$115M Schools Project Starts in DuPage County

DuPage High School District 88 has announced a $115.3 million project to renovate Addison Trail and Willowbrook high schools in the western suburbs.

The project, which will involved both renovations and additions, is aimed at enhancing technology, adding and improving science labs, providing expanded educational and athletic facilities, addressing traffic flow and parking and improving indoor air quality with new air conditioning systems. This summer both high schools will receive wireless technology to modernize the teaching and learning environment.

The construction projects are expected to be completed during the 2010-2011 school year.

The improvements are part of a $104.7 million referendum that passed in April 2007, and a $10.6 million contribution comes from the district itself.

The district serves more than 4,000 students from Addison, Villa Park, Oakbrook Terrace and parts of Elmhurst, Lombard, Oak Brook, Bensenville, Itasca and Wood Dale.

Chicago-based Bovis Lend Lease is the contractor, and Darien-based Wight & Co. is the architect on the project.

$157M Green Apartment to Rise in Loop

A $157 million apartment at 215 W. Washington St. that broke ground in downtown Chicago will reportedly be the first rental in the city to achieve LEED certification.

Developed in response to the growing demand for downtown rental units, the 50-story, 389-unit building will combine the convenience of downtown living with the added appeal of an environmentally conscious design.

Despite a building boom that will see more than 1,600 new downtown apartments come on line this year, the local rental market remains healthy. According to Appraisal Research Counselors, apartment occupancy rates downtown held firm at 91.3% during the fourth quarter of 2007 while effective rent rates stood at an average of $2.25 per square foot, up roughly 2.5 percent over the previous year.

The building will feature studio and one-, two- and three-bedroom units ranging in size from 550 to 1,850 sq ft.

Building amenities include a landscaped outdoor rooftop pool and garden area, a fitness center, steam and massage therapy rooms, library and business center, storage space and a 24-hour doorman in addition to a 12-story, 600-space parking garage. The building will also include roughly 14,000 sq ft of street-level retail space.

The first units are expected to be available by spring 2010 with the remaining units to follow by the end of the summer.

The developer is Chicago-based Jupiter Realty Co., the contractor is Schaumburg-based Power Construction Co. and the architect is Chicago-based Solomon Cordwell Buenz Associates.

DePaul Acquires Another Loop Building

DePaul University, has acquired the 14 E. Jackson Blvd. in the Loop, an 18-story, 384,000-sq-ft structure, making it the fifth building the school owns along the South Loop street.

The facility expands DePaul’s real estate footprint in the South Loop by roughly 25% and reportedly makes DePaul the largest educational institution in the area.

The facility brings DePaul's South Loop holdings to approximately 1.7 million sq ft. Since the mid-1990s, enrollment at its downtown campus has grown approximately 35%, and in the fall of 2007, 12,688 students registered for classes, making it the busiest of DePaul’s six Chicago-area campuses.

Several floors of the building to house graduate programs offered by the university's recently established College of Communication will be renovated. The School for New Learning, a program for adult learners, is expected to relocate there as well.

Currently serving more than 50,000 students, Chicago’s Loop is the largest hub of higher education in Illinois and its surrounding states.

Retail-Space Demand Levels Off, Report Says

Demand for new or converted retail space in metropolitan Chicago is leveling off, according to the recently released 2008 Chicagoland Retail Demand Study.

The study, which is compiled by Oak Brook-based compiled by Mid-America Real Estate Corp., suggests that major retailers are searching for nearly 66 million sq ft of space to fully complete their local expansion efforts, about a 16% reduction over 2007 figures. With demand last year and immediately before at historically high levels, the drop is the first significant reduction in demand since the study’s initial publication in 2003. Last year’s study showed a less than 1% drop in demand.

Even with the decrease in demand, the report estimates it would take 12.6 years of traditional new construction—notwithstanding surplus property absorption and smaller, freestanding projects—to satisfy the retail market’s present demand.

As a result, Chicago is expected to remain generally healthy and stable, says Mid-America Principal Jeff Kuchman, author of the report. “Metropolitan Chicago will continue to be bolstered by the fact that most retailers still view this area as critical to an overall Midwest expansion strategy,” he says.

“The exception will likely be in the far suburban areas where growth has slowed substantially,” he says. “Rents and land values in those regions are in slight decline, as it appears that retailers are no longer willing to get out in front of anticipated residential development.

Of the 32 retail categories, the top five in 2007 were: 1) grocery/discount combination stores, 2) home improvement stores, 3) restaurants (combined), 4) traditional grocery stores and 5) apparel stores. The health, beauty & fitness stores category was knocked out of the top five from the previous year’s study.

Despite maintaining its status as the No. 1 category, grocery/discount combination stores saw a 36.5% reduction in demand, reflecting the fact that Super Wal-Mart significantly curtailed its growth objectives in both the city and far suburbs, and super target remains largely on the sidelines.

However, Chicagoans are not ready to give up the convenience of eating out and enjoying themselves.

“Quick-serve restaurants and entertainment categories both exceeded 40% increases in demand beaten out in major retailing only by the children’s category,” he says. The latter category saw a brisk 76.5% increase in expressed demand fueled by Buy Buy Baby’s market entry and Toys/Babies R Us’ anticipated response.

Teen Homeless Shelter in Chicago to Expand

Groundbreaking ceremonies were held recently for Teen Living Programs newest home for youth who are homeless, on a site adjacent to the organization’s existing Belfort House, at 3745 S. Indiana in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood on the South Side.

The 12,000-sq-ft, three-story building incorporates a precast structure with form-lined architectural precast wall panels with floor to ceiling glass at two elevations. Belfort House will be demolished after the project is complete, which will allow for a landscaped front yard with indoor/outdoor access through the front window wall open to a spacious multipurpose room with a modern kitchen. The interior finishes will be a combination of exposed precast walls, stained concrete floors and modern lighting.

The new facility will increase TLP’s capacity to 42 beds. Additionally, the building will reduce TLP’s operating costs, allowing it to efficiently and effectively serve youth who are homeless in Chicago, the organization says.

Completion is scheduled for late Fall 2008. Chicago-based Summit Design + Build LLC is the contractor.

The mission of TLP, which was founded in 1976, is to create hope for youth who are homeless by assisting them to leave the streets, secure stable housing and build self-sufficient lives. The organization annually serves 500 youth through a numerous services.

Operations Facility to Take Off At Scott Air Force Base

A 52,000-sq-ft Squadron Operations Facility at Scott Air Force Base in Belleview, Ill., was recently announced.

It was accommodate mission support and staffing for the U.S. Air Foce 932nd Airlift Wing’s C-9c and C-40 airlift squadrons and also accommodate space for maintenance parts storage for contractor logistics support. The facility will include administrative, training and briefing areas, as well as a squadron Command Post, Life Support Area, Crisis Action Team offices, warehouse space and a hazardous materials storage area.

K&S. Associates’ DesignBuild unit is partnering with architecture and engineering firm Woolpert Inc. of Fairview Heights, Ill., on the project.