Lincoln Park

Inside the Apartment Tower at the New City Mega-Development

By AJ LaTrace Sep 30, 2015, 11:45am CDT

New City, the massive retail and residential development at Halsted and Clybourn, is hard to miss, as the development occupies over 8.5 acres of land and weighs in at over one million square feet of commercial and residential space and includes 1,100 total parking spaces. The project has been in works for years but was finally completed this summer. Retail tenants are beginning to open up shop for the first time and the development's 19-story tower is filling up with renters. Built by Structured Development, the project borrows the "city within a city" concept of design and planning that was pioneered by Bertrand Goldberg's Marina City in River North and features major big box tenants, a bowling alley, a movie theater and numerous other shops and restaurants. Move-ins for the tower's 199 units started in July and the tower is beginning to buzz with activity. We stopped by to take a tour of the new tower and see what the project has to offer.

While the tower is not located downtown, pricing will be similar to rentals in the Loop and West Loop. Studios at New City start around $2,100 per month while a one bed plus den will cost over $3,000 a month. As far as the units are concerned, they're kind of just your standard "luxury" apartments. For the price, the floors and finishes are underwhelming and some of the floor plans are a bit awkward. However, RMK Management rep Diana Pittro says that the apartment tower and its many retail offerings will really appeal to some. "There's a certain demographic that will be enchanted by that," Pittro says while discussing the development's "city within a city" concept, "You don't even have to leave." And it's true. You could potentially live at New City and not explore the surrounding areas, but then it might feel like living in a bubble. Younger renters are excited about living downtown in the heart of the action or living near transit hubs so they can get around. We were curious what kind of demographic Pittro was referring to. According to Pittro, the tower has been attracting young professionals and younger couples who "might be on their first or second job."

Similar to downtown apartment towers, the New City tower features a number of amenities, although some of the amenity spaces weren't completed at the time of the tour. The tower boasts an outdoor pool deck, a dog run, a theater room, a fitness center and a conference room. There's also a large outdoor plaza that connects the tower with its commercial neighbors. Some balconies hanging off the side of the tower offer views towards the center of the development and reveal just how big New City is. Another thing that is noticeable from high up is the use of green roofing. Much of it is not useable, but according to Pittro, New City has roughly 16,000 square feet of green roof throughout the development.

The development seems like a no-brainer for empty nesters who are returning to the city from the suburbs and looking for a place to help them adjust to urban life. However, it'll be interesting to see how the neighborhood absorbs the influx of new commercial outfits and the hundreds of parking spaces. New City may not be as sexy or exciting as some of the new rental projects coming to the Loop, but it does fill a need for new residences near the Lincoln Park area and will generate heaps of cash for its developers and for the city's coffers.