The words “lofts” and “suburbs” don’t often appear in the same sentence, but buyers who want the hip urban loft without the steep urban price are looking to Downer Place Lofts in downtown suburban Aurora, according to Jack Berger, architect and developer with Downer Place Lofts, LLC.
In 1998, Berger Architects gutted and rehabbed the circa-1920s warehouse at 220 E. Downer Pl. into a rental loft building, and the developer began selling the lofts “as is” in February 2006. Berger—whose Citta Development, which has completed a host of loft conversions in Chicago, is a partner in the LLC—used layouts and finishes to create a modern aesthetic inside the otherwise unassuming red-brick building. The two-story lobby, for example, has dramatic glass-backed elevators and a charcoal-toned palette of Terrazzo tile.
“The lofts are very dramatic and very exciting from an architectural standpoint,” he said. “It’s more of a challenge to take an existing envelope and try to fit something in it.” The four-story building yielded 44 lofts with 10- to 14-foot ceiling heights, expansive windows, exposed spiral ductwork, and a variety of unique floor plans. Berger said buyers can purchase upgraded granite countertops, GE Profile stainless appliances and new carpet, but he has found many buyers choosing to update their lofts on their own.
“With us being $30,000 to $40,000 less than some of the things that are being built currently,” Berger said, “obviously that gives buyers a lot of flexibility in getting exactly what they want.”
Prices from the $140s to the $190s have attracted buyers between the ages of 25 and 35, said Berger, and several have been Aurora natives who have been living and working in Chicago; others have come from the Naperville area, where prices are comparably higher. The building is four blocks from a Metra station and 45 minutes by rail from downtown Chicago, Berger said, and only blocks to the Paramount Theatre, Hollywood Casino and popular restaurant and comedy club Walter Payton’s Roundhouse.
Lofts have one or two bedrooms, one bathroom and 796 to 1,325 square feet. The building also has a fitness center, a rooftop deck, a party room and ground-floor office space. Parking in an adjacent lot is included with each loft, and, at press time, 19 units had been sold. A sales center is located on-site.