The highly developed, eminently livable Old Town Triangle doesn’t have much room for new residential construction. Coveted sites pop up here and there, but small conversions are more common in the neighborhood – not that you’ll see many of those either.
Some have the perception that you have to be a millionaire to buy into a development in the Old Town Triangle. It helps, sure, but we noted a fair range of product and price points, from a $270,000 studio in a conversion to a new-construction house priced at $3.65 million.
Let’s start at the top. Metropolitan Development Enterprises is constructing five masonry single-family homes at the Lincoln Park West Collection, 1901 – 1911 N Lincoln Park West. This is a premium Triangle spot, and Metropolitan was well aware of that when the company priced the project.
The five- to six-bedroom detached houses range from $2.79 million to $3.65 million, according to Emily Sachs Wong, a sales agent at Koenig & Strey GMAC, which is marketing the development.
The exteriors of two homes are nearly complete and should be finished in late winter or early spring of ’08, Sachs says. Construction on the remaining three units should begin in the fall or winter. All five homes are on the market.
“What’s most unique about this project is having brand-new single-family homes that close to Lincoln Park while still in a residential location,” she says.
The site, formerly the Lincoln Park West Care Center, is just outside of the Old Town Triangle landmark district, which according to Sachs, allowed the builder more design freedom. The homes will range from 4,700 to 6,700 square feet.
Slightly north of Metropolitan’s single-family development, a new-condo development at 1926 N Lincoln Park West has three-bedroom, two-bath simplexes priced from the $570s and two-bedroom two-bath triplexes with dens priced from the $510s. The homes are listed with @properties and include oak floors in living areas, washer-dryer hookups, solid-core birch doors, Italian cabinets and granite countertops.
There’s garage parking in this elevator building, and the condos have decks off living rooms and master bedrooms. The project’s Web site has a link for a virtual tour, but we couldn’t get it to work today (might be our problem).
Melrose Partners has smaller units with starter prices (by OTT standards) at its conversion of a handsome vintage brick apartment building at 334 W Menomonee into 18 condominums. The homes include studios, one-bedrooms, one-bedrooms with dens and two-bedrooms, priced from the $270s to the $720s. Twelve of the 18 are on the market.
The historic building has a dramatic cornice and a grand center arch above the entrance, echoed in the arched first-floor windows. And the proportions are pretty sweet too. The finishes, including white oak flooring, custom baseboards and moldings, and transoms with divided light mullions, seem a good match for the historic building.