The Guidepost Montessori at Magnificent Mile school is more than doubling in size to accommodate the addition of an elementary school at Optima Signature, a mixed-use development at 220 E. Illinois Street in Chicago’s Streeterville neighborhood. Optima, Inc., developer of the building, announced the school will lease an additional 14,000 square feet—the building’s last available retail space—with plans to open this fall to serve first through fifth grades.

“Since the school’s opening just over a year ago, many of the families living at Optima Signature—or who live or work in the surrounding neighborhood—have embraced the school’s convenience factor and its quality Montessori early childhood education program,” said David Hovey Sr., CEO of Optima, Inc. “Whether you want to grab breakfast or lunch, take your pet in for a check-up or you’re in need of an elementary school, the retail line-up at Optima Signature is dynamic and truly fills a niche in the growing Streeterville neighborhood to make the building a destination for people in the area.”

This is the property’s second commercial leasing announcement in as many months, following the lease-up of all 22 furnished office suites at Optima Signature. In addition to Guidepost Montessori, retail tenants include Egg Harbor Café, a restaurant specializing in breakfast, brunch and lunch; GoodVets Streeterville, a full-service veterinarian redefining pet care; RUNAWAY fitness, a run conditioning fitness studio and Bedazzled Nails & Spa.

Read the full feature at RE Journals

Visit Optima Signature for more details

A 57-story apartment tower in the Streeterville neighborhood plans to convert some of its office space to small classrooms, betting that frazzled families will seek space outside the home to conduct remote learning amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The 490-unit Optima Signature, a skyscraper at 220 E. Illinois St. known for its bright red lower levels, is no ordinary schoolhouse.

Yet with many parents working from home since March 2019 amid COVID-19, and with many schools planning to conduct classes virtually this fall, the building’s owner believes there will be a demand for learning pods. So-called “pandemic pods” and “micro-schools” allow small groups of kids from close-knit families to study together in person with a teacher, tutor or parent.

Widespread closures of schools and day cares has left Chicago-area workers and employers scrambling for solutions.

Glencoe-based architecture and development firm Optima, which completed the Streeterville high-rise in 2017, in August 2020 began marketing four of its 25 office suites for educational purposes.

In an area of the city known for high-rises and lacking homes with yards, Optima believes parents are feeling the stress of homes also serving as offices and classrooms.

“For people who are living in the downtown environment, where they might be sharing a smaller space with two working parents and kids, those spaces can get small and loud and distracting,” Optima Marketing Director Ali Burnham said. “Here, you’re not fighting for space.

“We suspected there would be a need with schools going remote and families forming these pods.”

Optima expects interest to come from the immediate area, including from parents who typically send their kids to the Montessori school in the tower, Burnham said.

Optima Signature’s furnished suites typically are used as co-working spaces by Optima Signature residents and other nearby workers and businesses. All but four of the suites are now leased, on six-month and one-year contracts, Burnham said.

The suites are on the second and seventh floors of the tower and range from five to seven desks.

The spaces, or those in other co-working facilities, won’t be affordable for many families. They cost US$1,800 to US$2,400 per month.

Optima is offering space only and the firm is not providing teachers or tutors to conduct classes.

Read the full feature on CTBUH

Visit Optima Signature for more details

Optima, Inc. has completed the buildout of Guidepost Montessori at Magnificent Mile’s new elementary school at Optima Signature, the firm’s mixed-use development at 220 E. Illinois Street in Chicago’s Streeterville neighborhood. Completed by Optima’s team in just three months, the new 14,000-square-foot elementary addition, which will serve grades 1 through 6, is now accepting registrations for in-person learning.

“As a vertically integrated firm, Optima was uniquely positioned to exceed construction timelines and deliver a new quality education choice in Streeterville at a time when so many parents need in-person alternatives to traditional schools,” said David Hovey Sr., CEO of Optima, Inc. and architect of Optima Signature.

The on-campus expansion comes on the heels of Optima, Inc. releasing four business suites at Optima Signature earlier this month to be used as pandemic learning pods, for both residents and nonresidents seeking home-based options due to the pandemic. According to Hovey, Guidepost Montessori has offered to work with families who use the pods if they need teachers, educational materials or supplemental learning programs as part of the school’s new Guidepost at Home program.

Read the full feature at RE Journals

Visit Optima Signature for more details

THIS AND THAT

With people looking for more time to spend outdoors as soon as possible, some Chicago-area multifamily communities are bucking the tradition of opening outdoor pools on Memorial Day weekend — instead opting to open as early as mid-April.

Optima Signature in Streeterville officially opened its outdoor pool last week. Draper and Kramer, which owns and manages a number of downtown rental buildings, also opened in mid-April its outdoor pools at most of its Chicago-area properties, including Grand Plaza and Hubbard221. In addition, Related Midwest opened on April 16 its pools and outdoor recreational spaces at One Bennett Park, 500 Lake Shore Drive and Landmark West Loop.

Read the full feature on Bisnow

Visit Optima Signature for more information

The coronavirus pandemic is forcing a rethinking of the multifamily amenities so important to attracting and keeping tenants in apartments over the last decade.

Some social distancing built into the design is going to need to be an option, though the exact nature of changes isn’t clear yet.

Tenants will expect changes, but not a decline in quality, Illinois-based Optima President and Principal Architect David Hovey Jr. said.  “We believe that residents will expect the full return of their amenities and services, but also changes to accommodate safe social distancing without sacrificing their experience,” Hovey Jr. said. One design strategy, at least for larger multifamily properties, will be to spread the amenities out. The 490-unit Optima Signature in Chicago, which was completed in 2017, offers 1.5 acres of amenities across four floors. That includes seven distinct fitness spaces with overflow areas, so there is space to spread out equipment and add sanitizing stations, Hovey Jr. said.

Read the full feature at Bisnow

Visit Optima Signature for more details

Optima, Inc. completed the buildout of Guidepost Montessori at Magnificent Mile’s new elementary school at Optima Signature, the firm’s mixed-use development at 220 E. Illinois St. in Streeterville. Completed by Optima’s team in three months, the new 14,000-square-foot elementary addition, which will serve grades 1-6, is now accepting registrations for in-person learning.

“As a vertically integrated firm, Optima was uniquely positioned to exceed construction timelines and deliver a new quality education choice in Streeterville at a time when so many parents need in-person alternatives to traditional schools,” said David Hovey Sr., CEO of Optima, Inc. and architect of Optima Signature.

The elementary expansion features two new mixed-age learning environments with the capacity to eventually serve 80 students. At present, though, spots are limited as the network operates with smaller class sizes and heightened health and safety protocols due to COVID-19.

Read the full feature at Connect Media

Visit Optima Signature for more details

Chicago’s high-end condo buyers and apartment renters are shifting their priorities in a Covid world, and are seeking out units with balconies, and communal spaces with plenty of room.

At Optima Signature — built by Optima Inc. and DeBartolo Development — the new reality has brought the Amenity Boss.

Residents now use the app to schedule times for some of the spaces they would ordinarily use without planning. That includes reserving the basketball court, bocce and squash courts, children’s playground, 40-yard dash track, sundeck terraces with fireside lounges, and private dining areas. The complex rolled out the app on June 3, when the city began Phase 3 of its reopening that included — with restrictions — residential amenities. If Optima residents want to use the terrace for grilling, they can reserve space, limited to two hours.

Demand has been high, said Optima Signature business manager Kattia Halaoui. “On the first day alone, we had 159 reservations to use the amenities,” she said. A couple of days later, that was up to 259 reservations.

Visit Optima Signature for more details

Read the full feature on The Real Deal