Trending
Draper & Kramer launches long-delayed apartment project near McCormick Place
The Chicago firm’s complex at 2111 South Wabash will add 275 units to the South Loop’s crowded multifamily market
Draper & Kramer started work on an apartment complex near McCormick Place that won City Council approval in 2016.
The Chicago developer is building the 24-story, 275-unit building at 2111 South Wabash Avenue, but is holding off on a 144-key extended-stay hotel it has city approval to build next door, according to Crain’s.
Draper & Kramer secured a $69 million construction loan for the project from a subsidiary of Germany-based Landesbank Hessen-Thuringen Girozentrale, according to Cook County property records.
An executive from Draper & Kramer told Crain’s that the firm was waiting for other development to take place around McCormick Place before launching the project. In addition to the Wintrust Arena sports complex, the area has seen a number of other improvements, including two large hotels that could have contributed to the firm’s decision to postpone the hotel portion of the development.
But the new apartments will have their share of competition as well, as developers are on pace to open about 4,400 new apartments in the city this year, a post-recession record. Nearly half of those units will materialize in the South Loop, where the 800-unit NEMA Chicago, the 479-unit Essex on the Park and the 500-unit tower at 1326 South Michigan Avenue are all speeding toward completion.
And just a few blocks from the Draper & Kramer site, at the location of the former Ickes public housing complex, McCaffery Interests and the Community Builders are planning 900 new apartments and townhomes. [Crain’s] — John O’Brien