Where big-buck rental may work. A proposed Loring Park high-end rental tower. A neighborhood with a tradition where people can be expected to pay a high-buck premium to live there. Groundbreaking set at same time as Flaherty-&-Collins, in Ramsey.

This link, and a first of two pages screenshot. Loring Park has a big-buck tradition behind it. People have traditionally been willing to pay a premium to live there. It does not have the more house and more lot for the money tradition of Ramsey. As Colin McGlone once said, he is in Ramsey because he got "the most house for his family" for what they would be paying by moving into Northfork. That outlook of McGlone in family decision-making is the antithesis of rabbit-hutch rentals, with a pool and cabanas, which is not traditional Ramsey. In Loring Park it is an experienced major-league developer retooling from a condo plan to enter big time into the rental market - and picking a neighborhood suited to it - with the mantra of real estate people having always been, location, location, location. Click the image to read; and again, go here to see the entire story.

Think over what the Flaherty-&-Collins higher-risk adventure will be competing against, where there is a seasoned Chicago area firm larger and more experienced than Flaherty-&-Collins, (compare their Wikipedia pages - the FC firm having none; and with Magellan proving itself a high stakes savvy major league player). Magellan, picks its places carefully, and has had the site in play for years before plunging big money into it - with this quote from the end of that first of two pages screenshot [italics emphasis added]:

In 2005, Magellan was approved by the city to develop a [condo] tower on the same site that was a little taller (39 stories) but with fewer units (275). That project stalled, however along with the overall housing market.

The company switched gears and is proposing rental because apartments "seem to be the preferred mode of people living these days," said Brian Gordon, vice president of development for Magellan. "People are more transient and don't want to be bogged down with mortgages," he said.

Gordon described the apartments as "high-end luxury" with a 24-hour doorman, a health-club facility and pool, movie theater and business center.

Gordon said the company was patient with the site as it waited for financing. He said Magellan is in the preliminary stages of talking to several lenders and equity partners. Magellan hopes to break ground in on the project in 2012.

See related reporting, here and here. Nowhere in there do you read of Magellan with its hundred million dollar project wanting some municipality to bankroll its high roller ambition.

Magellan has the wherewithal to not stoop or play anyone as if unsophisticated yokels responsible for public funds, but pliant. If Flaherty-&-Collins wants to take a risk on their own dollar, bless them and wish them good luck.