Work is ready to get underway on a 22-story rental tower at the southeast corner of Damen Avenue and Congress Parkway in the Illinois Medical District (IMD), as the demand for new rentals in the area continues to increase.

Developer Marquette Cos. has landed a building permit to begin construction on the 230-foot building's caisson foundations, and Power Construction will be the general contractor. 

Designed by Brininstool + Lynch, the tower headed to 513 S. Damen Avenue contains 279 apartments, a small ground-floor retail space, and parking for 172 cars on levels one through three. The upcoming building will rise immediately west of the 18-story former Medical Center Apartments which Marquette recently rehabbed and rebranded as the 272-unit Atio Apartments.

Marquette also plans a third shorter rental building on the southern edge of the site along Harrison Street, which will rise nine stories, including 120 appartments and provide additioanl retail space. Also designed by Brininstool + Lynch, the Harrison building will include 120 apartments, provide additional retail space, and share the parking garage and a fourth-floor amenity deck of the neighboring tower.

According to Marquette's president and chief investment officer Darren Sloniger, the IMD is experiencing a high demand for new apartments. "People want to live there because they can walk to the L and walk to work," Sloniger told Crain's Chicago Business back in July. 

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