The Clybourn Corridor shopping district may be getting yet another new apartment tower. Developer Georgetown Co. wants to construct a 37-story skyscraper with up to 396 units at 1565 N. Clybourn Ave. near the CTA’s Red Line stop and the NewCity shopping mall.
The New York City-based developer plans to keep a retail building with 46,000 square feet of space now occupying the site, along with an existing four-story parking garage.
Georgetown Co. has a long way to go before it can break ground. It will present the proposal during an online community meeting hosted by 2nd Ward Ald. Brian Hopkins on Monday. If Hopkins and neighborhood residents decide to support the plan, Georgetown will still need to arrange financing and win approvals from city planners and the full City Council.
The proposal is a sign that, despite some economic headwinds and relatively high interest rates, major developers are confident that renters will continue flocking to new apartments, especially ones near vibrant retail districts such as the Clybourn Corridor.
“You’re right across from the Apple store, so what can be better?” said Ron DeVries, senior managing director of Integra Realty Resources.
The shopping corridor near the intersection of North and Clybourn avenues has already attracted a lot of attention from Chicago developers. Structured Development plans to complete by early next year its Wendelin Park development, formerly known as Big Deahl, including a new public park and the Foundry, a 27-story, 327-unit apartment tower at 1475 N. Kingsbury St.
Other local developers are also getting plans ready. In September, Fern Hill Co. asked Old Town residents to support its plan to construct a 36-story apartment tower on North Avenue east of the Clybourn Corridor and next to the historic Moody Church. And Sterling Bay has proposed building a pair of apartment towers, including one with 27 stories, at 1840 N. Marcey St. one block west of Clybourn Avenue.
Georgetown is no stranger to the Chicago market. In 2014, it paid more than $214 million for K2 Apartments, a 34-story luxury apartment building in the Fulton River District. Georgetown paid $64 million in 2015 for the site of its proposed development in the Clybourn Corridor, according to Costar. Company officials did not return a call seeking comment.
Occupancy of downtown apartments plunged to a historic low after the pandemic hit in 2020, but in the past three years residents returned, filling up new buildings and pushing Class A occupancy to nearly 95%, a 10-year high, according to a midyear survey by Integra Realty Resources.
But just because thousands of people still want to live downtown and in adjacent neighborhoods doesn’t mean it’s easy to raise enough money to launch major construction projects, said DeVries. High interest rates make it expensive to borrow, so developers like Georgetown may wait until the Federal Reserve cuts borrowing costs.
“I would expect it will take a little while before this building gets underway,” he said. “There are a lot of projects proposed, and people are getting them teed up for when the capital markets get back in line and interest rates come down.”
