"Our sales office is ready to go," Bletnitsky tells GlobeSt.com after the plan commission delivered a favorable recommendation on his 23-story building, which includes 9,114 sf of ground-floor retail space. The partnership, 1400 South Michigan LLC, still must acquire the 1.2-acre site from two separate ownership groups.
The only hitch were suggestions to add additional parking to the project beyond the 220 spaces. While the spaces may be sufficient to the condominium owners, customers of the retailers on the ground floor may create traffic problems.
"We strongly recommend the developer include additional parking for the retail space," says Bonnie Sanchez-Carlson, executive vice president of the Near South Planning Board. "When we see a neighborhood developing so rapidly, we don't want to turn it into another Diversey," adds plan commission member John H. Nelson, referring to a congested stretch in Lincoln Park.
A land trust acquired the northernmost portion of the site in 1999, which was refinanced last year for $2.1 million, according to property records. The 30,000-sf site includes a small commercial building. The smaller southernmost portion also includes a small commercial building, which was acquired in 2000 for $500,000, according to property records.
One-bedroom units will start at less than $200,000, Vaisman says, with two-bedrooms ranging up from $300,000 and three-bedrooms from $500,000. That puts the project in the $300 per sf neighborhood, Bletnitsky notes.
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