Retail-apartment tower planned at busy Lakeview intersection
A relative newcomer to the local real estate market wants to put its stamp on Lakeview.
BlitzLake Capital Partners
plans to build a retail-and-apartment building as tall as 12 stories at the busy intersection of Clark Street and Belmont Avenue.
The Chicago-based firm paid $5.5 million for the 23,000 square feet of retail and mixed-use buildings at 850-856 W. Belmont Ave. and 3200-3226 N. Clark St., which includes a Dunkin' Donuts and lingerie shop Taboo Tabou, said Mitch Goltz, vice president at Chody Real Estate who brokered the sale for the buyers.
The purchase gives BlitzLake, founded by Winnetka natives David Blitz and Jeffrey Lake, an opportunity to enhance an underused corner a few blocks from the Belmont el stop, the fourth-busiest station in the city. The developers plan to tear down the existing structures to make way for an eight- to 12-story building that would include two levels of retail, two floors of parking and several stories of apartments, Mr. Lake said. The pair hopes to secure a grocer as an anchor tenant for the estimated $50 million project, Mr. Blitz said.
The acquisition comes as BlitzLake's only other Chicago-area development, a proposed 20-story high-rise in Oak Park, faces a $4.9 million foreclosure lawsuit from Pittsburgh-based PNC Bank N.A. The development venture failed to pay off a $4.5 million mortgage when it came due in March 2012, according to a complaint filed in July in U.S. District Court in Chicago. The project at Lake Street and Forest Avenue would include 270 apartments, 25,000 square feet of retail space and a 588-space indoor parking garage.
Mr. Blitz declined to comment on the suit but said construction on the development will likely begin in early fall.
While it tries to solve that problem, BlitzLake must also run the gantlet with neighborhood groups as it seeks city approval for the Lakeview project.
"The size might get some backlash," said James Letchinger, president of Chicago-based JDL Development Corp. "That would be a tough corner to get eight to 12-stories . . . but it is a great mixed-use location."
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http://www.chicagorealestatedaily.co...441F5850923A1T , Alison Burdo , 2013