Prep Underway For New West Loop High-Rise
If you’re a fan of West Loop development, thank the eagle eyes of fellow reader West Loop Spy Kurt for letting us all know that things are starting to happen at 601 West Randolph Street. Rendering of 601 west Randolph (Va the Office of Alderman Brendan Reilly) Kurt says Jersey barriers have gone up along Randolph Street. It’s a sure sign that scaffolding, hard hats, and heavy equipment are on the way. He also notes that...
Could 210 South Canal B-MO Glassy?
The first glass panels have gone up at the new BMO Tower rising across the street from Union Station. West Loop Spy Sam slipped these photos of the construction into our virtual mailbox, and you can already see that the Goettsh Partners design is going to be a little special. BMO Tower under construction in December 2020 (Courtesy of West Loop Spy Sam) GP has been glassing up this corner of the world quite a lot lately. It recently...
Union Station Food Hall Photo Update
If you’ve looked at Goettsch Partners‘ portfolio lately, you might have noticed that the Loop architecture firm has a crush on glass. But that doesn’t mean it’s a one-trick pony. Union Station renovation in December 2020 (Courtesy of West Loop Spy Sam) To wit: The Union Station redevelopment plan, which is revitalizing the biggest passenger rail hub in the Midwest. Goettsch has already gotten more high-fives...
West Loop Skyscraper to Further the Isolation of Kennedy Expressway
Last week we learned two interesting things. First, the correct 12 Days of Christmas lyric is “Four colly birds,” not “Four calling birds.” Colly bird is a dusty term for any random blackbird. And second, Crescent Heights wants to put up a 47-story residential tower at 640 West Washington Boulevard, on the eastern edge of the Kennedy Expressway. December, 2020 rendering of 640 West Washington The City of...
From the Air, the Jane Byrne Reconstruction Looks Fascinating, Not Frustrating
Not everyone who lives in or visits Chicago enjoys a car-free existence. And for them, there is the Jane Byrne Interchange. November 2020 construction at the Jane Byrne Interchange (Courtesy of YoChicago!) We haven’t talked about it much since reconstruction commenced on the intersection of the Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Ryan Expressways. Partly because it’s been going on for eight years, and mostly because you can get the...
West Loop Office Building Moves Forward
The proposed office building at 601 West Randolph Street is a step closer to becoming a reality. The Chicago Plan Commission has thumbed the project from Vista Development, slated to land a 15-story office building on a surface parking lot. Rendering of 601 west Randolph (Va the Office of Alderman Brendan Reilly) The project was designed by Antunovich Associates, and will preserve the evocative four-story code orange pile on the...
The 411 on 601 West Randolph in the West Loop
Four months ago, an alert reader noticed some people poking around at 609 West Randolph Street. He told us. We told you. Then last month, the project became official, as 42nd Ward Alderman Brendan Reilly started talking about a new development for the corner of Randolph and Jefferson in the West Loop. Now, paperwork has been filed with the city to get this office building built. Rendering of 601 west Randolph (Va the Office of...
There BMO Cranes in the West Loop This Week
The West Loop’s newest skyscraper is getting its crane on. The parts for a new tower crane were delivered to 320 South Canal Street earlier this week to help put together the BMO Tower — a 51-story office building designed by Goettsch Partners for Convexity Properties and Riverside Investment and Development. YoChicago! delivered these photographs of the badass Erector Set to our tip line. August 2020 construction of the BMO...
You Called It: New Office Building Coming to the West Loop
Back in May of this year, we relayed to you a photograph that West Loop Spy Kurt jammed into our tip line showing soil sampling rigs tasting the dirt beneath 609 West Randolph Street. Usually if someone is paying for that kind of work, there’s a reason; and now we know the reason: a 15-story office building Rendering of 609 west Randolph (Va the Office of Alderman Brendan Reilly) 42nd Ward Alderman Brendan Reilly was the...
Deco Like a Gekko: Old Chicago Post Office Gets an Athletic Green Lid
If you watched Star Trek after Svengoolie on channel 26 Saturday night, you learned that jealousy is a terrible thing. But jealousy is also what makes the real estate world go ’round. Your cousin gets a two-flat in Ravenswood, you get a four-flat in Lincoln Park. Your neighbor puts a trampoline in his backyard, you put in a pool. The dot-com wannabe across town gets its own food truck, your dot-com wannabe puts in a food court...