Builder Plans 66-Unit Project In Hyde Park

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By JOSH POLTILOVE

[email protected]

HYDE PARK - Developers plan to build 66 condominiums and town houses just north of Gorrie Elementary School.

The roughly 97,000-square- foot project at Horatio Street and South Boulevard would replace a vacant 20,000- square-foot office building at 402 S. Boulevard, formerly occupied by Dianon Systems.

The project would cost about $25 million and include 38 condominiums and 28 town houses, said Mike McCanless, a real estate manager for The Paradise Development Group Inc.

The city council likely will consider the company's rezoning application April 28.

The project includes a seven-story condominium building, approximately 80 feet high and 40,000 square feet, and 11 condominium flats.

The Mediterranean-style building's bottom two floors would be used for parking, but neighborhood residents won't see the vehicles because the building would be surrounded by 13 two-story town houses, McCanless said.

``We've done good urban design here and been sensitive to the neighborhood and to the school,'' McCanless said. ``Those town houses will help break down the scale of the building.''

He said units may range from 740 square feet to 1,600 square feet and $200,000 to $700,000.

Jeanne Holton Carufel, president of the Historic Hyde Park Neighborhood Association, said traffic problems always are a concern when development is proposed within the historic neighborhood.

McCanless said studies show the project will generate less traffic during peak hours than the traffic generated by Dianon. He said Paradise has hired a traffic engineer to determine the project's effect on Boulevard.

Geoff Meyer, past president of Hyde Park Preservation Inc., said the project is good for the area.

``If they build it as presented, I think it's going to be wonderful,'' he said. ``I think it does everything that an in-fill project should do.''

Reporter Josh Poltilove can be reached at (813) 835-2105.

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