Joint venture on South Loop mixed-use tower gets OK’d

It’s full speed ahead for DAC Developments and Melrose Ascension Capital in the South Loop. The joint venture got greenlit for a mixed-use development with a full building permit.

The project will rise at 626 South Wabash Avenue, Urbanize Chicago reported. A 19-story tower will occupy the vacant lot that backs up to the CTA L tracks above South Holden Court.

Antunovich Associates is the designer of the 218-foot-tall tower. It will have 164 residential units and 4,100 square feet of ground-floor retail.

The units will be marketed toward students and young professionals. There will be 80 studio units, 24 two-bedroom units and 60 four-bedroom units. Rents will range from $1,700 to $5,000 a month.

The top two floors will hold a fitness center, yoga studio, coworking space, resident lounge, outdoor terrace, basketball court, rooftop pool and hot tub. Residents will also have access to 64 vehicle parking spaces and 100 bicycle parking spaces.

Focus Construction is the general contractor for the project, which doesn’t have an estimated construction timeline.

Chicago developer CMK Companies expanded its development site portfolio with a $5.5 million purchase across two respective deals for land at 1624-1704 South Wabash Avenue in October. The area, which spans just more than three-quarters of an acre, is in a downtown mixed-use district zoned for high-rise residential or office buildings with a floor area ratio of five, meaning it could hold a structure with a maximum size of well more than 100,000 square feet without seeking any changes to the zoning from the city.

It’s down the street from another site where CMK is building a 30-story, 299-unit luxury residential tower at 1400 South Wabash Avenue on a property it bought for $6 million in 2020.

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