Townhomes to Replace Former Candy Factory

CHICAGO-It took more time than he hoped and more than one pitch to the former property owner, but David J. Dubin landed the site for his company’s Townhouses at Belmont and Kilbourn. Dubin Residential, which carves a niche in in-fill projects around the city, plans to build 116 townhouses on a 3.9-acre site that includes a vacant candy company.

Dubin hopes to begin construction by next summer and start delivering units in 2004. The project is expected to be approved by the city council next month after receiving favorable recommendations from the zoning committee Tuesday and the plan commission earlier this month.

Two-bedroom units will sell for around $230,000 while three-bedroom units will likely command at least $250,000, which are considered affordable price points in an area surrounded by more upscale redevelopment projects.

“In this particular community, there is a need for this housing,” says 30th Ward Alderman Michael A. Wojcik, pointing to units that sell for nearly $500,000 to the north and west of the Belmont and Kilbourn site.

Dubin tells GlobeSt.com he found the site as he does most of his company’s projects—by driving past it. Early attempts to buy the property were rebuffed, he adds, until a mutual acquaintance was able to get the two sides together.

The townhomes also will replace industrial uses at a 140,000-sf, one-story building that generated an “extreme amount” of tractor-trailer traffic in the neighborhood, Wojcik adds.

The project not only meets the R-4 zoning on the property, the site could hold 55 more units, according to the department of planning and development. “I know it might seem a little dense, but in my community, it’s a nice fit there,” Wojcik says.