New Residential Developments Planned Across Chicago

By Veronica Grecu, Associate Editor

See Wong, the owner of Wabash Development Group, has recently acquired a 26,000-sq.-ft. warehouse in Chinatown for $3.88 million. The three-phase project that is to be constructed here will include condominiums for students, a hotel and retail space. Wong has teamed up with Lu Li of He He Jilin Real Estate LLC in China and with the architectural firm Haylock Design based in Gurnee, IL.

According to Wong’s plans, the warehouse at 2401 S. Archer will be demolished to make room for Phase One of the project, the Eastern Tower, a seven-story building with 96 condominiums and 12,000 sq. ft. of street-level retail space. Given the fact that Chicago has a substantial market with over 20,000 students enrolled in university classes around the city, Wong announced that the units will not be available for rent. He plans to sell the condos directly to students, students’ parents or even investors looking for increased rent opportunities. The selling prices for the Eastern Tower residential units will range from $99,000 to $266,000. Phase Two will consist of a 250,000-sq.-ft. indoor mall on six levels with parking space and the last phase of the project is set to include a 22-story building comprising 150 condos and 100 hotel units.

The Chicago Tribune reports that a new town home community developed by Pulte Homes will open in June in Park Ridge, only 15 miles northwest of downtown Chicago and in the proximity of O’Hare Airport.

This upscale community, Gateway Estates, will offer five three-story homes with three bedrooms, two full- and two half-bathrooms, two-car garages and balconies. Standard amenities at Gateway Estates will include granite countertops, stainless steel appliances and wood flooring in the kitchens, as well as master bathroom suites.

Also in the headlines this week, the old Town Hall police station on Chicago’s North Side will be sold for $1 to Heartland Housing Inc., a nonprofit developer that plans to incorporate the building into a new construction for gay seniors. The Town Hall District station was closed by the city in 2010, right after a new Town Hall was opened at 850 W. Addison. The architectural plan is incomplete; but, according to Michael Goldberg of Heartland Housing, it will preserve most of the old station’s exterior features, as well as some interior details.

The 90-unit apartment project will include ground-floor commercial space and social services in association with the Center on Halsted which is located near the site.