Real estate developers are not, in general, publicity-shy. You probably know that easterners began calling Chicago the Windy City not because of meteorological conditions off Lake Michigan, but because of the hordes of hot-air blowers they encountered here promoting their real estate ventures after the fire of 1871. That fellow with the fetching coiffure, for example, is only the latest and most oleaginous in a grand tradition of windbaggery; a Jones for the spotlight is standard-issue for the professional archetype.
So it’s refreshing, if a little bizarre, to encounter a property developer who wants to remain on the Down Low, which is what we discovered when we talked to the guy behind Wolcott Terrace, recently completed on Lincoln Avenue opposite Trader Joe’s.
In the interest of fair reporting, we shouldn’t go along with this, but because we think the building is such a positive addition to the street we’ll just agree to call him S.
S says he wants to stay below the radar not because he doesn’t want exposure for the project. It’s more about keeping a low profile at his day job, as a partner in a major Chicago law firm, where he says he’s fully disclosed all to his colleagues, but with lawyers, you can never be too discreet.
He has very little reason for needing discretion, at least in the design category. The architects — Roscoe Village’s own Wilkinson Blender — have done a fine job overall. Working with a tricky triangular site, they’ve created a dynamic geometric composition that makes for a genuinely pleasing visual experience from every direction.
Although we like the use of shiny aluminum panels, a dog-walking neighbor passing by had her doubts. While she liked the building overall, “the units facing west have got to be roasting this summer,” she observed.
S says that 10 of the 13 units are spoken for, and that the 3100 sq ft ground floor space is rented, although in keeping with the shroud of mystery motif, he’s not at liberty to say to whom right now.