The elaborate new houses near the Chicago intersection of Kedzie and Pratt Avenues are an eye-catching sight amid the mostly low-slung houses in West Rogers Park.
Several multistory homes worthy of suburban estates stand side-by-side on a private side street. They face a block that, as yet, has more undeveloped land than housing, in an established neighborhood dating from post-World War II America.
Called The Residences of Regent Park, the in-fill development is on a rectangle of land across Kedzie from the North Branch of the Chicago River. Thirty-four houses and 20 condominiums are planned for the property. The first group of homes, built on speculation, are up or in some stage of completion.
Designed by the Chicago architecture firm of Papageorge/Haymes and constructed by Chicago-based Brownstone Properties, the houses range from a furnished model–the Ashland with 4,500 square feet, priced from $1.2 million, to a behemoth 11,000-square-foot residence with a price tag of about $3 million.
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The property, once the site of a greenhouse, more recently has been a parking lot for a utility company next door, said Luke Condic, Regent Park sales manager.
With a bit of open space to work with, instead of trying to build between existing homes, the developer has some lots that are large by Chicago standards, with widths from 30 to 60 feet and depths up to 133 feet.
The homes are clearly aimed at well-heeled buyers. And the builder, in a nod to a significant number of Orthodox Jews in the neighborhood, is offering modifications not normally touted in new homes.
“We have a kitchen than can be adapted to become a kosher kitchen,” said Condic, who greets potential buyers in the open family room, breakfast area and kitchen at the back of the Ashland model’s main floor.
A kosher kitchen allows for separate handling and preparation of meat and dairy products, as prescribed by the ancient laws of Judaism.
“A kosher kitchen has three sets of dishes: dairy, meat and pareve [neutral] which can have both,” said Rabbi Sholem Fishbane, who is Kashruth administrator for the Chicago Rabbinical Council.
Strict adherence also means at least two sets of utensils, pots and pans, sinks (to keep the dairy and meat items separate), two dishwashers, two ovens and two microwaves, although a single refrigerator is allowed, according to Fishbane.
Some families have two kitchens, one strictly for Passover, which is used for only a couple of weeks a year, Fishbane said. Passover, an eight-day holiday that takes place in the spring, commemorates the exodus of the Jewish people from ancient Egypt and has a unique set of kosher laws.
In the Ashland model, Condic said the 22 1/2-by-9 1/2-foot kitchen is one preparation area. Upgrading the butler’s pantry between the kitchen and the formal dining, a second food preparation area is shown, with the addition of a sink and dishwasher.
A wet bar in the lower-level family room could act as a Passover kitchen if it were to be upgraded, Condic said.
Though some buyers may opt for the upgrades for religious adherence, others who entertain frequently may find them attractive as well.
Judging from the Ashland and the others in various stages of construction, these are homes where entertaining, both formal and informal, is anticipated and built into the floor plan. The kitchen and butler’s pantry are generous and the dining room, compared to many new homes, is roomy enough for a family or formal sit-down dinner.
The first floor has a 10-foot high ceiling and a red oak floor. There are 9-foot ceilings on the second floor and lower level.
The floor plan is familiar to anyone who has visited late 19th Century urban town homes, with the front door opening to the stairway to the second floor and the living room, dining room and kitchen behind each other on the main living floor.
But these are updated 19th Century plans, wider and more open for 21st Century tastes. The kitchen opens to the 15-by-15 1/2-foot family room and 7 1/2-by-12-foot breakfast nook. This is essentially one large room with windows on three sides with stairs down to the entry and to the back yard as well as the detached garage and lower level.
On the second floor, there are four bedrooms, a laundry room and two baths. The master suite stretches across the entire front of the building and includes a 14 1/2-by-17 1/2-foot bedroom with an 8-by-12 1/2-foot sitting area that has a door to a small deck atop the front porch.
The lower level, half above grade, is sunny and bright. There are two rooms which could be bedrooms or home offices, a full bath and 15-by-25 1/2-foot family or playroom.
The model is one of four floor plans in the Estate Series, homes built on three levels including a lower level partially above the ground. The larger Mansion series is just that–three- and four-story homes with a finished lower level, an elevator and three-car garage. These plans have at least 6,600 square feet with starting prices at just less than $2 million.
For those with the budget, there is a lot to like in these homes. At about $267 a square foot, the rooms feel spacious and there is good closet and storage space. There are a number of features in the standard package such as security system, dual furnace and air-conditioning systems, 75-gallon hot water heater and crown molding–as there should be for home at this price.
Still, shoppers should be aware that the model has a number of upgrades so the home as shown costs about $1.4 million, somewhat above the base of $1.2 million.
The model even has a postage-stamp size yard in the back, which I would think any home with so many bedrooms might find necessary. But the mansion-size house next door does not.
Those who buy these homes will enjoy them mostly from the inside, as they are so large that even those on the extra-wide lots expand to nearly the border. It gives the development a densely packed urban feeling, which contrasts with the semi-suburban surrounding neighborhood.
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The Residences of Regent Park
Base price range: $1. 2 million to $3
FACTS AND FIGURES
Three-level masonry houses with 6 to 10 bedrooms, 3 1/2 to 9 1/2 baths on oversized lots.
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Floor area: 4,500 to 11,000 square feet
Monthly assessments: $100 to $300
Developer: Brownstone Properties
Web site: www.regentparkchicago.com
AMENITIES
10-foot first floor ceilings, 9-foot second floor ceilings; ventless fireplaces. Hardwood flooring; KitchenAid appliances, 42-inch upper kitchen cabinets, granite kitchen countertops. Ceramic tile in rear entry, laundry room and secondary baths. Two-zone air conditioning and furnaces.
Community: 34 houses and 20 condominiums in West Rogers Park.
GETTING THERE
Address: 3134 West Wallen Ave.
Phone: 773-465-4881
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