Developer plans condo project in Gold Coast

An earlier proposal on the site for a 22-story building failed in 2019

Fern Hill's Nick Anderson and render of Gold Coast condos (Fern Hill, LinkedIn)
Fern Hill's Nick Anderson and render of Gold Coast condos (Fern Hill, LinkedIn)

A Chicago-based developer is planning a 34-story condo building on a Gold Coast site where a previous Condo tower deal fell apart.

Developer Fern Hill wants to tear down an existing building and build the condo tower at 12 W Maple St. in Gold Coast. The company plans to present its proposal at a May 11 Department of Planning & Development committee, according to Crain’s.

The site is next to the Maple & Ash steakhouse. The project would include 54 condos and 81 parking spaces. The price of the individual units or the project hasn’t been disclosed. The condos would run from 1,330 square feet to 6,070 square feet, according to Crain’s.

The project would replace an existing four-story building. Nick Anderson, Fern Hill’s principal, couldn’t be reached for comment by Crain’s. Twelve West Maple LLC owns the building and purchased it in 2021, according to Cook County Property Records.

Chicago-based architecture firm Lamar Johnson Collaborative, is designing the building for Fern Hill.

Gold Coast has long been the city’s epicenter of high end real estate. A condo sale at the exclusive 9 W Walton Street development is the Chicago area’s second priciest deal so far this year.

The 34th-floor unit sold for $17.4 million in March, according to Cook County property records. The deal appeared to be off market, with no public listings of the property.

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The sale is the second priciest single-family deal of the year in Chicago so far, bested only by the $20 million penthouse sale at Trump Tower Chicago in March.

Recently built condos cost about $1,348 a square foot, according to Crain’s research. Should the developer get approval and pursue a similar type of unit, they would cost $1.8 million to $8.1 million, according to Crain’s.

The Maple Street site was once proposed for an even more high-end condo project. In early 2019, David Pisor and Jim Lasky, co-owners of the steakhouse next door, proposed a 22-story condo development that would have included only 12 condos at nearly 3,500 per square feet each and ground-floor space for a restaurant.

Pisor later filed suit against Lasky in a contentious case in which Lasky alleged Pisor stole $265,000 from the restaurant accounts.

[Crain’s] — Miranda Davis

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