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CHICAGO-Urban R2 Development and Schatz Inc. have landed a $93-million construction mortgage from Fremont Investment & Loan, which will allow them to build a 227-unit condominium building at 600 N. Fairbanks Ct. Architect Helmut Jahn returns to Chicago after a three-year absence to design his first condominium building here, a 41-story concrete, steel and glass structure.

Fremont Investment & Loan vice president David Sharp suggests Jahn's involvement will play a role in the project's success, as well as helping underwrite it in a Streeterville area with an abundance of units hitting the market as well as drawing boards. In addition to being three blocks west of Navy Pier, it also is a quarter-mile northwest of the site of the proposed Fordham Spire.

"It stands out from the crowd because of its architecturally significant design that is both visually and physically compelling," Sharp says. "This contemporary, urban project will be hailed as one where art meets function."