Our file cabinets (real and virtual) are filled with all sorts of renderings and sales materials, some for projects long since finished, others for projects that never went anywhere. As we pass from the Aughts to the Teens, it might be fun to look back occasionally at what might have been.
Today’s selection was easy enough to find: I just closed my eyes, opened the June 2007 issue of New Homes, and pointed to one of the two pages in front of me. Bullseye!
Catalyst was a 22-story high-rise developed by Urban R2 for the northeast corner of Washington Boulevard and Desplaines Avenue in the West Loop, practically across the street from R+D659 and just east of the Kennedy Expressway. The steel-and-glass tower, designed by Lucien Lagrange Architects, was to have 212 studios and one- to three-bedroom condos, three levels of parking, ground-level retail space anchored by Walgreens, and a 3,800 square-foot spa with exercise and massage facilities.
Catalyst’s Web site is still active, meaning you can still pull up floor plans and renderings like the ones seen here. Studios were to range from 534 to 553 square feet, one-bedrooms from 617 to 957 square feet, two-bedrooms from 1,115 to 1,336 square feet, and three-bedrooms from 1,518 to 2,287 square feet.
Interior features would have included stainless-steel appliances, Poggenpohl kitchen and bath cabinets, granite countertops, hardwood floors in public rooms, carpet in bedrooms, and marble tile in baths.
Pre-construction prices ranged from the $220s to $860s, and deliveries were slated for January 2009.
