Real estate news & trends

News from around the Web - 5/25

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ChicagoDowntown / Loop

Video from a West Loop groundbreaking for new luxury apartments

Pat FitzGerald

The Madison on Racine, a new 216-unit apartment complex held its official groundbreaking yesterday and I was in attendance. According to architect Pat FitzGerald, the project marks “a significant change in the West Loop, a large rental building in an area that’s seen mostly condo development up until now… there’s ...

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Posted by Joe Zekas on May 24, 2013
ChicagoNorth Side

Tour a Southport Corridor townhome that has everything you want

3543 N Bosworth

The Southport Corridor has become one of Chicago’s most sought-after neighborhoods, and it’s easy to see why. The pedestrian-friendly streets are packed with restaurants, bars, boutiques, coffee shops and new grocery stores. The neighborhood’s tree-lined side streets offer a wide variety of housing options, with a great deal of new ...

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Posted by sponsored post on May 24, 2013
ChicagoDowntown / Loop

The Park Michigan apartments, an outdoor living paradise

Women's garden, South Loop

Residents at Park Michigan Apartments enjoy a South Loop location that’s hard to beat. The intersection of Roosevelt Road and Michigan Avenue provides across-the-street access to Grant Park, and a pleasant stroll past the Art Institute to Millennium Park. The Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium and Adler Planetarium are immediately east ...

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Posted by sponsored post on May 24, 2013
ChicagoDowntown / Loop

The easiest way to find a River North apartment

Garrett Ripley

We recently noted that JDL Development had apparently begun work on a new 216-unit apartment tower and that Smithfield Properties had gained Plan Commission approval for its 290-unit development. If you’re looking to rent an apartment in River North, you can see all of your managed apartment building options on ...

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Posted by Joe Zekas on May 24, 2013

Quote of the day – rapacious widows and orphans

Donald Trump

Upon hearing of Donald Trump’s legal victory over an 87-year old Evanston woman, I couldn’t help thinking of a quote attributed to Sam Block of Jenner & Block. At the time I was there, firm legend had it that Block viewed a lawyer’s role as “defending poor helpless corporations against ...

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Posted by Joe Zekas on May 24, 2013
ChicagoDowntown / Loop

An up-to-date South Loop apartment availability list

The Lex, Chicago

Chicago Real Estate Daily is reporting that American Invsco has emerged as the winning bidder for a package of properties that includes The Lex, a 296-unit apartment building at 2138 S Indiana. Invsco wouldn’t confirm speculation that it might convert the building to condos. If the building were to convert, ...

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Posted by Joe Zekas on May 23, 2013
ChicagoDowntown / Loop

A 235 Van Buren commute, via water taxi to Michigan Ave

Chicago Water Taxi

The award-winning Ralph Johnson-designed condominium tower at 235 Van Buren in Chicago’s Loop is transit-oriented development at its best. A CTA Brown and Purple Line station is just around the corner, Union and Ogilvie stations and the CTA’s Red Line are a few blocks away, and 235 has some of ...

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Posted by sponsored post on May 23, 2013
News & trendsMarket conditions

Has the Chicago housing market slowed down?

Starbucks on Rush

The following info came via email yesterday evening from Redfin: Redfin today published a report analyzing the speed of the real estate market and found that Chicago is the 19th fastest-moving market among Redfin’s 22 markets. Things are heating up across the country, but in the last month Chicago saw ...

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Posted by Joe Zekas on May 23, 2013

How Terry found Susie Schechtman and her new home

Terry and Susie

When Terry decided to relocate to the city from the northern suburbs, she followed a now-classic path: a Google search that led her to a helpful real estate site – SeeChicagoRealEstate.com. Terry was unsure of what neighborhood she wanted to live in, but the website quickly connected her with Susie ...

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Posted by sponsored post on May 23, 2013
ChicagoDowntown / Loop

Groundbreaking tomorrow for 216 apartments at Madison and Racine

The Madison on Racine, Chicago

Construction is underway on 216 new apartments on the northwest corner of Madison and Racine in the West Loop. The official groundbreaking ceremony will take place tomorrow at 11 a.m. The Madison on Racine will be a 9-story luxury midrise with a mix of convertible, one- and two-bedroom apartments and ...

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Posted by Joe Zekas on May 22, 2013
DealsChicagoDowntown / Loop

Two free months at EnV – a sign of a softening market?

EnV Chicago

Renters at EnV in River North might be envious of the views (and closet space) enjoyed by residents of nearby buildings. Will residents of those buildings envy new EnV renters their discounted rent? EnV recently circulated a “hot sheet” to brokers offering two months’ free rent on 12-month leases on ...

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Posted by Joe Zekas on May 22, 2013
ChicagoDowntown / Loop

LEED Platinum home back on the market in West Town

1404 W Ohio Chicago

The 3-bedroom plus den, 2 ½ bath home at 1404 W Ohio St in West Town is LEED Platinum certified. As you’d expect, the LEED certification implies a raft of green features. The 2,039 square foot home is on a 25 x 125 lot and is listed at $735,000. Following ...

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Posted by Joe Zekas on May 22, 2013
ChicagoDowntown / Loop

111 West Wacker and two other busts

111 W Wacker Chicago

Viewed from the Merchandise Mart, busts of John Wanamaker (left) and George Huntington Hartford frame the construction underway at 111 W Wacker. The site was a bust as the Waterview Tower condominium. It was acquired last year by Related Midwest, and is coming back to life as a 59-floor, 504-unit ...

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Posted by Joe Zekas on May 22, 2013
ChicagoDowntown / Loop

Top-tier downtown apartment rents up 26% since 2009

K2 pool

From yesterday’s Crain’s Chicago Real Estate Daily: Effective rents at top-tier, or Class A, buildings rose to $2.63 a square foot in the quarter, up 1.9 percent from the fourth quarter and 5.2 percent from a year earlier, according to Appraisal Research Counselors, a Chicago-based consulting firm. Effective rents, which ...

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Posted by Joe Zekas on May 21, 2013
ChicagoNorthwest Side

Construction underway at Cornelia on the Park

Cornelia on the Park

Two townhomes were under construction at Cornelia on the Park when I stopped by the site late last week. The 3-bedroom plus den, 3-bath, 3-story units have two-car garages and are priced from the mid-$400s. The site plans offer a variety of options, including configuring the den as a fourth ...

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Posted by Joe Zekas on May 21, 2013
ChicagoSouth Side

From the vault – Solstice on the Park

Aerial view of Jackson Park / Hyde Park

The page for Solstice on the Park at Studio Gang’s website dates to 2006. We published the above model tour and the following overview of the building exactly five years ago today. We checked in on the status of the project, which has an enviable location fronting Jackson Park, in ...

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Posted by Joe Zekas on May 21, 2013
North ShoreWilmette

Wilmette’s well-fed birds – and squirrels

Hunter Rd, Wilmette

Some suburbs are obsessive about preventing their citizens from placing anything in the public parkway abutting their property. That’s not the case in Wilmette, where you’ll see the occasional instance of a resident’s having temporarily or permanently commandeered the space between the sidewalk and the street for an idiosyncratic installation. ...

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Posted by Joe Zekas on May 21, 2013
ChicagoDowntown / Loop

Gold Coast terraces and roof decks

Gold Coast rooftop

I love visiting rooftops and looking out on how Chicagoans have decked out their rooftops and outdoor terraces. The spaces run the gamut from the starkly utilitarian to the brashly baroque. Last Saturday I was on the roof at 100 E Bellevue Pl in the Gold Coast and shot pictures ...

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Posted by Joe Zekas on May 20, 2013
ChicagoDowntown / Loop

Site prep underway for River North apartment tower?

Engine Company 42

JDL Development’s website anticipated breaking ground on a new 26-story, 189-unit apartment tower at 212 W Illinois in the spring of 2012. A year later, it appears that the River North project may be underway. A demolition permit was issued a month ago for the one-story building on the site, ...

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Posted by Joe Zekas on May 20, 2013
ChicagoSouth Side

Tour the Sutherland model apartments in Hyde Park with the designer

The Sutherland

The Sutherland, 4659 S Drexel Blvd in Hyde Park / Kenwood, was built as a hotel and briefly converted to a military hospital. Its most famous incarnation, however, was as a music venue frequented by some of the greats of jazz music. When the Sutherland was recently converted to luxury ...

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Posted by sponsored post on May 20, 2013