A month after planting the base in the midst of foundation work, 1010 South Wells now has an erected tower crane on hand ready to do the heavy lifting. The red stub for a Potain MD485B model was set in concrete on February 5 by general contractor Brandts Build and concrete partner Goebel forming, and through last week’s rain and wind, a crew from ALL Crane/Central Contractors Service got the crane completely assembled and operational.
A few angles of Chicago’s newest tower crane:
The 1010 South Wells tower crane from the Near West Side. Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
You can’t get tower cranes from Sears, but you can see them from the Sears Tower. Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
1010 South Wells will rise next to the Roosevelt Collection shops. Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
For now, a crawler crane is assisting crews on the ground get concrete stalactites going upwards. That’s the sign of verticality you like to see. Brandts Build got their first permit for 1010 South Wells in November of 2024, a permit allowing them to drive foundation piles and see the entire build through to completion at a reported cost of $60 million. After those piles were driven, the site sat idle for awhile before foundation work kicked into high gear in December.
A look at ongoing street-level work, just starting to poke up from the ground:
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Concrete poured into a column form, taken from across the river on Roosevelt Road. Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
I’ve never seen the giant garden weasel on a job site before. Photo by Daniel Schell
Pillars going vertical. Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Rendering of 1010 South Wells by Gensler
Rendering of 910 South Wells by Gensler
1010 South Wells is the first phase of the Riverline development from CMK Companies. The 21-story building will hold 386 dwelling units, nearly 3,000 square feet of retail space, and parking for 182 cars. There has been no official announcement yet as to when residents will begin occupying the homes. In the Chicago Data Portal, permits are pending for foundation piles and the full construction of 910 South Wells, the 28-story, 350-unit second phase of Riverline, to be built on the surface parking lot just north of 1010 South Wells.
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This shopping district has been somewhat struggling without the much needed local foot traffic. These developments were needed 10-15 years ago, excited to see the area expand!
I agree with the above comment, but I would still like to see more focus on the streetscape in this area as even with new development it feels cold and isolated from the rest of the city by the Metra station/tracks, and Wells drive & Roosevelt strapping the north and south boundaries. Hopefully a strong riverwalk path will deliver connectivity.
Ida B Wells (Congress Pkwy) and the highway exit ramp completely destroy any chance of this area being seriously walkable. Paired with the suburban mall on Roosevelt and the bridge CDOT is building on Polk for some reason (why are we doing this?)
The Riverwalk and Fire Stadium will hopefully pay dividends.
I should probably know this, but I don’t. What is the Polk Street bridge project?
It’s not Polk, but reconnecting 10th.
10th/Taylor I knew about. The Polk part threw me.
I walk around and through there all the time now. Not sure what you mean by “seriously walkable” but, the highway exit ramps don’t prevent any pedestrian connection to/from the north. The very-large dog park atop that interchange is a great amenity that many of us use all the time. With Wells finally connected underneath Roosevelt I’ll be walking and biking on it regularly.
What bridge is CDOT building at Polk? Haven’t seen any signage or other indication of such a plan.
I believe LUX is commenting on the fact that there are permanent gaps in the pedestrian experience when walking to this area from other neighborhoods (Chicago River, Roosevelt Road, train tracks/yard). These things will always discourage people from walking into this area and make it feel separate from the rest of they city.
The Harrison bridge is (finally!) restored and is an easy walking/biking path across the river. Hopefully 1010 S Wells/910 S Wells combined with the new Fire stadium motivate CDOT to complete the Wells connection under Roosevelt Rd which creates a direct walking/biking pathway between the Loop and Chinatown.
Regarding a new bridge, yes that must be referencing the proposed Taylor Street bridge. The city’s and the alder’s communications about that say it would have in each direction one vehicular lane, one bike lane and one sidewalk. If the bike lanes are decently protected that ought to be useful in terms of that sub-neighborhood’s connectivity. I didn’t quickly find any clarity how firm that plan is or what it’s likely timely would be.
Yeah, I’m glad this is getting some work but I wouldn’t pay market rate to live at this location. It’s too much of an island for now, maybe this can help change that.
On the flip side, the relative isolation of this neighborhood may be desirable to some. The existing arterial barriers could create a Dearborn Park-like sense of enclosure. Converting railyards from the 1800s into a 21st century residential community is still a big win for Chicago (though an Amazon HQ would have been even better, imo).
I wish we could start getting new classical architecture along the riverfront, to complement the rest of the city. This glass tower is nice but it will not add any character to the city but im overall glad this lot is being filled. This area needs it
If it was at least the OG Perkins and Will plan… Their stuff started to get a little cliché, but it had a look. The plan all came together as a neofuturistic biophilic rejuvenation of brownfields. Today, glassy with a car heavy podium. The original designs at least threw some pizazz while disguising the parking.
I keep beating the dead horse on this, but there’s still a couple lots left to add in some funk. PLEASE!
Gah sorry the reply widget burped this up a second time, can be deleted.
Excellent! Love to see this project underway.