Demolition Update: The Shows No Longer Go On At Harpo Studios

Posted on July 27, 2016 by danieldschell

Let’s be honest. You know when Heneghan Wrecking shows up at the studio, your show has been canceled.

Heneghan Wrecking is making more space in the West Loop. This time, it’s for McDonald’s.

Harpo Studios, former television home of Oprah Winfrey, was issued a demolition permit last week, and this week, the carnage has begun. Starting with the north wall, the building is being knocked down, scooped up, and dumped into waiting haulers. In its place, the new McDonald’s corporate office that was approved by the Chicago Plan Commission the day after the demo permit was filed. Ah, synergy.

https://twitter.com/ChicagoDPD/status/756198487595819008

There is no truth to the rumor that someone on site is handing out bits of rubble to demolition spectators, yelling “YOU get a brick, YOU get a brick, EVERYBODY gets a brick!”

: The staircase inside the North Carpenter Street entrance.

: The beast must be fed.

: A service entrance off North Aberdeen, no longer accepting deliveries.

: The Demo Permit.

Tower Crane Update: 165 North Desplaines Joins The Parade

Posted on July 22, 2016 by danieldschell

Don’t hide from us, we want to watch you sprout!

It’s hard to be everywhere every day.

I don’t know what day Power Construction planted their tower crane at 165 North Desplaines in the West Loop. I just know it was there when I went by Thursday. And really, just seeing it there is enough.

To remind you, 165 North Desplaines will be a 14-story apartment tower from developer Gerding Edlen. Designed by Chicago’s GREC Architects, it will contain 199 units, with 99 parking spaces and some retail space on the ground floor.

: Caisson work just wrapped up.

: 152 North Jefferson, “behind” 165 North Desplaines, is being renovated as part of the development.

: A rendering from GREC Architects of what 165 North Desplaines will look like.

: One of the buildings that formerly stood on this lot.

: And the taller of the demolished structures…

: …which used to have this cool stairway…

: …and this equally cool indoor, sideways water tank.

Demolition Permit Filed for Harpo Studios

Posted on July 21, 2016 by danieldschell

WRECK AND REMOVE A 1 TO 3 STORY CONCRETE COMMERCIAL BUILDING

That’s not just any commercial building. That’s Harpo Studios, the former home of Oprah Winfrey’s television empire. By now, everyone knows McDonald’s will be making its new home on this site, And yesterday, the City of Chicago filed the official demolition permit to knock down what should have been called “StudiOprah.” But no one asked me.

Heneghan Wrecking will do the dirty work of tearing down the building.

Harpo Studios, 110 North Carpenter Street.

Harpo Studios was doomed the moment the soil sampling rig stepped foot on the lot.

When they get around to demolishing this, the southeast corner of Harpo Studios, I’ll have the best seat in the house.

The Demolition Permit

Quick Look: Halsted Street Bridge CTA Canopy

Posted on July 18, 2016 by danieldschell

Another night-closure for the Halsted Street bridge, as crews work on the CTA canopy to the UIC-Halsted Blue Line station. The canopy first started going up in late April, two-and-a-half months ago. I guess it’s a much more involved project than it looks.

: Zoom in. Work on the Halsted Street Bridge CTA canopy.

: Zoom out.

: Barricades close off traffic at the south end of the Halsted Street Bridge.

: Construction started April 29th.

The Calm Before the Storm at 165 North Desplaines

Posted on July 16, 2016 by danieldschell

Where did all that equipment go? 165 North Desplaines is (temporarily) very quiet.

Tear it down.

Smooth it over.

Dig the holes.

Smooth it over.

Such is the cycle of life for a construction site. We’re in that fourth phase now at 165 North Desplaines. It’s eerily quiet, now that caisson equipment has been shipped off (is some of it now at 3Eleven?).

Of course, the silence won’t last. Expect Power Construction to swamp the lot soon to build the foundation and set up a tower crane. (Perhaps in that first big hole in the southwest corner of the lot?)

Seems to me this could be a good place for a new tower crane.

Things got all smoothed over in June, too. After demolition was complete, but before caisson work started.

Shout-out to Power Construction for having a chair waiting for me on site.

Spotted at 3Eleven, another Power site. Did it travel direct from 165 North Desplaines?

Brooklyn Bowl Rolling Into the West Loop

Posted on July 15, 2016 by danieldschell

The historic facade that Brooklyn Bowl saved, and will integrate into the new facility.

There’s no time to spare. Brooklyn Bowl, coming to the West Loop at 832 West Fulton Market, has been in the works for years, and developer Convexity Properties had hoped of opening in 2015. That frame ended up a gutter ball. But Brooklyn Bowl is rolling right down the center of the lane again.

A rendering of the new Brooklyn Bowl from Convexity Properties.

W.E. O’Neil, the general contractor on the project, has been toiling away since last summer, when the century-plus-old cold storage buildings came down. All except for two walls, that is. Historic Preservation architects AltusWorks, tasked with preserving the facades, left two walls up — one along Fulton Market, one along Peoria Street — and will rebuild the portions they disassembled.

Designed by the West Loop’s own OKW Architects, Brooklyn Bowl will be a three-story building: the ground floor will be retail, while the second and third floors will comprise the bowing lanes and entertainment/event spaces. There will also be one level below grade for parking.

: All the pretty blue supports are gone now.

: The view of Brooklyn Bowl form the buildingupchicago office.

On The Blue Plate Catering Menu: New Digs

Posted on July 13, 2016 by danieldschell

Construction is ongoing at the new Blue Plate Catering facility, seen here from the corner of Fulton and Ada Streets.

Blue Plate Catering, recognized nationally for being a top-notch caterer, is in the process of serving up a new facility in West Town. Currently located at 1061 West Van Buren Street, a location rumored to be in line for redevelopment, Blue Plate’s new building is at 305 North Ogden Avenue. The quadrilateral-shaped lot (yes, I had to Google that) is bounded by Ogden and Carroll Avenues, and Market and Ada Streets.

The future site is a combination renovation/new construction, with permits from the City of Chicago categorized only as renovations. While fixing up an older single-story structure, Blue Plate is erecting a three-story facility that will house its corporate offices, the catering kitchen, and a commercial commissary. There will be 25 on-site parking spaces included, as well as, I assume, plenty of space for Blue Plate’s catering fleet. The foundation permit was issued in October of 2015; the full-build permit followed in February of this year. The design is by Jonathan Splitt Architects. 41 North Contractors of Lisle, IL is the general contractor.

: Looking past the one-story brick renovation at the three-story new construction.

: Blue Plate Catering, with Fulton West rising in the background.

171 North Aberdeen Begins Foundation Work Under Clueless Blogger’s Nose

Posted on July 12, 2016 by danieldschell

The foundation permit, issued June 6th, I didn’t know existed. My bad.

I tried to pay attention to this one. Honest I did.

I told you over a month ago caisson equipment was standing at the ready at 171 North Aberdeen Street in the West Loop, eager to tear into the soil of the empty lot. But Novak Construction, the general contractor for the project, couldn’t. Not yet. That was June 10th, and the City of Chicago had yet to file a foundation permit.

WRONG.

In fact, that permit had been filed on June 6th. But, as sometimes happens in the data entry process, a key line had been left blank on the city’s permit site: no permit date. So when I was looking at the most recent permits for Aberdeen Street, I should have been scrolling all the way to the end, where permits without dates fall.

So as I wandered by the site Tuesday, I was merely checking to see if equipment was still there. And not only was it there, it was drilling holes into the earth. Knowing nobody in Chicago work start work without the proper permits being in place, I walked the perimeter until I found what I needed to see. Namely, the site bulletin board. And on it, the permit approving foundation work. And all is right with the world.

That permit means the Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture-designed 171 North Aberdeen is about to be a real thing. The new mixed-use project from MCZ Development (click that link. MCZ has a wonderful video introducing their building) will have 75 luxury apartments, 15,000 square feet of retail, and 40,000 square feet of office space. Plus 130 or so parking spaces to accommodate residents, shoppers, diners, and commuters.

: MCZ rendering of 171 North Aberdeen.

: 171 North Aberdeen. You can find it by looking for the water tank and chimney.

: Revcon Construction going to town on the caissons. Good thing they weren’t waiting for my okay, eh?

: You don’t need bloggers. You can learn all you need to know about 171 North Aberdeen by reading the fence.

: Foundation work at 171 North Aberdeen. Hopefully I won’t miss the tower crane going in.

The New Homewood Suites/Hampton Inn Has Your Room Almost Ready [updated]

Posted on July 11, 2016 by danieldschell

The back of the Homewood Suites-Hampton Inn in the West Loop.

It may not exactly be the kind of room service you’re expecting, but Power Construction is busy getting a new Homewood Suites-Hampton Inn ready for you in Chicago.

At 118 North Jefferson Street in the West Loop, the new combination hotel from developer Jupiter Realty will pack 336 rooms into the 24-story tower that, from the outside, looks close to being done. Designed by architect *Mike Siegel of VOA Associates, Homewood/Hampton will include about 8,000 square feet of retail space, while providing 117 indoor parking spots. The building permit also mentions a restaurant on the 24th floor.

Ready to make a reservation? Jupiter hopes to have the hotels ready for guests in September of this year.

7/25/2016 This story has been updated to show Mike Siegel as the correct designer of the Homewood Suites/ Hampton Inn.

: Power Construction began foundation work got in April of 2015.

: The tower crane came down in May.

: The front of the hotels, along North Jefferson Street.

: Still work to do on the exterior, but not much.

: This is the north wall, from Randolph Street.

: This is the south wall, from Washington.

: Front (east) and south facings.

: The back of the hotel from the alley, straight up. (Thanks to the airliner for the fly-by)

: The parking podium, seen from the alley.

: If your hotel reflects River Point, yours is a good hotel.

1035 West Van Buren Starts Peeking Above the West Loop

Posted on June 27, 2016 by danieldschell

1035 West Van Buren is beginning to shoot up through the other buildings in the West Loop

It’s not real construction until I can see it from the 48th floor. It is now that time for the new 1035 West Van Buren in the West Loop.

Related Midwest is bringing the apartment tower to 1035 West Van Buren Street, It’s designed by New York City firm Morris Adjmi Architects (that’s a new name to me here in Chicago) with a local assist from GREC Architects here in Chicago. It is GREC’s Greg Randall who appears on the building permit as the architect.

1035 will be a 30-story rental development with 300 units. That’s pretty darn close to averaging 10 units per floor, for those of you who were told there’d be no math today.

Related Midwest plans to have the tower open to residents before the end of 2017. Lendlease construction crews are on site, seeing to that completion goal.