For example, prices of resales of the townhouses in the mixed-income community have dipped about 10% to about $185 per sf. "Part of that is due to the softness of the market," Holsten explains recently to the Chicago Real Estate Council, recalling the frenzy that saw 105 units sell in three weeks. "That was a little bit ridiculous...We hit the market at the top of the market."
Another factor, though, is the continued shadows of the high-rise buildings that are being leveled as part of the CHA's $1.5-billion Plan for Transformation, which give a few potential buyers pause. "We were all led to believe the high rises would be down by now, and they're not," Holsten adds. "It's really hard to put a brand new community next to the high-rises."
Holsten has been rebuffed by City Hall in his attempt to put a gate around North Town Village, which includes 116 multifamily rental units as well as 145 condominiums and townhouses. "I wanted to make it a gated community until the high-rises came down but I was shot down by the city," Holsten says, noting subsequent CHA redevelopment projects have included wrought-iron fencing.
On the plus side, buyers of $500,000 properties and former residents of Cabrini-Green are living side-by-side in North Town Village. "People, regardless of where they live, have gotten to know each other," says Holsten, whose development company and Kenard Corp. also are planning to build the 651-unit North Town Park to the southwest of North Town Village. "Our residents have been getting along quite well."
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