Last night, developer New Trier Partners  secured approval from the Winnetka Village Board  to go ahead with its four-story retail/condo project  at Lincoln Ave. and Elm Street in the north shore suburb. The project had undergone much scrutiny from the board over concerns the height wouldn?t match the surrounding neighborhood, and it didn't want to demolish the former Fell Co. building currently on the site. The building will feature 23k-SF of retail on the first floor,  more on the second, and condos on every floor, totaling 31 units, with construction slated for mid-2010.

New Trier?s Bob Goldstein tells us ?We're trying to wait and see what happens in the market before we start trying to sign tenants.? OKW Architects  designed the project, which totals almost 168k-SF. The condos will range in price from $800,000 to $1.5 million, (that's worthy of a double take), in line with Winnetka?s upper income demographic. It's the town?s first new LEED structure. (And a sign residential is back on track?)