January, 2022 rendering of 527 West Kinzie Street There are plans for another new skyscraper along the Chicago River. The latest proposal is at 527 West Kinzie Street. You may know this location as the pie-shaped surface parking lot favored by 20-somethings taking gritty urban pictures of their avant-garde fashions to fill out their art school portfolios. Or you may know it as the pie-shaped surface parking lot just behind the Harry Weese’s beloved River Cottages along the North Branch of the river. Or you may have stood in this parking lot taking pictures of the old William J. Cassidy Tire Co ..read more

Four months after the Bridgford Foods building in West Town was turned to dust, plans for its replacement have hit City Hall. Again. The plan for 170 North Green Street has been tweaked before; most recently in 2017. The 2022 version is much taller, and better looking than what was presented back then. Much like your high school boyfriend. January, 2022 diagram of 170 North Green. The building’s height has gone from 210 feet to 470 feet. The number of apartments has been reduced from 314 to 275, but a hotel and office space have been added. Also, the new architect on this one is the Lamar John ..read more

It was just last week I was in a discussion with some residents of one particular southern American city who refused to believe that Chicago kept building skyscrapers throughout the pandemic. When I told them that work was underway on a 73-story residential building, they said “Prove it.” O.K., McHugh Concrete just did. January 22, 2022 concrete pour at 1000M. (Courtesy of McHugh Concrete.) McHugh just spent nine straight hours pouring concrete into a hole at 1000 South Michigan Avenue, completing the foundation for what will eventually be a 788-foot-tall apartment building. Suck it, haters. N ..read more

Any time a transportation agency tries to build something fast and sleek, there always seems to be someone standing in the way. Sometimes, literally. Think French farmers with shotguns who didn’t want the Eurostar zipping through their fields. Or Texas dirt ranchers who think high-speed rail is an infringement on their freedom. Or, in Chicago, where there are a number of places where what is now the CTA had to bend its rails to the will of people or places in the way. The rightward shift in the CTA Red and Purple Line tracks north of the Belmont station. (Via Apple Maps.) Two of those bends wi ..read more

Sterling Bay and SOM have put yet another feather in Chicago’s West Town skyline. 345 North Morgan topped off recently at 11 floors. Rendering of 345 North Morgan (Via Sterling Bay) Eleven levels isn’t all that much when it comes to Chicago construction, but being hard up against a set of Metra tracks and a block-and-a-half off of Fulton Market, 11 stories is pretty good for a piece of what is essentially urban infill. Since this is a SOM design, we shouldn’t be surprised that mere “infill” has been elevated to elegant. Like many of its neighbors, it is reminiscent of the repurposed brick ware ..read more

When we first started this publication almost 20 years ago, 15 stories was considered to be a huge building for Fulton Market. Now, people don’t even notice when a 25-story tower goes up. But they will notice the newest skyscraper planned for what used to be Chicago’s meat packing district: a 50-story apartment/hotel block designed by Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture. January, 2022 drawing of 1200 West Fulton Market. The new structure will climb to 600 feet, and house 500 apartments, and a 200-room hotel. It’s part of a three-building complex expected to wipe away any memories of the food dist ..read more

One of Chicago’s best attractions wants to shell out big clams to lure in new visitors. The Shedd Aquarium has announced its Centennial Commitment, in which it plans to spend $500,000,000 renovating the aquatic life museum. It’s called “Centennial” because the idea is to have it done in time for the aquarium’s 100th anniversary. Shedd Aquarium (file) We waded through the “advance solutions,” “authentic conversations,” “springboards to inquiry,” and “informed conservation solutions” nonsense in the Shedd’s press release about the renovation, and here’s the facts distilled in plain, non-Medill ..read more

We’ve been in a cheesecake-induced coma for most of the extended Christmas holiday, and only just now crawling out from under the cozy warmth of six quilts, two afghans, and a cat. So what greets us as we fire up Netscape Navigator for the first time in a long time? A story in Blockclub Chicago that Big John has a major dandruff problem. Long story short: A piece of the 100-story building’s facade broke off and fell onto the sidewalk below. It’s natural to try to rationalize that kind of behavior with thoughts like “Well, it’s just metal fatigue…” or “It’s an old building, things happen.” If y ..read more

The Thompson Center, once widely considered to be an ex-parrot, has gone from “stick a fork in it” to “put a ring on it” faster than reality TV dating show. Governor Pritzker announced that he’s in talks with a Prime Group to buy and rehabilitate the office building at 100 West Randolph Street. It is one of the most loved and hated buildings in downtown. We haven’t seen such mixed emotion from the public since the Mr. Submarine renovation nearly a decade ago. December, 2021 rendering of the proposed Thompson Center renovation In a statement, the state’s head of state stated that selling the fo ..read more

You may have noticed that the freight train bringing new skyscrapers to Chicago has showed up empty in recent weeks. Things usually slow down around Christmastime, so we’re not revving up a klaxon just yet, but keep an eye on this just in case one thing ceases to lead to another. December, 2021 rendering of 1245 West Fulton Market In the meantime, enjoy the skyscraper that Sterling Bay stuffed in your stocking just before the man with the bag comes to town: 28 stories loaded with 350 new homes at 1245 West Fulton Market in West Town. While you were making a shopping list and trying to remember ..read more