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| Seasons 21 Restaurant on Magnificent Mile commercial corridor, Chicago, IL |
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| William Di Santo |
CHICAGO, IL- Englewood Construction has forecasted an upward
growth in large-scale, new construction projects as well as an uptick in fine
dining and hospitality construction for 2014.
To accommodate growth, the Lemont, Ill.-based general
contractor has hired several new employees and is continuing to gear up for
increased activity next year.
Mixed-use Projects Leading the Way
“While small-scale projects and commercial construction
renovation jobs sustained the industry in recent years, big projects are coming
back as the economy continues to improve,” said William Di Santo,
president of Englewood Construction.
“Next year, we will see a number of large, ground-up
commercial construction projects that were once sidelined coming back into the
fray.”
However, this commercial construction activity is not being
spearheaded by typical projects of the past.
The focus is no longer on new retail power centers, but rather, large
mixed-use construction projects that have a considerable amount of retail.
A number of substantial projects will break ground in 2014,
including the long-anticipated New City development at Halstead Street
and Clybourn Avenue in Chicago, which will include 360,000 square feet of
retail, a 199-unit apartment building and 40,000 square feet of medical office
space. Developers recently received a $182 million construction loan to
initiate the project.
“Many developers are sitting on large parcels of land that
they want to put into use, but plans have been altered to reflect the new
economic reality,” said Di Santo.
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New City Development rendering, Chicago, IL
Halstead Street and Clybourn Avenue |
“While retail will
still be a big portion of these projects, developers will also incorporate
apartments, hotels and office space to make the project more viable to receive
funding. We expect to see several of these projects initiated in the
Chicago-area this year.”
The Future of Fine Dining
Englewood’s 2013 prediction of the rise of fast-causal
restaurants came to fruition. In addition to that trend, there has also been a
recent increase in fine dining restaurants, said Di Santo.
This year, Englewood, known as one of Chicago’s best
restaurant contractors, completed a new
Season’s 52 on
Chicago’s
Magnificent Mile as well as renovations and expansions on several high-end
steak houses in downtown Chicago.
“We expect new restaurant construction to continue at a
robust pace in 2014,” said Di Santo. “However, it won’t be just in the form of
the fast-casual concept.
“Fine dining, white-tablecloth establishments are making a
big push as the restaurant industry is performing remarkably well. This
activity will continue as restaurants still offer an experience and
entertainment value that the online market cannot compete with.”
2014 Hotel developers check in
The downturn put a halt on new hospitality construction
projects in recent years. However, as
the travel industry improves and hotel occupancies increase, hoteliers are
looking to expand.
According to Smith Travel Research, downtown Chicago hotel
occupancy rose to 75.5 percent in the first nine months of 2013—the highest
point since the recession.
“Numbers like this are encouraging Chicago hotel developers
and national hotel chains to initiate new hospitality construction projects on
land they have been sitting on for years,” said Di Santo.
“We predict that many
developers will get off the sidelines and hospitality construction will become
a significant portion of the 2014 commercial construction market.”
For a complete copy of the company’s news release, please
contact:
Mark Thomton
312-267-4523
