EDGEWATER — A four-story building with 39 condos is proposed for the former Jeron Electronics headquarters in West Edgewater.
On Friday, the proposal for 1743 W. Rosehill Ave. will go before the city's Zoning Board of Appeals to request the zoning of the property to be changed from commercial to residential.
The project is spearheaded by Alan Candea of Candea Developments and will be sold by Dream Town Realty, property records show.
The units will range in size and price, but are each meant to be unique and speak to the prices of more middle-class residents in contrast to many of the surrounding million-dollar homes.
"One of the issues I'm seeing in a lot of these neighborhoods is there's just too many million-dollar homes, there's not enough out there for the middle class," Candea said.
Units will range mostly from 1,400-3,500-square-feet and contain between 2-5 bedrooms with 2-3½ bathrooms.
Candea, whose family came to the Andersonville area in the late 1970s, said his specialty is approaching each project and unit "from scratch" and coming up with new ideas.
In particular, Candea properties are known for their signature outdoor areas, something each unit at the Rosehill development will have as well.
"Each one is special in its own right," Candea said. "We kind of specialize in larger buildings because you can do a lot more elaborate units."
Candea said he discussed the project with neighbors, who expressed a desire for a fully residential building without any ground-floor retailers.
Instead, the ground floor will have a parking garage.
If approved, Candea said he expected to be able to break ground around in the spring and the project would take three years or less to finish.
Candea is also behind the 19-unit development at 5820 N. Clark St. and has been able to pre-sell about 60 percent of the units, he said.
The proposed building is close to the Edgewater Medical Center campus, which is set to become a park and apartments, and has also spurred the development of new single-family homes selling for at least $1 million in the West Edgewater/North Andersonville end of the neighborhood.
"I just think that's the hottest pocket in the city right now, the north end of Andersonville," Candea said. "It's just got a healthy supply of a little bit of everything. To have a healthy market ... you have to have a little bit of everything, but you don't ever want to have too much of one thing."
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