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CHICAGO-A developer will build 57 townhouses on a 2.4-acre industrial site on the Northwest Side along an idled railroad line. Steven Frytz hopes to complete his $28-million project at the northeast corner of West Cornelia Avenue and North Whipple Street in late 2007 after receiving an endorsement recently from the plan commission.

Frytz' Cornelia Court, LLC needs a zoning change to build his three-story townhouses, ranging from 1,691 sf to 2,218 sf, from M1-1 to RT4, on the irregular-shaped lot at 3001 W. Cornelia Ave. Units will be priced from $479,000 to $539,000, Frytz tells GlobeSt.com. Six prototype units are being built on the north side of Cornelia Avenue, which will serve as Cornelia Court models.

The townhouses will replace a vacant 45,500-sf industrial building on the site once owned by Beatrice Meats and Swift & Co., according to property records. The 13 buildings will be built around a 9,600-sf park, and have environmentally friendly "green roofs" in their design. Cornelia Court, LLC also has agreed to plant 23 trees along city-owned parkways along Cornelia Avenue and Whipple Street.