Olive Park, which lies just north of Navy Pier, offers some of the best vistas of the city's lakefront skyline. It's also a great place to enjoy a moment of solitude, as our, as our ace photog Michael Kardas was doing when he shot this panoramic view.
On my way over to Joffrey Tower this morning, I took a detour and strolled over to Magellan Development Group's Lakeshore East mega-development. On the northeast corner of the development, the Parkhomes at Lakeshore East are taking shape, and they're finally beginning to resemble the watercolor rendering (at left).
When I visited Lakeshore East back in May, Leila Zamatta told me that first move-ins would begin in July, but judging from these photos, it doesn't look like that goal was met. Zammatta told me that the townhouses to the south, which are shown in all of these photos, will be the first to deliver, while deliveries at the seven-story mid-rise along Upper Harbor Drive (shown in the photo above, at right) will follow later.
There are still plenty of customization options, according to a recent post on Magellan's blog, and buyers can choose from Snaidero or Fieldstone cabinetry, Hansgrohe fixtures, and Sub-Zero, Miele and Wolf appliances. The ten three- and four-bedroom townhouses will have between 3,565 and 3,956 square feet of living space, while the 15 mid-rise condos will have between 2,300 and 3,000 square feet of living space. Prices range from $1.6 million to $2.5 million.
- Rate and review the Parkhomes at Lakeshore East at NewHomeNotebook.com.
A month ago, Yo learned that some homes were still available in Smithfield Properties' Joffery Tower (formerly "MoMo"), located at 8 E Randolph St in the Loop. This morning, while showing me around the building, Jason Pohlonski from @properties mentioned that Smithfield has reduced the prices of the remaining homes within the past week.
Pohlonski gave me an updated price sheet this morning, and comparing it with an older price sheet, it looks like most of the 21 available homes have been reduced by $10,000 to $24,000. The unit that received the biggest price cut is unit 2703, a 951 square-foot one-bedroom / one-bath that faces east. To my surprise, about half of the homes that are still available in the building face east, and many of them are on the upper floors, meaning that they probably have lake views.
Stay tuned for the video Pohlonski and I shot this morning, in which we tour a two-bedroom / two-bath and check out some of the building's common amenities. For now, here are a few photos I shot today.
- Rate and review Joffrey Tower at NewHomeNotebook.com.
So much for that. It seems like only yesterday that we learned of LG Development Group's plans for a new tower in River North, and now it's gone. The Chicago Journal reports this week that LG has withdrawn plans for the 28-story, Hartshorne Plunkard-designed tower at 111 W Chestnut St.
Judging from the Journal's reporting, LG was facing not only a tough economic climate and a contract dispute, but also complaints from some neighborhood residents who believe the area will be too dense once other towers already under construction are occupied. If they're really interested in townhouses, they might want to keep an eye on LG's other big project at the moment, the Row2750 townhouse / condo project at 2750 N Lakewood Ave in Lincoln Park. Construction there should be underway at this point, based on what we've reported in the past. I'll swing by there soon to see what I can see.
Tracking down the green banners advertising 1349 South Wabash Private Residences' sales center was easy enough. Finding the sales center itself proved more difficult.
On Saturday, I took a stroll down South Michigan Avenue, where many South Loop high-rise developers choose to set up their sales centers, regardless of where their buildings will actually be located. By all reports, Wabash Properties was going to move its sales center into the building above, located at 1329 S Michigan Ave, sometime in June. Indeed, there are signs ringing its facade advertising the sales center's model, but all I saw in the retail spaces themselves were the new urban boutique Succezz on the ground floor (under the red awning in the picture above) and a beauty salon on the second floor.
I'm not saying it's not there - in fact, I spoke briefly with a Wabash Properties receptionist yesterday who insisted it is - but if I can't find the front door, how many other customers are having the same problem?
Construction stalled on 1349 South Wabash this summer, but Wabash Properties' Ling Yow told Mark at the time that the tower still might make it up by the end of 2009. The woman I spoke with yesterday said the date of completion is closer to three years out at this point, which doesn't sound too surprising given the current climate, but still seems a little odd, given that 72 percent of the building's 78 units supposedly were under contract as recently as August.
For what it's worth, the competition sounded a lot more confident about 1349's chances than it did about other towers planned for the area. You always have to take the words of a rival sales manager with a grain of salt, but two of the people I talked to at other projects on Saturday said they expected Wabash Properties principal See Y. Wong to ride things out. "That guy seems to have more money than God," one agent said. "I think he'll get it built eventually."
In 2007 we visited the old 1349 South Wabash's sales center with Wong. You can watch the tour of the model and hear a little bit about Wong's plans in the video below.
If you're looking for a home in a brand-new boutique building on or near Division Street in Wicker Park, you have plenty of options. On the other hand, if you're in the market for a modestly-priced rehab, it's slim pickin's. The only conversion that pops up on our list of new Wicker Park condos is 1725 West Ellen, a six-unit building where one-bedroom, single-floor units and two-bedroom duplexes are priced from the $250s to the $370s.
From there, it's a pretty steep climb. The least expensive of new-construction development we've seen in the neighborhood is Vision, RDM Development's 33-unit mid-rise under construction near the Polish Triangle. Two- and three-bedrooms at Vision start in the $440s, which is at least $100,000 less than the least expensive units at any other development on our list.
That makes sense, considering how property values have soared in Wicker Park in recent years. Last winter, Forbes magazine reported that real-estate prices in Wicker Park have grown at a rate of 1,870% since 1990, which should put to rest any lingering questions about the neighborhood's "bohemian" credentials.
- View our list of new Wicker Park condos at NewHomeNotebook.com.
1725 West Ellen, 1725 W Ellen St: Six one- and two-bedroom condos priced from the $250s to the $370s (Rate and review)
Vision, 1624 W Division St: 22 available two- and three-bedroom condos priced from the $440s to the $590s (Rate and review)
Liv Twelve Fifty, 1250 N Paulina St: Three available three-bedroom / three-bath condos priced from the $590s to the $630s (Rate and review)
2028 West Division, 2028 W Division St: Six two-bedroom condos priced from the $590s to the $790s (Rate and review)
1632 - 1634 West Julian, 1632 - 1634 W Julian St: Five three-bedroom / 2.5-bath condos priced from the $650s to the $750s (Rate and review)
1919 West Crystal, 1919 W Crystal St: Nine two- and three-bedroom condos priced from the $650s to the $790s (Rate and review)
I reached 1555 Wabash at the tail end of my South Loop walk-around on Saturday, so I didn't have a chance to get inside New West Realty's sales center and have a look around. Now that the windows are going in on the building's southwest corner, the tower at 1555 S Wabash Ave is really taking shape and starting to resemble the tower we've seen in New West's rendering.
1555 Wabash will have 176 one- to three-bedroom condos priced from the $200s to the $500s, which seems to be in line with or even a little less than almost everything else I visited south of Roosevelt. A couple sponsored articles than ran in New Homes this year said some units would be ready for delivery by the end of the year, but it doesn't look like it's ready for occupancy just yet.
Judging from the photo I took this morning, it looks as if Swain Development is moving forward on an eight-unit condo development at 1846 W Division St in Wicker Park. Construction workers were on site today, and it appears that they're wrapping up foundation work and starting to erect the building's steel frame.
I came across this development earlier in the week while browsing some listings on the Prime Properties Realty Web site. The site has a small rendering of the modern four-story building (at right) and a short list of building features.
According to Prime Properties, all of the two-bedroom / two-bath condos will have about 1,650 square feet of living space and will be priced from the $690s. Floor plans posted on the site show large balconies and terraces attached to each home. The nearest comparable development I can find in Wicker Park is Ranquist Development's 2028 West Division (PDF), where two-bedroom / two-baths are priced from the $590s to the $790s.
None of the homes in this building are listed on the MLS, and I haven't been able to reach either the developer or anyone at Prime Properties, but I hope to have more to report on this development soon.
- Rate and review 1846 W Division St at NewHomeNotebook.com.
The timetable for Piedmont Group's Glashaus has shifted several times over the past year, a point of concern among some Yo readers who say they've signed contracts there. Nevertheless, @properties is keeping the sales center open, and its staff maintains that the project is on track to deliveries in 2010. On Saturday I dropped by Glashaus' Michigan Avenue sales center to take a look around. In this video, agent Sabrina Bier points out some of the tower's features and walks me through a mock-up of a one-bedroom condo.
Glashaus, planned for 1327 S Wabash Ave, will have 27 stories and 260 units when complete. According to a price sheet I picked up at the sales center, 102 - or roughly 38 percent - of the high-rise's homes are under contract. The remaining stock ranges from a one-bedroom / one-bath priced in the $240s up to a two-bedroom / two-bath with den priced in the $740s. (Both of the building's three-bedroom penthouses, which were priced at more than $1 million, are spoken for, according to the price sheet.)
While authentic lofts are becoming an endangered species in certain North Side neighborhoods, D'Aprile Realty has a few two- and three-bedroom lofts at 6300 S Woodlawn Ave in Woodlawn, with prices starting in the $220s. Abiodun Dickson from D'Aprile started marketing the project five or six months ago, and he says he's sold more than half of the 12 units in the building.
One-bedroom lofts at 6300 South Woodlawn originally started in the $150s, and have since sold out. Dickson says the two remaining two-bedroom / two-bath single-floor units are priced in the $220s and the $240s, and the three remaining duplexes are priced from the $250s to the $300s. The duplex units have two bedrooms and two baths, and between 1,326 and 1,952 square feet of living space.
According to the D'Aprile Web site, the lofts have "plenty of Room for a huge drop chandelier and large pieces of art," as some of them have ceiling heights as high as 25 feet. Each home comes with a 16-foot-wide balcony.
The development is located just two blocks from a Metra station, and about seven blocks from the nearest Green Line station. It's closer to the University of Chicago than many points within Hyde Park, and is also just a short walk to Jackson Park and the 63rd Street Beach.
- Rate and review 6300 South Woodlawn at NewHomeNotebook.com.
- View our list of authentic timber and concrete lofts at NewHomeNotebook.com.
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