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(Above) Detached single-family homes in Enclave Portage Park, a development about nine miles northwest of the Loop. (Click on images to view larger versions.)
As real estate development goes west, there is now demand for upscale, contemporary-style homes west of Cicero Avenue.
30-Sep-17 – “Buy on the fringe and wait,” advised the legendary late Chicago real estate mogul Arthur Rubloff in the 1960s. For decades, the mantra for North Side Chicago real estate investors has always been “go west from Lake Michigan” – along North Avenue, Belmont Avenue, Addison Street, or Irving Park Road – to find a deal beyond the fringe. In the early 1960s, investing west of Halsted Street in West Lincoln Park was considered risky. By the 1970s, buying property west of Ashland Avenue in West Lakeview was considered a gamble for developers. In the 1980s and 1990s, the investment borders stretched year-by-year to Damen, Western, and California Avenues in the Ukrainian Village, Humboldt Park, Logan Square, and Avondale neighborhoods. By 2000, property west of Pulaski Avenue in Old Irving Park was in the sights of developers as new-construction residential projects began to emerge along Milwaukee Avenue north of Addison Street. In 2016, Basecamp Old Irving Park was developed with homes priced around $550,000 on Milwaukee west of Schurz High School. East of Cicero Avenue, in Old Irving Park, prices of recently sold renovated homes range as high as $700,000 to $950,000, reports Zillow.
Down the street, at 4901 West Irving Park Road in Portage Park, is the new home of Binny’s Beverage Depot and Retro Fitness Gym. Other buildings in the same block are planned for redeveloped into a Culver’s restaurant, Elly’s Pancake House, and a community theater. Portage Park is home to Community Tavern, a modern steak house, ranked as one of the city’s best new restaurants. Another neighborhood favorite is Sabatino’s, 4441 West Irving Park Road in Old Irving Park, a four-star Italian restaurant that features a vintage piano bar.
A spot check of recent residential listings in Portage Park shows renovated 1920s brick bungalows and scattered-site new homes built on teardown sites listed in the upper-end range of $649,000 to $665,000. Enclave Portage Park – the neighborhood’s first major new-construction, detached single-family home development – is underway in the 4900 block of West Dakin Street, a quiet, tree-lined side street just west of Six Corners. Although the development only features nine contemporary-style detached homes, they are spacious four-and-five-bedroom floor plans and a good value. Prices start at $589,900 and range upwards to $629,900.
Three homes are built at Enclave Portage Park. Two residences have been sold but are not yet occupied. Two more are ready for immediate occupancy. One of the first two for sale is a four-bedroom home at 4901 West Dakin Street priced at $608,900, said Arons. The top-of-the-line Residence B-1, a spectacular five-bedroom, 3.5-bath home showcases 3,570 square feet of living space on three levels, plus a two-car garage. It is priced at $629,000.
The neighborhood’s namesake is the 36.5-acre Portage Park at 4100 North Long Avenue. The park’s two field houses host a gymnasium and cultural arts facilities. The buildings were designed by famed architect Clarence Hatzfeld. The park also is known for its Olympic-size swimming pool that hosted the United States swimming trials for the 1959 Pan American Games and the 1972 Summer Olympics. Other facilities include a dog-friendly area, bike path, six tennis courts, five baseball/softball fields, two soccer/football fields, and a new playground that includes a soft-play-surface, ADA-accessible playground. “The Portage Park neighborhood is one of Chicago’s best kept secrets, but it won’t be before long,” Arons predicted.
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