Banking on a Lake View in Chicago’s Gold Coast
If you’ve been using your Independence Day week off to get in a bit of cycling along Chicago’s lakefront path, you might have wondered about the low-rise building going up on the corner of Lake Shore Drive and Banks Street. What you saw is 61 Banks Street (61 East Bank Street), a hyperluxe apartment building designed by the West Loop’s Booth Hansen for Draper and Kramer. Joe Zekas over at YoChicago! flew by in Air...
New Downtown Townhomes Look Pretty Snazzy
Remember those townhouses we told you about back in 2015 that were going to fill in the hole at the corner of Clark and Chestnut? If you haven’t been by to gape recently, they look pretty darned snazzy. Of course, we’re big skyscraper fans. But you can’t see the skyscrapers if there’s nothing but skyscrapers to see. Mixing up the land use pattern creates nice view corridors, and this cluster of high-rent,...
The Last Empty Lakeshore Lot in Downtown Chicago Gets Filled In
The official groundbreaking has been marked for 61 Banks Street, a new residential mid-rise that will rise midly on the corner of East Banks Street and North Lakeshore Drive in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood. This was the only open, developable land along the lakefront between the Chicago River and Diversey Harbor. The new apartment block is a project of Draper and Kramer, and designed by Booth Hansen in the West Loop. It...
River North Building Appeals to Bulldogs, Comfy Footwear
Do you like bulldogs? How about comfortable shoes? If these sound like your kind of things, then you’ll be happy to know that progress is being made on the new residential block called The Ardus at 676 North LaSalle Street. The Ardus is a project by Cedar Street and the Harlem Irving Companies. It will bring another 149 new apartments to River North, on the corner of LaSalle Street and Huron. As you can see in the photograph...
Ten New Greystones Taking Shape in Near North
It’s not every day that downtown Chicago gets a new set of greystones. So if you’ve had your fill of skyscrapers and cranes, head over to 111 West Chestnut Street where a row of ten new homes designed by Booth Hansen are being built. Near North Spy Joel dropped the photo above into our tip line, showing that the pit we reported on in 2015 has been filled in, and construction of the new residences is up to the first floor....
Gold Coast’s Last Lake Shore Drive In-Fill Gets Filled In
Sixteen months after we told you that the last non-park undeveloped space along North Lake Shore Drive between the Chicago River and Diversey Harbor is finally going to be filled in, we have achieved paperwork. Plans for a new building to be erected at 59 East Banks Street were filed with the city yesterday. The Booth Hansen design is an eight story building with 58 homes and 42 parking spaces. It’s hard to tell from the...
Out With The Old, In With The New at 676 North LaSalle
Last week we gave you an update on the demolition happening at 676 North LaSalle Street. That’s where a non-descript office building is being turned into apartments, getting a townhouse hat, and expanding laterally. Well, the demolition phase must be nearing completion because the City of Chicago has issued construction permits for a foundation for the expansion portion of the project. FOUNDATIONS PERMIT FOR NEW 149 APARTMENTS...
With JCB’s On the Roof, 676 LaSalle Is Ready to Grow Up and Out
The newest residential block going up in River North has tiny dozers crawling it like fleas on a Carolina hound dog. River North Spy Mike sent in the photo above and below showing that work gutting Cedar Street’s existing building is well in hand. That former office building will be expanded upward two stories, and a new companion building will go up in the parking lot now being used as a staging area next door. When complete,...
The Latest Chicago Skyscraper Trend is Holes In the Roof
If you’re the sort of person who stops and looks skyward when you pass a construction site to admire the work being done and the building being created, you may have noticed a new trend in Chicago skyscrapers: Holes. No fewer than three recently-opened residential blocks feature holes in their uppermost concrete slabs in order to allow light to penetrate to the common areas below. We’re talking about The Marquee at...
River North Building Rehab Heads Toward Expansion Phase
It’s been a little over a year since prolific north side Chicago developer Cedar Street slapped down a cool $12 million for the mediocre office building at 676 North LaSalle with an eye towards eviscerating it and turning it into apartments. Now plans are advancing for the hard part of the project — expanding the building upward two stories, and eastward into the neighboring surface parking lot. Paperwork filed with the city...
