RIVER WEST — Residents of K2 Tower tired of trekking down Kinzie Street for groceries can shorten their commute when developer Fifield Companies unveils a resident-only bridge across Union Avenue Friday.
Electric key access will be required at each end of the 105-foot open-air bridge that connects the residential tower's pool deck to the Jewel-Osco grocery store at 370 N. Des Plaines Ave.
The framework that will be unveiled when installation begins Friday is still six to eight weeks from completion, and will be open to K2 tenants in March, according to a release from Fifield Companies.
The bridge's opening marks the first birthday of the 496-unit rental building, which is currently 70 percent leased, according to a Fifield spokeswoman.
When K2 opened last March, Fifield Companies' co-owners Steve and Randy Fifield said they hoped to court young, tech-focused tenants with high-tech amenities like Bluetooth-synced speaker systems and a private dog park and pet-sitting service available only to residents.
The Fifields claim K2's private dog park with rolling hills is the largest one Downtown.
"Google employees are our ideal [tenant] profile," Steve Fifield said.
The development's location feeds right into 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.
Despite multiple transportation options from the tower at 365 N. Halsted St., Steve Fifield said residents needed an easier way to "walk to their neighborhood grocery store ... on those frigid days."
"Right now our residents have to exit the K2 lower lobby at Kinzie Street, walk up Kinzie to Des Plaines Street, turn right and walk up Des Plaines to the Jewel-Osco entrance and back," Fifield said in a statement issued by the company Monday.
"That round trip from the main lobby to Jewel and back is about 500 steps each way versus 200 steps from the K2 deck across the new bridge to the Jewel-Osco entrance. When you’re carrying groceries, this makes the trip much shorter."
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.
