Updated details and renderings have been revealed for the upcoming mixed-use development at 23 S Sangamon Street in the West Loop. Just a few weeks ago we covered when developer Fern Hill revealed the edits to the building after nearly five years in development, having since changed the unit mix/condo count as well as detailing its field house.
Site context map of 23 S Sangamon Street by Eckenhoff Saunders
Collaborating with fellow developer Free Market Ventures, the development team is working with local firm Eckenhoff Saunders on the 27-story tall building. The residential tower itself will sit above a three-story podium containing a parking garage with space for around 70 vehicles as well as the 30,000-square-foot community center.
Rendering of 23 S Sangamon Street by Eckenhoff Saunders
The center is set to serve Mary Bartelme Park across the street and will be fully funded, maintained, and staffed by Fern Hill according to Block Club. While the programming of the three interior floors is still being determined with the community, it will be capped by a fourth floor outdoor field house with basketball, tennis, and pickleball courts.
We also now know that the team is working on a contract attached to the building’s title which requires future owners to keep the center publicly accessible for a minimum number of hours with zero maintenance cost. This would assure the community that the space will be theirs for years to come, with the Park District being in support.
Rendering of 23 S Sangamon Street by Eckenhoff Saunders
The floors above would hold 193 residential units, a four-unit decrease from February. While we previously reported that 13 of those would be condominiums, that has now been increased to 63 condos made up of four- and five-bedroom floor plans aimed at families located on floors 18 to 26. These will feature large outdoor terraces and cost around $900 to $1,000 per square foot.
Rendering of 23 S Sangamon Street by Eckenhoff Saunders
Floors five to 16 will contain 130 for rent apartments, these will range from studios to three-bedroom layouts, with a focus on two- and three-bedroom units once again for families. Of the total units, 26 will be considered affordable, which is less than the 39 required. However, all residents will have access to an amenity level on the 17th floor.
Rendering of 23 S Sangamon Street by Eckenhoff Saunders
The change in plans shows confidence in the condo market, soon after 1325 W Fulton Street was approved nearby in Fulton Market. Currently a price for the project is unknown, still needing to gain Alderman approval as well as from the city. As for construction, the development team expects a year of condo pre-sales prior to breaking ground.
Subscribe to YIMBY’s daily e-mail
Follow YIMBYgram for real-time photo updates
Like YIMBY on Facebook
Follow YIMBY’s Twitter for the latest in YIMBYnews
I preface this by acknowledging this isnt the greatest architecture on the planet, but I dig it compared to constant complete glass boxes going up in West Loop/Fulton. I look forward to this and 1325 W Fulton Street.
Hey developer-apartment/condo mix never works. Mentality of owner and renter are never the same.
$10 you call renters “Transients” at community meetings.
To be fair (and I preface this by saying I strongly support the construction of rental properties), there are governance challenges with having both apartments and condos in the same association. The challenge is that you end up having a bunch of small owners negotiating management of a property with one large owner. It can lead to a bit of a David and Goliath narrative, fair or not. Another way to look at it is that you have homeowners jointly managing an association with a commercial owner. Having managed these myself in a different context, I found that the interests and perspectives were often different and made decision making challenging. Add this to how residents often want different things than owners and you often get a lot of disagreement.
Condo owners are basically renters that think buying something, anything is a wise investment. They don’t want to deal with maintenance as much as an apartment dweller does. Same people with different packaging yet same nutritional value.
My condo association has 6 meetings a year where 1 person from every unit goes over planned work on individual units, upcoming assessments and financial planning for the next fiscal. Terrible take.
$900 – 1000 per square foot is *a lot*. Where is the downward pressure on pricing, it’s sorely missing!
Not in West Loop. All the high end condos that get made are bought. River North and Streeterville seem to have trouble selling theirs. One Chicago, Bennet, Tribune and St Regis IIRC.
More housing in general, even high end housing, will apply downward price pressure on all housing. Those people buying into this will not buy cheaper housing and force those less wealthy out of the market. There simply isn’t enough residential development in Chicago to bring prices down at the moment so any additional housing will be better for everyone.
Not necessarily true if all the land is taken up for high-end housing as it’s sometimes not used for living but just an investment vehicle. Look at NYC — they built billionaires row and all it did was make the housing crisis even worse.
That’s some nice trickle down theory, what makes you so sure about that. Can you point to any solid studies that have proven this beyond a shadow of a doubt?
The downward pressure isn’t usually among new construction but in the market in general. For one example, if renter can move to a more expensive location, their old landlord can’t raise rents as much. Chicago isn’t gaining gobs of people, so these new buildings are likely taking tenants/owners from existing buildings, which puts downward pressure on that part of the market. The reality is that prices are rising quickly in Chicago and we’re building not building that much, so we’re probably not going to see declines but more slower increases from new construction in the near-term.