“Right now, we’re just kind of glued in place,” says Gail Lissner, vice president of Appraisal Research Counselors, in a new Crain’s article about the state of the downtown condo market. According to ARC’s latest report, 111 new condos and townhomes in downtown Chicago (bounded by North and Ashland avenues, Cermak Road, and the lake) sold in the third quarter, putting developers on pace to about 600 sales for the year.
One of the developments mentioned by name in Crain’s story is 235 Van Buren, a building that happens to be one of our clients. 235 has reported 20 sales over past year, Crain’s says, but it still has some factors working in its favor:
“There are fewer and fewer competitors every quarter,” says Colin Kihnke, president of CMK Development Corp., the Chicago-based developer of a 46-story tower at 235 W. Van Buren St.
Buyers have signed contracts for about 460, or 64%, of the building’s 714 condos and closed on roughly 40% of the units, he says. With about 250 condos left, CMK isn’t out of the woods yet, but it has plenty of time to get the job done. The project’s construction loan doesn’t come due until 2013, including extensions written into the loan agreement, Mr. Kihnke says.
In addition, 235 W. Van Buren offers lower-priced units that appeal to first-time buyers, the strongest segment of the market. Condos in the building start at $179,900 for a studio and run up to $1.1 million for a penthouse, with an average price of $319 a square foot, according to Appraisal Research.