These photos were taken from Mesirow Financial Real Estate's R+D659, which is currently under construction at 659 W Randolph St in the West Loop. I'm not sure from which floor the photos were taken, but I'd assume that Mesirow's photographer was standing near the top of the 15-story high-rise. R+D659 is scheduled for completion in March 2009.
Jaimie Altman, senior marketing manager for Related Midwest, sent me a few renderings of Peshtigo, the firm's new high-rise planned for 515 N Peshtigo in Streeterville.
The images showcase the 57-story tower's luxury amenities, which include a 75-foot, three-lane swimming pool atop the ninth floor and a club room with a full kitchen. I'll report back soon with updated prices and specs for the Peshtigo, and look for more on this high-rise in New Homes Magazine's April 2008 issue.
Yesterday was a bitter day to be working on a high-rise - even 1600 Museum Park, where construction appears to have reached the parking deck and lower floors.
You can find 1600 Museum Park (1621 S Prairie Ave; a 30-story development by the Enterprise Companies) in our new high-rise guide; it's just across the street from Prairie Pointe.
Recent prices range from the $280s to the $680s for the project's 274 units.
Yep - that's the top of the Trump International Hotel & Tower, peeking over 330 N Wabash in River North.
The weather was nice today, so we decided to head out and snap a few pics of the ritzy high-rise in its natural element. A stop at Chicago Avenue and Halsted Street yielded this photo.
We learned yesterday that Parc Huron, 469 W Huron St, is planning a sustained marketing push this spring. It's been about four months since the development opened its sales center, and we've been jonesing since then for an update on this 21-story high-rise.
We're especially encouraged by the tiny scrap of parkland shown in the rendering above. Since the green space opposite the AMA Building at 515 N State St got torn up last year, parkland in River North has been conspicuously absent - and heartily missed. Yo's readers praised the development's street-friendly design back in 2006, so we'll be watching closely to see how the finished product mirrors this design.
Developer Lennar Urban's Web site has prices starting in the $300s for a one-bed / one-bath unit and topping out near $740,000 for a three-bed / two-bath model.
We still have a ways to go before we see a fully-formed, fully-functional Trump building, but we're starting to hear reports about the views and amenities that are (and are not) available for hotel patrons.
Trib reporter Glenn Jeffers recently spent an evening in the Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago, 401 N Wabash Ave, and filed a report about his stay yesterday.
Trump is hoping to lure in patrons with a discounted rate of $325, and Jeffers says the experience is worth every penny, even if the construction noise left something to be desired.
Although guest rooms only fill floors 14 to 27, they still provide some majestic views, thanks to each room's 10-foot floor-to-ceiling windows. From my 21st-floor king guest room, I could see the "L" tracks stretching down Wabash Avenue over to Lake Michigan. That kind of panoramic view is on par with any other downtown hotel. (Note: Hotel officials knew of my visit, so that may explain the view. Still, we paid for everything.)
Inside, the room is devoid of the excess one expects from the Trump brand, with the exception of daughter Ivanka Trump's jewelry catalog in the magazine rack, complete with order form. (Two words: Tack. Key.)
Many of the amenities Trump has touted to potential buyers are still under construction or running with limited service. Sixteen, the tower's 16th-floor restaurant, just opened, but its outdoor terrace won't be ready until summer 2009. The building's spa and night club are slated to open in mid-March, Jeffers says.
Trump's 486 luxury residences and 339 hotel guest rooms range in size from 530 to 6,800 square feet and in price from the $580s to $9 million.
Approximately 75 percent of those units had sold as of late January.
Thanks to some superb access at 330 N Wabash, we were able to snap these photos of the ongoing construction at the Trump International Hotel & Tower.
High-rise development has its winners and losers, and 2008 will certainly prove to be a watershed year for the entire building community.
For New Homes Magazine's March 2008 issue, we've begun to compile a comprehensive directory of high-rises being developed right now in the city. Along the way, however, it's become clear that - for a variety of reasons - a few of these projects aren't going to move forward as planned this year. Some are off the books entirely; others are simply in a holding pattern, waiting for the right market conditions to move forward.
Here's what we've been able to confirm lately.
And we're hearing rumblings about 2100, Rokas International's high-rise planned for 2100 S Indiana Ave.
The developer has been in dire straits lately, dealing with a lawsuit over unpaid contracts at Motor Row Condominiums and a canceled proposal near the Sears Tower. In the last month, things have gotten worse; the phone numbers to both the sales center and the developer's office have been disconnected, and Equity Marketing Services has confirmed that they're no longer handling pre-construction sales. Even the development's official Web site seems to be offline.
Get a good glimpse of these smiling, shovel-clutching suits while you can, because you may not see many other high-rise projects break ground this year.
As we mentioned earlier, The Enterprise Companies and Mesirow Financial Real Estate broke ground on the south tower of Walton on the Park at 11 a.m. today.
Principals from those companies and folks from Bovis Lend Lease, Corus Bank, Pappageorge / Haymes, Coldwell Banker, The Lord Companies and Baird & Warner were on hand to trowel some dirt and sip some bubbly at the construction site, located at 1 W. Walton St (right across State Street from Ten East Delaware's hole in the ground).
First deliveries in Walton on the Park's south tower will begin in January 2010. Prices for its units run from the $530s to $1.6 million.
It's happening two months later than expected, but Trump's hotel is opening.
The Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago will open for business on Jan. 30, according to Crain's. The hotel's December opening was pushed back from December due to construction delays.
I took a walk over to 330 N. Wabash this afternoon to get a glimpse the Trump model. Sales manager Leah Harriett said the unit wouldn't reflect the curvilinear design of Trump's residential and hotel condos, but insisted that it would give me an idea of their look.
Then she proceeded to tell me that a number of the model's details (especially in the bedroom) were no longer representative of the tower units' finishes, leaving me wondering if the rooms I saw were going to be anything like the real deal. (Is the looped, high-def video of Ivanka extra, or does it come standard?)
The kitchen's Snaidero cabinetry, granite counters and Sub-Zero, Wolf and Miele appliances all looked like the pictures on the Trump Chicago site, as did the bathrooms, so maybe it isn't that different after all.
