A joint venture of Guggenheim Partners, Focus Development and Atlantic Realty Partners is moving forward with its plans for a 19-story apartment building near the Illinois Medical District.
The venture led by Boston-based Gugenheim has applied for a building permit for foundation work on its planned residential tower at 1532 West Taylor Street, near the corner of Ashland Avenue and Taylor Street.
Plans call for a 209-foot building that will have 254 apartments, 28,000 square feet of retail space and 245 parking spaces, according to reports. It is part of a planned redevelopment of the existing Medical District Apartments complex, which Guggenheim has owned since 2004, according to Crain’s.
The site already houses two 12-story apartment buildings built in the 1970s. The joint venture plans to rehab those buildings and demolish two parking garages to make way for two new apartment buildings. A new 9000-square-foot amenity building with a fitness center, entertainment area and leasing office also is planned for the site, DNAinfo reported last year.
The 19-story building is the first of two planned residential structures at the site. Plans for the second building have not yet been announced. A spokesperson for Guggenheim did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The project got initial approval from the city Plan Commission in October 2017.
Guggenheim, Atlanta-based Atlantic and Chicago-based Focus are seeking to capitalize on the further expansion of the Illinois Medical District on the Near West Side.
A few blocks north of the group’s project, Rush University Medical Center is building a 530,000-square-foot cancer and neurological care facility, which will connect to the main hospital campus via a skybridge over Ashland Avenue.
A joint venture led by Murphy Development Group has begun work on its $1 billion redevelopment of the old Cook County Hospital building. Plans for the project include a Hyatt hotel, medical offices, retail space, apartments and more.
The publicly administered Illinois Medical District in June sold off about 26 acres in the area, netting the agency $40 million as it seeks to pool resources for a planned $300 million mixed-use project at Damen and Ogden avenues.