Real estate news & trends
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New East Side
About a year ago the inventory of MLS-listed downtown Chicago rentals reached stasis and we stopped tracking it on a weekly basis. A correspondent’s suggestion that the market for MLS-listed rentals was a lot softer this year than at the same time last year prompted us to do an updated tally. The data don’t lend ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on March 28, 2013
Architects are generally sensitive to the context in which their buildings will be situated. Building renderings and photos, however, rarely show the context, or offer only a limited glimpse of the surroundings. This panoramic view of the north side of the Chicago River, seen from upper Wacker Drive, illustrates Optima Center‘s distinctive presence on this ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on March 22, 2013
Stephanie Konow and Katie Bommarito are former rental services agents who grew frustrated with that business and set out to connect Chicago tenants directly with landlords by founding Chicago Rentals Direct. Eighteen months ago they led me on a tour of the six rental high-rises in the New East Side neighborhood – the area bounded ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on January 22, 2013
The Coast, a 49-story mixed-use glass tower at 345 E Wacker Dr in the Lakeshore East area of the New East Side, is slated to contain 515 apartment units, 18,000 square feet of amenities and 18,000 square feet of retail space. The Coast’s design by bKL “in the tradition of Chicago modernism” has spawned a ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on January 11, 2013
A recent fly-around of downtown Chicago afforded views from above of many of Chicago’s outdoor pools, and set me to wondering which ones were the highest. I’ll offer my nominations for that group, and hope for corrections from readers if I’ve missed or misstated any. Chicago’s highest outdoor pool, as best I can determine, is ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on September 25, 2012
In the torrent of words that’s been written about Aqua’s balconies, I haven’t seen any mention of the fact that they’re almost completely unused. The balconies pictured above on the highest floors of Aqua face north and have spectacular views along the river and over the north side of the city. Michael Kardas shot the ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on September 20, 2012
The Coast (center left, above) and 500 North Lake Shore Drive (center right, above) have both reached their full height and are proceeding toward planned occupancy next spring. If all goes according to plan the 49-story, 499-unit Coast, 345 E Wacker, will open in February, making it the first of half a dozen new high-rises ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on September 12, 2012
The Coast, 345 E Wacker Dr, is about two-thirds of the way toward its ultimate 49-story height. It appears to be on track to meet its targeted completion date of February 2013. When it’s complete, The Coast will include 499 apartments, 18,000 square feet of retail space, 18,000 square feet of amenities, and parking below ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on May 23, 2012
Renters often begin their apartment search with a fixed notion of what they’re looking for. All too often their expectations are dashed – the size apartment they seek with their desired amenities simply isn’t available in their preferred location at a price they’re able or willing to pay at the time they want to move. ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on April 6, 2012
Most Chicagoans are thoroughly enjoying the recent record high temperatures. Most, but not all. We’ve heard that twenty-something rookie renters in a number of high-rise buildings are whining loudly about the temperature in their apartments. They’ve also threatened to move to hotels until the heat wave passes, and deduct the cost from their rent. At ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on March 22, 2012
If you have tales you’d like to share from your apartment hunt, add them in a comment or email yojoe at yochicago dot com. Here’s the fifth report from my veteran renter correspondent. Stay tuned for more. And note that we don’t vouch for the accuracy of any of these tales, nor do we try ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on February 13, 2012
Here’s a good test of what you prioritize and value in your next apartment. Consider a convertible studio and a 2-bedroom, 2-bath in two different buildings in the same location at the identical rent. Some will opt for far more space and an extra bath, some for the sexy architecture and the scene at a ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on February 2, 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 the start of construction at ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on January 25, 2012
Six years ago Yo was writing this about the Park Millennium, a 52-story condo conversion at 222 N Columbus Dr on the New East Side: Carrie McCormick of Centrum Properties, which is doing the conversion and selling the units, tells us Centrum is averaging 49 sales a month. The project has been selling since April ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on January 20, 2012
If you’re in the market for a high-end rental on Chicago’s New East Side you have options in two very different buildings in the complex: Aqua and 340 on the Park. Aqua is a mixed-use building with a hotel on its lower floors, rental apartments in the middle and condos on the higher floors. Unit ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on December 16, 2011
We’ve updated our list and map of downtown apartment projects that are proposed or under construction to add several recently-announced projects and update the status of several others. If all of the projects on our list were to be built, more than 10,000 new apartments would be added to the downtown Chicago market. Projects encompassing ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on December 6, 2011
Site work on the Coast at Lakeshore East, 345 E Wacker Dr, began in June of 2011. When it is completed in February 2013, the 49-story Coast will include 499 residential apartments, 18,000 square feet of retail space, 18,000 square feet of amenities and parking located below Wacker Drive. Pedestrian access will be from Wacker ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on October 30, 2011
The Chicago Architecture Blog recently stopped by the newly-opened
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Posted by Joe Zekas on October 13, 2011
The Coast will definitely not be clear. The new 499-unit 45-story rental tower that’s coming out of the ground at 345 E Wacker Dr as part of the Lakeshore East development will, as you can see from some of these photos, negatively impact the views from a number of existing high-rises in the area. North-facing ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on October 3, 2011
A 2,440 square foot, 2-bedroom, 3 ½ bath unit high up in Harbor Point that has been available for sale just came on the market as a rental, for $4,300 a month. The sale price was $1.2M when we first wrote about it, but was subsequently reduced to $1.05M. The unit has extraordinary views of ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on September 7, 2011
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