The McDonald’s East Tower Crane goes up…wait…hold that thought…

Posted on February 27, 2017 by danieldschell

As of noon Sunday, a tower, but no crane.

Saturday saw a crew from Central Contractors erecting a free-standing Peiner SK415 tower crane (I know how to read a permit) on the new McDonald’s Headquarters site in the West Loop. East Crane seemed to coming along quite nicely, but Sunday morning saw the crew removing the tower top and cab from atop the tower. The good news here, obviously, is that we may get to watch the cab and turntable raised twice. Yep, that’d be an embarrassment of crane-assembly-watching riches.

Whereas late Saturday afternoon, the tower top and cab/turntable were in place.

Here are photos from Saturday’s partial assemblage. WARNING: Some of them are quite snowy:

Quick Look: Tower crane action in the West Loop and Prairie District

Posted on February 23, 2017 by danieldschell

The McDonald’s headquarters is erecting the first of its two tower cranes, while the triple-branded Hilton Hotel at McCormick Place planted a tower crane seedling in the South Loop.

: NOPE

: Raising the boom.

: So much NOPE

Landmark West Loop takes over where 1035 West Van Buren began

Posted on February 23, 2017 by danieldschell

From this day forward, 1035 West Van Buren would like to be called Landmark West Loop.

You know the guy at the office who refills the stapler for you, then staples the last four pages together and takes credit for the TPS reports you spent all week working on? Well, that’s a very vague analogy for what’s just happened at Related Midwest’s new apartment tower in the West Loop.

New signage had been spotted, and Stephanie Lulay at DNAinfo reported yesterday, that what had been called 1035 West Van Buren through all the digging and heavy lifting shall henceforth be known as Landmark West Loop.

There’s still a little ways to go to top off the 30-story tower, as it’s reached about 25 floors in height, but still, a lot of the work was done before this new name swooped in. Though to be fair, buildings named after their addresses aren’t especially clever, and three-word street names are just clunky anyway. Besides, no one has moved into any of the 300 new, unfinished rental units yet, so it isn’t like they’ll need change-of-address cards already. So a new moniker for this one seems fitting. Landmark West Loop it is.

Landmark West Loop rises along the Eisenhower Expressway.

Demolition at 1115 West Washington clears the way for Hayden West Loop

Posted on February 22, 2017 by danieldschell

Johler Demolition is tearing down 1115 West Washington Boulevard to make room for Hayden West Loop.

On January 19 of this year, the Chicago Plan Commission approved two nine-story condo buildings for construction in the West Loop. One would front the 1100-block of West Washington, the other the 100-block of North May. In an amazing coincidence, a demolition permit had been issued the previous day for the property at 1115 West Washington, and that demolition is going on now.

The new development, known as Hayden West Loop, is being built by Peerless Real Estate Investments, which also appears to be known as Sulo Development. Hayden West Loop is a design from Booth Hansen (The Parker Fulton Market, Chestnut Row Homes) and will bring 56 condominiums to the neighborhood.

In the meantime, Johler Demolition of Arlington Heights is on the scene, knocking down what used to be part of Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Studios. Demolition made the news back on February 6 when a small fire broke out (DNAinfo had the deets) but does that really do anything but speed up the demo process?

: Rendering of Hayden West Loop from Booth Hansen.

: Rendering of Hayden West Loop from Booth Hansen.

: Just before demolition started.

Surprise! West Crane is first to be erected at McDonald’s HQ

Posted on February 21, 2017 by danieldschell

A piece of West Crane is hoisted into place at the new McDonald’s HQ in the West Loop.

East Crane went into the ground first. So obviously it gets set up before West Crane even gets planted. Right?

Wrong. Crews from Central Crane are busy Tuesday erecting a tower crane on the west side of the McDonald’s Headquarters construction site, leaving pour ole East Crane to watch and wait its turn.

: Poor East Crane, just sitting there. Waiting.

: The view from the B.U.C. HQ.

: NOPE

: Part of the boom being offloaded.

: The cab is ready.

: Boom.

: Another B.U.C. view.

625 West Adams transitions from concrete to steel

Posted on February 21, 2017 by danieldschell

Enough with the concrete, it’s steel time at 625 West Adams!

It’s been an enjoyable run, watching Power Construction pour yard after yard after yard of concrete at 625 West Adams in the West Loop. But the podium has reached its apex, and now steel is the main ingredient in the 20-story office tower’s progress.

From the B.U.C. HQ, we can see the six levels of concrete that have risen above what will be the two-story lobby facing north. Now, two floors of steel framing have risen on the northwest corner of the structure, with lots more iron being delivered to the site. Why, there’s even activity atop the core, which hasn’t been elevated in months.

: 625 West Adams at night.

: Arrrrr, that’s a Pirate flag, not a Steeler flag…

: NOPE

: Work atop the core.

: Cool night lights.

One South Halsted officially begins ripping holes in the earth

Posted on February 16, 2017 by danieldschell

The first (?) caisson has been started at One South Halsted.

Having spent the last few days flooding the lot at Halsted and Madison with foundation equipment, Case Foundation is officially on the case for One South Halsted, having begun its first caisson Wednesday.

: Thumbs up

: Rebaristas at work.

A night at 150 North Riverside

Posted on February 16, 2017 by danieldschell

There’s work yet to be done on the outside, and desk space to fill up on the inside, but 150 North Riverside is open, and its night game is solid. Have a look at what’s happening along the Chicago River, and a peek at what’s still in the making.

: The vertical lighting. I love it.

: The Lake Street Bridge got some new lights along the sidewalk.

: New lighting under the Lake Street Bridge as well, for the pedestrian crossing. Includes a stop light.

: The lower plaza.

: Outside looking in.

: The upper plaza is still under construction, and won’t be open for awhile.

: But it’s going to be worth waiting for.

As 150 North Riverside opens, a look back

Posted on February 13, 2017 by danieldschell

150 North Riverside, casting gorgeous reflections onto Randolph Place, though I’m sure condo owners aren’t pleased with their new views.

150 North Riverside is the first construction project that caught, and kept, my attention. I wandered past it daily when it was still a figment of someone’s imagination, curious about the oil-drilling-rig-looking thing sitting in an empty lot along the Chicago River. Of course, I’d learn later that I was looking at a soil-sampling rig, but that had no significance to me at the time.

Shortly after construction started, some genius in Public Relations came up with a fool-proof way to garner publicity; crews excavating soil form the site sank a barge. Sure, it *looked* like an accident, but suddenly 150 North Riverside was thrust into the spotlight. And there it remained, though it didn’t hurt bringing in a giant red floating crane to erect steel trusses that stopped pedestrian traffic on the Randolph Street Bridge.

That was 28 months ago. And now, on Monday, February 13, 2017, 150 North Riverside opens its doors to office workers. Had I not dropped a hard drive on the ground and lost them, I could show you at least 1,000 photos I’ve taken of this beauty in the last 2+ years. Instead, have a look at a select few along the way. Then, make sure you stop by the tower and check out the media stream.

The Team

Goettsch Partners: Design architects

Riverside Investment & Development Company: Developer

Magnusson Klemencic Associates: Structural engineer

Clark Construction: General contractor

150 North Riverside along the way

150 North Riverside today

A Sunny Day At: 1035 West Van Buren

Posted on February 13, 2017 by danieldschell

Okay, this one isn’t from a sunny day. I just really like the way 1035 West Van Buren looks at night. I won’t try to fool you again.

Another segment in the A Sunny Day At series. This time, it’s 1035 West Van Buren. With its new rows of glass, yellow forms, and red wraps, it begs to be photographed when the sun is out.