I love that photo, it really shows how this sloped park space is carved out of a concrete parking podium.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EYkjiMcW...jpg&name=large
Credit: bKL Architecture

May 21







Some serious (sheer ?) wall going in after the core passes.

nice, will be so great to see that view after this and dusable park are completed

I can't wait to see the glass on this one

I am looking at the Cirrus floor plans and prices: https://cirruscondos.com/floor-plans/all/

663 sqft starting from $480k is not bad at all. Over at 1000M, the cheapest unit I see on Redfin is 498 sqft for $476k. Does anyone know whether Cirrus has sold more condos than 1000M? If the latter had more competitive prices, it would have sold more units and its construction would probably not be struggling so badly.

I'd much rather live in 1000M than the bee hive that is LSE. Grant Park vs this park? LSD traffic noise in your living room?

Except you have basically direct access to Grant Park and are much closer to the Mag Mile and theater district at LSE... Also, LSD traffic noise is less than the L noise you'd get from living at 1000M

we will come to your party in 1000M in 2036

no Debbie Downers invited. haha! Get in line with the peeps that said they'd never ground break, you depressing schleps.

June 6









True-Weld USA

Nice pictures harryc!

Anyone know when construction on Parcel I might begin?

^Definitely not this week. Maybe next week. :shrug:

(Due to market conditions, it is highly unlikely to see a residential tower break ground any time soon.)

It's sad, wasn't that supposed to break ground right after these were finished?

I hope it still gets built/another height increase, that would partially make up for spire site disappointment.

June 16
 

Nice angle and great to see some progress.

Judging by the jagged floor plates, this will be a cool-looking facade.:yes:

They have not stopped working on this project. . . and the sales center has a mockup of the facade. . . took this a month ago:

https://pbase.com/image/170800103.jpg

. . .

I'm no expert but I think this might be a Liebherr LG 1750 lattice boom mobile crane parked on Harbor Drive. . .

https://pbase.com/temper/image/170802528.jpg

https://pbase.com/temper/image/170802529.jpg

https://pbase.com/temper/image/170802530.jpg

https://pbase.com/temper/image/170802531.jpg

https://pbase.com/temper/image/170802532.jpg

https://pbase.com/temper/image/170802534.jpg

Also they've done some landscaping around the sales center. . . which is nice. . .

https://pbase.com/temper/image/170802533.jpg

. . .

from a man with a view

Yeah. . . doesn't make sense that they'd need to use it for Cirrus and Cascade. . . still looking to verify the crane make/model though. . .

. . .

^ I assumed they used it to remove tower crane #3, which is now gone. :shrug:

June 12

Chicago | CIrrus by Harry Carmichael, on Flickr

The crane was there for a couple of days to hoist a chiller to the roof of Lancaster. The work was completed yesterday and the crane is gone.

They poured concrete on part of the park platform today

https://i.imgur.com/wofFKkS.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/UwxZoQl.jpg

Awesome view, can't wait to walk around there when it is done, looks like an really cool space

June 29

Wow this one is a sleeper-pick! These two alone will significantly refresh the look of the east end of LSE. Hopefully they'll be tall enough to see from Maggie Daley park.

It's especially cool for me to see these go up because my family knew people who had a condo towards the top of the condo building to the south. The view from there was one of my first birds-eye views of Chicago in person circa 1997 (I was in high school). Seeing the golf course and skyline to the West and the ferris wheel of Navy Pier to the northeast, I fell in love with the city.

This project is starting to look quite imposing from the LFT.

Hopefully we have a shot at Parcel I getting in on the action soon. I would love to see 950ft, but realistically post COVID that's likely not happening.

Idk, LSE has really become a clustered mass. All good, just saying. Almost undistinguishable. Would way rather plop cash down at 1000 M. At least there I wouldn't be looking at a dozen neighbors living rooms at night.

July 6

Chicago | Sirrus and Cascade by Harry Carmichael, on Flickr

Chicago | Sirrus and Cascade by Harry Carmichael, on Flickr

Chicago | Sirrus and Cascade by Harry Carmichael, on Flickr

Chicago | Sirrus and Cascade by Harry Carmichael, on Flickr

Chicago | Sirrus and Cascade by Harry Carmichael, on Flickr

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Eca2-FEX...jpg&name=large
Credit: bKLarchitecture

That's an interesting comment. To a *small* degree Lakeshore East is starting to resemble those public housing estates in Hong Kong, see for example this photo on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public...ing_Estate.jpg

LSE still looks much better though, because those public housing skyscrapers really are indistinguishable.

Yeesshh... I always think of Hong Kong at night and not that sort of image, but I suppose reality is far more drab. Whenever we complain about architectural diversity in Chicago (particularly during booms where one design is in vogue such as blue glass is right now or beige was last cycle) just remember how bad it could be when architectural diversity isn't a concept or desire.

^LSE is turning quite well. LSE Park is lush, varied, well manicured and well used. When Vista is done LSE will have a wide well designed berth to the City RiverWalk, when Cirrus is done it will provide an upgraded access to the harbor and Lake Michigan and Navy Pier, and it already has Randolph street level access to Grant Park. Those are 4 of Chicago's prized park/assets. And the pedway provides weather protected links to the Loop,State St and So Mich Ave and public transit. Whats not to love?

The only complaints I hear from my friends there is the mind bending bright yellow glow that fills their condo now. I gave them DOKA's e-mail ;-)

Eh, Chicago could learn a lot from Hong Kong. Not a lot of Good Architecture(TM) but it's a far more vibrant, diverse, and transit-oriented city.

Also, most of the buildings in Lakeshore East are pretty generic/mediocre anyway (Lancaster, Shoreham, Tides, etc) - might as well be HK.

Most of the architecture in Hong Kong is terrible. I can always tell who has actually been to HK and actually got around to multiple areas by how they talk about its architecture. They have some interesting buildings but thr vast majority of buildings there are concrete monoliths. The "blah" architecture in downtown Chicago is still much better than the "blah" architecture of Hong Kong. There is only a few small areas.of nice architecture there. Don't be fooled by the great night time pictures along the bay. Those are nice but not indicative of how the city actually is. There's only so much you can do when there's storms like typhoons every year. You'll find this reality through SE Asia. There are nice buildings and then theres a lot more not nice at all buildings.

Yeah, the vibrancy of the city is a lot higher but there is also a lot of unhealthy density (i.e. tons of apartments no more than 120 sq ft). It really depends on where you are but be careful what you wish for. I've been to 7 cities in Mainland China and Hong Kong, and some areas of Hong Kong were unlike anything I've seen almost anywhere in the world. I'm all for healthy density and street vibrancy but some of what Ive experienced in HK was not a good level of vibrancy and even worse than anywhere in Manhattan and certainly much worse than anything I've experienced in mainland China. Chicago is more similar to certain areas of cities like Shanghai (believe it or not) which is crowded, but doesn't feel (at least the 3 times I've been there) crazy annoying like HK. In my own opinion, a city like Shanghai is something to strive more for ...central Shanghai i mean..than Hong Kong. But thats just based on my own experience in these cities as well as my own preferences.

July 16
 

Interesting. Cirrus looks to be taller than Cascade now despite poking out of the ground a few weeks behind.

I wonder if the condo building has taller floor to ceiling heights than the rentals. That might account for it?

July 14

starting to get excited when i see these now. always thought it was a cool project but i didn't realize how much i hated that little section of our skyline until these concrete beasts began to cover it up.

with the mock facade already up I already know i'll love the final product.

thanks for the pics!

^I'm also liking the facade. . . looks like it will translate better in reality than it does on the renderings. . .

. . .

Glass going up 7/21
 

Via Earthcam. What an enormous site. Like look at that bus for comparison. Looks like a Prius in comparison. I wonder if those folks near the river are annoyed about the views being blocked. :haha:

https://aws1.discourse-cdn.com/busin...4b90d842e.jpeg