In what promises to be one of the city’s most prominent active condo conversions, Centrum Properties and MCZ Development have started sales at the Park Millennium, a 52-story tower at 222 N. Columbus that’s continuing the residential boom underway on the New East Side.
“With its amazing lakefront and skyline views and a location just steps from Millennium Park and North Michigan Avenue, the Park Millennium will be one of Chicago’s premier condominium highrises,” said Jennifer Arons, senior vice president of Centrum Properties, which is co-developing the project with MCZ.
The highrise conversion will add another 480 condos to the growing residential base of the Loop / New East Side, an area bounded by the Chicago River on the north and west, Roosevelt on the south and the lake on the east. Two buildings east of the Park Millennium, the new 340 on the Park highrise recently broke ground as part of Lakeshore East, a community that includes its own parks, retail and school as well as thousands of new homes.
“Many residences on the north and east sides of the Park Millennium overlook the Chicago River, Lake Michigan, Navy Pier and parkland surrounding the Lake Shore East development,” Arons said.
But price is also an important draw. As a conversion, the Park Millennium will have a price point lower than those at many of the new buildings sprouting nearby. At press time, condos were priced from the low $200s to the $700s.
The unit mix ranges from studios of 525 square feet to top a penthouse with three bedrooms, 3.5 baths and 1,850 square feet. The bulk of the units, however, have one to two bedrooms and one or two baths.
The homes are being sold with different standard packages. The Signature Series kitchen, for example, comes with GE appliances, Moen faucets, granite countertops and light maple cabinets, while the Millennium Series upgrades to GE stainless steel appliances.
The building, designed by Loewenberg & Associates for Charles E. Smith Residential Realty, was completed in 2002 and has a long list of amenities. Residents will have an on-site valet, door staff, a concierge, a garden terrace, an indoor lap pool, a business center, a media room and a 24-hour sports club with lake views. The building also has more than 10,000 square feet of retail space, including Bockwinkle’s, an upscale grocer.
Another edge the Park Millennium enjoys over new construction, according to Arons, is quick delivery. First occupancy at the project, www.ParkMillenniumChicago.com, is scheduled for this summer. A sales center is open on site, at 222 N. Columbus, and at press time, four models were scheduled for a grand opening on April 16.