Chicago Tower’s Rental Units Set to Open in May

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorChicago–Magellan Development Group has topped off Aqua, its 82-story tower at the east end of the Lakeshore East village just north of Millennium Park in Chicago. The rental component of the project, featuring 474 units will occupy 33 floors between the 19th and the 52nd floor. The mixed-use tower, which comprises a hotel on the first 19 floors and condominiums on the last 30 floors, will be complete by fall of this year.“The rental demand in this neighborhood is very good,” Tricia Van Horn, vice president of marketing at Magellan Development Group, tells MHN. “Concessions are very common in this market however, and we are offering two months’ rent free.”In lieu of the current economy and the uncertainty people are facing with their jobs, Magellan is offering six-month leases at a reduced premium of 10 percent.The project features studios, convertibles, and one- and two-bedroom units renting from $1,375 to $3,111. The units feature full-granite kitchens with stainless steel GE appliances and tiled entries and baths. The project also features an 80,000-sq.-ft. outdoor deck with lush gardens, gazebos, pools and cabañas, hot tubs, running track, fire pit and grills. In addition, an indoor 35,000-sq.-ft. amenity floor will provide fitness facilities, a basketball court, group fitness studio, indoor lap pool, a spa featuring a hot tub, sauna, steam and massage rooms, private party suites with catering kitchens, sky garden lounge, media room, billiards and game area and business center.Aqua is the tallest tower to be designed by a woman—Jeanne Gang of Studio/Gang architects and is the first high-rise in Chicago specifically designed to feature condominiums, rental, hotel and retail spaces in a single structure, according to the developer. Application for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification as an environmentally sensitive “Green Building” has been submitted.In addition, many of the units features balconies and terraces.  Lakeshore East is one of the largest parcels of downtown land under development in a major U.S. city. Its master plan, which completes the ambitious Illinois Center development, allows for the construction of up to 4,950 residences, a six-acre public park, 2.2 million gross square feet of commercial space, 1,500 hotel rooms, 770,000 square feet of retail space and a proposed elementary school. Residential developments at Lakeshore East currently include more than 2,300 completed units in six occupied buildings.