Roosevelt Collection neighbor sold

Massive 5-acre plot sits next to river

06/17/2011 6:02 PM

By Ben Meyerson
Editor

4 Comments - Add Your Comment

A massive chunk of land in the heart of the South Loop has sold to a private group for several million dollars, according to the group that auctioned it off.


The 5-acre plot along Roosevelt Road between the Roosevelt Collection and the Chicago River was bought at a live auction on June 3, according to a spokesman for Diliberto Real Estate Services, which ran the auction.

However, Diliberto spokesman Phil Ranstrom declined to name the buyer or the final purchase price since the purchase hadn't yet been consummated, saying only that the purchase price was "a lot more than the opening bid" of $8.4 million. He added that the final bid was in the double-digit millions of dollars.

The group that bought the land is a private capital fund, Ranstrom said, who is planning on entering into a joint venture with a builder to build out the site with retail and residential.

Retail space in the South Loop isn't exactly popular these days, though. This week, the new owners next door at the Roosevelt Collection said they were planning on razing a block of vacant retail buildings that sit in the middle of the complex and replacing them with green space.


4 Comments - Add Your Comment



By Barb from South Loop
Posted: 06/22/2011 3:58 PM

I'm not against development per se, but in favor of thoughtfully-planned development. I see a large parcel sold to developers planning "retail and residential" in a neighborhood with a glut of speculators' 1 and 2-bedrooms (still available at reduced prices!) and I am wary. This paper has tracked the fallout from the South Loop's disasterous haywire development under Alderman Haithcock. Hopefully we as a neighborhood represented by Alderman Fioretti will be careful not to repeat.


By Tom.D from West Town
Posted: 06/21/2011 11:21 AM

Barb - um, YOU decided to buy in an area with open lots with potential for additional development - complaining about more construction or (not you, but others) complaining that a new tower would block one's view is silly to the rest of us. If they can profitably build new units in the area, the value of your unit isn't really their concern. (Then again, developers do stupid things.) I'm realizing that retail in that strip may be doomed by how pedestrian un-friendly these developments are...


By Todd from South Loop
Posted: 06/20/2011 8:44 PM

Let's see... a residential tower (with views of the SKYLINE - YEAH!), a "big-box" retail store, a middling green-space, etc. etc. Don't forget the continuous low concrete wall right along the Chicago River. I cannot wait!


By Barb from South Loop
Posted: 06/20/2011 1:00 PM

Please, please, please no more residential construction. Could our property values in the South Loop sink any lower due to thoughtless oversupply?!