APRIL 19, 2019|JENNIFER WATERS
Construction Begins on JDL's Luxury Tower Residences in Chicago
Construction began this week on JDL Development’s sprawling $850 million complex expected to change the face of a key block in Chicago’s River North neighborhood that was once recognized primarily for its super-large parking lot for Holy Name Cathedral.
Called One Chicago Square, the glimmering two-tower project is planned for a full block bounded by Chicago, State, Dearborn and Superior streets. JDL intends to create a bustling residential conclave in a long-tired area a short walk from the city’s celebrated Michigan Avenue shopping district and nearby many downtown office towers.
At 78 stories, the taller of the two glass towers will edge into the top 10 of Chicago’s tallest skyscrapers in 2022, when completion is expected. “This site is a full city block, tying together the best neighborhoods in Chicago – the Magnificent Mile, River North and the Gold Coast,” said Jim Letchinger, president of JDL, in a statement. “One Chicago Square has a scale and location that provides us the opportunity to create something really spectacular.”
Work began on the foundation for the residential buildings – including the second tower at 49 stories – plus a 900-car underground parking garage with 225 stalls reserved for Holy Family parishioners expected to open by the fall of 2022, according to a newsletter from the city ward’s alderman, Brian Hopkins. Once completed, the complex will have 75 luxury condominiums, 795 upscale apartments and two parks. JDL has secured Whole Foods as a retail anchor tenant as well as a 145,000-square-foot Life Time fitness center, amenity types that are increasingly popping up in residential properties throughout the city. Plans also call for a rooftop garden connected to Life Time, according to JDL, which said it wants to add boutique retail and an upscale restaurant to the site.
Multifamily housing in downtown Chicago has been on fire the past two years, according to CoStar research. Already 600 new units have been leased this year, after a record 3,300 units were absorbed last year. The River North and Streeterville neighborhoods, which blanket both sides of Michigan Avenue, have seen the greatest amount of absorption, and most of it in upscale units, according to CoStar research. Roughly 1,700 units were leased over the past 12 months, which has driven down the vacancy rate to 8.5% in those neighborhoods.
JDL knows that well. Letchinger is a lifelong Chicagoan who has been developing luxury high-rise apartments and condominiums since he founded the company in 1993. No. 9 Walton, which opened more than a year ago, is probably his crowning achievement so far.
The 38-story, 70-unit ultra-luxury condominium tower in the heart of the city’s Gold Coast neighborhood has leased up quickly and in the process has taken on the status of the city’s premiere address, thanks to purchases from the some of the city’s highest rollers.
Billionaire Ken Griffin bought the top four floors of the tower in late 2017 for a record-shattering total of $58.5 million, setting the pace for later sales. Since then, Chicago Cubs and Chicago Blackhawks players as well as a handful of well-heeled corporate chieftains and attorneys have bought multi-million homes at No. 9 Walton.
Though most of the buildings that will be razed for the One Chicago Square project are dated and run-down, one has been fortified to withstand the construction and expected massive ground shifts. Bella Luna Cafe, a longtime fixture at Superior and Dearborn streets, and Brite Cleaners next door will remain in place – and open – throughout construction, according to Hopkins.
The towers’ girth and contemporary architecture will dwarf the State and Superior corner of the block that is now dominated by Holy Name Cathedral, the landmark Gothic revival architecture church that has withstood the test of time since it opened in 1875, replacing two places of worship destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. The 70-foot-high cathedral, with a spire that juts up 210 feet, is the seat of the Archdiocese of Chicago, one of the largest Catholic dioceses in the nation.
Called One Chicago Square, the glimmering two-tower project is planned for a full block bounded by Chicago, State, Dearborn and Superior streets. JDL intends to create a bustling residential conclave in a long-tired area a short walk from the city’s celebrated Michigan Avenue shopping district and nearby many downtown office towers.
At 78 stories, the taller of the two glass towers will edge into the top 10 of Chicago’s tallest skyscrapers in 2022, when completion is expected. “This site is a full city block, tying together the best neighborhoods in Chicago – the Magnificent Mile, River North and the Gold Coast,” said Jim Letchinger, president of JDL, in a statement. “One Chicago Square has a scale and location that provides us the opportunity to create something really spectacular.”
Work began on the foundation for the residential buildings – including the second tower at 49 stories – plus a 900-car underground parking garage with 225 stalls reserved for Holy Family parishioners expected to open by the fall of 2022, according to a newsletter from the city ward’s alderman, Brian Hopkins. Once completed, the complex will have 75 luxury condominiums, 795 upscale apartments and two parks. JDL has secured Whole Foods as a retail anchor tenant as well as a 145,000-square-foot Life Time fitness center, amenity types that are increasingly popping up in residential properties throughout the city. Plans also call for a rooftop garden connected to Life Time, according to JDL, which said it wants to add boutique retail and an upscale restaurant to the site.
Multifamily housing in downtown Chicago has been on fire the past two years, according to CoStar research. Already 600 new units have been leased this year, after a record 3,300 units were absorbed last year. The River North and Streeterville neighborhoods, which blanket both sides of Michigan Avenue, have seen the greatest amount of absorption, and most of it in upscale units, according to CoStar research. Roughly 1,700 units were leased over the past 12 months, which has driven down the vacancy rate to 8.5% in those neighborhoods.
JDL knows that well. Letchinger is a lifelong Chicagoan who has been developing luxury high-rise apartments and condominiums since he founded the company in 1993. No. 9 Walton, which opened more than a year ago, is probably his crowning achievement so far.
The 38-story, 70-unit ultra-luxury condominium tower in the heart of the city’s Gold Coast neighborhood has leased up quickly and in the process has taken on the status of the city’s premiere address, thanks to purchases from the some of the city’s highest rollers.
Billionaire Ken Griffin bought the top four floors of the tower in late 2017 for a record-shattering total of $58.5 million, setting the pace for later sales. Since then, Chicago Cubs and Chicago Blackhawks players as well as a handful of well-heeled corporate chieftains and attorneys have bought multi-million homes at No. 9 Walton.
Though most of the buildings that will be razed for the One Chicago Square project are dated and run-down, one has been fortified to withstand the construction and expected massive ground shifts. Bella Luna Cafe, a longtime fixture at Superior and Dearborn streets, and Brite Cleaners next door will remain in place – and open – throughout construction, according to Hopkins.
The towers’ girth and contemporary architecture will dwarf the State and Superior corner of the block that is now dominated by Holy Name Cathedral, the landmark Gothic revival architecture church that has withstood the test of time since it opened in 1875, replacing two places of worship destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. The 70-foot-high cathedral, with a spire that juts up 210 feet, is the seat of the Archdiocese of Chicago, one of the largest Catholic dioceses in the nation.