by Bailey White
Staff Writer
Now that The Vestcor Companies has completed renovations at 11 E. Forsyth and the building is filling with tenants, the development company is focusing on its new project, The Carlington.
The transformation of the 13-story Roosevelt Hotel on West Adams Street into 100 loft apartments is set to begin shortly.
Like 11 E., The Carlington will offer apartments that emphasize the 1926 building’s most interesting historical elements.
“The building has an incredibly beautiful foyer,” said Vestcor chairman John Rood. “If you thought the Lynch building was stunning, this is absolutely amazing and really unique. From a design standpoint, we’re taking the same concepts as Lynch. They’ll be quality urban units. Windows and light will be important. The advantage at The Carlington is that we’ll have a little more space in the common area.”
In fact, there will be 15,000 square feet of commercial space at The Carlington as compared to the 4,500 square feet at 11 E.
Part of the retail area will include the 1937 addition to the building: two ballrooms which were added to its east side.
“They present an architectural challenge,” said Rood. “It’s a very large, dark, two-story space so we’ve designed an arcade. You’ll be able to enter from Adams, go through to Monroe Street and we’ll open the space with skylights.”
Rood said two stories of retail space will line both sides of the arcade, though he’s not sure yet what businesses will fill it.
“There could be sandwich shops, a coffee shop, a barber shop,” he said. “We were even contacted by a culinary school interested in information about our property.”
Also planned at the lobby level is a two-story restaurant.
“It’s very historic and nicely decorated,” said Rood. “We’re envisioning a first floor restaurant with a second floor club, or a two-story restaurant looking for a unique location.
“Another interesting thing about the building is the swimming pool on its roof. We’re going to keep the pool and have a pool room or community center, too, and tenants at both our buildings will be able to use it.”
Upstairs, the building will be divided into one-and-two bedroom units with a 70/30 split.
Vestcor plans to demolish the existing garage and build a new one to provide parking at the rear of the building.
“There will be 250 parking spaces and we are anticipating space for our residents as well as our commercial tenants,” said Severina Menor, a development associate with Vestcor.
“We’ll be starting demolition on the garage any day now,” said Rood. “And as soon as we get approval, we can start interior demolition. We’re busy developing plans now so that we can be prepared to start construction and taking a survey for architectural purposes.”
Construction is estimated to take 20 months.
“We finished 11 E. Forsyth ahead of schedule in 14 months,” said Menor. “But the Roosevelt is in worse shape so we anticipate a longer construction time.”
“We know you can do a bare minimum job or you can really do it right. We’re fortunate that with City grants we’re able to do it right. Everyone benefits from that,” said Rood. “And we’ll go to great lengths, like we did at the Lynch Building, to make this a quality rehab and to do it right. We learned a lot during that process and we’re paying attention to make sure we address those things.”
Rood said he’s particularly excited about what the building’s renovation will do for West Adams Street, which he sees as an important downtown corridor.
“Adams Street has had some renovations,” he said. “The Police and Fire Pension Fund renovated a building down the street and right next to us is the Elks Building, which is undergoing renovations.
“Right now we’re the eyesore on the street, but once we get our property renovated it will change the whole character of it. Adams Street is a major connection between The Shipyards and the Adam’s Mark and Hemming Plaza. It’s a logical street to walk down.”