Real estate news & trends
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Videos at YoChicago’s primary YouTube channel have been viewed more than two million times. To put that number in some perspective, YoChicago videos – all of them local – have been viewed more times than videos at Coldwell Banker’s heavily-promoted national YouTube channel, which had 1,904,699 views as of a ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on January 28, 2012
This is the second in a series of videos from my recent drive around Lincoln Park with David Nadler. In the first video we looked at lakefront high-rise condos renting at what Nadler deemed bargain prices compared to managed apartment buildings in the area. In this video Nadler takes me ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on January 27, 2012
The spectacular duplex penthouse at 445 E North Water St was listed for sale at $4.89 million when I toured it with Prudential Rubloff’s Prudential Rubloff‘s Joanne Nemerovski several years ago. A year later the price had fallen to $3.49M, and the riverfront property was in foreclosure. It sold for ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on January 27, 2012
The Thorndale Beach North Condominium, 5901 N Sheridan Rd, was pictured as the home of Bob and Emily Hartley in the 1970s Bob Newhart Show. The scene at the building currently resembles an episode of the Jerry Springer Show, according to a recent post at Marina City Online and posts ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on January 27, 2012
The market for downtown Chicago apartment towers has been active lately, and River North has been the strongest submarket. EnV, 161 W Kinzie, sold recently for a heady $483,000 per unit. Flair Tower changed hands at $87 million, $439,000 per unit. One Superior Place sold earlier this year for $320 ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on January 27, 2012
The documents prepared to nominate properties or districts for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places are often wonderfully entertaining reads. It’s a pity that so very few of them are available online. The following quotes are taken from the submission for the Belden Stratford, 2300 N Lincoln Park ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on January 27, 2012
Chicagoans love their two- to four-unit buildings, with the three-flat being one of the more popular configurations. According to the US Census Bureau’s American Housing Survey, nearly half a million metro Chicago housing units are in two- to four-unit properties, and one in five of those units is owner-occupied. The ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on January 26, 2012
In newspaper terminology, this is an evergreen story – one that recurs regularly. It’s had multiple variations over the decades, and the latest comes to us via David Roeder at the Sun-Times: The Kennedy family, partnering with a major development firm and an internationally renowned architect, is crafting plans to ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on January 26, 2012
It was August of 2008 when we last looked in on Kennedy Estates, 4810 N Lavergne in Jefferson Park. Six of the 22 2-bedroom, 2-bath units had been sold in the $280s and $290s, and the remaining units were priced from the $310s to the $360s. Pre-construction prices in 2006 ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on January 26, 2012
Our first mention of The Flats on LaSalle was in a round-up story on condo bargains nearly six years ago, and our most recent, in August of 2010, reported the filing of a $7.2 million foreclosure suit against the property. You can read my take on the apartments in the ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on January 26, 2012
Our unusually mild weather is contributing to rapid progress on the construction of K2, K2 at K Station, a 496-unit, 34-story rental high-rise in Chicago’s Fulton River District. Click the panoramic view, above, for a closer look at the activity on the site just after 8 this morning. You can ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on January 25, 2012
Crain’s Chicago Real Estate Daily is reporting that Bond Cos., a local developer, is planning a mixed-use development on the site of a former Chernin’s Shoes warehouse on the block bounded by Canal, Taylor, Clinton and Roosevelt Rd on Chicago’s Near West Side. The proposed development would include approximately 200,000 ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on January 25, 2012
What a difference five years makes! Five years ago today we were – Reporting the imminent start of construction at Aqua Touting 1349 S Wabash as our deal of the day Focusing our radar on some new Lincoln Park developments Embedding video of the developer’s fantasies for Roosevelt Collection Illustrating ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on January 25, 2012
A prime DePaul location contributed to the successful sellout of a newly-built six-flat at 2421 N Racine Ave back in 2006 and 2007, at what now seems to be “what were they thinking” prices. Four-bedroom (two on the lower level), 3-bath duplex down units with 2 garage spaces sold for ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on January 25, 2012
David Nadler makes a strong case for the proposition that condo rentals are often bargain-priced in the current market, especially at this time of year. In this video, the first of a series, Nadler takes me on a driving tour of the eastern stretch of Lincoln Park, chatting about some ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on January 24, 2012
Five years ago today we were reporting on the Olympics: Mayor Daley intends to build an Olympic Village whether the 2016 Summer Olympic Games come to Chicago or not, the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune report today. This should come as no surprise. The Olympic Village will leave the ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on January 24, 2012
Looking back to 2007 it’s now clear that a cottage industry of home builders overbuilt the market for new single-family homes in the $1 million and up range. Prices collapsed for a while, and speculative new construction – homes built without a buyer in hand – came to a virtual ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on January 24, 2012
John Wozniak, the 2011 president of the Home Builders Association of Greater Chicago and president of Chicago area home builder J. Lawrence Homes is looking toward 2012 with much anticipation. Based on activity in their seven new home communities, here are four trends J Lawrence Homes sees emerging this year. ...
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Posted by sponsored post on January 23, 2012
Dan McDonough, the marketing director for Planned Property Management, has been searching for that video that goes viral. He’s tried adopting the persona of a talking hot dog, taken pies in the face, donned a Schwarzenegger mask and even played kissy-face with a sheep. Will Dan’s latest – Shit girls ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on January 23, 2012
David Adler was one of the most prolific and prominent architects and designers during the era of the “great American house,” and the North Shore suburb of Lake Forest is a showcase for some of his best. Adler’s clients were often willing to spend lavishly on detailing even the outbuildings ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on January 23, 2012
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