Evanston is a suburb noted for its urban atmosphere, though recent high-rise proposals have stirred up mixed feelings with residents and the City Council.
Yo asked David Katz, president of Bernard Katz and Associates, Inc., what it was like to develop a new condo in such a dynamic city.
His latest project, Mainstreet Station Condominiums, is a nine-story building with 71 condos at the southeast corner of Main Street and Chicago Avenue.
Katz says the previous owner of the property got into litigation with Evanston regarding the development’s height, eventually taking arguments to the Supreme Court of Illinois (the city lost). “We didn’t want to get into an argument with the city, so we sat down and tried to resolve all issues they had with the previous seller,” Katz says. “After a year and a half, we came up with a joint design.”
Katz says they compromised on the building’s size: the height was reduced from 125 to 100 feet, and the number of units was scaled down from 76 to 71. As a result, Katz received a larger footprint of the building, allowing for larger units.
The building is also ‘L’ shaped and is set back from the sidewalk so it doesn’t seem so imposing.
The units range from 953 to 1,722 square feet and each has nine-foot ceilings, according to Mary Summerville, owner of Prairie Shore Properties, which is marketing the project. Prices range from $296,900 to $553,900 (about $325 per square foot).
One – to two -bedroom condos, some with dens, are available and buyers can also combine units, Summerville says. Deliveries are expected in the fall of 2008.
