Phase 2 Update 3/1/24

Thank you again for your continued patience and cooperation through our renovation. We continue to make significant progress at the 643. Here’s a look at what we accomplished over the last two weeks and what’s ahead.

The past two weeks

• Substantial completion of demolition

• Framing on floors 5-8. Layout on floors 3-5

• -MEP overhead rough on floors 5, 6, 7, & 8

• -MEP in-wall rough on floors 6, 7, & 8

• -Steel fireproof patching to start on the 7th floor

Next Week

• First inwall inspection on floors 7 and 8

• MEP overhead rough on floors 3-5

• Framing will continue on floors 4 and 5

• Parapet investigation on the 8th-floor terrace.

General Reminders

• Parking is not available in the garage or surface lot during construction.

Remember to check the project website updatesatthe643.com for more information, including virtual tours, high performance and technology used on the 643 project. Have a great weekend!

Phase 2 Update 2/16/24

Things are moving quickly on the 643 Phase 2 project and we’re back to give you bi-weekly updates and photos of our progress.  

 This Week

· Demolition on the third and fourth floors.

· SPG Drywall is doing the layout on floors six, seven and eight. 

· First material delivery with a crane. (photo attached) 

· MEP Layout and coring have started.

Next Week 

· Demolition will be completed.

· SPG Drywall will continue layout on the fourth and 5th floors.

· Continued MEP layout and coring.

· Overall electrical and mechanical rough-ins.

General Reminders

· Parking is not available in the garage or surface lot during construction.

Thank you again for your continued patience and cooperation through our renovation. 

Phase 2 Update 2/9/24

We continuously welcome new faces and are happy to see people using the new space in the Des Plaines office for loop meetings, training, interview preps, and other group meetings.

We are excited to share that walls throughout Des Plaines have been treated with Idea Paint. This is a very high-quality product, and to preserve the integrity of the finish we must use only Idea Paint markers and cleaning spray.

• Make sure it’s an idea paint wall! It’s glossy from floor to ceiling. Look for

• the logo to identify the walls.

• Supplies are located throughout the building and refills are in the shared office supply area by the printer. 

• If you have a whiteboard by your desk, feel free to use regular dry erase markers there. Keep them separate though!

As we transition to open-concept seating in Des Plaines and Chicago, we would like to help minimize distractions while using video on phone calls. Attached to this email, you will find three options from the second floor of our Chicago office that you can apply as your background in Teams.

How to Change your background

• Save the attached images somewhere on your computer.

• You first need to be in a meeting environment:

• Click on the ‘Calendar’ tab on the left sidebar.

• From here, click ‘Meet Now’ to start an instant meeting.

• Once your video feed is active:

• Locate the control bar, which should appear at the bottom of the screen.

• On this bar, you’ll find a three-dot menu icon labeled ‘More actions.’ Click on it.

• A dropdown menu will appear. Select ‘Show background effects’ from the options.

• To upload one of the 643 backgrounds, you will need to add it.

• At the top of the right-hand panel, you’ll see an ‘Add new’ option.

• Navigate to where you have saved the images and select one.

• Once uploaded, the image will appear in your list of available backgrounds (it sometimes shows at the top and sometimes at the bottom). From there you can select, preview and apply it just like the default options.

• To revert back to your original background

• Click on the ‘None’ option located at the top of the background panel.

• Then, simply click ‘Apply.’

If you have questions, contact Christy Klobach cklobach@pepperconstruction.com.

Again, thank you for your understanding and flexibility during the renovation process.