By Phil Berger

The new millennium has been a good time for residential architecture in Chicago. After decades of banality, dictated either by developers’ notions of marketability or stagnation within the architecture community, the streetscape has benefited greatly from a slew of interesting new buildings.

The project that has generated the most buzz among architecture cognoscenti is 600 North Fairbanks, designed by the firm of Murphy / Jahn. The German-born Helmut Jahn is one of the world’s most celebrated architects, but he’s taken his share of critical abuse in his adopted hometown, mostly by virtue of his first significant commission, the State of Illinois’ Thompson Center in the Loop. When it was completed twenty years ago, it was vilified for its cost overruns and its ambitious design, which was wholly unlike anything built in the Loop before or ever since. Subsequently, he’s done dazzling work – primarily in Europe – but even his later Chicago projects, such as 120 South LaSalle, the United terminal at O’Hare, and Oakbrook Terrace Tower, couldn’t quite erase the stigma of his debut.

While it’s unlikely 600 North Fairbanks will change that, it’s certainly one of the most dynamic additions to the skyline in years. Jahn’s solution to the parking structure dilemma is to face it in the same clear curtain wall as the rest of the building, so that the structure is a unified whole. But what’s probably best about the building is its strong, curving shape. Architects often say one of their most difficult design challenges is how the building turns the corner, and 600 North Fairbanks does it very well.

As cool as Jahn’s building is, it’s not even the most interesting of the new crop of high-rises. Probably the most prominent tower in terms of location is One Museum Park at 1215 S Prairie Ave, which comes from the drawing board of Pappageorge / Haymes.

It’s hard to say many good things about towers that Pappageorge / Haymes has designed for The Enterprise Companies over the past several years, but One Museum Park is another animal entirely. Jeff Renterghen, a senior associate at Pappageorge / Haymes, explains that the firm “has always pushed for a more modern statement,” and they’ve certainly made it here. As an object in the landscape, it’s breathtakingly bold and a little retro-futuristic: The building, sheathed in reflective blue glass, spreads out in wing-like flanges from a central ovoid column, like something out of a Buck Rogers two-reeler.

Sales have been strong enough at One Museum Park that the core of One Museum Park West – a smaller tower located just to the west – is already rising. It’s a little deflating to realize that all the units facing west in One Museum Park are going to have their views obstructed – except that none of its units actually face west. The distinctive aspect of the building’s design is its crescent shaped plan: The south and west sides of the building house circulation spaces or structural and mechanical components, and their reflective “windows” are really glass skins mounted to a concrete frame. So while the gleaming, streamlined form is arresting from all perspectives, the clear orientation of the building is toward the north and the east. The result is that “there’s really no ‘back’ to the building, and no ‘bad’ units,” Renterghen says.

Maybe the most successful and exciting of all the new towers is ParkView at Illinois Street and McClurg Court, which couldn’t be more of a departure MCL Companies’ disappointing offerings at the neighboring River East. The emergence of modernism has given rise to many variations on the glass and steel window wall. At ParkView, architects Solomon Cordwell Buenz go in a different direction, with plenty of glass but also copper-anodized aluminum panels and punctuations of yellow balconies that turn the whole thing into a powerful piece of form, texture and color. What’s also great about the building is its fine sense of scale from the ground level. The difference between ParkView and almost everything else is that its parking levels are primarily underground, which makes an enormous difference in establishing a connection between the building and the street.

Devon Patterson, a design principal at Solomon Cordwell Buenz, says that the aim was to do something “sculptural and artistic” with the design. As built, it’s all that and more. Solomon Cordwell Buenz investigated several different materials for the curtain wall, with the intention of echoing the groundbreaking Time-Life building just a block away, which used Cor-Ten steel and bronze reflective glass to great effect. While ParkView is subtler in its surfaces, it makes a similarly strong statement.

Although most of the architectural excitement is about high-rise towers, at least one lower-density project deserves attention. With a few notable exceptions, multi-family developments from the past two decades have been pretty appalling, leaving a plague of red-brick “traditional” monstrosities throughout the city.

The Kinetic Condos at Rainbo Village, however, are an astonishingly fresh take on a standard Chicago building type: flats above stores. At Rainbo Village, located at 4836 N Clark St in Uptown, Pappageorge / Haymes used red brick, but in such a crisp, modern fashion – detailed with silver screens and canopies – that it’s really the best of its kind. Its proportions and scale are ideal for its location, and the materials offer the correct context. It boldly says that it was built in the 21st century, and it’s an excellent sign of good things to come.

It’s dangerous to pass judgment on buildings before they’re mostly completed, it’s tough to resist comment on at least two works-in-progress.

The Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago is so much bigger than anything else around it. People must have said the same thing about the John Hancock Center decades ago, but the Hancock’s positioning at its site – on a full city block, well behind the allowable setback line – made it a singular event, a “landmark” in the most literal sense. Although Trump takes advantage of its riverside location, it will never be the Hancock, but its slick skin and curved form are nicely executed. Overall, it looks as if it will be more pleasing than most of the buildings that bear its developer’s name.

Aqua, the new tower at Magellan Development Group’s Lakeshore East project, generated lots of attention when Studio Gang Architects unveiled its design. Some observers thought the building wouldn’t match the “wow” factor of Jeanne Gang’s graphic presentation, but they may be surprised. When you look at the building from a distance it reads as a simple, articulated rectangle – a typical Miesian expression. But it’s only when you get close to Aqua that you sense its impact. The gently undulating swoops and swerves of the balconies change with kinetic energy as you approach. There’s an illusory element to the experience of riding or walking past it, as if you’re passing a computer-generated image. It also suggests a highly refined variation on the skeletal masterpieces of the great Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi. Aqua is still under construction, and it’s still unclear what the building will be like at street level, but so far, so good.

By Dan Schuyler

The bustling West Loop continues to fly in the face of the sagging economy, and leading the resistance is the Mod mid-rise condo project at 1222 W Madison St.

The 56-unit first phase of this 92-unit, ultra-modern creation is establishing its own architectural context in the neighborhood, the result of the futuristic mindsets of developers Stillpoint Development, The Pickus Companies and Castlebar Enterprises.

“The developers definitely wanted modern,” says Chris Payne of Sullivan, Goulette & Wilson, architects for the project. “We started with bold red panels and a lot of glazing on the outside and carried the contemporary look into the lobby, and we went with an open floor plan in the unit interiors.”

And it is these unique unit interiors that Stillpoint principal Daniel Boyd says are one of the project’s most salient features. Boyd says the countless hours spent by the developers in designing the floor plans have resulted in the most efficient use of interior space of any building he has ever seen.

“Mod was designed from the inside out,” Boyd explains. “We pored over the floor plans to ensure total functionality in even the smallest units. We definitely didn’t come up with a shell and then jig-saw the units to fit. We let the interiors dictate the exterior.”

Boyd cites a number of examples, such as the minimal use of hallway space and the fact that even the smallest unit has a 20-foot span from the front windows to the kitchen bar, allowing for placement of a table with surrounding chairs.

“Where else can you find a dining room in a 900 square-foot one-bedroom residence?” he asks.

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By Andrew Peck

With its long list of building amenities, conveniences and customizable options, JFJ Development’s Broadway 3030 truly is a departure from the ordinary.

Located between Wellington and Barry avenues on Broadway, the project is set to break ground in September with a projected opening sometime in early 2010. Developer Jon Zitzman knows that to build an enormous, 53-home concrete structure in Lakeview East is to become a fixture in one of the city’s most vibrant communities.

“With this project, we’re not targeting any specific buyer,” Zitzman says. “This is a neighborhood that is home to an extremely diverse population. We want to be inclusive of all the many different lifestyles and personalities that make this community great.”

As with all of JFJ’s projects, a high level of personal customization is possible at Broadway 3030. For Zitzman, this isn’t just a major selling point – it’s part of his professional philosophy.

“We are dedicated to catering to the lifestyle of the individual,” Zitzman says. “If they want to move walls around or turn a two-bedroom into a large one-bedroom, they have that option.”

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The intersection of Cermak Road and Michigan Avenue in the South Loop once was home to the infamous Lexington Hotel, a hideout for Chicago’s most notorious gangster, Al Capone.

If Scarface thought his hotel was the lap of luxury, he would be awe-struck by its eco-friendly, LEED-certified successor. The Chieftain Group’s Lexington Park Condominiums is a unique project that connects a 35-story glass-and-concrete condo tower with a neighboring seven-story, low-rise loft building.

“In a way, Lexington Park is still a hideaway or hidden treasure,” says Britta Rivera, vice president of sales for Chieftain’s U.S. branch. “There are not a lot of high rises in this area, and Lexington Park kind of has the place to itself.”

What’s really nice about that, Rivera says, is that Lexington Park has gorgeous views of the city and the lake.

“Remember, the shoreline bends in this area,” she says. “And that gives our residents a truly natural panoramic view.”

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By Andrew Peck

Some Chicagoans may be shocked to hear it, but there is in fact life west of Western Avenue – and not just any old rugged city life.

At Cornelia Court, a townhouse development at 3001 W Cornelia Ave in Avondale, residents can find a quiet, peaceful environment to call home. The 63-unit development is located south of Addison Street between Kedzie and California avenues, just west of the Chicago River.

Developer Steven Frytz of Anchor General Construction not only built the development, but he also makes his home there. According to Frytz, buyers leaving the over-saturated downtown condo market will enjoy the solitude and privacy available at Cornelia Court.

“This is a quiet neighborhood,” he says. “I listen to the crickets at night. I don’t hear any buses, rowdy Cubs fans or anything like that.”

Frytz's most recent project prior to Cornelia Court was a 24-unit condo development in Roscoe Village known as Addison Station. He then set his sights westward to Avondale, a neighborhood that he believes is evolving along with the housing market.

“In Chicago there is always a recycling of neighborhoods,” Frytz says. “We believe that this is becoming a family-oriented community just like Roscoe Village. We assumed that people who got out of the condo market – people who had a child or a growing family – would be looking for a townhome development with low density.”

In these three-story townhouses, residents won’t have to worry about noise traveling from above or below, because their only neighbors will be located next to them. Each townhouse includes a private entrance, a finished deck, an attached two-car garage and yard space. Of the 32 completed three-story townhouses at Cornelia Court, nine were still available as of August.

The units are available in three models. The 2,242 square-foot, two-bedroom Cornelia models include a family room and start in the $470s; the 2,242 square-foot, three-bedroom/three-bath Addison models are priced from the $490s to the $520s; and the 2,904 square-foot, four bedroom/3.5 bath Bentley model is priced from the $580s to the $650s.

“This is a nice community for somebody who has to stay in the city and wants the benefits of living in a single-family home,” Frytz says. “All the neighbors here have met each other. You really have that feeling of privacy and comfort.”

The indoor finishes at Cornelia Court include hardwood floors, carpeted bedrooms, nine- to 10-foot ceilings, Canac cabinetry, granite countertops, stainless-steel appliances and marble or limestone bathrooms.

Gale Goldstick of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage is the project’s sales manager. She says Cornelia Court offers superior value for buyers who don’t subscribe to the notion that they must live downtown or in one of the more well-known destination neighborhoods.

“We say that the smart money is buying here,” Goldstick says. “Buyers will get more bang for their buck than at any place east of Western Avenue. Little by little, we’re building a community. The retailers are coming up here, and the neighborhood is gentrifying.”

The development is nestled in a 10,650 square-foot courtyard with all the amenities of city living located in the surrounding neighborhood. The McFetridge Sports Complex, Brands Park and California Park are within short walking distance, as are the Addison Mall and a Target department store. The Kennedy Expressway is blocks away (although one can’t hear it from the courtyard), in addition to ‘L’ stops at Belmont Avenue and Addison Street.

As for Frytz, who stands in his Zen garden as he talks about the quality homes he’s building around him, it’s the little things that count most.

“I save 40 minutes on my drive to the airport, and it’s the same thing when we take trips to our summer home in Wisconsin,” he says. “And I really like that I don’t have to park in the garage, go across the parking lot, and up the elevator to get my groceries up. There are a lot of advantages here.”

The Cornelia Court sales center, located at 3007 W Cornelia Ave, is open from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, or by appointment.

Cornelia Court
Avondale
Two to four bedrooms
$470s to $650s
www.corneliacourt.com
773-478-8414

Homeowners with roofs over their heads are applauding Congress’ passage of a housing stimulus bill as the most important legislation affecting real estate since President Franklin Delano Roosevelt created the Federal Housing Administration during the Great Depression.

With home prices down 16 percent nationwide from their 2006 peak, and with foreclosures at a record high, lawmakers have been working on the housing bill for months in an effort to help homeowners and bolster the overall market.

The legislation is the centerpiece of Congress’ efforts to bail out as many as 400,000 troubled American homeowners. The law offers affordable, government-backed mortgages to homeowners at risk of foreclosure and strengthens the battered secondary mortgage market agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with a temporary rescue plan.

“Realtors are in the business of building communities, and our 1.2 million members understand that this legislation will go a long way in helping people buy and keep their homes,” says Dick Gaylord, president of the National Association of Realtors.

The Illinois Association of Realtors say the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 will help stabilize the Illinois housing market, boost buyer confidence and offer a lifeline to many facing foreclosure.

“This legislation, and particularly the tax credit, will help first-time home buyers who’ve been on the sidelines waiting for the economy to improve to take that important step up to homeownership,” says IAR President Kay Wirth. “The significant provisions of this bill should bring some stability back to the housing market in Illinois and across the country.”

First-time home buyers have until June 30, 2009 to take advantage of the $7,500 tax credit. They also can benefit from the large selection of homes available on the market and affordable mortgage interest rates, Wirth notes.

Under the legislation, the FHA will be allowed to insure up to $300 billion in new 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages for at-risk borrowers in owner-occupied homes if their lenders agree to write down loan balances to 90 percent of the home’s current appraised value.

The law will permanently increase the cap on the size of mortgages guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to a maximum of $625,500 from $417,000. The FHA maximum loan limits for high-cost areas would also increase to a maximum of $625,500. Higher loan limits will make it easier for borrowers to get mortgages, because those mortgages are more likely to be traded if they are considered conforming.

The new law eliminates a program that has allowed sellers to provide down-payment assistance for FHA loans. The law would also increase the down-payment requirement for borrowers getting FHA loans to 3.5 percent from 3 percent.

The law also gives states $4 billion to buy up and rehabilitate foreclosed properties.

Ironically, some of the biggest cheers came from the rental-apartment sector of the real-estate industry because the legislation limits several homeownership incentives and balances new home-buying incentives with expanded rental housing perks.

Two apartment advocates — the National Multi-Housing Council and the National Apartment Association — applauded the banning of seller-financed down-payment programs, the boost in the minimum down payment for FHA-insured loans, and limiting the tax credit for first-time home buyers to one year. The credit is only available to households below certain income levels, and it must be repaid.

The law also expands and improves the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program and temporarily increases the tax-exempt private-activity bond cap for multi-family and mortgage-revenue bonds by $11 billion for 2008.

Real-estate columnist and media consultant Don DeBat has written about Chicago-area housing and mortgage markets since 1968. He is chief executive officer of DeBat Media.

When most people shop for a home, their minds are on financing and floor plans, not the details of their daily commute. They’ll look up the local school system’s report card, but they probably won’t test drive the area roads at rush hour. Many will value a garage or indoor parking spot, but never consider that the bottom-line cost of their new home includes what they’ll spend driving to and from work, the grocery store, and soccer practice every year.

The reality is each rush-hour driver in Chicagoland loses nearly $1,700 a year while sitting in traffic, according to a new report from the nonprofit Metropolitan Planning Council. Rising gas prices snag the headlines, but wasted time accounts for almost $1,600 of the price tag.

Homeowners who look beyond the picket fence – and down their driveway – can see growing gridlock means more time, fuel and, ultimately, money out of their pockets. For the first time in modern society, transportation and housing are neck-and-neck for the top two household expenses.

As would-be buyers add up the true tab for their dream home – including the cost of getting to and from it – these startling numbers are increasingly difficult to ignore.

So are the intangible costs associated with congestion across the region, where drivers waste 66 extra minutes each week in traffic jams. What would you do with an extra hour each week?

Maybe you’d make your doctor happy and get some exercise – tough to do behind the wheel. (Exercising your finger muscles does not count.)

Perhaps you’d spend more time helping your kid with that pesky math homework: If a car traveling at 45 miles per hour leaves Point A at 7 a.m., when it will arrive at its destination 30 miles away?

If you weren’t so busy fighting traffic, maybe you’d have time to volunteer in the community – or, even closer to home, fix the leaky faucet in the kitchen.

This is the stuff of life, difficult to measure in dollars and cents, but important no matter where we call home.

High gas prices have led to sharp declines in the value of homes in distant suburbs, while homes in inner-ring suburbs and city neighborhoods have fared much better, according to a recent report from CEOs for Cities. In response, consumers are demanding the housing market supply more homes in pedestrian-friendly, bike-friendly neighborhoods near transit.

Meanwhile, Web tools, such as the Center for Neighborhood Technology’s Housing & Transportation Affordability Index, are popping up to help homebuyers make educated choices about where they live based on both the value of their home and transportation costs.

Individuals and communities can make a difference not only through their housing investments, but also by encouraging their local, state and federal representatives to vote for policies that support more affordable homes near job centers and transit, and accessible neighborhood streets that include a mix of shops, public spaces, bike lanes and inviting sidewalks.

To learn more about these policies and practices, visit Metropolitan Planning Council’s Web site.

Peter Skosey is vice president of external relations for the Metropolitan Planning Council, a nonprofit civic group that advocates sustainable urban development policies.

Streeterville and the Gold Coast may have a corner on the high-profile luxury tower market, and the South Loop and West Loop may be home to the trendiest new condo projects, but when it comes to large-scale projects with a variety of home types and sizes, few areas of Chicago have seen as much activity in recent years as the South Side.

In old neighborhoods like Bronzeville, Bridgeport, North Kenwood-Oakland and beyond, new townhouses, single-family homes and condominium buildings are springing up, covering whole city blocks with the promise of revitalization. Many are participants in the Plan for Transformation, the Chicago Housing Authority's "blueprint for positive change" that promises to replace the city's old public housing system.

Although most Plan for Transformation projects are known for their public housing units and affordable homes, many also have strong market-rate components that are attracting buyers who have traditionally looked for homes in areas to the north. The allure of these market-rate homes could help these developments become true mixed-income developments with a level of diversity found nowhere else within Chicago.

The six developments listed below are some of the largest currently underway on the South Side, but they by no means represent the area's only new residential construction projects. For a comprehensive list of new homes on the South Side, visit NewHomeNotebook.com.

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The real-estate downturn of the past year has affected every type of new-construction project and gut rehab within Chicago’s city limits, and the high-rise market is no exception.

Most of the residential high-rise projects New Homes listed in its March 2008 high-rise feature are still moving forward, but in almost every case, sales at those developments appear to have slowed to the point that buyers may not see many developers begin construction by the end of the year.

We’ve added just two new towers to our “horizon guide” in the past five months: the much-publicized Chicago Spire, which will be the nation’s largest building when complete, and 3033 North Sheridan, a rehabbed apartment tower in Lakeview East.

The Spire, of course, has garnered plenty of press for its size (almost 1,200 condos spread out over 150 stories) and for Santiago Calatrava's distinctive "unicorn horn" architectural design. Shelbourne Development kept a tight lid on sales information during its worldwide sales tour this spring, but the company in June reported that it had sold 352 of the Spire's units.

The Spire's homes range from small studios to four-bedroom homes. Price points stretch from the $750s to a rumored $40 million.

At the other end of the spectrum is Kroupa Development's 3033 North Sheridan, which offers as-is homes with views of Lincoln Park and Lake Michigan for as low as the $140s.

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Developers always put on smiles and spout assurances of success when a real-estate market goes sour. But when pressed, few are willing or able to come up with hard figures to back their sunny claims.

That’s what makes Brian Giles’ confidence so impressive. Giles, a senior vice president at Kargil Development and a partner with the Frankel & Giles real-estate team, has developed or marketed more than a dozen South Loop projects over the past 15 years, and he can back up his bragging about his companies’ latest projects with real numbers.

“I have the numbers right here, so I can tell you that as of today, we’ve sold 72 of the 116 units at Prairie District Lofts, and we’re averaging about a sale a week these days,” Giles said in late July.

Prairie District Lofts, one of two developments Frankel & Giles is marketing in the South Loop, is one of the neighborhoods last “true loft” projects, Giles says. The timber and concrete lofts are inside a 103-year-old brick building in the 1700 block of South Indiana Avenue. The building was home to a commercial photography company before being converted into rental apartments. Kargil has converted those units into one- to three-bedroom condominiums with renovated bathrooms and kitchens.

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