(Update – 11/16/2009: According to developer Jacob Bletnitsky, the final tally for sales was 46 units.)
This afternoon I attended the Michigan Avenue Tower II auction at the W Chicago – City Center in the Loop. Buyers packed one of the hotel’s event rooms at 1 p.m. to vie for 43 condos at the tower, located at 1400 S Michigan Ave. Being an observer, I had to stay in the lobby and watch the proceedings from a video feed, but that gave me a chance to talk to some of the agents who stopped by out of curiosity.
I got the sense that these homes sold for more than many had expected — “The developers have to be thrilled with this,” I heard one agent say. The units sold for an average of $276 per square foot, down 26 percent from an original average of $375 per square foot. In all, sales surpassed $11.2 million.
Below is a breakdown of every sale, put together from my notes. View, download or print the spreadsheet through Google Docs.