In a recent Jack Higgins editorial cartoon in the Chicago Sun-Times, Windy City mayor Richard M. Daley is pictured in front of the giant Anish Kapoor sculpture in Millennium Park.

"Just how much did the park cost?" queries a reporter. Daley spreads his hands about two feet apart. But reflected in the curving mirror-like surface of the Kapoor behind him, the distance between hizzoner da mare's hands stretches the entire 66-foot width of the bean-like sculpture.

Such has been the debate over Millennium Park's price tag. Plagued by steep cost overruns and delays that postponed the park's unveiling years beyond its scheduled 2000 debut, Daley's pet project has met with its share of criticism.

But since its gala July 16th grand opening, the nay saying has fallen off more steeply than Sammy Sosa's batting average.

"One hundred years from now, no one will remember the cost," more than a few have opined, their eyes still glassy after touring the 25-acre fountain- and garden-dotted blanket of green. "All people will care about is that Chicago boasts this world-class lakefront treasure."

That's yet to be seen. But what can't be disputed is the zest with which developers are building high-rise residences around Millennium Park and with which buyers are snapping them up.

Just west of the park, the luxurious new 57-story Heritage at Millennium Park condo is 99% sold, and the buyers reportedly include Daley himself. To the north of the park, a new development forest of 17 high-rises called Lakeshore East is starting to sprout on 28 acres of vacant land. And the park has been a catalyst for condo development up and down its Michigan Avenue border.

Among the more notable examples are an adaptive reuse of a Victorian-vintage building that once housed catalog giant Montgomery Ward at 6 North Michigan Ave., and the creation of The Columbian, a 46-story condominium building at 1160 South Michigan Ave.

Nowhere has the park's influence been more evident than in its ability to help launch Lakeshore East. The tract upon which that development sits, bordered by the Chicago River on the north, Lake Shore Drive on the east, Randolph Street on the south and Columbus Drive on the west, was once the largest undeveloped parcel of downtown land in any major U.S. city.

In the 1960s, urban planners decided it would serve as the site of a mega-development called Illinois Center. But the crumbling economy of the 1970s deep-sixed the eastern half of the retail-and-office complex.

Briefly considered as the location of a new Chicago Bears stadium in the 1980s, the site was later reborn as a nine-hole downtown golf course.

Joel Carlin, president of Chicago's Magellan Development Group, was lining up a putt at the sixth hole one day when he determined to find out who owned this "fabulous piece of land." In 2002, with the rich potential of neighbor Millennium Park increasingly apparent, Magellan teamed with Chicago's Near North Properties and led an investment group in purchasing the land. Then the group assigned the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill to craft a master plan.

The result is a $2.5-billion development program that by its conclusion, around 2020, will yield nothing less than an entirely new city neighborhood in the heart of downtown Chicago-one that is just steps from the visual enticements and entertainment lures of Millennium Park.

Encircling the project's own green centerpiece, six-acre Harbor Park, will be 4,950 residences; more than two million square feet of commercial space; 1,300 hotel rooms, and a public school accommodating up to 350 students. San Jose-based KMD Architects has already designed a village center that will house a gourmet grocery, restaurants, shops, cafes and service businesses.

The Lancaster, the first condominium tower to be built in Lakeshore East, stands a block north of Millennium Park and is slated for occupancy late this year. Its 209 condos, priced at $250,000 to $900,000, are 92% sold. Another condominium building, The Regatta, offers 324 units priced from $210,000 to $1.1 million, and is 60% sold. Magellan Development hopes to break ground on The Regatta this autumn, for a late 2005 opening.

In terms of prominence, however, these and other buildings will take a back seat to 340 On The Park. The jewel in Lakeshore East's crown, this 62-story luxury tower perched on the park's northern periphery is scheduled to begin construction later this year, with first occupancies in 2007. Its 350 one- to four-bedroom condos, as well as top-floor penthouse units, are priced from the high $300,000 range to several million dollars for the penthouses.

Developed by Chicago's LR Development Company in partnership with Magellan, the sleek glass tower will feature curving east- and west-side walls to maximize views of Millennium Park south and Harbor Park north.

While other buildings might tuck common areas in the basement or rear, 340 On The Park will plunk its club room, fitness center and 25-yard pool in a 25th-floor 360-degree space overlooking Millennium, Harbor and Grant Parks.

Clearly, Lakeshore East's creators are heeding Daniel Burnham's admonition to "make no small plans." But some skeptics have voiced concern about the potential impact of adding almost 5,000 residences to a 28-acre parcel in one of Chicagoland's densest areas.

Whether the

two- and three-level roadways bordering the community on all four sides will accommodate the expected glut of motorists remains to be seen.

Given predictions the number of downtown Chicago housing units could double between 2003 and 2020, a car-free existence may turn out to be the optimal solution for those in Lakeshore East and elsewhere.

But for now, in the giddy afterglow of Millennium Park's unveiling, folks just seem happy to be close to this urban oasis. "I can't overstate how important the park is to the residential development around it," says Andrew Warner, sales and market director of The Heritage at Millennium Park. "It will be Chicago's version of Central Park."