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Plan Commission approves 2,700 units across 6 towers downtown

Approvals come as developers fear impacts of higher assessments

From left: Todd Bancroft, Jeff Shapack, and Lee Golub with 301 South Green Street, 509 N Union Ave, and 330 W Chestnut St (Loopnet, Draper and Kramer, Getty, Golub)
From left: Todd Bancroft, Jeff Shapack, and Lee Golub with 301 South Green Street, 509 N Union Ave, and 330 W Chestnut St (Loopnet, Draper and Kramer, Getty, Golub)

A trio of some of Chicago’s biggest developers took a key step forward on separate multifamily proposals that encompass a large portion of the booming apartment development pipeline.

The Chicago Plan Commission approved three development plans to bring a combined total of more than 2,700 apartments to downtown, the Chicago Tribune reported. The developers behind the projects are the Fulton Market visionary Shapack Partners, longtime builder Draper and Kramer and a partnership between Golub & Co. and GSP.

“The demand for new apartments has been off the charts, and rents are at an all-time high across the greater downtown and there is very little vacancy,” Ron DeVries, senior managing director at real estate appraisal firm Integra Realty Resources, told the outlet.

Jeff Shapack’s eponymous firm is pursuing the largest of the three projects, with his request to build NOMA, a play on its location as north of market due to its proximity to the Fulton Market area. The plans include a 620-foot-tall apartment tower with up to 1,110 units on the 500 block of North Des Plaines Street in River West. Shapack also plans to build three additional towers as part of the NOMA district several blocks away with a total of 1,159 units.

Meanwhile, Draper and Kramer submitted plans to build a nine-story, 129-unit tower at 330 West Chestnut Street on the Near North Side, while Golub and GSP proposed a 362-unit development at 301 South Green Street in Fulton Market.

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Shapack’s NOMA development will include transforming the 131-year-old, six-story former Salvation Army building at 509 North Union Avenue into a 141-room hotel. The iconic water tower on top of the building, which has become a well-known landmark, will remain and be incorporated into the property.

Developers have been hesitant to begin new projects in light of Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi’s promise to reform the county’s assessment methods and hammer commercial properties harder. Kaegi’s push has led to multiple investment properties having higher assessed values and therefore more expensive tax bills.

The Board of Review, however, has lately granted appeals to lower some assessments to make property taxes more manageable, which has made some developers willing to take the risk.

“What we’ve seen is that the Board of Review has been giving significant relief, and that’s encouraging to developers,” DeVries told the outlet.

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— Victoria Pruitt

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Fulton MarketGolubJeff Shapack