With more than 40 projects in various stages of development, the area east of the river from Jackson Boulevard to Cermak Road is far and away the biggest construction hotbed in the city. Old office buildings and warehouses converted to residential lofts pioneered the South Loop‘s push toward becoming a bona fide neighborhood, and condo high-rises — lots of them — soon followed.
Workers have been scrambling to construct the thousands of homes sold in the area during the past few years, and, with more than a dozen projects yet to break ground, the South Loop skyline promises to be thick with construction cranes for years to come.
While many of the new high-rises in the South Loop are mired in traditional — even retro — designs, the developers and architects of others are taking the neighborhood to the next architectural level by creating bold statements with expressive glass.
Workers at developer Roszak / ADC‘s Vetro, located at 611 S. Wells St., had begun construction on the 14th floor of the 31-story high-rise in the second week of March. The building, designed by Thomas Roszak and Fujikawa Johnson Gobel Architects, will live up to its name (“glass" in Italian) with an all-glass façade spread over a reinforced concrete structure. Glass and metal panels at the base and crown of the building will be illuminated at night, and the seventh floor has a sundeck and fitness room.
According to sales manager Michael Phocas, the 232-unit development is 51 percent sold, and deliveries are slated to begin in December 2007. Remaining units, which range from studios to three bedrooms, are priced from the $220s to the $850s. The sales center is located at 161 W. Harrison St.