Unconventional apartment complex taking tenants in Lincolnshire
Although the buildings aren't complete, the first tenants have moved into a new, eye-catching apartment complex in Lincolnshire's City Park.
Dubbed 444 Social, the two-building, 302-unit development occupies land near the southwest corner of Milwaukee Avenue and Aptakisic Road that once was part of the Regal Cinemas movie house and portion of its parking lot.
The buildings have a funky, multihued color scheme and a staggered architectural design that together resemble a Tetris puzzle grid.
The interior of the main building is unusual, too. The enormous, bright and elaborately furnished lobby looks more like a foyer in a boutique hotel than an apartment building. Installing couches, tables, a library, a coffee bar and other features, developer Scott Greenberg aimed to create social experiences, not just give people places to live.
"We've transformed a rental residential experience," said Greenberg, whose ECD Company developed City Park and owns the Regal building. "It's really unlike anything else."
Social 444 is the first apartment complex built in Lincolnshire. Apartments elsewhere in town were annexed into the village after they were built.
Ten units at 444 Social are occupied, with the first tenants arriving in late November, property manager Michele Siegel said. All on the first floor of the main building, with construction continuing on that building and its neighbor.
Greenberg expects construction will be complete this summer. When done, the complex will include three fitness rooms, rooftop dog parks, an indoor golf simulator, a kayak launch into a nearby lake, an outdoor swimming pool and many other amenities.
Some of those features are in place now.
An architectural highlight is something Greenberg and Siegel call the Stadium - a series of stadium-style benches near the main lobby that look down on a giant TV screen.
"All of these spaces serve the purposes of what the resident wants to do at the moment," Greenberg said.
The buildings are at 444 Parkway Drive, to match the name. The complex originally was to be called 404 Social, but Greenberg liked "444" better.
The units range from studios to three-bedroom apartments. All come with cable TV and wireless internet access, Greenberg said.
Prices range from $1,300 a month to $3,899 a month.
Mayor Liz Brandt hopes the addition of luxury apartments to City Park will attract new retail shops and restaurants there.
"It's the first step in the revitalization of City Park," Brandt said. "We're excited to have it in Lincolnshire."