As new residential construction continues to change the face of the city, developers are finding it increasingly difficult to craft a project that makes a statement in its home neighborhood.

Joint-venture developers Castlebar Enterprises Inc. and Stillpoint Development appear to have accomplished just that with Halsted Row, their 44-unit condo project at 2847 - 2905 N Halsted St in Lake View.

Comprised of five buildings designed with retail space on the ground floor and condos above, Halsted Row sits along what is arguably Chicago’s busiest street. The five in-line structures are examples of the “Chicago Style” architecture that began gracing the city a century ago.

While Halsted Row’s brick and masonry exterior nods to the colors, materials and textures of its environs, it was important to pay homage to the ground-level commercial character of Halsted Street, according to Jeff Goulette, the project architect and a partner in the firm of Sullivan, Goulette & Wilson Ltd.

“We definitely wanted to hold the integrity of the street,” said Goulette, pointing out that in so doing on a project of this length, it creates a strong presence. “On the other hand, the length of the sequence of buildings cried out for some interruption, so we created separation by inserting a twin tower-like design that defines each structure.”

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By Dana Dubriwny

Driving south along Lake Shore Drive, commuters travel through a landscape of varying architectural quality.

Execs at Kargil Development LLC determined to improve that landscape with X/O Condominiums at 1700 S Prairie Ave. The $300 million project will comprise 271 condominiums in the north tower, 215 units in the south tower, and a row of 10 townhomes fronting the development. In February, 40 percent of the condos had been pre-sold, and buyers can expect occupancy in 2010.

“We saw the market was changing; the go-go days were coming to an end, and we wanted to differentiate ourselves, so we started with the architecture of it,” says Brian Giles, vice president of Kargil Development. “The South Loop has become the busiest and biggest market in the city. To sell these units, we needed something different, so we gave Lucien the ability to do his best work.”

Lucien Lagrange, known for his designs of the Pinnacle, Elysian Hotel and Residences, and Ritz-Carlton Residences, sketched up two contemporary glass high-rises. According to Lagrange, his vision for shaping X/O was to create an attraction and tension between the 46-story north tower and 34-story south tower, which was executed with floor plates incrementally increasing and decreasing in size.

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If there’s one thing prospective buyers appreciate, it’s the chance to walk around a finished home. Model units are an essential tool for buyers, and most developments are lucky to have two or three furnished units to show buyers.

CMK Companies’ 1720 S. Michigan, a 33-story high-rise in the South Loop, took this trend a step further, adding 15 fully furnished residences to help buyers visualize their new homes.
“They’re finished units that we opted to furnish,” explains Scott Hoskins, president and managing broker with CMK Realty Corp. “We wanted to represent the different unit types that we have in the building.”

This gives the high-rise an entirely new appeal to prospective buyers, he says.

“When buyers can come in and actually see the furniture and see how things are placed, it makes a huge difference.”

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By Dana Dubriwny

For many, the $1 million-plus price tag on a single-family home in Chicago makes ownership an unachievable goal. But for buyers who know where to look, a wrought-iron fence, backyard and attached garage are all within reach.

Cornelia Court, a new townhouse development at 3001 W Cornelia Ave in Avondale, offers all the perks of a single-family home with all the amenities of condo living. When completed next year, the $28-million development will feature 13 buildings housing 63 three- and four-story townhouses. Every single unit will have a deck, fenced-in private yard, and a two- or 2.5-car garage.

The townhouses at Cornelia Court on Chicago’s Northwest Side are offered in four distinct floor plans. The smallest unit, called the Cornelia, is a 2,242-square-foot, two-bedroom, 2.5 bath townhouse with a two-car attached garage, with prices beginning in the $490s. The Addison, which starts around $500,000, is a 2,242-square-foot three-bedroom, three-bath townhouse and includes a two-car attached garage. The Bentley, priced in the $630s, is a four-bedroom, 3.5-bath townhouse with 2,904 square feet and a 2.5-car attached garage. And in February, developers introduced the Dorchester, a three-bedroom, 3.5-bath unit complete with a two-car garage from the $500s.

Gale Goldstick, sales manager at Cornelia Court for Coldwell Banker Residential, says the unique craftsmanship and personalized detail in each unit is a testament to the quality of the development. Buyers are able to customize their units because co-developer Steven V. Frytz of Anchor General Contractors Inc. is also a hands-on builder and contractor.

"For example, a buyer from Florida is putting some unique architectural details in the home’s interior, and he’s making some light-orientated changes as well as some structural alterations,” says Goldstick. “We have added some extra details within the unit, and that simply has not been done before.”

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Remnants of the grimy, industrial district that was the West Loop are increasingly hard to find in some parts of the neighborhood, although forklifts still rumble back and forth in the old Fulton Market, and meat vendors hangs on alongside the burgeoning crop of trendy restaurants and galleries. These days, upscale condos abound – the fruits of a trend that began roughly a decade ago.

"At that time there were a lot of one- and two-bedroom units a little bit smaller in size," says Geoffrey Ruttenberg, CEO of The Brixton Group, a developer of residential real estate. "And most developers were hedging their bets because the area was still in transition." What the West Loop market needs now, according to Ruttenberg, is move-up properties for those early buyers. (more…)

Mention Chicago real estate and some immediately conjure images of Lake Shore Drive and the Magnificent Mile, sleek glass towers and architectural wonders. But those who know the city well think of neighborhoods, and when one is revitalized, the process elicits at least as much pride for Chicagoans as any Gehry bandshell or Miesian masterpiece.

Parkside of Old Town is a case in point. The project, from developers Kimball Hill Urban Centers, Holsten Real Estate Development Corp. and the Cabrini-Green LAC Community Development Corp., will ultimately bring 790 new homes to eight square blocks in the Old Town area, bounded by Larrabee, Division and Oak streets and Seward Park.

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It's not uncommon for developers of downtown condo high-rises to offer plush "lifestyle" amenities such as spas, massage rooms and upscale restaurants. But to say that Canyon Ranch Living - Chicago, a 67-story tower planned for 680 N. Rush St., is part of the "lifestyle concept" is like saying that Beethoven wrote some symphonies.

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Park Boulevard rebuilds a neighborhood on former CHA land

The drive south along State Street into the Bronzeville neighborhood used to mean venturing past the striking, modern buildings of the Illinois Institute of Technology toward dilapidated public housing high-rises, which lined State from 35th to 55th streets.

Now, a welcoming beacon stands at the corner of 35th and State: a four-story mixed-use building topped by a tower with a peaked roof. The banner draped across it proclaims the arrival of Park Boulevard, a development of more than 1,300 new-construction homes. About 880 of the new housing units will be built on the 34-acre site where the Chicago Housing Authority's Stateway Gardens public housing complex once stood, with the rest scattered throughout surrounding neighborhoods. (more…)

Buyer response inspires new townhomes, live-work space at Westhaven Park

The wisest way to develop housing is to give people what they want, not tell them what they want, says Pam Gecan, marketing manager for AMS Realty. AMS is the exclusive marketing agent for Westhaven Park, a massive new residential community on the Near West Side.

That approach is easier to execute at a development like Westhaven, which has more than 760 residences and multiple phases. The developers can sculpt the homes in later phases around the reactions of buyers in earlier phases, Gecan says. (more…)

See also: New construction is being added to area conversions 

New restaurants, retail, nightlife create hotspots in Uptown, Edgewater

Story by Alison Soltau  |  Photography by Jim Newberry

Decades ago, builders and landlords tried to use Truman College as a springboard for revitalizing a rough patch of Uptown. Plans called for rehabbing buildings around the school at 1145 W. Wilson Ave. and developing businesses that would cater to students, creating a symbiotic relationship between campus and the neighborhood. (more…)