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Old Town
The recently-reported sale of the 250-unit 1225 Old Town apartment high-rise can easily pass unnoticed, but the restoration of the ornate terra cotta façade on the site is sure to attract attention. It was nearly complete when we stopped by on Monday. Signage on the site indicates that upscale grocer Plum Market is on schedule ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on May 10, 2013
Late last year brought word that JDL Development and Harlem Irving Cos were planning a 5-story building with 71 apartments and ground-floor retail on a site directly across the street from the new 250-unit 1225 Old Town apartments. At the time JDL President James Letchinger told Crain’s that he hoped to start construction on the ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on April 17, 2013
According to a recent article in The Wall Street Journal, New York developers are viewing hip food markets as “the amenity of choice. They help owners bring an authentic edge to a new building while also helping them fetch top rents.” Upscale grocers, including the soon-to-open Plum Market at 1225 Old Town, incorporate enough variety ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on April 3, 2013
About a year ago the inventory of MLS-listed downtown Chicago rentals reached stasis and we stopped tracking it on a weekly basis. A correspondent’s suggestion that the market for MLS-listed rentals was a lot softer this year than at the same time last year prompted us to do an updated tally. The data don’t lend ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on March 28, 2013
The elaborate terra cotta façade that graced the Grossinger Cadillac dealership in Old Town was disassembled and restored to near-original condition while a new luxury high-rise was under construction on the site. The re-installation of the façade, which blends the striking new tower into the classic surroundings of its Old Town location, began earlier this ...
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Posted by sponsored post on March 15, 2013
One of the Chicago architecture books that I browse periodically is Jay Pridmore and George Larson’s Chicago Architecture and Design. It’s a good read, richly illustrated with Hedrich Blessing‘s always striking and often astonishing photography. The book briefly profiles Frederick Phillips‘ Tower House in the 1300 block of Cleveland Ave in Old Town: Raised on ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on March 12, 2013
The Sun-Times 25th annual Chicago Commercial Real Estate Awards, billed as the “Oscars of the local industry,” were announced at a dinner last Thursday night. The sold-out event reportedly drew 1,800 attendees and raised more than $1 million for the Greater Chicago Food Depository. The Development of the Year award for projects completed in 2012 ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on March 11, 2013
Starting on June 13, residents of 1225 Old Town, the new luxury apartment tower at 1225 N Wells St in Old Town will only have to head downstairs to access some of Chicago’s best cuisine. Plum Market, Old Town’s neighborhood connection to natural, organic, local and specialty items, is proud to announce a partnership with ...
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Posted by sponsored post on February 14, 2013
Cobbler Square, 1350 N Wells St, is one of the signature adaptive reuse projects in Chicago — or anywhere in the US. In the mid-80s architect Ken Schroeder transformed 30 ramshackle buildings used as a Dr Scholl’s factory into 295 loft apartments in a colorful, visually arresting set of seven structures enclosing landscaped courtyards. In ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on January 10, 2013
Cobbler Square has joined the growing roster of properties and management companies supporting the Craigslist Apartment Cleanup, a campaign whose goal is eliminating all illegal rental service advertising at Craigslist, Trulia, Zillow, hotpads and other websites. Cobbler Square transformed 30 factory and warehouse structures built between 1880 and 1965 into five interconnected buildings housing nearly ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on December 27, 2012
1225 Old Town, the sponsor of our Old Town Rental Guide, had leased more than 85% of its 250 studio to 3-bedroom apartments as of late last week. First occupancies in the building were less than 6 months ago. According to David Bach of Hines Interests, “the biggest piece of news for the property is ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on December 19, 2012
After years of inactivity the southern part of Old Town has become a hotbed of new construction. JDL Development and Harlem Irving Cos are proposing a 5-story building with 71 apartments and ground-floor retail on a site directly across the street from the recently opened, rapidly renting 250-unit 1225 Old Town apartments. Construction recently began ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on November 21, 2012
I asked David Nadler of City Ranch Real Estate for news from the rental front, and he sent along the following brief notes: Southport – Lincoln – Wellington An exciting emerging neighborhood west of Wellington trains. 2943 N Lincoln #101, interesting loft condo 2BR with 2 parking spots, $3,000. 3021 N Southport, 4th floor walk-up ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on November 14, 2012
Where do Chicagoans want to rent? Perhaps the best answer to that question comes via Google Analytics, which taps a database of intentions populated by mouse-clicks. According to Google Analytics, Lincoln Park was the most viewed of our rental guides during the third calendar quarter of this year. Lake View took second place, followed by ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on October 22, 2012
I missed the ceremonial groundbreaking yesterday morning for the new Target at Division and Larrabee, the site where the next-to-last of the Cabrini high-rises was demolished just over two years ago. Two workers from Novak Construction were still in the groundbreaking tent, and they told me that construction would begin “in a week or two” ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on October 19, 2012
The recently-completed 1225 Old Town, 1225 N Wells St in Old Town, features studio, convertible, one-, two- and three-bedroom luxury apartments. The light, airy units have spacious, well thought-out layouts with hardwood floors, large closets and kitchens with great cabinet and counter space. Many of the units also have balconies. David Bach of Hines Interests ...
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Posted by sponsored post on October 17, 2012
1225 Old Town, a newly-opened apartment tower at 1225 N Wells St, has an extensive amenities package. It’s stylish, functional, social — and unusual in scale for a building that hosts only 250 apartments. The amenities package is one of the reasons that the building is 80% leased despite having only opened several months ago. ...
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Posted by sponsored post on October 16, 2012
The apartment high-rise at 1120 North LaSalle boasts a rooftop pool with a second-tier deck and spectacular views of Chicago’s skyline. The pool’s a fun place to be — and even more fun when Planned Property is hosting one of its pool parties for residents. There was good food, good music, great weather, free drinks, ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on August 27, 2012
You can find surprisingly good views of Chicago’s skyline in places where you aren’t expecting to find them. Start with the view above, which stretches from Rogers Park to the West Loop. It was shot from a roof deck of the six-story apartment building at 1157 W Diversey, at the northern edge of Lincoln Park. ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on August 16, 2012
FitzGerald Associates‘ email newsletter arrives with the subject line “All the News That’s Fitz,” making the architectural firm a fit target for headline puns. Yesterday’s edition alerted us to final City Council zoning approvals for two projects – one that was familiar (Atrium Village, albeit with an unfamiliar rendering, above) and another that wasn’t (200 ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on August 9, 2012
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