There appear to be signs of life in the West Loop, Hyde Park and even Cabrini Green. The Architects Newspaper reports that three new construction projects are hoping to break ground soon in all three neighborhoods.
One South Halsted
Both commercial and residential developments are in the works in West Loop, Hyde Park, and the neighborhood which formerly had public housing, Cabrini Green, which was recently torn down.
In the West Loop, Architects Newspaper says, a building at One South Halsted will rival the 39-story Skybridge highrise at West Washington Boulevard as the tallest building west of the Dan Ryan Expressway. One South Halsted will bring new retail and over 500 rental units to the West Loop. And, If developer David Friedman of Skokie-based F&F Realty sees the project through, tenants of the 514 rental units could use room service and other amenities from F&F’s adjacent Crowne Plaza Hotel.
In Hyde Park, a partnership between Heartland Housing and First Baptist Congregational is converting the 81-year-old Viceroy Hotel at 1519 West Warren Boulevard into 89 studio apartments, a café and a community garden. The art deco building is on the National Register of Historic Places, which could offset construction costs to the tune of $2.5 to $3 million, according to the article. All the units will serve tenants with incomes at or below 60 percent of the area median income, and the city has signed off on $3.8 million in TIF dollars for the project.
Finally, what formerly held Cabrini Green project housing will soon hold a second SoNo tower; there will be a SoNo West tower, which was completed in 2008, and now, a SoNo East tower. At 840 West Blackhawk Street, SoNo East tower is under construction. Move-in dates for the 324 units are still uncertain but the structure is expected to be up and fully enclosed by the end of the year. The building also includes 50,000 square feet of ground floor retail space, although commercial tenants have not been announced.
The banks are not even in the position to offer for sale the loads of inventory that is still stacked up from bogus loan origination and mortgage fraud scams like “robo signing” and falsification of assignments, endorsements and alonges. Hence, the market has still not seen it’s FULL CRASH. (Google Search LINDA GREEN)
In my opinion, the second wave is coming however, it seems that the rich are still buying and constructing lakefront and downtown sky rises, while the average Chicago resident and blue collar worker is strapped because his home and pension took a huge bite over the last six years.
I predict lower prices for the average consumer to lock into another home purchase in the next several years, and hopefully they can dump their “UNDERWATER PROPERTY” .
A flood of properties will be hitting the market once Bank of America and other banks do (if ever) get control over those properties and foreclosures, which have been slowing due to shoddy paperwork on the bank’s behalf and falsified foreclosure documents that their lawyers have been drawing up in an attempt to foreclose on those bogus loans.