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Emanuel says new post-recession tower crane record set

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Illinois

* The pessimist in me worries that maybe they’re over-building, but you gotta love the jobs…

Mayor Rahm Emanuel today visited the installation of the 33rd tower crane to go up in 2016 in Chicago. Located at 451 E. Grand Ave. in the Streeterville neighborhood, the new crane sets a post-recession record and marks eight more than went up last year. The new crane is the 48th tower crane to operate in Chicago during 2016 – 31 more than we saw in 2011.

“The tower cranes seen across Chicago’s skyline mean one thing – economic opportunities that reach neighborhoods across the city,” Mayor Emanuel said. “As Chicago’s economy continues to gain strength, City Hall will continue to partner with all businesses, big and small, to keep the progress going.”

With this new tower there are 29 tower cranes currently operating on construction sites in the city with seven more approved and pending installation.

The new building, called One Bennett Park, is being developed by Related Midwest and was designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects. It will be the tallest all-residential tower in Chicago at 836 feet tall. The building will feature a unique 1.7-acre public park designed by architect Michael Van Valkenburgh, the creator of Maggie Daley Park and The 606. Residential deliveries are expected to begin in late 2018 and will continue into 2019.

“We are excited to join Mayor Emanuel, Alderman Reilly and Commissioner Frydland in commemorating this important milestone not just for One Bennett Park, but also for the city of Chicago,” Curt Bailey, president of Related Midwest said. “One Bennett Park represents the continued investment in our beautiful city through private developments like this one, which includes a 1.7-acre park that will serve the greater Streeterville community, as well as through public infrastructure projects like the Chicago Riverwalk and ongoing revitalization of the lakefront. Over the next three years, One Bennett Park will create 1,100 new jobs, serving as a catalyst for additional investment and symbolizing the growing appeal of downtown as a home for future generations of Chicagoans.”

In addition to tower crane records, Chicago is also seeing a five-year record high for building permits. As of October 31, 2016, the Department of Buildings issued a total of 39,815 building permits, an increase of nearly 2,000 permits as compared to the same time in 2015, or 5.2 percent.

To keep up with the increase in permits, the City has hired eight new inspectors and two structural engineers, and expects to hire 11 additional inspectors by year-end 2016.
Under Mayor Emanuel and Department of Buildings Commissioner Judith Frydland, the city has made a number of reforms to speed up the issuance of building permits. The reforms include the expansion of certified corrections and self-certification, the issuance of Code Memorandums to address new technologies and modernizations not yet covered in the code, the review of all foundation permits in-house and assisting through the Office of the Underground, reducing the time for permit issuance by as much as eight weeks.

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Nov 7, 16 @ 2:04 pm

Comments

Rahm has done a very good job as Mayor with the exception of the latest CPs/CTU contract, which will be terrible for Chicago.

Comment by Ron Monday, Nov 7, 16 @ 2:11 pm
Now if we only had term limits and redistricting, we’d see some development going on in Chicago. /s

Comment by Skeptic Monday, Nov 7, 16 @ 2:22 pm
Anyone want to guess the radius of the locations of these cranes? Three miles perhaps?

Comment by Dee Lay Monday, Nov 7, 16 @ 2:48 pm
nightmare driving around and walking.

Comment by Amalia Monday, Nov 7, 16 @ 3:03 pm
Why would they be building new buildings when the Governor tells us everyone is leaving and Illinois and especially Chicago are not competitive? /s

Comment by JS Mill Monday, Nov 7, 16 @ 3:05 pm
==Why would they be building new buildings when the Governor tells us everyone is leaving and Illinois and especially Chicago are not competitive?==

Must be that 3.75% state income tax rate.

Comment by City Zen Monday, Nov 7, 16 @ 3:09 pm
Ron,

Would you have said “great job” but for all the murders?

Comment by LizPhairTax Monday, Nov 7, 16 @ 3:29 pm
== maybe they’re over-building ==

Legit concern. If the new buildings are rentals, the market should be able to obsorb new units. Rents are continuing to climb around downtown, some new inventory should be a good thing. The market doesn’t need more condos.

I would like to see how many of the new building permits are for single-family homes…that’s a good indicator of economic growth in Chicago.

Comment by Roman Monday, Nov 7, 16 @ 3:53 pm
It’s amazing what Chinese investors can accomplish, despite what we can’t.

Comment by Dome Gnome Monday, Nov 7, 16 @ 4:32 pm
If the Laquan McDonald video comes out 6 months earlier he’s not mayor today. He can’t leave too soon.

Comment by Joe Biden Was Here Monday, Nov 7, 16 @ 4:37 pm
What about the Death Spiral?

I guess those investors risking billions haven’t tuned into the governor or read the tronc edit board.

They must not have to kick in for worker’s comp (what risk, catching steel 70 stories up?) or deal with unions, either. Because those are just killing the economy.

Or maybe they just recognize political snake oil being sold as “economics” when they see it.

Comment by wordslinger Monday, Nov 7, 16 @ 4:38 pm
Chicago is a world class city and competes with the other great cities in America and the rest of the world for jobs and capital. Much of the rest of the state competes with Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa and Michigan all with superior business climate

Comment by Lucky Pierre Monday, Nov 7, 16 @ 5:21 pm
LizPhair, Rahm hasn’t murdered anyone. He can’t stop gangs and their members from killing each other.

Murder rate is sad, but pretty much out of the Mayor’s control. ACLU has won.

Comment by Ron Monday, Nov 7, 16 @ 5:42 pm
There’s apparently a high level of confidence in the upper bracket condo buyer behind a few of these cranes. The Vista Tower will have studio/one bedroom units smaller than my garage starting at $1million. One Bennett Park will go higher than that.

Comment by Arthur Andersen Monday, Nov 7, 16 @ 7:08 pm
in the hey day we had over 50 at once in the downtown/loop area

Comment by Todd Tuesday, Nov 8, 16 @ 6:54 am