Streeterville is a neighborhood dominated by glassy high-rises and sleek towers. Nestled in the midst of these paeans to the sky, however, is a rare low-rise loft conversion.
MCL Cos. is building lofts in the top three floors of a six-story brick building on the Ogden Slip, a finger of water that runs parallel to the north bank of the Chicago River.
In the late 19th century, freight ships used the slip to unload their cargo directly into the building, which served as a distribution center, according to Barbara Dudeck, a sales agent with MCL. Today the building is home not only to the new conversion (dubbed The Lofts at River East Art Center) but also offices, artist workspaces and Fox & Obel, an upscale grocer.
The lofts have exposed brick and timber ceilings more than 10 feet high. Standard finishes combine modern cabinets by Avanti and hardwood floors with a rustic finish. The south-facing units have balconies overlooking the slip, and the north-facing units overlook a two-acre park developed by MCL for its new high-rise, The ParkView, at 505 N. McClurg Court.
MCL reported today that about 30 of the 150 units at The Lofts at River East Art Center had sold. (The developer re-launched the project in November after scrapping plans to include two stories of new construction to the roof.) Prices start in the $430s and top out at more than $900,000. Deliveries are slated for spring or summer 2009.
-Story by Kate Hawley, photography by Michael Kardas
Pretty. But Sabrina at CribChatter reviewed these, and asked about noiseproofing for the timber ceilings. The sales rep reported they were leaving them “as is”–in other words, noisy. Why would a high end conversion do that? I just don’t get it.
Same thing happening at Prairie District Lofts – this, among other things is a bad sign.
But with the East art Center, when they converted the place for commercial use, for load they had did have to add some floor mass; I would expect this to be less of a problem here.
For every floor, though? Timber lofts are notoriously noisy… I love the location, for instance of 540(?) LSD lofts, but have been told the noise is intolerable.
Does anybody know about the noise at the Sexton (timber part) or the old Montgomery Ward lofts on Kingsbury?
You’d think noise control would be top priority–before stone counters and sliding glass pccket doors for the bedrooms!
WOW. I’ll take one of these units!! I am happy they elimnated the the tacky glass addition on top!
Agree – looks nice. Awesome location as well. I think with its former commercial use (recent), the quality should be better than most loft conversion, as the the quality of the original renovation and general building maintenance tends to be better for commercial than for residential loft use, which tend to come from abandoned use, or loft apartment rentals, which are cheap.
Great location, nice historic building. Only drawback is that most units are bowling alleys with windowless “bedrooms.” Can be a little dark and claustrophopic. Light well.
My wife and I originally signed a pre construction agreement on this development in March of 2007. We kept getting the run around from the developer until November, they did not inform us of what was going on with the development. Finally they meet with us in November and told us that we would have to pay $60,000 more then our reservation price to finalize the contract on our unit, while all the time holding our reservation deposit. We finally cancelled our reservation due to a overwhelming disappointment with the developer, the project, and the developers handling of the project and our reservation agreement.
Avoid this development, our experience might be a sign of what is to come with the building and the quality of their project. Very disappointing for a developer who prides itself on it approach to its customers.