Dive Brief:
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Work is underway on a 479-unit luxury apartment building in Chicago’s burgeoning South Loop by real estate investment and development firm Oxford Capital Group LLC and partner Quadrum Global, according to the Chicago Tribune.
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The $240 million Essex on the Park, designed by architect Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture, will rise 56 stories and is slated for completion in 2019.
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The tower, which will house four penthouse duplexes on the top two residential floors, is also set to include a yet-to-be-determined number of affordable housing units and to contribute to Chicago’s affordable housing fund.
Dive Insight:
The groundbreaking follows Oxford Capital and Quadrum Global’s announcement earlier this month that the project had secured a $170 million construction loan. It is the latest in a line of new residential projects either planned or underway in the city amid still-tight lending conditions in the construction space.
In September, work started on the 98-story, $1 billion Vista Tower designed by Studio Gang, which will provide 406 luxury condominiums and will be the third-tallest tower in Chicago upon completion at 1,144 feet tall.
The Chicago Riverline project, a massive Lendlease-led joint venture that also started work September, will provide 3,600 units in the city's South Loop district and along the Chicago River.
Meanwhile, the second tower at the city’s $1 billion Wolf Point project is gearing up to break ground early this year and will include 707 residential units as well as street-level retail.
Commercial developments, too, are sprouting up in the city, with the Houston-based Howard Hughes Company and Chicago-based Riverside Investment and Development earlier this month proposing an 800-foot-tall office tower along the Chicago River that will include a public park and walkway.
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