CMK combines cutting-edge design with affordable prices in South Loop
On a recent January afternoon, a young woman in slim gray pants and a white fur-trimmed parka passed through a hallway at 1620 South Michigan, the sleek high-rise completed late last summer in the South Loop. She looked as if she might have been designed to go with the building, to match its white walls, clean lines and slabs of exposed concrete.
The building’s hip, minimalist aesthetic is typical of 1620 S. Michigan’s developer, CMK Companies. And the young style-conscious woman strolling the halls is typical of CMK’s buyers, according to company president Colin Kihnke.
“We offer modern, contemporary, edgy architecture at affordable price points very attractive to first- or second-time home buyers,” he says. “That’s our M.O. on every one of our projects.”
Many of these dot the South Loop, which has transformed from a wasteland of old railroad land, vacant lots and industrial buildings into the city’s fastest growing neighborhood – and lately, a laboratory of modern architecture. That’s due in no small part to CMK. Four CMK buildings line the five-block stretch of Boul Mich between 14th and Cullerton streets, at 1440, 1620, 1720 and 1845 S. Michigan Ave. All of them were designed by the architecture firm Brininstool & Lynch, known for its modern residential buildings and public spaces such as the Perimeter Gallery in Chicago’s River North neighborhood and the Racine Art Museum in Racine, Wis.
The 33-story condo tower at 1720 S. Michigan, currently under construction, is one of CMK and Brininstool’s notable successes. According to Appraisal Research Counselors, a firm that tracks housing data, 400 of the building’s 498 units sold last year, making it the top-selling condo development downtown (about 100 units were available at press time). It shares many design elements with 1620 S. Michigan; both have floor-to-ceiling windows and unfinished concrete ceilings, for example. While 1720 offers a few more amenities, including door staff and a retail arcade on the ground floor, the philosophy behind both buildings is to keep costs down and design cutting-edge.
The idea that good design doesn’t have to be expensive is everywhere these days, from Target commercials hawking Isaac Mizrahi clothes to Crate and Barrel shelves displaying $45 Marimekko shower curtains.
CMK’s buildings have a similar ethos. From the street, 1620 S. Michigan looks like a pair of adjoining, asymmetrical boxes, made primarily from concrete, steel and glass. The façade of the southern half is enclosed in a concrete frame, and balconies form uninterrupted horizontal bands along the north face of the building.
This theme continues in the entranceway, where one wall is lined with corrugated steel. An intercom system worthy of “Battlestar Galactica” takes visitors through a set of glass doors into a lobby with concrete walls, gray stone floors and a row of mailboxes offset by a slab of ochre marble.
A two-bedroom, two-bathroom model on the fourth floor calls to mind light boxes used by photographers. The floor-to-ceiling windows, framed in anodized aluminum, fill the 1,100-square-foot space with afternoon sun, casting a diffuse glow over the oak floors and granite-topped kitchen island.
The cement ceilings, which are 10 feet high, reflect the developer’s love of industrial materials. “I like exposed concrete,” Kihnke says. “We’ve used it for 15 years now.” But gone are the industrial touches, such as exposed ductwork, that used to be features of CMK buildings. “I think we’ve really refined the units over time,” Kihnke says. “I like the kind of cleaner look that we’ve progressed to.”
As in many of 1620 S. Michigan’s 249 condos, the main living space in the two-bedroom model triples as a kitchen and eating area. The large windows, a feature of many of CMK and Brininstool’s collaborations, make the spaces seem larger, Kihnke says. The building’s studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom units range from 537 to 1,771 square feet. The homes at 1720 S. Michigan have one to three bedrooms and 625 to 2,158 square feet.
Creating smaller units allows CMK to offer competitive pricing, Kihnke says. The condos at 1720 S. Michigan range from the $180s to the $490s, with the bulk of the units in the $180,000 to $350,000 range. One-bedroom condos at 1620 S. Michigan (nearly sold out at press time) debuted in the $180s, according to Scott Hoskins, Managing Broker of CMK Realty Corporation.
Those are aggressive starting price for brand new condos in the city, according to Gail Lissner of Appraisal Research Counselors. “Any condos under $200,000 are priced very competitively in this market,” Lissner says.
Secured outdoor parking is available at both 1620 and 1720 S. Michigan Ave. for $29,900. Indoor heated parking is $34,900 at 1620 S. Michigan and $36,900 at 1720 S. Michigan.