Metropolis defines Loop living with classic condo conversion
by Dan Schuyler

With the steady influx of residential development in the collar neighborhoods surrounding the city center, it should come as no surprise that Metropolis Partners, LLC is making the leap into the very heart of the Loop with Metropolis, a 169-unit condo conversion at the northwest corner of State and Monroe.

Designed by the renowned architecture firm of Holabird and Roche, the 21-story highrise at 8 W. Monroe was built in 1913 as the North American Building. Its “commercial gothic” design was pervasive in that era, though many similar gems have long since vanished in Chicago.

The elegant façade features large multi-sized windows supported by columns of German limestone and terra cotta with a sense of proportion dictated by the Chicago School of architecture, which pioneered skyscraper design and the extensive use of glass in such buildings. A January 1913 article in Brickbuilder described the structure as an “immense glass showcase, supported by a lace-like framework of slender columns, mullions and spandrels.”

The gothic terra cotta flourishes are beautiful, of course, but it’s really the Chicago School sense of proportion – the clarity of base, shaft and cap, and the urge to let structure organically influence design – that makes the building a classic.

“This is a beautiful old building, and we intend to keep it that way by maintaining the original look while fully modernizing the interior, ” says Keith Giles, of Frankel and Giles Real Estate, joint venture partners with State Street Development and the WOW Group in Metropolis Partners, LLC, the developer. “We firmly believe that preserving structures like Metropolis is good for our city.”

The large windows and attendant views make Metropolis, www.Metro-polisCondominiums.com, an ideal candidate for residential conversion. To protect this feature, the developer purchased development rights for the adjacent low-rise buildings on the north side of Metropolis, and, beginning on the ninth floor, some 40 north-facing units will have balconies with spectacular views.

The residences will occupy the upper 17 floors of Metropolis with the main entrance on Monroe Street. The first two levels of the building will contain retail space with storefronts on State Street, and the third level will be devoted to offices. Some of the retail space already has been leased, to a jeweler and an art supplier, and Warman Olsen Warman, architects for the project, will occupy a portion of the office space.

“Obviously, most of the design work on this project has dealt with the interior,” says Denis O’Malley, one of the project architects at Warman. “We plan to clean the exterior, replace the windows and renovate the stone and terra cotta where necessary, but the look of the building will remain the same. On the inside, the huge eight- and nine-foot windows allow us to do some partial partitioning in the residences because there is a lot of natural light and ventilation that can be borrowed. This gives the living areas of the units a more open, airy feeling.”

Building amenities include a 24-hour doorman, two new high-speed elevators, a state-of-the-art fitness center, business and entertainment centers, secured indoor valet parking, a bicycle room, storage lockers, security cameras and an expansive rooftop deck.

The unit mix consists of 60 one-bedroom, one-bath units of 656 to 805 square feet and 107 two-bedroom, two-bath units of 956 to 1,329 square feet. The top unit is a deluxe penthouse with 3,000 square feet of living space and a large private roof deck

Unit amenities include 10-foot ceiling heights, oversized double-pane insulated windows, hardwood floors in living areas, stone tile entries, private balconies (per plan), washer and dryer hookups, multimedia pre-wiring, designer kitchen appliances, granite countertops, ceramic bathroom tile and state-of-the-art fire alarm and sprinkler systems.

Prices run from the low $200s to the upper $400s with the average price just under $300,000. The penthouse is priced in the $1 million range. Parking is available in three below-level grades for $38,800 per spot.

At press time, construction on Metropolis was scheduled to commence late in ’04, with delivery of the units planned for fall of 2005. An on-site sales office and vignette model opened on site, at 8 W. Monroe, in July.

“We are very pleased with our sales results to date,” says Giles, who notes that people are buying at Metropolis for a variety of reasons. “Because it is a conversion, the units are considerably less expensive than those one encounters in a newly-constructed building. Furthermore, the center-of-the-city convenience appeals to a lot of buyers, some of whom are purchasing our condos as a second residence or as a live / work arrangement. We are also finding interest from out-of-state buyers who frequent Chicago on business. And lastly, there are those who simply feel that the style, character and location of the building combined with the new contemporary interiors, makes Metropolis an excellent investment.”