Yesterday evening a tipster pointed me toward Jameson’s listing for a 53,635 square-foot vacant lot at the southwest corner of 18th Street and Wabash Avenue, at a price of $5.5 million.
It’s the site of Dynaprop Development’s failed Eco18 project, which was slated to be the first LEED Gold-certified condo tower in Chicago. Eco18’s green features were to include a geothermal energy system with pipes running 450 feet below ground, solar-powered hot water heaters, a 12,000 square-foot garden, energy efficient insulation and plumbing, and parking spaces designated for hybrid cars.
As of early 2008, the building was approximately 25 percent pre-sold, and Jameson was marketing one- and two-bedroom homes with 808 to 1,583 square feet from the $270s to the $650s.
Early in 2008 I visited Eco18 and talked with Rick Turner, the developer. One of our videos focused on the green aspects of the building and their appeal to buyers.
Off camera we talked about the real costs of going for LEED Gold. I penciled out the numbers afterwards and guesstimated that for every dollar a buyer saved in energy costs he’d spend $5 or more in interest payments attributable to the incremental costs of going green.
I wonder how many potential buyers also did those calculations and how much of an impact that had on sales.
I think the residential real estate market crashed. Just like perhaps dozens of other developments, that’s what I think ultimately killed this project.
Add in a less than ideal location, and yes, the higher prices, and you certainly have a formula for failure.