The stretch of Springfield Avenue that runs through campus, between Neil Street and Lincoln Avenue, has never been about great heights. From Am-Ko to several-story apartment buildings to the regal but relatively low-lying Grainger Library and Uni High, Springfield has long been, to a degree, a vertically modest road.
But the Springfield landscape is changing with the erection of Burnham310, an 18-story residential structure on Springfield between Third and Fourth streets.
The building will house more than 250 rental apartments, from studios to three-bedroom units, as well as approximately 100 for-purchase apartments. The ground level will include substantial retail space.
The construction, managed by the Highland Park-based Pickus Companies, is scheduled to continue with completion of floors 14–18 by late May.
If all goes according to plan, the Burnham310 apartments, which are currently being leased, will be set for an Aug. 1 move-in date. According to a City of Champaign report issued last week, approximately 50 percent of the units are already leased.
Burnham310 will be the most imposing piece of architecture in what developers are calling the “Burnham District,” an area on the northwest end of the University of Illinois campus that “connects Campustown with Downtown’s Entertainment District.” But Burnham310 won’t be alone. Niemann Foods is preparing to break ground on the 28,000-square foot County Market, which will provide a welcomed grocery-shopping outlet for people on campus and around downtown Champaign. The store, which will be directly adjacent to Burnham310, is expected to open in late summer or early fall.
The Burnham redevelopment is occurring on the site of the old Burnham Hospital, a mainstay at the university that was closed in 1992 and demolished in 2005.