Chicago’s River North neighborhood is one of the busiest in the city today. And much of the activity here is coming from new residential buildings, filled with both condominiums and apartment units, either under construction or planned.
The recent purchase of a large parking lot across from Chicago’s famed Holy Name Cathedral will only add to the residential boom in River North. Soon, renters targeting this neighborhood will have the additional choice of as many as four residential towers on this site, towers expected to offer a mix of condominiums and apartment units.
Chicago-based development firm JDL Development made plenty of headlines earlier in April when the company’s president, Jim Letchinger, announced that he was buying the 96,000-square-foot parking lot across from the cathedral. The lot, one of the last undeveloped block-wide sites in River North, sits at the southwest corner of State Street and Chicago Avenue. It’s an ideal location for a new residential project, just three blocks to the west of North Michigan Avenue.
Anyone familiar with River North can tell you that development sites in this Chicago neighborhood are hot. The land here was no exception, with JDL agreeing to pay $115 million for the parking lot owned by the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago.
JDL has not yet released plans for its residential towers. In news reports, Letchinger did not share any details on the height of his planned buildings or the number of units JDL will be bringing to River North. What is certain, though, is that no matter how many units JDL does add to the mix, the buyers and renters will come.
Chicago remains in the middle of a downtown residential boom. A recent story by Chicago Business Journal said that Chicago will see 6,500 new residential units in 2017, scattered among 33 buildings. Most of these new units are coming to downtown Chicago. A story by Curbed Chicago said that 4,500 new units are in the downtown pipeline now.
This isn’t surprising. Downtowns across the country are attracting new residents. Residents in these city centers want to live the urban lifestyle. They want to walk to work, grocery stores, public transportation, restaurants and shops. Their goal is to mostly ditch their cars and rely on public transit and their own feet to get where they’re going.
Downtown Chicago, and neighborhoods such as River North, offer the perfect opportunity for this kind of living. River North is blessed with a mix of eclectic shops, well-ranked restaurants and easy access to public transportation.
The Holy Name project, whatever rises on its site, will bring even more residential units to the mix. And that’s good news for anyone looking for that urban lifestyle.
Are you searching for a River North condo? Then contact us. We’d love to help.
