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Thursday, November 6, 2014

CMK Cos. Acquires Lot South of River City Complex Which Points to a New Residential Development Along the River

In case you missed this last week, Crain's has an article about local developer CMK aquiring a lot on the Chicago river:
With one South Loop condominium development under construction, CMK Cos. may have another one in the works on a riverside site next to the River City complex. 
The Chicago residential developer agreed to pay $4.9 million for a 1.8-acre site just south of River City, the Bertrand Goldberg-designed condo building at 800 S. Wells St., according to a recent filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Chicago. CMK will be the preferred, or stalking horse, bidder in a court-supervised auction of the property Dec. 2, according to the document. 
The developer specializes in moderately priced condos, completing a 714-unit tower at 235 W. Van Buren St. a few years ago and recently launching a 140-unit project at 1345 S. Wabash Ave. CMK also plans a 307-unit apartment development at 1333 S. Wabash. 
It's unclear whether CMK plans apartments or condos on the riverside property. CMK President Colin Kihnke did not respond to requests for comment. 
Image from ChicagoArchitecture.info
One observer said condos make more sense, mainly because thousands of apartments already are under construction in downtown Chicago. 
“I think it's more of a condo site because there are more than enough apartments being built right now,” said Thad Wong, co-founder of Chicago brokerage @properties. “There are very few entry-level condos being built.”
The article headline reads "River City II? Condo developer to buy site south of housing complex" and while we understand it, if we were CMK we would try to distance ourselves from that idea of being "river city II".

While River City was definitely an interesting and intriguing project when constructed in the mid-1980s, it's been marred lately by building issues (see flooding issues from 2010) and very low value for its units (based on similar sized units in the neighborhood).

Anyway, should be interesting to see what CMK has planned for the spot.

(Hat tip:  KW & KM!)

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