July 3, 2009 - For a change today we’ve got Chicago real estate development news instead of foreclosures or liquidation auctions. Sertus Capital Partners LLC won approval from the Oak Park Village Board for a 19 story hotel condo project to be built on the corner of Forest Avenue and Lake Street, according to Crain’s. The $85 million development will be financed in part by the village donating a portion of the parcel of land at an estimated cost of $4.25 million, as well as funding a $9.8 million parking garage. The village will also foot a $500,000 operating subsidy for the first couple of years the hotel is open.

The project still had to be approved by the village plan commission. There has been some opposition to the project, mainly due to the height of the high-rise and the financial contribution of the village. If the project does win final approval, groundbreaking could take place towards the end of next year.

Michael Glazier of Sertus told Crain’s that he believes there is enough demand in the area for hotel rooms and that the Chicago condo market will be on the rebound by the time the project is trying to sell units and secure financing. “There’s a lot more work to do and a lot of uncertainty, but we’re happy we got some response on our efforts,” he said in the article.

The tower would consist of a 488 car garage, 300 of which will be public parking, 100 for hotel guests and 88 deeded for the condos. There will be between 60 and 100 condo units built atop two retail floors and then about 140 hotel units. Crain’s states that this development would be the largest one here for Sertus. The next biggest the developer has under its belt is a 140 unit, 9 story condo tower in Des Plains.

We may begin to see some smaller developers testing the waters now, hoping to be in a positing to build when the current inventory is absorbed and the market recovers. It still may be some time until we see any big Pre Construction Condos in Chicago.

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This entry was posted on Friday, July 3rd, 2009 at 3:00 pm and is filed under Luxury Condos(t) , News(t) . You can leave a response.