Two new  major developments are set to start construction on the 1100 block of South Wabash Avenue at the end of 2016, according to architects at a Nov. 30 community meeting at 1104 S. Wabash Ave. 

The first building, a new Hilton Homewood Suites and Wabash Suites Hotel, will rise at 1101 S. Wabash Ave. It will be a 29-story project offering 6,000 square feet of retail space. The other building, at 1136 S. Wabash Ave., will feature 320 residential units, as reported Nov. 9 by The Chronicle.

“When you have a business magnet, the entire community benefits because you have money coming into the area,” said Jay Little, attorney for the owner of the 1101 S. Wabash Ave. project, the Yen Family of S.B. Yen Management Group of Hinsdale, Illinois, 

Keith Giles, the developer for the 1136 S. Wabash Ave. Building, said the development is scheduled to begin construction in late 2016. Giles and his team of developers purchased the lot from the City of Chicago in April 2015 for an appraised value of $4.4 million.

A deal made with the City Council mandates that at least 24 percent of the development must feature minority-owned businesses, Giles said, adding that 4 percent must feature women-owned businesses. 

Above the first floor that is home to the retail component, three levels will include parking, topped by 20 residential floors, each featuring 16 units. Vladimir Andrejevic, a building designer who works for Solomon Cordwell Buenz, an architecture, interior design and planning firm, said the building’s roof will be an amenity deck with a pool and lounge space for residents. 

Giles said 160 of the units will be 400 square-foot studio apartments, and the remaining units—80 single-bedroom units and 80 two-bedroom apartments—will be large and cost $1,300 to $3,000 a month, depending on the number of rooms and amenities. Giles said the building is expected to bring in about $600,000 in tax revenue and should be finished by the end of 2017. 

The 1101 S. Wabash Ave. Building, designed by Lothan Van Hook DeStefano Architecture, will feature Hilton Homewood Suites on levels 9–22 and the Wabash Suites Hotel above it to the 29th floor, along with accessory parking.

According to Jim DeStefano and Mary Ann Van Hook, architects for the building, the Hilton Homewood Suites will have approximately 196 suites, and the Wabash Suites Hotel will feature 85 hotel suites that include 31 studios, 45 one-bedroom units and nine two-bedroom apartment units.

Residents expressed worry at the meeting about the Wabash Suites Hotel’s lobby being placed on the west side facing South Wabash Avenue. They said the area is already subject to heavy traffic, and are concerned for construction.

“We’ve been through processes before where the economy has been in one place one year, and the next year we’re not moving forward. But if both of these projects are moving forward, we’re going to work with the city so this doesn’t inconvenience people more than it possibly has to,” said Alderman Will Burns (4th Ward).

Michael Elmore, a local software engineer who formerly worked at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, attended the meeting and said Chicago’s large density may become a problem during construction.

“This is a highly residential [area] as far as city neighborhoods and some of these developments seem to be challenging that,” Elmore said.