Vista Property’s resi tower plan adds to flurry of proposals

Chicago developers have unleashed a torrent of residential construction plans in recent months, and Vista Property Group is adding to the flow.

The firm — which has traditionally focused on commercial projects — wants to build a 178-unit development in River North, according to Crain’s. The 21-story complex would rise at 741 N. Wells Street, and would be the active developer’s first residential construction in the city.

Plans, which did not specify whether the building will house rentals or condos, call for 20,000 square feet of retail and 50 parking spaces. Vista paid $7 million for the site in the fall.

The firm, which has 19 properties in the city, filed plans in August to build a 15-story office building in the West Loop. It has also dug into the Fulton Market district with the acquisition of a 34,000-square-foot office building from Sterling Bay in 2018.

While the pandemic initially sent the city’s residential market into a tailspin, activity among homebuyers, renters and developers has picked back up in recent months.

In April, Onni Group detailed plans for a megaproject on Goose Island that would bring 2,650 apartments and a hotel spread across five towers. Pacific Reach Properties unveiled plans in February to build a two-tower, 1,050-unit apartment complex in the West Loop, which would be the largest project of its kind in three decades.

And in October, JDL Development proposed a 2,680-unit housing development on a sprawling site it hopes to buy from the Moody Bible Institute. On Wednesday, the City Council approved that massive construction plan, Crain’s reported.

[Crain’s] — Alexi Friedman