Peoria Green wants to squeeze its way into the West Loop

A ZSD rendering of Peoria Green, as it would be seen looking east from Mary Bartelme Park.

Remember NIMBY heads exploding in the West Loop when Illume wanted to plant itself in the parking lot at 111 South Peoria Street? (Remember the fancy numerals in the 111ume name?) “It will block views of the skyline from Mary Bartelme Park!” was the best line locals screamed in an effort to keep the builders at bay.

Well, Illume is open now. The tiny parking lot immediately to its south is open too. But the construction fence around it says maybe it won’t be open much longer.

This is ZSD’s rendering of the Green Street elevation.

Signage on the site says Peoria Green wants to wedge its way into the neighborhood. Peoria Green already has a website. Peoria Green already has a flyer box on the fence so passers-by can get the scoop. Peoria Green has a sales center (located at 112 S. Sangamon Street.) Peoria Green is a thing.

Apparently, this has been a thing for awhile. But when you’re not paying attention, stuff gets past you. Crain’s and Dennis Rodkin were all over this project back in March. And The Real Deal posted about Peoria Green’s approval back in June. They even mentioned it being “controversial” and receiving “heated opposition from some neighbors.” (See first paragraph above. I am the opposite of surprised.)

ZSD Corp is planning 25 condos here, all with at least 4 bedrooms. That’s a lot of bedrooms. A childless couple could AirBnB the heck out of one of these. The on-site brochure claims a Fall 2020 opening for Peoria Green. I’m still efforting to find an architect for this project, plus a GC. Keep your ears open, if not your empty lots. A fall opening means they’d need to get started right soon.

A neon-green banner announces Peoria Green.

Looking west to east, Peoria to Green, at the full length of the lot.

Peoria Green ZSD site plan

The site plan from ZSD shows Peoria Green’s unusual shape.

I made a fancy Google Maps site plan, with the Peoria Green footprint outlined in red. I should get a drone.

I’ve missed a lot; Milieu West Loop Edition

Milieu on the Park

Milieu (on the Park?) has risen to its full height at Adams & Peoria (205 S. Peoria) in the West Loop.

The last time I walked around Milieu in the West Loop, Power Construction had just set up the tower crane. Now, the tower crane is gone, and Milieu (Is it Milieu on the Park? That’s what White Oak Realty Partners calls it. I kinda like it.) is up. The FitzGerald-designed apartment building is slated to open this summer.

 

Tank and tower in the West Loop

727 West Madison Morgan MFG

727 West Madison stands stoic behind the painted water tank at Morgan Mfg.

I like construction. I like Chicago Water Tanks. So it made me slightly giddy to see 727 West Madison lined up perfectly with the delightful water tank atop Morgan Mfg at 401 North Morgan Street in the West Loop. I thought I’d share it.

727 West Madison Morgan MFG

Hey! There’s no more tower crane at Hayden West Loop

Sometimes we lose track of topped-out buildings. So we rely on your eyes to see what’s slipped our memories. Twitter user @West_Looper let us know on Saturday that the tower crane was coming down at Hayden West Loop, so we headed over there to watch some of the action.

Hayden marked the only crane in the sky for Macon Construction, but its removal means big progress on Sulo Development’s 28-condo project. Hayden’s website shows 80% of the units sold, so you better make your move soon if you’re hoping for new digs in the Booth Hansen-designed building. Sulo plans on having your condo ready for move-in before 2018 comes to a close.

And now, as we’re known to do around here, more photos of a tower-crane disassembly than you’ll ever need:

Chicago’s newest tower crane (for a few days) has risen at Milieu

If, as is rumored to be the case, the tower crane at 145 South Wells begins assembly today, then Milieu won’t have Chicago’s newest tower crane for very long.

But it’s The New Kid for now, after rising at 205 South Peoria in the West Loop last week. Power Construction will utilize it to build the FitzGerald-designed Milieu, a 19-story, 275-unit apartment development, for White Oak Realty Partners and Crayton Advisors.

Shout-out to Twitter user Alex Katz (@AT_Katz) for letting us know on Friday that the crane was up and running.

You can kiss the tower crane at 727 West Madison goodbye

727 West Madison tower crane removal

A patriotic ending to Lendlease’s tower crane at 727 West Madison in the West Loop.

Centaur Construction has their groove back at the West Loop’s Nobu Hotel

Nobu Hotel Chicago June 2018

Taking a loooong look at the Nobu Hotel, from Peoria Street over the Eisenhower Expressway.

In May, Centaur Construction got back to work at Nobu Hotel, and it didn’t take them long to hit their stride again.

With Pepper Construction’s help on concrete, progress on the hotel has jumped up to the fourth floor since we last stopped by just a couple weeks ago, while the core continues to grow toward its 11-story goal.

In the meantime, the Chicago version of the Nobu Hotel has changed ownership, with new permits listing NHC, LLC of Coral Gables, Florida as the new entity. The address comes up as the AIC Hotel Group, which lists other Nobu Hotels, and Hard Rock Hotels, among its properties.

The GR333N-ing of the Fulton Market District continues

GR333N 333 North Green June 2018

Looking across the tracks at 333 North Green.

Office buildings are a big deal in the West Loop these days. No longer confined to The Loop, Chicago’s professional palaces are sprawling out to other neighborhoods now, and the West Loop leads the way. Not surprising, as this part of town seems to be out in front of most every aspect of development.

We’re keeping a close eye on 333 North Green, or GR333N as it’s been dubbed, partly because it’s cool to look down on Power Construction at work from up on the Halsted Street Bridge. One of Sterling Bay’s recent additions to West Town’s office-building portfolio, 333 North Green will be 19 stories tall and contain 555,000 square feet of office space.

We took a stroll past the site last week, and can offer you these views of progress: