“The House That Bozo Built” Will Likely Meet a Wrecking Ball
A fairly anonymous three-story brick building at 2501 West Bradley Place in Chicago’s North Center neighborhood may be torn down in the next few years. It’s been sold to Houston mega real estate developer Hines. WGN-TV (file) This isn’t just any building. It’s the home of WGN-TV. The television station moved to this building in 1963 because the old Tribune Tower space was too small. The Trib’s building...
Wolf Point Now Home to a Pack of Skyscrapers
We looked it up, and the minimum number of wolves required to make a “pack” is three. Which works out well for the confluence of the Chicago River and its North Branch, where three skyscrapers now populate Wolf Point. Salesforce Tower Chicago under construction in March, 2021. (Courtesy of River North Spy Sam.) River North Spy Sam sent in these photos of Wolf Point South, now known as Salesforce Tower Chicago, as it...
After Five Years, Lincoln Common is Complete
With all the satisfaction of slotting the last asymmetrical piece of cardboard into a 350-piece Nancy Drew jigsaw puzzle, McCaffery Interests and Hines have completed Lincoln Common. Lincoln Common (Courtesy of Hines) The $350 million makeover of the old Children’s Memorial Hospital was approved five years ago, and the ribbon-cutting ceremony was held in September of 2019. The last piece of the Lincoln Common puzzle was The...
Crane Nests on Wolf Point for Salesforce Tower Chicago
Labor Day is over, and so the world returns from summer vacation and gets back to work. Or it would, if more than half of the people in Chicago weren’t working from home because of asshats like my coworker who has violated Chicago’s travel-to-a-hideously-infected-state-and-get-a-free-quarantine rules. Twice. With that out of our systems, we turn to what’s happening on Wolf Point, where hardhats busy erecting...
Construction Pix, and Small Changes of Plan at Wolf Point South
We’re done with being disappointed with Salesforce Tower Chicago. Yes, it was originally going to be much taller. And yes, one of the most visible hunks of land in the city deserves a better building. But at this point, we’re just happy that it’s being built. Let’s remember that Wolf Point was an industrial wasteland for as long as Illinois governors have been going to jail. Salesforce Tower Chicago under...
Chicago Architecture Firm Happy to Not Be Needed Today
While you were sequestered in your micro apartment exchanging accusing stares with your cat (she totally ate the last Yoplait), the boffins down at bKL Architecture have been fighting the good fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. And now their part is done. The Loop designers of glassy things that scrape the sky have completed their mission of banging out protective face shields with a stable of 3D printers. Face shield production at...
Lincoln Common Ribbon Cutting Today
The official ribbon-cutting ceremony for Lincoln Common is scheduled for today. It’s the biggest project to hit Lincoln Park since the 1800’s, when the city decided that a couple of dozen thousand dead people could rest more peacefully on land a little farther from the living. Lincoln Common (Courtesy of Hines) Until a decade ago, this was the location of Children’s Memorial Hospital. Its relocation to...
Wolf Point East Tops Off. We Mean It This Time.
You no longer have to wonder if the latest skyscraper climbing into the Chicago skyline at Wolf Point will continue to grow. It won’t. This beanstalk is fully sprouted. Rendering of Wolf Point East (Courtesy of Hines) Wolf Point East is the second of three skyscrapers going up in what used to be a surface parking lot at the confluence of the Main and North branches of the Chicago River. There has been a lot of interest in the...
Wolf Point East: Almost, But Not Quite There Yet
Last week we told you about speculation that the skyscraper known as Wolf Point East had topped out. It turns out that while that’s a good guess, the building is not quite there yet. Construction of Wolf Point East (August 2019. Courtesy of River North Spy Chris.) As promised, we talked to people who talked to people who know things, and no, the notion of topping out is currently all talk. For now. Clearly, from the photo above...
Wolf Point East Shows Off, and Maybe Tops Off
Word on the street is that the second of three Wolf Point towers maybe, possibly, perhaps might have topped off. Construction of Wolf Point East (August 2019. Courtesy of River North Spy Chris.) River North Spy Chris sent in the photograph above, and the one below that back up the assertion that Wolf Point East has climbed as far as it can, though we have not yet gotten official word. Construction of Wolf Point East (August 2019....