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Front Street Lofts Story
The state of Illinois' first comprehensive "townbuilding" project, the Lemont Downtown Redevelopment is now underway. The public/private partnership between the townbuilder, Naperville-based Marquette Companies, and the Village of Lemont will revitalize downtown Lemont with $250 million in new retail, residential and office development, as well as tourist destination attractions along the I&M Canal, while keeping Lemont's historic character intact. "Townbuilding" is a development process incorporating strict zoning codes in order to create a pedestrian-friendly downtown area.
Marquette Companies is developing Fry's Landing District, a historic canal front area of downtown Lemont that will be an integral part of the larger Lemont Downtown Redevelopment, spearheaded by Marquette and the Village of Lemont. Fry's Landing District will consist of four phases, as well as the creation of the Canal Walk along the historic I&M Canal. The first phase is called The Front Street Lofts of Lemont, which will offer 82 loft residences and more than 24,000 square feet of retail space. This phase also includes the construction of a 260-car parking structure to support residential and retail use. The new buildings will feature architecture in the local vernacular, including the use of local Lemont Yellow limestone for some façades.
Timeline
Phase I - The Front Street Lofts of Lemont
The Front Street Lofts will include four, five-story buildings with first-floor retail space, located along a brand new street called Front Street. The space on the upper floors will be used for residential single and two-story lofts and/or office space.
Building One - The first building will break ground on October 6, 2006. First move-ins are expected fall 2007, with retail space expected to open in late 2007/early 2008.
- Offers 82 loft residences
- Lofts measure 723 to 2,242 square feet
- Floor plans include:
- Studio
- 1 Bedroom
- 2 Bedrooms
- 3 Bedrooms
- Lofts feature one- or two-story designs
- Each home includes one parking space
- All lofts have stainless steel appliances; granite countertops in the kitchen and master bath; maple cabinetry; stained concrete or hardwood floors; in-unit washer/dryer hookups; a balcony or terrace; and high-speed Internet access
- Options include fireplaces and interior brick walls
- Retail Space: to offer 24,346 square feet of retail space, featuring 15-foot-high ceilings
Future Amenities
The Canal Walk is part of the long-term vision for the Lemont Downtown Restoration and Redevelopment that integrally includes the Lofts of Lemont. Some of the expected amenities are:
- A replica 1800's barge that serves as a museum and entertainment venue
- Retail and entertainment space overlooking the canal
- Canal walk park improvements
The Front Street Lofts of Lemont is truly a unique and smart investment in your future - and the state of Illinois. Take advantage of this ground floor opportunity today. Become one of the first to experience luxury loft living in these one-of-a-kind, high-tech lofts in historic downtown Lemont. Act now!
The Lemont Story
Why Lemont?
Downtown Lemont is a charming, quaint, historic village center that boasts a colorful past in the growth of Chicagoland's history. Over the years, downtown Lemont has been overlooked in favor of residential growth in and around Lemont's borders that feature fine expensive homes and relatively wealthy households. The time is now ripe for serving those households with a quality shopping and entertainment environment within its own downtown.
What's Happening?
Downtown Lemont is undergoing a renaissance as never before seen in its long and colorful history. Initial phases of construction have begun that will soon make real the vision of the Downtown Lemont Redevelopment Plan; a vision carefully crafted by a team of the world's leading town building experts and executed through a public/private partnership of the Village of Lemont and the Marquette Companies, a locally grown and nationally known Town Builder of large scale, quality, mixed use communities. Marquette will lead the way in the redevelopment of Lemont's quaint but overlooked downtown districts.
Downtown Lemont will become a vibrant Village Center with a broad regional appeal. Its character as a compact, walkable, mixed use, live, work, shop, play neighborhood appeals to echo boomers who want to live in urban like places close to their work place, and the baby boomers shedding their single family maintenance responsibilities and seeking an entertainment focused lifestyle.
The Plan
The downtown Lemont Master Plan is comprised of 3 pedestrian friendly districts with distinct personalities. The charming Historical District extends from the entrance gateway to downtown along Stephen Street westward along Canal Street to the Transit Depot District.
Fry's Landing is located immediately north of the historic district and features the historic I & M Canal Walk which will be dramatically recast into a linear pedestrian waterway park and entertainment amenity to be enjoyed as a social gathering place by visitors, families and towns people alike. Modeled after those endearing canal towns built throughout our country and Europe, Lemont's downtown renaissance couples the pedestrian scale and charm of a more humane time with the excitement and possibilities of our new network economy.
The neighborhood streets are narrow, safe and designed to be pedestrian friendly. The buildings form the walls of well designed outdoor public spaces, plazas and parks, while accommodating a fluid mix of residential space, work space and retail spaces; all located so you can live, work, shop, worship and socialize in a vibrant setting at your front door. The first phase of Lemont's new downtown is called the Front Street Lofts of Lemont. This will be the first building block to be developed that will establish the pattern for pedestrian friendly mixed-use neighborhoods throughout Lemont's new downtown.
Site Plan
As the designated exclusive Master Developer of Lemont's downtown TIF district, Marquette will develop a series of blocks into a compact, walk-able, mixed use retail/residential district that is intended to catalyze the renaissance of downtown Lemont. Marquette's efforts during the initial stages will center on the development of 4 primary blocks that will be developed to create tax increment needed to finance public parking structures and public canal amenities. Tax increment will be generated by the development of dense mixed use residential/retail buildings.
The scope of the redevelopment will include the conversion to, or replacement of, nearly all of the industrial uses at the north end of downtown with new, mixed use residential condominium and retail commercial development, roadways, parking structures and recreational and public use facilities. Many of the buildings along the Main Street corridor will also be rehabbed along with infill development by local builders.
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