RIVER NORTH — With one of his River North condominium towers nearly sold out, developer Bill Smith is now looking to go bigger in the neighborhood.
A venture led by the Chicago developer wants to build a 23-story, 58-unit condominium project at the northwest corner of Chicago Avenue and Wells Street, he said Wednesday.
If built, condos in the mostly two- and three-bedroom luxury project would start at about $850,000, Smith said. The Berkelhamer Architects-designed development would also include 105 interior parking spaces, duplexes every three floors and penthouses.
"We think this is a very avant-garde building architecturally, and think it will attract sophisticated buyers," Smith told DNAinfo Chicago.
A sketch of the proposed tower as seen from Wells Street. [Antunovich Associates]
Smith's new zoning application arrives less than two months after his Smithfield Properties opened a 295-unit apartment tower nearby at 805 N. LaSalle St., and while Smithfield is marketing a 26-unit condo project at 400 W. Huron St. Smith said all but two of the 400 W. Huron condos are pre-sold, giving him confidence he can sell a project twice as big in the neighborhood.
Smith also said the Chicago and Wells project would include six affordable rentals in lieu of paying into the city's affordable housing fund. He said the development's number of penthouses or their prices have yet to be determined.
Dave Matthews says this would buck the apartment building trend:
The proposal bucks a development trend in River North, whose post-recession construction to date has been mostly rental towers. A record number of apartments is under construction Downtown, while post-crash condo development has been limited to mostly small, luxury projects.
Smith's venture is under contract to buy its development site, which includes the former home of New Metal Crafts. The project still requires city council approval, and Smith said he has presented it to Ald. Walter Burnett Jr. (27th), whose ward includes the site. He has also reached out to River North community groups to schedule public meetings.
Burnett did not immediately return a message seeking comment. Smith's zoning application was first reported Monday by Chicago Architecture Blog, though they reported the building would contain micro-apartments.
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