In "east Bucktown," work continues on the new mid-rise residential development known as Triangle Square. The estimated $200 million project has been under construction at 2155 N. Elston Avenue since early 2020, and is now starting to resemble renderings of the finished product.
Triangle Square gets its somewhat contradictory geometric name (how can a triangle be a square?) from the odd shape of its three-sided 4-acre lot. Previously home to a billboard facing the Kennedy Expressway, the once vacant site is bounded by Elston Avenue, Webster Avenue, and Metra’s UP-North rail tracks.
Triangle Square occupies an atypical, angular lot. Lamar Johnson Collaborative
The main piece of the project is a seven-story apartment building from LMC, a subsidiary of Miami-based developer Lennar Corp., and Chicago architecture firm Lamar Johnson Collaborative. With the help of Power Construction, the Lennar-Lamar team will build 398 studio, one-, and two-bedroom rental units above 35,000 square feet of retail space fronting Elston.
The rental building snakes it way around site and has a distinctive sloping roofline. Amenities include a fitness center, club room, game room, and co-working spaces. The project's literal centerpiece will be a 23,000 square foot outdoor terrace facing the Chicago skyline. The supersized communal courtyard features a pool, grills, fire pits, and a bocce court.
The central courtyard terrace features amenities for residents and views of the downtown skyline.Lamar Johnson Collaborative.
The second piece of the Triangle Square equation is a separate seven-story condominium building along Webster Avenue. Developed by Belgravia Group and designed by Sullivan Goulette & Wilson, the more traditional-looking masonry structure includes 72 for-sale units offered in two- and three-bedroom floorplans, priced from $495,000 to $1 million.
There's no word yet on the rent prices for the apartments, which are expected to welcome residents this fall. The condominiums, which broke ground earlier, are on track to deliver this summer.
Triangle Square's condo building faces Webster Avenue. Sullivan Goulette & Wilson
Triangle Square was approved by the Chicago Plan Commission in September 2018. The plan requires nine affordable units on-site plus a $3.6 million contribution from the developer to Chicago's affordable housing fund, according to the Chicago Department of Planning and Development.
The project was made possible by a sweeping rezone of the North Branch Corridor in 2017, which opened 760 acres of industrial land along the Chicago River's north branch to new uses including residential. Other projects are expected to soon follow including the massive Lincoln Yards megadevelopment that's zoned for up to 6,000 residences.
