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Des Plaines |
Now that central Des Plaines has undergone a successful revival, it faces some potential problems, such as overcrowding and traffic congestion. But the complex of buildings rising just northwest of the suburb’s newly bustling downtown should have a minimal effect on density, since half of the project’s seven acres will remain as green space-some of it forest and some lawn and landscaped gardens.
Stone Gate condominiums, a quartet of seven-story buildings, sit on a partially wooded parcel on Western Avenue. The developer, Newport Builders, will install a gazebo, dramatic lighting, and other outdoor features near the buildings, says Mary Lane, the president of Alexander-Lane Realty, which is selling the condos. Upon completion-in summer 2007-Stone Gate will have a total of 264 units. Of those, about 130 are still for sale. There are nine different floor plans, ranging from a 1,066-square-foot one-bedroom condo (priced at $195,950) to a 1,994-square-foot two-bedroom unit with a den ($355,950). The first two buildings are finished, and Lane expects the third to be ready in spring 2007. The fourth should be completed that summer.
In the Sun
Development honors playwright
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Bronzeville |
In her 1959 play, A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry depicted an African American family living on Chicago’s South Side who aspired to move to a better neighborhood. Now a new development on the site of the Chicago Housing Authority’s Robert Taylor Homes will be known as Hansberry Square.
Commemorating Hansberry “was not a hard choice,” says Whitney Weller, vice president of Michaels Development, the company behind Legends South, the $850-million housing project planned for the 100-acre site. “We’re honoring the historical legacy of the neighborhood, and she was clearly a big part of that.”
Hansberry Square, a combination of condos, single-family homes, and rental units, will occupy 12 of the 100 acres. At press time, the 17 condos that remained were 1,025-square-foot, two-bedroom units ranging in price from $256,200 to $260,800 (depending on the view). Residents may begin moving in by fall 2007.
Car 54, Where Are You?
State Place condo tower transforms the site of Chicago‘s onetime police headquarters
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South Loop |
Just a few years ago it was the site of the city’s police headquarters, and few people wanted to spend the night. Today there is a 24-story condo tower at the same location, and it turns out to be a far more desirable destination. Called State Place, the block-long project along State Street (between 11th Street and Roosevelt Road) replaced the Chicago Police Department’s defunct main station after the cops moved into their new high-tech digs at 3510 South Michigan Avenue in 2000.
Of the 243 condos in the four-building complex, only five remained for sale at press time, according to Tricia Van Horn, sales and marketing vice president for Magellan Development Realty. Three of those are 1,412-square-foot, two-bedroom units on the 15th and 16th floors with northwest views. They are each priced at $461,800. The remaining units are penthouses on the 24th floor. One, priced at $899,000, has three bedrooms and 2,479 square feet of indoor space and a 382-square-foot terrace. The other is an 1,874-square-foot, two-bedroom unit priced at $750,000; it also has a 382-square-foot terrace. “These are for the penthouse buyers who want a big outdoor place,” Van Horn says. All the units are ready for immediate occupancy.
Send tips about high-end home sales to dennis@rodkin.com.
Illustrations: Top Voss-Lauritsen, Inc.,
Middle Courtesy Of Brinshore-Michaels
Photograph: Courtesy Of Nnp Residential