The irony of the South Loop’s emergence as one of Chicago’s great residential neighborhoods is that it’s been one before.
The area immediately south of the Loop was once a popular place to build a home. Entrepreneurs like Marshall Field and Philip Armour constructed their lavish mansions on Prairie Avenue. Then the trains came, as did the printing houses, the warehouses, and the houses of ill repute. The wealthy business owners left their South Loop palaces; without tenants, many of the palaces themselves disappeared.
But with its proximity to Lake Michigan, Grant Park, Soldier Field, and the Loop itself, and its access to the rest of Chicago and beyond via ‘L’ and Metra tracks, two expressways and Lake Shore Drive, the South Loop was ripe for a comeback. And come back it has.
New Homes’ New Home Notebook lists 30 new and rehabilitated residential developments in the South Loop, ranging from modern condos in sky-scraping towers to century-old storehouses converted into lofts.
In 2007, Midwest Real Estate Data listed more than 1,500 homes for sale in the South Loop, which is defined as the area bounded by Jackson Boulevard, Lake Michigan, and the Stevenson and Dan Ryan expressways (I-55 and I-90/94, respectively). Two-thirds of those were priced from the $200s to the $490s, although the neighborhood also saw a number of homes priced below $150,000 and above $800,000.
That range proves that the South Loop can accommodate all sorts of buyers, says Ron Shipka Sr, principal of The Enterprise Companies. He should know: Enterprise has built 3,000 homes at the super-sized Museum Park at Central Station development over the past nine years. They were tailored to meet the needs of everyone, he says – “the entry-level buyer, the move-up buyer, and the luxury buyer.”
Museum Park’s crown jewel, the 62-story One Museum Park, began closings in April and will continue at a rate of 15 to 20 units a month through the fall. Prices there ranged from the $620s to $2.7 million in May.
Immediately south is the 30-story 1600 Museum Park, which is more than 60 percent sold. Homes there have many of the same lake views as the ones in their super-tall neighbor, but at prices that cater to buyers on a tighter budget. 1600 Museum Park’s condos range in price from the $280s to the $680s.
Shipka doesn’t mince words when he talks about the South Loop’s market. To him, no new high-rise proposed for the neighborhood gives buyers the views that Museum Park’s buildings can.
“When a person has the option of a dead-on view of the lake, or a view a block or two off the lake, I think their choice is clear,” he says.
By the early 1990s, when developer Keith Giles began working in the neighborhood, a smattering of new construction could be found among the area’s warehouses. It was one of those older structures, a vacant building at 1322 S Wabash Ave, where Giles got his start in the South Loop.
Since the development of the Filmworks Lofts, Giles through different companies has made his mark in the South Loop with projects like the 320-unit Dearborn Tower (which he believes was the inspiration for Enterprise’s Museum Park high-rises) and the restoration of the Roosevelt Hotel at the corner of Roosevelt Road and Wabash Avenue.
Giles seems so comfortable with both new construction condominiums and industrial gut-rehabs that it should come as no surprise that his company, Kargil Development, is selling both.
One project, the X/O Condominiums, will have 488 condominiums spread throughout two high-rises in the 1700 block of Prairie Avenue. The other, Prairie District Lofts, comprises 116 concrete and timber lofts located just a block west at 1727 S Indiana Ave.
For X/O, Kargil turned to renowned architect Lucien Lagrange to deliver a distinctive design.
“There’s a lot of product on the market. We saw that coming and realized we needed to separate ourselves from the competition. Lucien’s curved structures clearly do that,” Giles said.
X/O’s one- to three-bedroom units are selling from the $290s to more than $2 million. The project is slated to deliver in 2010.
At Prairie District Lofts, where one- to four-bedrooms are priced in the $290s to the $450s, Giles saw a building worth preserving, both for its sales potential and its place in the South Loop environment.
“If a building can be saved, it can add to a community’s physical balance,” he says. “A lot of buildings that were built here have characteristics that can’t be duplicated.”
The history behind some of the South Loop’s best buildings can benefit developers and buyers alike. For the greater part of the 20th century, car dealers lined South Michigan Avenue in the South Loop, housed in multi-level showrooms designed by some of the city’s greatest architects.
The historic Motor Row district, says developer Paul Zucker, will always stand out amongst a slew of new construction thanks to its landmark status.
“In the West Loop South Loop, you see a lot of new buildings with their own character, but nothing like the charm and architectural significance of the Motor Row,” he says.
At 2301-2315 S Michigan Ave, Zucker is putting the finishing touches on his latest project, Motor Row Lofts. He converted three buildings designed by the renowned firm Holabird & Roche into 52 timber lofts, and restored their facades to their original brick and terra cotta designs.
Approximately 30 of the Motor Row Lofts were still available in early May at prices ranging from the $270s to the $650s. Since the buildings are located in a designated historic district, buyers will benefit from an eight-year tax assessment freeze, followed by three years of partial tax freezes, amounting in annual savings of $4,000 to $11,000.
In any emerging residential neighborhood, a much-needed commercial element can be slow to arrive. The South Loop is very much a bedroom community, “a place where it’s quiet at 10 p.m.,” Giles says.
Shopping options aren’t as sparse as they used to be, though. Giles remembers when South Loop residents searching for late-night snacks had to frequent an Amoco gas station. That’s a far cry from today’s selection of grocery stores, like Jewel/Osco, Dominick’s and Whole Foods. Restaurateurs like Jerry Kleiner have introduced fine dining to the neighborhood as well with establishments like Gioco, Opera and Room 21.
Still, the South Loop is waiting for a retail boom, and that’s why many people are keeping an eye on Centrum Properties’ new mega-development, the Lofts at Roosevelt Collection, located near the intersection of Roosevelt Road and Clark Street.
Once complete, Roosevelt Collection will boast 400,000 square feet of retail space, enough room to house a movie theater and as many as 40 stores and restaurants. Centrum principal Sol Barket says the development will become the South Loop’s “full lifestyle center,” the one-stop location for all of the neighborhood’s shopping and entertainment needs.
“The South Loop is one of the best strategically located neighborhoods in the city, what with the lake, the parks, the proximity to Soldier Field. But it lacks the sex appeal of the city’s great shopping districts,” Barket says.
“So we started out by thinking of all the parts of Chicago that we enjoy – the excitement of the restaurants on Rush Street, the charm of the boutiques in Lincoln Park, the allure of big retail on Michigan Avenue, and the entertainment of the movie theaters of Streeterville – and we sought out to put those things together into one environment.”
Centrum has kept the names of its retail partners close to the vest so far, but the names of Roosevelt Collection’s stores will emerge as the project approaches its grand opening in 2009. In the meantime, the company continues to market the development’s residences, 342 one- and two-bedroom homes priced from the $300s to the $650s.
Half of those homes are still for sale and will be ready for delivery in 2009.