“People like to say it’s a walking city, but we all still have our cars,” admits Centrum Properties‘ Nick Stocking. Buyers at Lofts at Lakeview Collection, the project manager hopes, will be able to leave their cars parked underground and spend more time on their feet.
“It will be very inviting for walking traffic in the neighborhood,” Stocking said of the development, located where Ashland, Lincoln and Belmont avenues intersect in the bustling Lake View neighborhood. The six-story building will have 131 loft-style condos on the top four floors and about 90,000 square feet of retail space on the first and second floors.
“Obviously it’s an amenity to have the convenience of all the retail below you. We think that’s a big selling point,” said Stocking. Another draw of the development, Stocking said, is its green space. The developer is building an 8,000-square-foot public park at one end of the “sort of L-shaped” building and an 8,000-square-foot landscaped plaza on another. The plaza will have bushes and trees as well as café-style seating for retailers.
“It’s going to be really easy to just go downstairs in the elevator, walk outside and get a cup of coffee, hang out on the corner in the plaza and get some sun, and walk around,” Stocking said. “You just really feel connected. You don’t have to get in your car, basically — it’s right outside your front door.”
Part of connecting Lakeview Collection residents to the neighborhood meant connecting the mostly glass building to the older buildings, including Saint Luke Church, that surround it. Architect Hirsch Associates designed a stone element that projects from the façade facing Belmont Avenue, and the northern corner is composed of traditional brick that “harmonizes the building with the rest of the neighborhood,” said Stocking.
Toronto-based Cecconi Simone designed Lakeview Collection’s sleek, contemporary interior. Condos have 10-foot ceiling heights, “wide-open” floor plans, floor-to-ceiling windows and hardwood floors. The master bathroom has a custom vanity with a trough sink, and a modern, frosted glass wall will separate the shower and the master bedroom. Amenities include an owners’ lounge with a full kitchen, a business center, an entertainment center, and a fitness facility. The building also will have a green roof, Stocking said.
The one- and two-bedroom units are priced from the $300s to the $550s. Sales are scheduled to open at the end of March from a sales center at 3126 N Ashland Ave. Centrum hopes to break ground this summer, and first deliveries are planned for the end of 2008.