When we first took note of the northwest corner of Skokie Blvd and Dundee Rd in Northbrook, more than six years ago, it was slated to host “The Residences of The Center of the Northshore” (sic). The deal appeared so shaky that I cautioned in a comment: “Let’s not hold our breath on this one, folks. It has an air of doom about it.”
Four years later, after the deal had, as expected, slipped into the development deadpool, I stopped by the location and shot the above video to illustrate how inappropriate it seemed as a venue for luxury condos. The developers were subsequently indicted for loan fraud.
Will apartment dwellers be more receptive to living on a site flanked by high-voltage power lines, gas stations, offices and a busy stretch of Skokie Blvd?
According to Chicago Real Estate Daily we may get an answer to that question. A development group hopes to break ground in 2014 on 416 “high-end” apartments and 107,000 square feet of retail space on the site. The project’s working moniker, Northshore 770, is likely to attract more than a modicum of mockery from North Shore types, so I’ll refrain.