‘Exotic’ Condos Break Ground on Damen Avenue

New condos and commercial storefronts are coming to Ravenswood. A 27-unit development—headed by Candea Development—broke ground March 1 at 4835-45 N. Damen Ave.

“We’re doing a very exotic product there,” said Candea Development’s Chief Investment Officer Alan Candea. “We’re trying to create a property for the young couples that want to be in a great neighborhood.”

The development will span three buildings, each with seven condos and two commercial spaces, he said.

Candea said the condos will be more spacious than what's typically found in the neighborhood. The three-bedroom, two bathroom condos will be 24 feet wide with large windows facing West. Each unit will also have an outdoor space in the form of garden roofs or decks.

“We’re trying to design these units to feel like a single family home without the single family home price tag,” Candea said.

Those homes in the neighborhood can be in the $800,000 to $1.8 million range, but the new condos will cost from $450,000 to $500,000.

Candea Development purchased the land from a hedge fund in Minnesota after a development that failed in 2007. With construction underway, Candea hopes the buildings will be complete by the fall.

For the commercial space, the developer would like to see businesses that residents in the condo can visit on a regular basis. Coffee places, a frozen yogurt shop or a child’s clothing store would be ideal candidates, Candea said. And he’s already received phone calls from interested buyers.

“In the next two or three years, it’s going to be the hottest pocket in the city as far as growth,” Candea said.

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The new condos will be less than three blocks away from a new Mariano’s Fresh Market that broke ground in November.

That construction will run parallel with the Lawrence Avenue Streetscape, a pedestrian and beautification initiative from Ward 47 Ald. Ameya Pawar. The stretch on Lawrence from Western to Damen will be complete in 2013, while Lawrence from Damen to Clark will start construction in 2014.

“With all the density coming to that pocket, I think that corridor right there is going to be a nice corridor to live in,” Candea said.

Before the end of 2013, the company also hopes to break ground on another development at 5008 N. Lincoln Ave. That will be an eight unit development with the same theme of larger spaces for young families.

Between Lincoln Square and Andersonville, Candea Development will build more than 40 condos in the next two years. 

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