It was in the 1970s that Dan Levin, founder and chairman of residential development and management firm the Habitat Company LLC, first had a vision for Chicago’s River North neighborhood. At the time, the area was just a “rail yard and rail houses,” according to Mark Segal, the Habitat Company’s current president and CEO, but Levin saw an opportunity to turn it into a real community.
Levin began making an impact on the area with the development of the now-iconic East Bank Club, one of the nation’s most elaborate urban sports, dining, and health facilities, and he continued with the acquisition of several more sites—one of which, in 2007, became home to Kingsbury Plaza, a 420-unit residence. Today, thanks in part to his work, River North is one of Chicago’s most vibrant and thriving areas.
In October 2013, the Habitat Company opened its most recent building in the district: Hubbard Place. The stunning 43-story, 450-unit residence is a prime example of the firm’s focus on the finer things, but it’s also meant to fit in with its surroundings unobtrusively. “We wanted to make sure that what we did was good for the residents at Hubbard Place as well as the people in the surrounding community,” Segal says.