To all of those who have complained about the bland designs of recent residential developments coming to Chicago's neighborhoods, hold on to your hats because this pair of futuristic buildings may soon land in the Ukrainian Village. Developer Panoptic Group has attempted to make a name for itself with its previous sleek, contemporary residential developments but hopes to make a huge splash with its latest project that calls for two Hanna Architects-designed (see update), LEED Gold-certified condo buildings near Western and Grand Avenues. The greenish-glassy building planned for 2424 W Grand would be a mixed use development, with 18,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor and up to 50 condo units, comprised of one, two and three bedroom units. Its partner in cybercrime, (which may soon have a doppelgänger) would be built at 560 N Western and contain 20 units, which would also be a mix of one, two and three bedroom condos.
Prices for both buildings will be similar, with units starting in the low 400Ks. The buildings will also contain parking for residents, but the building on Grand would have a parking lot for its commercial/retail tenants on the ground level. The developer has stated that it is very bullish on the idea of sustainable residential buildings, and has committed to integrating features like efficient HVAC systems, smart home automation systems with custom energy management and of course, LEED certification.
To go along with its projects' futuristic aesthetics and features, the developer is also looking to make its sales and marketing efforts just as high tech with websites built on the Unity gaming engine where potential home owners can take a virtual tour of individual units. The developer has also expressed interest in integrating support for the new Oculus Rift virtual reality headset into its websites so that folks can feel like they are literally in the building. Welcome to the 21st century folks, we've made it.
UPDATE: A couple of readers have pointed out that these building designs were not created specifically for this development, and that one building actually exists in Portland. We checked in with the developer to learn more about this. The developer has neither confirmed nor denied that these designs were licensed or purchased for this development, but rather that these are preliminary design ideas that they seek to pursue with the final product, stating "These are in fact design ideas that we want to take the actual building design in", but also stated that these are not the final renderings for the development.
· 560 N Western [Panoptic Group]
· 2424 Grand [Panoptic Group]
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