- Lennar adds another 180 apartments to River North building boom [Crain’s]
- New Retail May Be Headed to the Corner of Wells and Huron [Curbed Chicago]
- Previous River North coverage [Curbed Chicago]
River North — currently a virtual forest of construction cranes — could see yet another 180 rental units delivered to the booming downtown neighborhood via a new mixed-use tower from Lennar Multifamily Community. The Miami-based developer’s intention to develop the 24,193-square-foot parking lot at 675 N. Wells was first trailed earlier this year in a leasing brochure circulated by Mid-America marketing the retail space located directly across the street. A similar marketing marketing flyer for commercial portion of 675 N. Wells by Stone Real Estate provides a glimpse of the proposed development.
The now-empty lot at 675 N. Wells is surrounded by rental construction such as the upcoming towers at 167 W. Erie, 640 N. Wells, and 720 N. LaSalle. Despite the current boom, it’s unclear how the market will respond to the surge of new units coming online. Just how much supply is in the pipeline? This year developers will deliver 4,000 new apartments to Chicago’s downtown market with another 4,400 expected to debut in 2017, Chicago-based Appraisal Research Counselors tells Crain’s.
Though considerably shorter than many of its neighbors, Lennar may seek to develop the lot under its existing zoning. By bypassing the city approval process, the real estate firm can potentially move much more quickly on the project and get while the gettin's still good. Though the glassy "sliced" architecture is in line with recent neighborhood trends, it’s quite possible that the brochure design will evolve as the project matures. So far, no architect has been publicly named.
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