(Save the date: RealShare Chicago comes to the Union League Club of Chicago October 23.)

CHICAGO-M&R Development has broken ground on two multifamily apartment properties in the Chicago area, 42-story Summit on Lake on East Lake Street downtown and the Central Station development in Evanston, IL. While the cost to develop the building north of the city has not been released, the Summit project is reportedly a $116 million project.

The tower will include 332 units with 178 indoor parking spaces. Construction is estimated to take 24 months, with the first occupancies being in April 2014, right about the time the downtown market is set to see more than 7,000 new apartment units. Anthony Rossi Sr. president of M&R, said he prefers to look at the opening date as an exciting time. “The market only continues to gain strength, and we are confidence that conditions will continue to be favorable for rental developments – especially luxury developments like these – for a long time to come,” he says.