Habitat Co. has unveiled its proposal for a $100 million downtown waterfront development that calls for 349 town homes and condominiums to be built along the North Branch of the Chicago River.
The glitziest part of the development, called Kinzie Park, will be a line of 25 townhomes and a public riverwalk along the river between the Kinzie Street and Grand Avenue bridges. Those units will range in price up to $630,000.
A 30-story residential high-rise also is part of the plan for the 6.5-acre site on the west bank of the river across from the East Bank Club. As many as 500 residential units may eventually occupy the site.
Enterprise Development is a joint venture partner in the plan. Pappageorge/Haymes Ltd. is the architect.
Crowne jewel
Great Lakes Hospitality Corp. has started construction on a 243-room Crowne Plaza Hotel near Interstate Highway 90 and Illinois Highway 31 in Elgin.
In addition to rooms geared specially for business travelers, the $15 million project will include a 200-seat Bennigan’s Grill and Tavern, a 10,000-square-foot conference center, banquet facilities, business center and fitness center.
The Crowne Plaza Hotel, Chicago-Elgin is one of the largest new hotels under construction in the nation. It is set to open in late 1998.
Wider variety
Countrywide Home Loans, one of the largest mortgage lenders in the nation, has opened a Chicago area office to better serve this market.
Countrywide officials said steady economic expansion in the Chicago region, plus long-term growth opportunities, spurred the decision to expand here. The new office, on the North Side of Chicago, will be headed by Edward Smith, a former senior loan officer for First Chicago.
Countrywide offers a full range of mortgage products and services and has been one of the innovators nationally in marketing low down payment loans and expanding underwriting guidelines to qualify more home buyers.
Aging Olympians
Senior Lifestyle Corp. said it is teaming with The Fogelson Companies to develop the first seniors’ housing complex in south suburban Olympia Fields.
Ground is expected to be broken in November on The Breakers of Olympia Fields; the 209-unit project is set to open in early 1999.
The Breakers, on Vollmer Road, will offer residents 55 and older both congregate care and assisted living arrangements through 177 studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments. In addition, 32 single-story villas are planned.
Filling boxes
The number of vacant “big box” retail sites in the Chicago area dropped slightly to 113 from 118 in the latest survey by CB Commercial Real Estate Group.
The available sites, which consist of developments of 25,000 square feet or more, are scattered throughout the Chicago market and total 6.2 million square feet, down from 6.7 million feet six months ago.
Analysts at CB Commercial said the trend is a positive one, noting that much of the space dumped on the market in 1996 in a wave of closings and mergers in the electronics and home improvement categories is now finding new uses.
Carbon redating
The Carbon & Carbide Building, a 220,000-square-foot, 40-story office tower at 230 N. Michigan Ave., has been purchased by Mark IV Realty, a Chicago-based realty investment firm.
The new owner plans to redevelop the property as a mixed-use retail/hotel/office building.
Opened in 1928, the architecturally distinctive Art Deco-style building is 60 percent leased. Asking price was $7 million.
Game on
Kiferbaum Construction Corp. has been given the assignment as the designer-general contractor for WMS Gaming Inc.’s new 54,100-square-foot space at Green Oaks Business Center II in Green Oaks.
WMS Gaming, a manufacturer of amusement games for arcades and home video, will relocate its operations from Chicago. Kiferbaum officials said the affiliate of WMS Industries Inc. is making the move in order to increase warehousing space and to locate closer to the firm’s two other plants.
Deal of the week
Gullo International Development Corp. has purchased the remaining 51 acres in Schaumburg’s Woodfield Business Center in a $9 million transaction. Collies, Bennett & Kahnweiler, which represented Gullo, said that is one of the largest industrial deals in Cook County in several years.
Gullo will market sites in the project, located at I-90 and Roselle Road, as build-to-suit developments or for lease.
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Chicago Tribune real estate editor Steve Kerch reviews realty news and answers your questions on housing and other topics on The Real Estate Show every Friday from 9:40 to 10 a.m. on Channel 26-WCIU.
