LPM Apartments - (376' - 36 Stories)

[twincitizen]

It's the school's playground/ lot.

I was going to say "I feel like there's a joke in there somewhere" but then I looked at the site and now I just feel bad for the kids.

[min-chi-cbus]

Hahaha, what do you mean, it's an "urban playground"! Kids LOVE concrete!!

[Nathan]

I've always thought a narrow row of townhomes (like the ones right there on 15th and spruce) running N and S on Lasalle would be great for that school. sure they would loose some parking, but they could create a really great courtyard/playground and it would be much safer feeling.

So this project has no basement levels? What's protocol for the footings? How long before it gets above ground?

[Konante]

Cool shot! I see another surface lot behind this site as well..... does anyone know if that lot is in contention for possible redevelopment?

It's the school's playground/ lot.

What school is that?

[Nathan]

Cool shot! I see another surface lot behind this site as well..... does anyone know if that lot is in contention for possible redevelopment?

It's the school's playground/ lot.

What school is that?

I believe it's called Emerson, it's a Spanish immersion school

[aeisenberg]

Cool shot! I see another surface lot behind this site as well..... does anyone know if that lot is in contention for possible redevelopment?

It's the school's playground/ lot.

Eat the kids! Let's build another highrise.

[MNdible]

It probably makes sense for the school district to hold tight on that land for future expansion.

[min-chi-cbus]

Eat the kids! Let's build another highrise.

Finally.....a sensible solution!

[Lancestar2]

Eat the kids! Let's build another highrise.

Finally.....a sensible solution!

I second that! I think the front of the building is enough space for a compact playground with a new safety fence and a one way ally in back of the building with one row of parking at a slant for teachers and staff ect. and rest could be a nice high rise building. With the education system of 2012 I'm surprised they still schedule time for "recess" Also keep in mind they are 1 block from a huge park! so it's not like the school needs a playground for the kids before or after school. Sure would be nice to fill in this "parking lot"

[the other scott]

My kids all went to that formerly great school (long complicated story).

As long as that remains a school, the parking will remain. I dislike underutilized surface parking as much as the next person, but that whole lot, including the playground would fill up on certain days of the year, conferences etc. After school the playground space would be used by parents picking up kids. In the evenings the parking spaces would be used by the patrons of the Cricket/Music Box Theater on Nicollet. The big playground area was closed off to vehicles during the school day, as pictured. Underneath the trees on the south end there is some playground equipment on a raised pea gravel bed, for what it's worth.

I'm surprised that Emerson is still up an running as a public school. It was built in 1925 and it's not a great facility. It seems like every couple of years the School Board threatens to close the place down, but it always manages to stay open. I think the district should get rid of it. Very few students come from the immediate area.

[Le Sueur]

Long term lease of the new tower's amenity deck would make for the best playground ever! Pool time every day for recess.

[beykite]

A lot of activity for such a small site

[min-chi-cbus]

no crane yet, huh?

[MNdible]

No tower crane, if that's what you meant.

[spectre000]

1368 LaSalle under construction by spectre 000, on Flickr

[mnmike]

The base of the tower crane is now there.

[seanrichardryan]

They've been knocking piles in for a while now.

[mnmike]

I think they have been pouring the foundation pilings also...kind of weird for a tall building to have no basement here.

[Nick]

Here's another shot from the Hyatt ramp. I'm so curious about what the site looks like up close. They've been pile driving now for a few weeks but it still looks like a muddy, cluttered mess from peeking in the fence. Wish I knew more about engineering in general.

[Andrew_F]

I don't know much about engineering either, but I've been watching large buildings being built in Chicago for awhile now, so maybe I can make some sense of it.

We're used to watching smaller low-midrise buildings being built, where they just drive sheet piles down below the level of the basements so they can excavate without collapse. Here, they aren't doing that (or if they are, it is a small part of what they are doing). They are driving support piles down to the bedrock, which takes much more time. It also looks like they are preparing to start drilling cassions-- steel-lined shafts that go down to the bedrock which are then filled with rebar and pumped full of concrete. Piling to support a skyscraper takes much longer than sheet piling to enable excavation.