Making The Most Of Nature

Whatever the color, "green" paint helps the environment and enhances condo quality

By Dennis Rodkin

At the Winthrop Club (at 1567 Maple Street), "the quality of the building and environmental quality go hand in hand," says Bob Horner, whose Winthrop Properties is building the new 15-story condo tower. "It's really more a function of the quality of the products than of whether to be "green.'"

EVANSTON

From $329,000
to $1,489,000

Paints low in volatile organic compounds, for example, improve the air quality indoors. Just as important, adds Horner, they also happen to be superior paints. "We wanted paint better than the usual skim milk," he says.

Other green features include two-flush toilets, energy-efficient appliances, and a rooftop garden doused by rainwater captured on the building-all of which should count toward the high rating the developers hope to get from the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program.

Of the building's 99 units, 72 are still for sale. Scheduled for completion in spring 2009, the building has condos as small as a 750-square-foot one-bedroom unit ($329,000) and as large as a 2,874-square-foot three-bedroom unit with a den, a library, and a family room ($1,489,000). The building's amenities include a two-lane lap pool, a fitness room, a clubroom with a surround-sound theatre and a kitchen, and a large common sundeck.

Photograph: Courtesy of CMK Realty Corporation

This article appears in the January 2008 issue of Chicago Magazine.

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