Riding the elevator to the fifth-floor sales office at The Tailor at Jackson, a commercial building undergoing conversion in part to residential lofts, I experienced deja vu.
How many times had I ridden well-scuffed elevators like this when I began reporting in Chicago three decades ago?
I worked first as a reporter for a trade newspaper for the apparel industry and later as a fashion writer for the Tribune. Part of the job was visiting local designers and manufacturers, most of them in and around the Sears Tower and Greektown, an area that was honeycombed with small factories.
Some buildings were devoted to clothing production, each floor serving a different company and brand.
Visitors often had to endure a slow elevator ride, scrunched between workers and the rolling racks of clothes that banged the elevator walls on the way to a showroom or to a store.
The creaking elevator and a design detail–two colorful terra-cotta figures of tailors on the building’s South Peoria Street side–brought on a moment of reverie.
Sales agent Malissa Welke of Rubloff Residential Properties said the 10-story structure at the intersection of Jackson and Peoria Streets dates from 1912, though what it originally housed has been lost to history.
More recently, it was owned by The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and used for exhibition space until the building was sold to developer Tenley Property Group, which has done projects in Washington, D.C., and New York City.
The art school will continue to lease exhibition space in the building.
Construction has begun and delivery of the first of the 114 units is expected in fall 2007, Welke said. The residences to be carved from the fifth through 10th floors have 13-foot ceilings, exposed concrete ribbing, exposed ductwork and windows that are more than 9 feet tall.
Foot-high antique spools of thread and a large blow-up of a vintage picture of turn-of-the-20th-Century garment workers at sewing machines greet visitors at the fifth-floor sales office. The tailor theme is used through the tasteful, even elegant, signage and sales materials.
The sales center also has a nifty visual presentation of the pre-selected interior finishes available to buyers. Grouped in three categories designated by fabric name–wool, cashmere and silk–the finishes are variations of earth tones, with some sophisticated differences in hue, materials and texture.
Choose wool and there will be cherry floor stain for the oak floors, dark granite countertops, marble in the baths, and lighting and bath fixtures with traditional styling.
The silk finishes are the most contemporary; so floors will have a light-gray stain, cabinets will be light- or gray-tone oak and quartz Silestone for the counters.
Cashmere, the finish in the model, is transitional, with such touches as dark walnut stain for an espresso-hued floor, mosaic glass in the backsplash and glass tile accents on the wall in the master bath.
Choosing one of the three groups makes it easier for buyers, said Welke.
The two-bedroom, two-bath model is a 1,215-square-foot corner unit.
The front door opens to a foyer with doors to the master suite, a large coat closet and a view into the corner living room area. The secondary bath and the utility and washer/dryer closet are to the right.
The generous foyer leads to the kitchen/living/dining space, which is divided between the 11-by-9-foot galley kitchen with an impressive counter island with bar seating for four and the 12 1/2-by-17 1/2-foot living room.
The kitchen is well stocked with Italian-look cherry cabinets.
There is a niche with a built-in counter on one living area wall. Shown in the model as a bar, the area is designated as the tech center on the floor plan. Nice idea, but practicality is another matter–and the person who decorated the model got it right.
The tech center is between the entrance to the main living area from the foyer and the door to a bedroom. Open to the kitchen and living area, it has little privacy if one resident wants to party and another needs to work.
The two bedrooms are almost the same size–about 10 by 12 feet–but the master has an 11 1/2-by-8-foot private bath and an entrance hall with closet twice the length of the one in the other bedroom.
More Top Picks Facial Cleansing Brushe
One of the best ideas was the wall-length utility closet in the foyer, where the washing machine and dryer are stored. They are next to three shelves, which makes this a real utility center with place to store stuff, not just a washer and dryer crammed into a narrow closet–which seems to be the condo norm these days.
Because this is a corner unit, the bedrooms and living area abound in natural light from the huge windows. Those windows will be changed, not in size but to an easier to operate style.
Serious buyers might want to learn the style of the new windows because they will be a prominent element of the renovated residences.
The model’s square footage is ample by urban standards and the spaces big in volume, but to me the height of the ceilings somehow made floor areas seem smaller in comparison.
I liked the finishes and the presentation a lot. The idea of living over an art gallery is appealing. But this is a neighborhood with serious parking problems, so buyers should either forgo a car or plan to buy a parking spot.
Also, I am mindful conversion carries risks, as does new construction. Sales agents have told me several times that concrete construction means owners won’t suffer from the noise transference of a timber-frame building.
Sorry, but as a former resident of a noisy concrete column building, I am skeptical of those claims. When buying any condo, always learn what measures are being taken to eliminate noise.At prices roughly $332 to $365 a square foot (before parking), the cost of this conversion is not far from the cost of new construction. It is worth a look for those who want a Near West Side address, but in this neighborhood, there also is a lot of new housing to be considered.
On another note: Reader Noel Fowler wasn’t impressed with a million-dollar home shown in the July 1 New Homes section and sent this comment via e-mail:
“I cannot imagine how you had the effrontery to publish the picture of the most outrageous designed (?) house. The one underneath the word `babies.’ Wherever there was space on the front elevation the designer added all the bits and pieces he or she could. Surely you can find some decent examples of decent domestic architecture?”
– – –
The Tailor at Jackson
Base price range: $234,900 to $425,900
FACTS AND FIGURES
One-bedroom, one-bath condominiums with den and two-bedroom units with one to two baths. Deeded parking for $20,000 to $38,000 a space.
Area: 643 to 1,283 square feet
Monthly assessments: $195 to $356
Developer: Tenley Property Group
Web site: www.thetailoratjackson.com
AMENITIES
Thirteen-foot ceilings in most living areas, oak floors in foyer, kitchen and living room, high-speed Internet wiring. Italian-style kitchen cabinets; granite or Silestone kitchen countertops, stainless steel appliances. Marble or porcelain flooring in baths. Some units have balconies.
Community: 114 condominiums on top 6 floors of 10-story building with commercial and gallery space for the School of the Art Institute below.
GETTING THERE
Sales center: 847 W. Jackson Blvd.
Phone: 312-738-1700
———-