Caisson work is underway for 7 West Elm, the 28-story residential tower where Lou Malnati’s and Barnes & Noble once stood in the Gold Coast neighborhood. Thatcher Foundations has their rigs on the site, surrounded by the usual array of corrugated tubes, rebar cages, and iron liners, as they drill and fill shafts below the surface. A permit issued on September 12 allowed this phase of construction, including the caissons and foundation work through the second floor. It came through with a reported cost of $5 million.
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
The full permit to build out the entire structure has been pending in the Chicago Data Portal since July 16. On September 19, a permit for a Potain MR418 tower crane entered the portal. W.E. O’Neil is the general contractor, with Adjustable Concrete on board doing concrete work. As the concrete contractor, Adjustable is in charge of operating the tower crane. They will erect a 304-unit apartment building designed by Goettsch Partners for Convexity Properties.
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
The project got started with a pair of demolition permits for the Lou Malnati’s at 1120 North State Street and for the shuttered former Barnes & Noble building at 1130 North State. Both demos were permitted on August 4 after 133-day waiting periods in the Chicago Data Portal, with Taylor Excavating assigned to the teardowns at a reported cost of $246,000. Both properties had already been surrounded by demolition fencing by the time to permits came through, and razing began immediately after those were issued. Taylor remains on site for foundation work.
Completed demolition work, 09/06/2026. Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
There has been no official word yet as to a date for a groundbreaking ceremony at the site. With construction underway, completion and inhabitation is expected in the second or third quarter of 2028.
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Nice. Such a great area next to the Viagra triangle. Such a shame the city doesn’t have more of these little urban plazas.
Agreed!
But I wish the city would trim back some of the vast expanses of asphalt that surround them. They won’t though, because the fire department wants to have super enormous trucks.
I honestly think Rush street up until Gibsons/triangle should be pedestrian street. Tons of high end shopping in a condensed district that leads into restaurants.
Obviously the american brain won’t be able to comprehend this but it would be so nice. And obviously the patrons of these fancy restaurants will throw a fit because they can’t drive their expensive cars to the valet service.
Glad to see the progress on this project.
There is still time to revert back to the originally proposed 50 floors .More density .
No. We don’t need to become NY. Everything doesn’t have to be 5000 stories. There is charm in neighborhoods where you can actually see the sky.
This building will be about 1/4 mile from Chicago’s 2nd-tallest building (spires included).
I’m not sure what precedent for quaintness and charm doesn’t involve tall buildings here, but the neighborhood set that tone 50 years ago.
Also, work on your hyperbole. John Hanc0ck is 100 stories. 5,000… whata stupid number.
Why equate a “tall” building with becoming NY? They’re in Chicago’s DNA as well and happen to be a major contributor to what has historically set this city apart from every other U.S. city and what laymen perceive us as having in common with New York. There’s plenty of visible sky in the area, let alone the vast majority of Chicago’s neighborhoods. Someone wishing a building was taller hardly calls for a strawman response of “everything doesn’t have to be 5000 stories.”
The Yimby apologia for developers throwing up filler left and right irrespective of a given location’s potential is mind-numbing.