Sales will get underway in the spring at The Bluewater Companies’ 5440 Sheridan, and the developer is currently taking reservations for condos in the 14-story high-rise and three townhomes located in the adjacent four-story building.
In response to neighbors’ concerns about the building’s height, architect Booth Hansen reduced the high-rise from 15 to 14 stories and set the building 30 feet from Sheridan Road, increasing the size of a landscaped plaza slated for the streetfront.
The Plan Commission will vote on the project sometime this month, says developer Cary Kerbel. Community representatives who sit on a committee advising Ald. Mary Ann Smith (48th) on neighborhood development issues voted in August to support the project, according to Kerbel. The contemporary glass high-rise replaces a low-rise motel, and some residents on lower floors of a high-rise close to the proposed tower object to losing their views. One man who lives in the affected building told Yo that he hopes the new development will boost neighborhood real estate values.
The developer hopes the building’s environmental features – bamboo floors, energy efficient heating and cooling systems and a green roof – will make it eligible for the Department of Construction and Permits’ Green Permit Program. “Green buildings cost more money, but the city compensates you with incentives, which can include expediting the development process,” Kerbel says.
The high-rise has 160 units, which range from studios to three bedrooms, priced from the $180s to the $450s. Five two-bedroom “beach homes” located on the first-floor of the high-rise are priced in the $340s.
South of the high-rise is a four-story building, which contains three townhouses wrapped around a parking garage. The 3,300-square-foot townhomes, which are priced in the $800s, all come with a 700-square-foot studio, which owners can rent or use as a “granny flat,” Kerbel says. The developer has scrapped a plan to build “ranch-style homes” atop the four-story building. Delivery of 5440 Sheridan is slated for January 2009.