Community is key at Pure, a 13-story high-rise slated for construction at 24 S Morgan St in the West Loop. Salman Ibrahim and Fawad Butt, chief officers of developer Sunrise Development Group, aim to bring the residents of the 75-unit building together by means both old and new. “Communication for individuals isn’t just about face to face anymore,” Butt said, “it’s also about using technology. Technology has to play a key role, and I don’t see a lot of developers understanding that. They think just offering plasma screen hookups and pre-wired speakers is introducing technology.”
Residents at Pure will have access to an online amenity called the Pure Portal, a Web site that includes an interactive blog and community bulletin board. The portal will serve as a digital information repository for everything from appliance warranty information to the colors of paint used in the building, and up-to-date weather and traffic information will also run on the site. The developer plans to compile information on the surrounding area, including restaurant menus, and hopes to setup an online payment center where residents can pay their association fees.
Butt, who worked for more than 10 years with technology firms in California’s Silicon Valley, said the Pure Portal will take on whatever life the community gives it. “People want to be given the tools, and then they create their own sense of community out of it,” he said. “We have to define it, embrace it, build it, test it out. I don’t see Chicago developers taking a step forward and doing this.”
Pure residents will also have the opportunity to mix it up the old-fashioned way. “We felt that it was necessary to provide as much community space as possible as a mechanism for people to interact within the building,” said Butt. The unique L shape of the glass-and-concrete structure allows for a 4,000-square-foot outdoor deck on top of the three-story base, which includes a residential parking garage and 5,000 square feet of retail space. The deck could include gardens or cabanas for summer months, Butt said, and another outdoor space in the rear of the building will include cooking grills. Butt also anticipated the fitness center and the contemporary SKAI Lounge — which includes a custom wet bar, plasma televisions, and a billiards table — would be ideal gathering places for sociable residents.
Condos at Pure have one or two bedrooms (some with dens), 675 to 1,800 square feet, private balconies and floor-to-ceiling glass windows. Interior finishes — including granite countertops, stainless steel appliances and limestone bathrooms — will echo the contemporary aesthetic of architect Steven Weiss‘s design. Environmentally friendly features include bamboo flooring and energy-saving compact fluorescent lights in the common areas. Prices range from the $240s to the $600s.
A sales center is scheduled to open at Adams and Morgan streets in early February, and Butt anticipated construction beginning in March and delivery beginning in the summer of 2008.