"Looptopia" is sign of downtown revival in Chicago

By Andrew Stern

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Bustling with office workers during the day, Chicago's downtown Loop -- a square mile ringed by elevated train tracks -- was deserted at night and on weekends.

At least until recently. Now, new restaurants and shops stay open past the evening exodus, catering to tens of thousands of new residents who are contributing to a downtown renaissance.

Among those opting to live downtown is Marie Verle, 30, a Parisian who teaches French cooking while her husband studies for a business degree at the University of Chicago.

"We prefer to put more money into living than in a car," said Verle, 30, accompanying her two boys to a playground between the Loop and a harbor in Lake Michigan.

"We wanted to live in a big building -- they don't have these in Paris -- and to see the lake, to see the lights."

Chicago, with 3 million people in the city and 5 million more in its far-flug suburbs, is one of several U.S. cities experiencing a downtown revival as people choose shorter commutes over bigger living spaces.

The high price of gas -- for sitting in perpetual traffic jams -- and the high cost of heating and cooling single-family homes are adding fuel to what was already a trend.

Inside the Loop, several of the city's historic skyscrapers have been converted into condominiums for an influx of retirees, students, people tired of long commutes, and Europeans emboldened by the strong euro.

"Downtown is the fastest-growing neighborhood in Chicago," said Ty Tabing, director of the Chicago Loop Alliance, which promotes downtown living with events like an all-night "Looptopia" street festival in early May.

Tabing lives downtown, gets his groceries delivered, hires a car-sharing service to buy necessities and avoids the drudgery of "waiting, especially in cold weather, for that rickety train that's going to have crazy people on it."

To change the perception of downtown as office park, city leaders poured resources into cultural attractions and are trying to repair troubled public schools.

New high-rises have been built on vacant plots or parking lots. Older office buildings that do not have the amenities to command high rents, but which have stupendous views and architectural details, have been rehabilitated.

Magellan Development Group is adding more high-rises to its East Lake Shore "village in the city" wedged between the Loop and a highway along the Lake Michigan shoreline, many with views of the city's popular Millennium Park and the lake.

And two signature buildings, Donald Trump's nearly completed 92-story tower on the Chicago River and the twisting 150-story "Spire" by architect Santiago Calatrava, will add to the supply of luxury digs.

Compared with 1990, downtown residences are projected to more than double by 2010 to 110,000 units, housing 160,000 people and property appraisal firm Appraisal Research Counselors has warned of a possible glut of new apartments.