Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/67043
the luxe lobby of lP2520 Haute Property news, stars and trends in real estate high pitched LINCOLN PARK'S NORTH END GETS A GRAND NEW NEIGHBOR by barri Leiner grant I t's been more than 40 years since a major development project has bro- ken ground along the tony stretch of Lakeview Avenue that overlooks Chicago's Lincoln Park, but it's been worth the wait. Rising 39 stories above Lake Michigan stands Lincoln Park 2520, an ambitious new real estate project that is poised to become the most coveted address in the city. There's already a monthlong wait list just to get a tour. The project is the realized effort of a real estate dream team, including world-renowned French architect Lucien Lagrange, as well as Ricker- Murphy Development. "We got involved about five years ago," says John Murphy, partner confidence is clear. On the outside, LP2520 shares a Beaux Arts style with many of its elder, neoclassical neighbors. The Kasota limestone-clad main tower and shorter "shoulder" towers stand nearly a block deep on the old Columbus Hospital site, but the structures leave ample room for a 1.25- acre private park, the largest in the city. The park, designed by urban planning and landscape architecture firm Thomas Balsley Associates, fea- tures an enclosed winter garden that tenants can enter from the lobby, landscaped walks, a dog run, and tot lot. and coprincipal of Ricker-Murphy Development. "[Columbus Hospital, which used to stand on the site] had been shut down and was quietly being marketed as a potential development location. We felt confident that we put a forward-thinking, innovative team together that was properly capitalized and had the right skills to execute the development." One look at the near-complete project and the reason for Murphy's The park's focal point, however, is the National Shrine of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, which once served as the chapel for Columbus Hospital. The shrine, preserved when the lot was purchased, is being restored in its entirety, from the stunning stained-glass windows on the outside to the rare Tamburini organ on the inside. It will open to the public this fall. As much as the outside of the building tries to preserve the neighborhood's continued on page 140 michiganavemag.com 139 photography by eric Levin/ricker-murphy DeveLopment