What? Another student high-rise development may be taking place in the South Loop? Is it only a matter of time before the frat pack well and truly decamps from Lincoln Park, and everyone starts referring to the South Loop as SoLo?
Rumor has it that Smithfield Properties has acquired a building at 626 S. Clark St., which the condo developer plans to convert into 700 beds of student housing. The nabe, of course, is full of universities and Mayor Daley has been encouraging student migration to the Loop for a long time, as part of his plans for a 24-hour downtown.
The area is already host to the spanking new University Center on State Street, and wealthy suburban parents are coughing up for condos across the South Loop to install junior and a buddy or two.
The influx of students has brought a healthy vitality to the South Loop over the last eighteen months, although budget-friendly restaurants and retail have been slow to follow suit. But hopefully it won’t result in a plethora of sports bars and other signs of Wrigley-fication in the neighborhood.