoln Avenue properties.

7-story buildings lie right on the precipice of tower-crane necessity. This one was a tad unexpected, but it’s also not surprising that a tower crane is needed. In the meantime, foundation work for Belmont Village, as you’ll see in the photos that follow, continues in earnest as we wait for the crane stub.

Belmont Village will be a brick building with 149 residential units, built on the site of the former Nellie A. Black Memorial Pavilion. The 120,000-square-foot facility will be able to accommodate approximately 170 residents. It will be connected to The Lincoln Common via a tunnel beneath Fullerton Ave. Completion is expected in Summer 2019.

: The tower crane permit.

And then there were two. Twice.

Posted on September 25, 2017 by danieldschell

One tower crane is cool. Two is spectacular. There might be sound functional reasons to employ two tower cranes on a job site, but it’s usually done for our entertainment. And two jobs sites came through for us last week.

The two tower cranes of The Lincoln Common.

W.E. O’Neil added a second crane up at The Lincoln Common. It.s two 20-story towers each require a crane of its own. And McHugh Construction added a second crane at One Grant Park. It’s primary function will be to construct the 16-story parking deck, while the first crane continues with the residential portion of the 76-story apartment tower.

A luffing crane has joined the fun at One Grant Park.

Chicago now has five construction projects with two tower cranes, joining the Simpson Querrey Biomedical Research Center, One Bennett Park, and Vista Tower.

It’s Craning Day Part II at The Lincoln Common

Posted on September 18, 2017 by danieldschell

North Crane’s stub is set in its foundation, and the rest of the crane is being erected starting today.

Out at The Lincoln Common in Lincoln Park. W. E. O’Neil and Central Contractors Service are back at it again, erecting the second tower crane for the dual-20-story-tower mixed-use project from Hines and McCaffery Interests.

The site was blessed with a pair of tower-crane permits back in July and August. The South Crane (The permits call them “East” and “West.” This is a struggle for me.) was erected in late August. And this morning, work is starting on the North Crane. Funny, North got its permit first, yet was erected after South, but that means nothing at all, so it isn’t worth mentioning, even though I did anyway.

As for construction itself, the south tower is starting to go vertical, with the core reaching above street level. Meanwhile, the north tower area is still mostly underground. You’ll notice, in particular, the tower-crane foundation is well below street level. Which is further proof this will be a fascinating site to watch.

W.E. O’Neil erecting Chicago’s 31st tower crane at The Lincoln Common

Posted on August 25, 2017 by danieldschell

The Lincoln Common south tower crane makes its appearance in the Lincoln Park skyline.

It’s almost here.

Chicago’s 31st (and, eventually, 32nd) tower crane is just about ready to lift the heavy stuff at The Lincoln Common in Lincoln Park. W. E. O’Neil and Central Contractors Service have been on the site since Wednesday setting up the South Tower Crane. That means crew members are climbing around at scary heights, fastening what needs to be fastened, tightening what needs to be tightened. By the looks of progress, there’s no reason to believe Southy won’t be operational for work on Monday.

Still no sign of North Tower Crane, but I don’t want to sound greedy. We can just enjoy one for now.

: Sorry folks, street’s closed. The moose out front shoulda told ya.

First of two tower cranes begins at The Lincoln Common

Posted on August 24, 2017 by danieldschell

The south tower crane starts to rise at The Lincoln Common, seen from the Fullerton “L” platform.

On the red, purple, or brown line today? Take a look to the east from the Fullerton station, and you’ll see the first of two tower cranes being erected at The Lincoln Common. That’s where I spotted it from, because for some reason, I wasn’t staring at my phone as we pulled up. I jumped out and walked over to take a look.

And Twitter noticed. Users @kgburke3 andi @ChiBuildings (too early for a #FollowFriday? You should be following Chicago Cityscape for all things Chicago development) pointed out the street closure of North Lincoln Avenue between Belden and Fullerton Avenues through Friday for the big event.

https://twitter.com/ChiBuildings/status/900581897985810432

https://twitter.com/kgburke3/status/900526288670216192

There’s still a lot of foundation work going on for this dual-tower, 540-unit mixed use project. W.E. O’Neil is the general contractor, and they’ve got a busy site in the works. You’ll see that in the photos below. No word yet though on when to expect the north tower crane to arrive.

: The closed-off Lincoln Avenue.

: Tower crane in the distance, sheeting work up front.

Uplifting news: Two towers, two tower cranes at The Lincoln Common

Posted on August 5, 2017 by danieldschell

Caisson work at The Lincoln Common will include foundations for TWO tower cranes.

Friday was a busy day for important permits in Chicago.

You read in our August tower crane update that The Lincoln Common would soon be on the board with a tower crane for one of the two 20-story, 269-unit apartment towers going up on the site. Well, the City of Chicago just doubled down on that wager, permitting a second tower crane for the site.

We’ll need to work out some names for these. For now, the city’s permits dub them “East” and “West.” But since they’re in position to build the north and south (2335 and 2345 North Lincoln Ave) towers, we may need to use “North” and South” for them. Or, perhaps the cranes will share duties on each tower, as opposed to being dedicated to one single building. Minor details. East Crane and West Crane will suffice for now.

This means W.E. O’Neil will not only get on the board; they’ll storm it. And their two tower cranes will make up for the recent losses at Elevate Lincoln Park and the DePaul School of Music. And don’t forget, we could get a crane across the street when the Belmont Village senior-living facility gets rolling. Tower cranes galore for Lincoln Park.

East Crane

West Crane

Caisson work is at full bore for The Lincoln Common

Posted on July 26, 2017 by danieldschell

Revcon is in, and in deep, as caisson work revs up at The Lincoln Common.

Here’s a ridiculous overhead view from Curtis Waltz at Aerialscapes.

The noisy red machines of Revcon are tearing into the soil at The Lincoln Common, the mixed-use development coming to the former Children’s Memorial Hospital site in Lincoln Park. Foundation permits were issued back in June, allowing general contractor W.E. O’Neil to get started on the project.

“Foundation permits, plural?” you might ask? Yep. The Lincoln Common seems to have a theme of pairs:

There will be two towers, addressed for now as 2335 and 2345 North Lincoln Avenue, each standing 20 stories tall and containing 269 apartments. (There will be some condos too, plus a senior-living facility across the street.)
There are two developers: Hines, and McCaffery Interests
There are two architecture firms involved in the design work: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, and Antunovich Associates.
There are two red Revcon caisson rigs and two caisson cranes working on the site
I went through two bottles of Gatorade while watching caisson work in the oppressive heat (how do crews stay out there all day in this weather?)

You get the idea.

There was *one* tower-crane permit issued on July 17; will there be a second tower crane for the second tower? We’ll have to wait and see about that prospective pair.

The Lincoln Common scores a permit

Posted on June 15, 2017 by danieldschell

The farmland that used to be Children’s Memorial Hospital will soon be transformed into the Lincoln Common.

The Lincoln Common project is ready to roll onto the site formerly occupied by Children’s Memorial Hospital in Lincoln Park.

The first permit, issued Wednesday, calls for a 20-story mixed-use tower, with 269 dwelling units and ZERO parking spaces. A collaboration between Hines and McCaffery Interests, The Lincoln Common also combines the talents of two design firms: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, and Antunovich Associates. W.E. O’Neil will be the general contractor.

A rendering of The Lincoln Common from Antunovich Associates.

The foundation permit.

Will that ugly parking garage go too?

Construction Progress: Plumbers Local 130 Training Center

Posted on December 22, 2016 by danieldschell

Work continues on the new Plumbers Local 130 Training Center at 1400 West Washington Boulevard in the West Loop. Ground was broken on the Gensler-designed training facility back in June; W.E. O’Neil has been hard at work ever since. The state-of-the-art, 50,000-square-foot project should be complete and ready to start training new plumbers next summer.

Punch Bowl Social picks up a spare, right up their alley

Posted on December 14, 2016 by danieldschell

The restored facade of ~~Brooklyn Bowl~~ Punch Bowl Social in the West Loop.

All the work that went into preserving the historic facade at West Fulton and North Peoria in the West Loop’s Fulton market District isn’t for Brooklyn Bowl, as it turns out. The space, which looks nearly complete, will now be occupied by Punch Bowl Social.

That’s the news we got from Eater Chicago last week. A quick walk around the facility this week shows a venue that looks close to being open; the Punch Bowl Social website says to expect it in 2017. And remember, 2017 is less than three weeks away.