The Kimball Station Condo Building and more on gentrification

I am sure you noticed this 5 floor condo building go up a couple months ago, located right across the street from the Kimball brown line station. The space used to be a warehouse, and still has that "warehouse-y" look with its stainless steel accents. An estimated 14 million went into that building, and it has 59 units (full) of 1, 2 or 3 bedroom apartments and includes an elevator (really needed?) and a heated parking garage (again, really needed? It's freaking across the street from the train station). The building is still looking for a commercial tenant on the ground floor. Before you start booing, read this: the building is not all condos any more. Liz Griffiths, of the Albany Park Chamber of Commerce, informed me of the growing "luxury rental trend" where condo buildings now rent out their units. Such is the case with the Kimball Station building.

(random fact: the H&R Block guys off Kedzie are the realtors for the Kimball Station building)

According to Griffiths, the majority of new residents moving to Albany Park are people displaced by the high cost of living in Lincoln Park, Lakeview and Andersonville. Albany Park is a cheaper alternative. The APCC works with over 60 landlords and owners to keep rent affordable, but unfortunately, some buildings can't maintain their low rental prices in this economy. Griffiths related this story about the building on Spaulding and Lawrence: the owner tried to do everything in her power to prevent the apartment from being flipped to condos. This included laying off her cleaning lady and cleaning the apartment building herself. This went on for a while until the owner eventually and reluctantly (?) sold the apartment units to her residents for a "deal" before flipping the property. She sold 8 units to her former tenants.

My super explained to me the other day that my building is completely full, something that hasn't happened in years. "It's a little sad to see", as all the new people that moved in are victims of foreclosures or the economy. "Great time to be in the rental business", he adds.

what say you on gentrification?

So, you know the building under construction at 3300 W Lawrence? The one that had a gas leak and exploded in September of 2007, with the explosion destroying half of the building? And then they had to level the rest of the building and start all over again? The one right across the street from the best thrift store in the neighborhood, Village Discount?

According to Liz Griffiths, the Executive Director of the Lawrence Avenue Development Corporation (LADCOR) and the Albany Park Chamber of Commerce, the building at 3300 W Lawrence will be a mixed- use condominium building, offering 24 condo units with 6 units of 5,000 square feet for retail use. The condo units will cost more than 300 K, with the lay-out being 3 bedrooms/2 baths. Each condo unit will include hardwood floors, granite countertops, 10' ceilings, fireplaces, and terraces. The building is being constructed in three parts, and the outside façade will "mimic the former buildings architectural elements".

So far, an estimated 10 million dollars (!!!) has been invested in that building, and there are 34 other developments/projects in Albany Park and Mayfair for 2008- 2009. Over 200 million dollars has been pumped into Albany Park (and Mayfair) in the last 2 years.

When I asked Rebecca Rico, the Project Coordinator of the North River Commission about gentrification, she said they view it more as a "positive", and that they do substantial work with local landlords to keep the rent affordable.

more from those interviews to come.....

-soluble