Mandarin Oriental Pushed Back But Still Will Be Built
The Sun-Times’ David Roeder is reporting that the Mandarin Oriental hotel and condo tower near Millennium Park, though pushing back its timeline, is still scheduled to be built:
Gerard Kenny, whose Palladian Development is behind the project, said the credit crunch has caused delays in negotiating loans for a project expected to cost more than $750 million. But Kenny said no backer has withdrawn support for the project. He said New York-based iStar Financial Inc. is still the primary source of early funding.
Kenny said that he hopes to start construction early next year, with delivery of the 74-story building in 2010. The original plan, announced with fanfare in early 2006, called for completion sometime in 2009. The project would arise at the northwest corner of Lake and Stetson next to the Illinois Center complex.
The developer claims that 50% of the contracts have been signed on the three types of properties: the condos, the hotel-condos and the condos with extras (meaning maid service and other hotel perks.)
Question is, who is buying? There are sales ads for the Mandarin on condo investing websites. Maybe some hedge funds bought in bulk.
Mandarin Oriental [website]