On March 15, the Oak Park, Ill., Village Board of Trustees formally approved the agreement that will enable Sertus Capital Partners LLC of Chicago to move forward on plans to build a new $85-million hotel/retail/condo/parking building in the heart of this Chicago suburb. Rendering courtesy of Village of Oak Park, Ill. Bird's Eye View Looking Southwest The 20-story glass tower at the corner of Lake Street and Forest Avenue would be the tallest building in Oak Park. Monday�s agreement gives the developers about four months to demolish the building it owns at the location, 18 months to begin construction and
Magellan Development Group broke ground on March 1 for a 105,000-sq-ft retail center at the Lakeshore East master planned community in downtown Chicago.
A bill that paves the way for a public-private partnership to design, build and operate the $1.1 billion Illiana Expressway through Indiana and Illinois unanimously passed the Indiana Senate 42-0 on March 2. Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels is expected to sign the bill in the next two weeks. The 25-mi expressway � about 10 mi in Indiana � would provide an east-west bypass for truck traffic and commuters south of Chicago by linking I-65 in Indiana with either I-57 or I-55 in Illinois. The bill authorizes the Indiana Finance Authority to search for a private investor to finance the design
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has added the Chemetco site, a closed copper smelter in Hartford, Ill., and the Lake Calumet Cluster site in Chicago, to the Superfund National Priorities List. Superfund is the federal program that investigates and cleans up the most complex and uncontrolled hazardous waste sites in the U.S. The Chemetco site is on Illinois Route 3 in Madison County, about 2 mi south of Hartford. It was a secondary copper smelter from 1969 to 2001 before filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy. More than 500,000 cu yds of processing slag, sludge and other hazardous materials were left on portions
Hanging more than 200 ft over a jobsite in downtown Kansas City, Mo., James Hague doesn’t seem to notice the tiny people and equipment below his feet. Instead of using paper checklists, J.E. Dunn inspectors enter their findings in a mobile smart phone that instantly sends their reports to the company’s data server, where managers can access them over the Internet. The senior technician intently works a dial gauge that measures the play in a crane’s turntable—the giant platform that rotates the jib. “A bearing could go bad,” says Hague, suspended from a full-body harness. “And that’s something we want
Although 2009 was grim overall for the construction industry, not all numbers were negative. Several niche project categories saw significant increases in the four metropolitan statistical areas within Midwest Construction’s coverage: Milwaukee, St. Louis, Indianapolis and Chicago. Photo: Rendering courtesy of Opus North Marquette University, Milwaukee, plans to break ground for a $35-million, 100,000-sq-ft, five-story building for its engineering school this spring. A second, 155,000-sq-ft, $65-million building is planned for the future to complete the new engineering facility. According to research compiled by McGraw-Hill Construction Analytics (which, like Midwest Construction, is part of the McGraw-Hill Cos.), the category faring the
By most accounts, 2010 looks to be another rugged year for much of the construction industry, though things may improve a little near year’s end. In what promises to be a difficult business climate overall, higher-education construction seems to be a relative bright spot. Photo: Loebl Schlossman & Hackl The College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn, Ill., is in the midst of $84 million of renovation and construction for an instructional building and student resource center. The project, scheduled for completion in 2012, will renovate and construct 600,000 sq ft, along with the related storm and sanitary sewers. That’s not to
Is there room at the inn? Odds are, yes, there is room…too much room. That means there’s less need for more rooms—and what’s bad for the hotel business is equally bad for the construction industry. Photo: Steve Kaelble / Midwest Construction The new JW Marriott Hotel in Indianapolis is one of just a few large hotel projects going on in the Midwest. At 34 stories, it is the tallest hotel in Indiana. The statistics tell a grim story. U.S. hotel occupancy rates have been dropping since 2007, and by the fourth quarter of 2009 they had hit 50.6%, according to
Epstein-Metter Studios, Chicago, and Dake Wells Architecture, Springfield, Mo., recently earned honors from the American Institute of Architects (AIA). Related Links: William Bast Named President of National Structural Engineers Council AIA Chicago Names Vitale Young Architect of 2009 Lean Construction Institute Forms Ohio Valley Chapter AGC of St. Louis and OSHA Form Partnership AIA Chicago Names Nagle Hartray 2009 Firm of the Year Great Lakes Design-Build Institute Elects Officers Northeast Indiana Building Contractors Name Officers for 2010 American Society of Safety Engineers Adds Occupational Health Nurses to Membership CISCO Honors Top Chicago-Area Construction Projects of 2009 Somerville Earns Best Existing
St. Louis contractor Paric is managing the newly started $4.6-million, 51,000-sq-ft renovation of a skilled nursing facility at the Village of St. Mary’s “Villa Theresa” Continuum of Care Retirement Community in O’Fallon, Mo. The work is expected to take 10 months. Related Links: World’s Tallest Building, Burj Khalifa in Dubai, was Designed in Chicago Streeter Place 54-Story Luxury Apartment Tower Completed in Chicago Major Eye Institute is Going from Vision to Reality in Indianapolis Metea Valley High School Completed in Aurora, Ill. Building in Orland Park, Ill., Earns LEED Gold Certification St. Louis Metro System’s New Paint Facility Opens Six
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