To anyone driving on South Halsted Street looking for the site andsales trailer
of Pilsen Gateway condominiums: Be alert. For those not familiar with the territory, it's
pretty easy to zip right past 16th and Halsted Streets. Among other things, all four
corners of that intersection can be a jolt for anyone expecting a traditional or
gussied-up sales center as well as a site in tune with condos that are being marketed as
"luxury residences from $169,900 to $440,900.
A viaduct connects the elevated railroad tracks at both northcorners. The condo site along
the east side of Halsted is a nondescript vacant lot with crumbled sidewalks and the
Pilsen Gateway sign; the west side has this funky trailer with a few sections covered in a
corrugated metal, as though it were pretending to be a segment of a home designed by
architect Margaret McCurry. Traditional this is not.
Well, surprise, surprise. This is just what the art-prone natives have been waiting for in
their enclave of the ethnically and culturally diverse East Pilsen,where these Gateway condos are said to be |
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the first new-construction, multifamily residences to be built in almost30
years.
Just since promotional ads started and the trailer opened a little more than two weeks
ago, 13 of the 32 units were sold--including some one-bedroom, one-bath condos at the
opening price points and one of the top-dollar duplex penthouses with a 29-foot terrace.
Consequently, the base price at this writing starts at $173,900.
The appeal to these buyers is understandable. The neighborhood is where they want to be,
the place they probably moved to a couple of years ago. It's close enough to the heart of
the city yet far enough for a sense of individuality. It's not trendy (yet); its design is
thoroughly modern.
The architects' rendering, for example, shows that the low-slung structure has the look of
three, with the north and south sections in red brick (the north with four residential
floors, the south with five), while the three stories of residences in the building's center are clad in corrugated metal. Above the center is the
common roof deck. Neat
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The sleek bathroom in
the model has a novel set-up. There's a vanity and toilet anf then a glass panel and an
opening to a single enclosure with side-by-side 6-foot tub and 6-foot-long shower. |
