Burling Place at home on storied Lincoln Park street
Posted 7/25/2007 by Joel
Astor. Goethe. East Lake Shore Drive. Some residential Chicago streets immediately evoke a sense of prestige. In Lincoln Park, no address is more esteemed than one on Burling Street, where vintage graystones and brownstones mingle with super-sized stone mansions that span several lots and herald a new Gilded Age.
With big money and high-end homeowners marking the street, new condo developments must appeal to the most discerning of buyers. Mario Greco, broker of Rubloff Residential Properties’ Mario Greco Group, thinks Burling Place, a new-construction condo building at the corner of Burling and Willow streets, fits right in on the awe-inspiring street.
“It’s one of the oldest established parts of Lincoln Park,” Greco said. “Burling itself is probably the most expensive street in the city, maybe even in the Midwest. It has a very active community association that keeps the aesthetic of the neighborhood up. They don’t let anyone build just anything in the neighborhood.”
Spearhead Development, best known for building custom single-family homes in Lake View and Roscoe Village, fought to get the address of the lot switched from Willow to Burling Street, Greco said, to boost the development’s cachet. A church on the site – “not a pretty church, like a pink stucco church,” Greco noted – was torn down to make way for the five-story, classically influenced building by architect Sullivan Goulette Ltd.
“They tried to put a building there that looks like it belongs in the neighborhood,” Greco said. “It was inspired by some buildings in London.”
And it shows. The concrete and steel construction is fronted with dark brick, and spires and patterns made from Renaissance stone add a Gothic quality. It soars above its neighbors – affording buyers fantastic views, Greco said – but setbacks on the top two floors keep its scale in check. Part of the roof is synthetic slate, and shiny copper downspouts and gutters trace the building. Greco said there are also copper inserts on the roof designed to break ice as it slides off the slate. “I’ve never seen that before on a condo building,” he said.
To get zoning concessions and permission to build additional square footage, Spearhead agreed to preserve and incorporate a copper-topped church rectory, which Greco said predates the Chicago Fire of 1871, into Burling Place. The blonde brick building will serve as the builder’s new office.
Interior finishes in each of the six condos at Burling Place will echo the classical exterior architecture and include crown molding, wainscoting, quarter-sawn white oak floors, stone bathrooms and full-height stone backsplashes in the kitchen. Units have two to four bedrooms, two or three bathrooms, private terraces and 1,394 to 3,166 square feet. The fourth-floor and penthouse units also have a 14-foot by 15-foot library, a private elevator entrance and roof rights, Greco said. Each home includes an indoor parking space, and the top two units include two spaces.
After two weeks on the market, one two-bedroom condo at Burling Place has sold, according to Greco, and remaining units are priced from the $740s to $2.3 million. The building has been topped off, and Greco said deliveries will begin the first week of November.
Comments
7/25/07
bpearce said:
You've got to love architects with a sense of humor - unless you have to live across the street from their work. The Walt Disney Westminster kind of makes you long for the pink stucco church they tore down, eh?
irishpirate said:
Barry,
you will find many people like that design.
Makes me think of Batman.
I hate to admit it but I kinda like it. It will age well. Unlike my first wife.
Topher said:
I hope they put a Nike of Samothrace sculpture to complete that side gable. It looks a little castrated right now.
pk said:
It looks like they chopped off the bottom 50 stories.
the urban politician said:
My only pet-peeve about this project is that there's a big, ugly white garage door where an impressive main entrance should be.
It's tacky….it's so…Jeff Ayersman. We can do better than that
phil said:
“They tried to put a building there that looks like it belongs in the neighborhood,” Greco said. “It was inspired by some buildings in London.”
I'm wondering which buildings in London — the Houses of Parliament? How very appropriate for a six-story apartment building. But if it's supposed to look like it belongs in the neighborhood, why wasn't it inspired by some buildings in Chicago?
7/26/07
Sam said:
The is most certainly the type of junk-design that would appeal to the most unsophisticated among us, such as Section 8 himself. This design objective - to fit in with the neighborhood, to look as though it has always been there, etc. is nothing more than NP (NIMBY Pandering) Design. To think that this is the year 2007 in the city that invented modern architecture and there is so much of this timid, NP Design is mind-boggling. Architects should be eligible to lose their license for producing this type of dreck….
Mike Doyle said:
This is the biggest piece of architctural crap I have seen all year in this city. Officially. It just jells with my longtime contention: people with lots of money in Lincoln Park must have their taste firmly centered in their collective ass.
pk said:
There is no bigger micro-managing dingbat on the the city council than Alderman Vi Daley. She's a sorry excuse for a human being.
paulj said:
This is the perfect place for the nuevo riche 60 something dem and do's guy and his trophy wife. "Look at how classy we is baby. Let's go to Gibson's."
Now if you really do want to buy a piece of the London Bridge on the other hand….
7/27/07
Topher said:
MD obviously doesn't drive down North Ave. between Damen and Western that often - talk about true architectural crap…
t andrews said:
It is only a temporary door for construction
7/28/07
nickg - now in mpls said:
critics get real….this thing is a far cry from the usual low quality/high price junk that has spread throughout the city over the last 20yrs. i like it.
Holly said:
I love it! Definitely one of the coolest buildings to go up around Lincoln Park! Looks like a castle! A job well done!
7/31/07
cjs said:
I think the building is beautiful and blends perfectly with the neighborhood. New, but classic. The builders were right to choose the style they did over others. For instance, a modern style would have clashed with the overall tone of the area. I can't wait to see the interiors of these spaces.
tps said:
Finally a builder that doesn't use the same set of prints being used all over the city.Well done
8/3/07
vic said:
Being placed on Burling, Spearhead Development's design of this building brings new ideas into this area. It's about time! Being the most expensive neighborhood in Lincoln Park, it needs more style and Spearhead is pushing that. Congratulations! Excited to see the finish!