Construction start next week
 

Just received from a source:

Please note that Management was just informed today that McHugh Construction will be mobilizing next week to commence construction of 1200 S. Indiana. They will first clear the site, as well as erect fencing around the perimeter. They will also establish the private alley connection through to Michigan Avenue. Drilling of deep foundations is anticipated to begin by the beginning of January 2017 and will take approximately 2 months. Finally, excavation and construction of the rest of the foundation system and related underground work will carry on through the end of May 2017.

^ YAY!!!!!

I love early Christmas presents!

Fantastic news! Can't wait to see this get started!

Yusssssss kweeeeeen

I was right by the thinnest of the thin margins... Happy it's starting, this will have a huge impact on the skyline. When these two towers and Wanda go up the city from the south side view will have a pretty different looking skyline

Heeeeeeelllllllls yeaaaaaaahh!!!!!!!!

Awesome news. Now all we need is for 630 N Franklin to get going

130... And I feel that start is further down the line.

I can only assume that the second tower for this project is going to wait to see how sales of this first tower goes before they start it, almost similar to OMPark and OMPark west? Unless someone knows any different info?

skyline impact for sure

Believe the East tower (1200 S Indiana), the first tower, is all rental.

Taller one on Michigan is supposed to be condos.

My cynical self doubts the second tower will ever be built, but I'm hoping we can get this, 1000 S, and Essex Tower going. That will considerably change the skyline.

I really don't want the second tower to be built in its current form. I hate twin towers, even if they have a nice design.

Thankfully, it seems likely that the second tower will get deferred into the next cycle and hopefully get a new architect.

meh. i think the marina city corn cobs work better together as a twinned pair than they would as an individual tower.

The second tower will happen, it's just a matter of when. Let's get this one built first.

860-880 N. LSD work together quite nicely as well, though I could have live without 900-910.

I kind of feel the same in wanting something visually unique. I wouldn't mind at lest seeing other (taller) concepts for the corner of Roosevelt and Michigan.

I second this. The second tower may or may not happen this cycle, but it should eventually. These buildings at the southwest corner of grant park will have a huge impact and serve to lengthen the skyline further south.

Anyway, great news on the impending start. I thought this one was rushed through just to get approval before whatever deadline that was, then would sit for much longer. Glad I was wrong.

What excites me most is filling in the south wall of Grant Park

Only 100 condo units in phase 2, the rest (650 +/-) would be rentals.

Viñoly already said that the current twin tower design is just placeholder. Don't forget that the original concept had two distinctly different building designs for the two towers. I expect him to come up with something fresh for the second tower, and I am guessing the developer just didn't want to leave a blank spot on the lot when presenting the proposal to the public. Also twin tower is a disingenuous usage of the word twin, unless we are talking about fraternal twin towers haha

Don't.

No, all of phase 2 (Michigan & Roosevelt) would be condo.

That is incorrect. I know whereof I speak.

I think we both know of where we speak, but one of us happens to be wrong :shrug:

I don't know if the programming or intent has been changed, but the developers have stated previously the second building would be condo.

I could be wrong as 600+condo units means they'd have to sell at least 1/2 first for financing. We'll see when the project it re-presented in the future.

How about twins that are fundamentally the same design language but adopt some superficial differences like color, fenestration, etc.

Here's one random good looking example of a different Vinoly implementation on his building blocks theme, in Manhattan - although not a high rise. The glass is more dominant here, whereas the structural element expression in 1200 is pretty heavy (it could be lessened by say cloaking two out of three floors' spandrels with curtainwall glass, for example).
www.6sqft.com/new-renderings-of-rafael-vinolys-meatpacking-building-will-include-worlds-largest-starbucks/

Bingo! I'm most interested in it boxing in the park, which it will do no matter the design as long as they keep it tall. As for keeping it twin towers, I kind of think it would be nice to pay homage to the corn cobs, even if that wasn't his agenda. Whatever they do I just hope they light up up the two crown's nicely. Remember how badass One Museum Park West's crown original design was with that spiraling green glass? It would have been amazing to look at from LSD or the park. Sadley...we did not get that

Paying homage to the corn cobs is not the agenda - if any homage is being paid, it is to the Willis (nee Sears) tower, with its tube massing, although the structural system is not the same. It is a slight tip of the cap, but not a full homage.
Personally, I hate all these "homages" and "tips of the cap" to other buildings; that is a post-modern practice that, rather than allowing a building to be what it needs to be, feels this need to try to be in the same club as the buildings they are paying homage to. It's like the kid in school who is unsure of himself, and tries to suck up to the kid he admires by wearing the same cool clothes and saying to him "Hey look, we're wearing the same clothes! We're twinsies!" Do you think the kid he admires cares? Do you think he admires the kid in return? No, it's just a pathetic attempt to be cool by association.
That's not to say that architects and engineers need to reinvent the wheel with every building - if a building needs the same solution as the Sears building, then do it - just don't do it as an homage, do it as a genuine solution to the problem.

i wish they would do a "homage" to the height and build it 1800 feet or something.

Right. and plenty of infill going on behind it now

I'm just happy for the density. Hopefully with all the proposals and projects under construction within a few blocks of this we might see some decent retail stores open up. I think they are probably maxed out on nail salons, pilates fitness places, and dry cleaners.

Omg and storage. What's up with that? Chicago apartments are huge.

That would be an awkwardly tall needle surrounded by small buildings(for the most part) and I think be a genuinely horrible idea. Height for the sake of height is just dumb, this design fits much better into the neighborhood and will be a much more organic way to develop the South Loop into an area with more and more big buildings.

Where have we heard that before?

Oh yeah, when the Hancock, Sears Tower, and Standard Oil building were proposed. Now they're beloved icons.

Yup, built it and a cluster of smaller skyscrapers will be built around it. Not sure I like this design good enough for it to be 1800 feet tall.

lol I don't know but I think the south loop has needed a decent commercial corridor for a long time now. This pair along with 1326 S Michigan and 1411 S Michigan could go a long way it in making S Michigan Ave that corridor

Small bulldozer on site


Plenty of empty lots in South Loop for a tall building - besides the current proposals and empty lots mentioned above, large, empty lots all along wabash north of Roosevelt and south of Congress

Just passed the site a few hour ago. Machinery is at work to remove the parking lot on both lots.

Activity on site is a beautiful thing to see.

BTW... I heard a rumor/whisper that this tower could have grown slightly. Just by a few feet. I thought that might interest some.

Wow I never thought this would get built and to see this going up at the same time as Wanda and One Bennett -- WOW! Merry Christmas!

Me either. i'm so happy this is happening. It's probably the most thoughtful design getting built. I like Wanda but only bc I think the cladding is going to look elegant and dreamy, but the massing is like, cumbersome and shit.

I hope they release some renderings of the south side of this building. I thought this was the more interesting side when looking at the CD's. It has the series of semi-spiraling tiered rooftop decks that take advantage of the south aspect sun.

edit - you can see some of the south decks in this rendering
https://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a...D720/ry%3D480/

I have not seen the floor plans yet but do both of the bases connect together with walkways, ballrooms and convention areas or anything like that or will they entirely be two different seperated buildings?

2 separate buildings. They might share the outdoor amenity deck on 16, but they want to keep the buildings separate so that they would have the option of selling either but not necessarily both buildings. Even the parking garages in the podiums would be separate.

December 22, 2016

Nice pics Solar!:cheers:

http://i.imgur.com/m7lzLQ2.gif
source: https://www.reddit.com/r/gifs/commen...fatbot_oh_boy/

Caisson rigs rolling up next week, perhaps?

I wonder if this foundation will have rock caissons (socketed into the bedrock)? If not, it must be about the largest concrete frame building you can have here without them........I don't believe One Bennett Park had them, and though they are roughly comparable heights, 1200 S Indiana is a considerably more massive structure....

Can I salivate yet, or should I wait for the drills and the bananas?

lol

^ Seriously, this project is a needle mover for the south loop skyline.

Once this starts we will have a 1000 footer and two 800 footers u/c