Magellan Development Offers Unique Design Service To Parkhome Buyers

Selecting colors, finishes and materials can be daunting enough for most buyers of new homes. Add the challenge of customizing a floor plan and season it with selecting and arranging furnishings and the task can be totally mind-boggling.

Not so for purchasers of the luxurious Parkhomes newly introduced at Lakeshore East, the $4 billion mixed-use development rising at the confluence on Lake Michigan and the Chicago River in the rapidly developing Millennium Park environs.

Magellan Development Group, developer of the award-winning, 28-acre community, has engaged the services of David Andrew Interiors to provide eight hours of complimentary design consultation to Parkhome buyers.

Leila Zammatta, Magellan senior vice president of sales, explains that pre-construction buyers have the option even to customize their homes by redesigning floor plans. “Simply put, there are buyer perks and buyer perks, but the Chicago housing market has never seen a buyer incentive to compare with this,” says Zammatta. “Part of the service we’ll be providing with David Andrew Interiors will include assisting pre-construction buyers who choose to do so to make alterations to the floor plans,” she explained.

“People simply have difficulty envisioning how to arrange and complete space and furnish it in a manner that best suits their lifestyle and what, in the end, provides them with the greatest emotional satisfaction by looking at floor plans,” observes David Yates, ASID, principal of David Andrew Interiors who is coordinating the service. “Our mission is to help them customize their home before it is built, to revise floor plans if necessary so the space fits their wants and needs and to help them fill that space according to their taste from traditional to transitional to contemporary.”

The range of services runs from space analysis to furniture and finish selections and includes window treatments, lighting consultation, color and texture distribution, selection of art and accessories, designing family rooms, home theaters, home offices and studies/libraries to customizing outdoor living spaces.

Magellan recently initiated sales of the first cluster of tweny Parkhome residences at the southeast sector of the development that present a unique opportunity for townhome living with park and select lake views in downtown Chicago.

Architecturally, The Steinberg Group of San Jose, CA teamed up with Loewenberg Architects as design consultants to create a series of charming facades that blend brick and stone with wrought iron and copper highlights, ala Lincoln Park. A trio of design plans with private, attached parking ranges in size from 2,300 to more than 3,900 square feet of elegant living space, priced in the upper bracket.

One grouping includes 10 three-story homes with rooftop terraces that provide from 3,565 to 3,956 square feet of living area. Private elevators are included. A second design format consists of 15 single-level, duplex and three-story plans with balconies and terraces combined in a seven-story building, ranging in size from 2,300 to more than 3,000 square feet. “There is absolutely nothing in downtown Chicago that compares with these truly special homes,” declared Zammatta.

The Parkhomes provide a sumptuous range of features and finishes and expansive park and lake views. Standard are designer-style recessed lighting, individually controlled year-round heating and air conditioning systems with humidification and wiring for high speed Internet and Cable TV.
Available finishes, for example, range from stained-on-site oak flooring and staircases to natural granite and in the windowsills. And much more.

Gourmet kitchens offer a choice of Snaidero or Fieldstone premium designer cabinetry, natural granite countertops and backsplashes, Hans-Grohe designer European-style fixtures, undermount stainless steel sinks and a stainless steel appliance package that includes a SubZero refrigerator, Miele fully-integrated dishwasher, Wolf double-oven with separate cooktop and Wolf built-in microwave oven.

Continuing the parade of delights, the master suite includes a choice of Snaidero or Fieldstone premium designer cabinetry and a luxurious master bath with marble flooring, vanity top and spa bathtub, frameless vanity wall mirrors, and Hans-Grohe designer European fixtures with Kohler sinks. In addition to the complimentary design consulting services, Parkhome owners also receive a complimentary one-year membership to the Mid-America Club at the nearby Aon Center.

A village in the heart of downtown Chicago steps from Michigan Avenue; Lakeshore East is believed to be the largest parcel of downtown land under development in a major U.S. city. It incorporates all the elements of a traditional city neighborhood, a lifestyle center that includes homes, retail, recreational opportunities and community amenities such as a lush public park and a planned charter elementary school. Across the street from the city’s acclaimed new Millennium Park, Lakeshore East is a preview of the future, a mixed-use development where people can live, work, shop, eat and pursue whatever interests them without having to get into a car.

The plan that completes the ambitious Illinois Center development allows for the construction of up to 4,950 residences, a magnificent 6-acre public park, 2.2 million gross square feet of commercial space, 1,500 hotel rooms, 770,000 square feet of retail space and a proposed charter elementary school.

Some forty percent of the site will remain vibrant open space. Among the centerpiece park’s many attractions is free Wi-Fi or wireless broadband Internet access. Other park amenities include a children’s play park, a gated dog park, a large open meadow, water fountains, ornamental gardens and extensive seating. In addition, a series of smaller parks with special designs and water features will be added to the community.

The first stage of a growing array of retail services forthcoming to the complex now includes a Fifth Third Bank and a Caffe RoM Italian style coffee bar.