625 West Adams putting that shiny new tower crane to good use

Posted on September 1, 2016 by danieldschell

625 West Adams, from above. Hard to tell from up here what kind of heights have been reached at ground level.

625 West Adams is right outside our back window. It has a big yellow tower crane. Perhaps you’ve heard me speak of it a time or two. And while that new-crane smell may have worn off by now, the new crane’s purpose is just beginning.

As Power Construction continues to make progress on the 20-story office tower, that cranes been throwing things around the lot like a champ. And for good reason; there’s a lot of work to be done to have 625 West Adams ready for its debut in early 2018.

Gratuitous Tower-Crane-And-Building-Up-Chicago-Office shot.

Will 625 West Adams ever finish my tower crane?

Posted on August 9, 2016 by danieldschell

Last night, I put instant coffee in the microwave, and almost went back in time.” Steven Wright

I’m guessing Steven Wright was not a patient man. I, on the other hand, have unlimited patience. To a point.

Power Construction is getting a lot done on the lot at 625 West Adams Street in the West Loop. But I’ll be darned if I don’t find myself looking out the window every morning and wishing I could put an instant tower crane in the microwave. Or something. To be honest, it’s not really *my* tower crane. At all.

In the meantime, take a look at what’s been done to this point on 625 West Adams, the new SCB-designed 20-story office tower from CA Ventures and White Oak Realty.

: Is it just me, or does that tower crane stub still look kinda stubby?

: Another maze.

: Instead of one big building…

: …it looks like a series of smaller projects…

: …that will all meld together into one office tower.

: The 625 West Adams site.

: Still lots of rebar.

Check One Off The List: 625 West Adams Plants a Tower Crane

Posted on July 14, 2016 by danieldschell

Setting the tower crane base, bright and early this morning.

It was an inadvertent Tower Crane Tuesday post. And here we are on Thursday, and it’s already obsolete. But in the good way. For no longer are there six tower crane permits awaiting actual tower cranes. No, my friends, now there are five.

https://twitter.com/BuildUpChicago/status/753393411969970176

https://twitter.com/BuildUpChicago/status/753580641397116929

625 West Adams trucked in the base of its new tower crane yesterday, and wasted no time this morning rooting it into the ground. It’s one of those pretty yellow ones, too. And it will be right outside my window. Thank you, Power Construction. You know the way to my heart.

Please let me know if there’s an angle of this crane you’d like to see that I haven’t included below…

: It was still sitting on the truck during last night’s storm.

: But it made it through unscathed.

: Final preps on the foundation…

: …as the base was being offloaded.

: And there it stands, along South Desplaines Street.

: Tower crane crew doing what they do.

: Proof that I stayed behind the fence.

: There’s more foundation work happening besides just the tower crane.

: Old St. Pat’s in the background. 625 West Adams is often referred to as “St. Pat’s Tower.”

The Tower Crane Pipeline Still Runneth Over [Updated]

Posted on July 12, 2016 by danieldschell

Last week, I got pretty excited (okay, way excited — overstimulated even) about the three tower crane stubs being set in the ground around Chicago. One was for the DePaul School of Music, one for the new Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ meetinghouse at 822 North Clark Street, and the third at 8 East Huron Street in River North. But lest you think that puts a wrap on what to watch for, think again.

We still have half a dozen projects out there with tower crane permits itching to climb into the sky. They are:

Atrium Village

Atrium Village received a tower crane permit last week to erect a 31-story apartment building.

Atrium Village, which I also posted about last week, will rise soon in the Near North. The 31-story rental tower, which is Phase One of the multi-phase project by Onni Group to rebuild the entire Atrium Village development, got its tower crane permit July 5th.

625 West Adams

625 West Adams is a busy lot again this morning, following a slow weekend after wrapping up caisson work.

625 West Adams in the West Loop got its tower crane permit on June 28th. The 20-story office tower from CA Ventures and White Oak Realty Partners is happening right outside the buildingupchicago office.

165 North Desplaines

Caisson work is ongoing at 165 North Desplaines in the West Loop.

Also in the West Loop, Gerding Edlen’s 165 North Desplaines continues caisson work, while waiting to install its tower crane. The permit was filed on June 28th, the same day as 625 West Adams. Two brand-spankin’ new tower cranes four blocks apart. Nice. 165 North Desplaines will be a 14-story apartment building with 199 units.

3Eleven

3Eleven still looks like that movie “Holes”

In the early stages of construction, 3Eleven still looks like just a random series of holes. Soon, it will be a 23-story apartment tower from the John Buck Company at 311 West Illinois Street in River North, in what, up until a couple weeks ago, was the parking lot for Assumption Roman Catholic Church.

Apple Store

The new Apple Store at 401 North Michigan Avenue, both upper and lower.

Does Chicago need a new Apple Store? Or just an Apple Store with more space for people to camp out overnight for each new iPhone? Well, Chicago is getting both. At 401 North Michigan Avenue, in Pioneer Court. And it’s getting a tower crane as well, permitted on May 23rd.

171 North Aberdeen

171 North Aberdeen in the West Loop.

The West Loop is a busy place. But you knew that. 171 North Aberdeen is another project in the early stages. They’ve done some scraping, but it may be a while yet until it gets the tower crane it was permitted to have back on May 10th. 171 North Aberdeen, from MCZ Development, will be a mid-rise, mixed-use building combining luxury apartments, retail space, office space, and parking.

[Curiously, the tower permit is the only permit on file so far. No foundation permit has been issued as yet.]

That sentence from the original story is completely, thoroughly wrong. 171 North Aberdeen received a foundation permit on June 6th. I missed it. Sorry for my mistake.

Drillin’ and Fillin’ at 625 West Adams

Posted on June 16, 2016 by danieldschell

625 West Adams is a beehive of activity.

Monday, I showed you photos of foundation equipment being moved into the construction site at 625 West Adams Street that is soon to become 625 West Adams, a 20-story office tower from CA Ventures and White Oak Realty Partners.

Well, let me do some math for you: That was THREE DAYS AGO. And here we are on Thursday, and Power Construction crews are ripping holes in the earth for caissons like the foundation rigs are due back tomorrow. At this rate, the SCB-designed 625 West Adams might be move-in ready by Tuesday. (Well, not *this* Tuesday, I guess. But *a* Tuesday, for sure.)

: Foundation work is in full force at 625 West Adams.

: It’s like watching dancers. Costumes are kinda cool, too.

: testing the eastern-m ost limits of the lot.

: You know you’re at the edge when the fence has to be opened.

: Rebar teams a fashioning rebar cages to be sunk into the caissons.

: Here comes the cement.

: Cement is being poured into caissons as fast as they’re being drilled.

: Caisson inspection.

: Another delivery.

: Caisson equipment.

: Mounds of dirt are being created…

: …and trucked away.

: New equipment is constantly being delivered to the construction site.

: …and beng moved around. Turn your back, and everything’s in a new place.

Foundation Toys Take Over 625 West Adams Site

Posted on June 13, 2016 by danieldschell

Caisson drill bits arrived by truck Monday morning.

It’s move-in day at 625 West Adams in the West Loop.

No, they didn’t build a 20-story office tower over the weekend. It’s not tenant move-in day; it’s foundation equipment move-in day.

Another truck, more foundation materials.

Bright and early Monday morning, Case Foundation could be seen flooding the 625 West Adams work site with materials and gear they’ll use to begin work on the joint development from CA Ventures and White Oak Realty Partners.

On its way to Chicago is a 20-story office building with 400 parking spaces on levels 1-5, 2,500 square feet of retail space, and three outdoor terraces mixed into the upper floors. Designed by architect Martin Wolf of Solomon Cordwell Buenz, 625 West Adams was approved way *way* back in November of 2012, and developers have decided now is the time to build, and they’ll sign on tenants as they go. The City of Chicago filed a foundation permit last month, and the arrival of all that equipment means things will be very busy at Adams and Desplaines for quite awhile.

: As Old St. Pat’s stands watch, “St. Pat’s Tower” equipment awaits unloading along Desplaines Street.

: Waitin’ for something to do.

: Lots fill up fast when the big gear starts showing up.

: Case Foundation equipment at the ready at “Old St. Pat’s Tower” site.

: Caisson drilling equipment.

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