Crain’s Chicago Real Estate Daily is reporting that developer Enrico Plati is proposing to build 240 to 320 apartments on a site currently used for a parking lot at 601 W Jackson in the West Loop.
The site is a block from Union Station and a few steps from Lou Mitchell’s. Tip: If you politely advise the wait staff at Lou Mitchell’s that you don’t like being discriminated against because you’re male, you may be given Milk Duds. Works for me.
According to Crain’s:
In the West Loop, Mr. Plati faces an apartment market getting increasingly crowded with new developments. A joint venture led by Marquette Cos. plans a 233-unit tower at 630 W. Washington St., four blocks north, while White Oak Realty Partners has proposed a 351-unit project at Adams and Halsted streets in Greektown, just across the expressway. And the Chicago Plan Commission recently approved a plan by Skokie-based F&F Realty Ltd. to build a 492-unit development at 1 S. Halsted St.
Ron DeVries of Appraisal Research Counselors offered Crain’s a take on the location that strikes me as off-base.
“This offers kind of a walk to work location for a lot of people,” Mr. DeVries said. “It’s not an area that has a significant number of residential uses in it, so I think the challenge will be a lack of a residential feel to the area.”
The site is across the street from 565 Quincy (a former client), adjacent to Capitol Lofts, 625 W Jackson, about a block from 701 W Jackson lofts, The Edge and Haberdasher Square, and two blocks from Metropolitan Place, 130 S Canal, and Presidential Towers.
Disclosure: Plati’s architectural firm, whose name he misspells at his current website as Friedes & Plati, were the architects for a project I was involved in back in the 80s. Marcel Freides was a joy to work with – Plati just the opposite.