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The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

K2 Tower, Final K Station Residential Tower, Eyes Google Staff for Tenants

FULTON RIVER DISTRICT — On Friday, K2 Tower at Halsted and Kinzie streets will move in its earliest tenants, making it the first new piece of central business district real estate to open in 2013, the owners claim.

And they say they hope to pack it to the brim with Googlers.

The 496-unit apartment building is the final piece in a five-tower puzzle owned by Fifield Companies, which has been developing the property at 365 N. Halstead St. into "K Station," a 2,145-unit luxury apartment complex, since 2006.

"We were very excited when Google bought Motorola Mobility, which is in the Loop, and announced that they're going to move to four floors of the Merchandise Mart," said Steve Fifield, who co-owns Fifield Companies with his wife, Randy.

"Google employees are our ideal [tenant] profile," Fifield said, so they customized the building with tech-friendly upgrades, including "USB outlets where the electrical outlets are, so you can hook up all your devices without having to use adapters."

Each unit includes high-speed wireless Internet and in-wall speakers synced to a Bluetooth system, which will allow tenants to "walk into the door with your cell phone, and literally just hit your music, and play music from your cell phone through the speakers, or your TV [audio] on the amplifiers."

The development's location feeds right in to the bike lane on Kinzie Street that connects to many of the Loop's cycling paths. Accordingly, K2 tower has a 200-bike storage area and Zipcar service in the building. The Fifields also claim their private dog park with rolling hills is the largest one downtown, though only residents have access.

"Our building also has doggie day care, and we're offering dog walkers an app, so [tenants] know when Fifi goes out, and they can view Fifi on the play date, or your dog walker can bring Fifi right to work," Randy Fifield said.

The first tenants will move in March 1, more than a month earlier than the expected opening date for the tower, thanks to two mild winters that had "300-some days of low snowfall," reducing interruptions during construction, Steve Fifield told DNAinfo.com Chicago.

The tower includes high-end amenities like a two-story fitness center, a large theater, multiple party and conference rooms and a pool deck with a grill area.

Randy Fifield said they project the building will be filled in 1-1/2 years, though they're expecting it could reach capacity much more quickly, which Fifield says happened with the adjacent Alta towers.

"We had 1,100 units delivered in 2012 in the downtown area, that includes Gold Coast, Streeterville, River North and the like," Steve Fifield said. "The prior four years absorbed between 1,800 to 2,000 units a year. So the demand was almost double what the supply was last year."

K2 includes apartments ranging in size from studios to three bedroom units, with rents that start at $1,650 and go up to $6,500 for a three-bedroom, three-bath penthouse, according to Fifield Company.