While browsing through the “Chicago Homes” section of the Chicago Tribune, Val noticed a buyer incentive at Grand Plaza in River North that we haven’t seen before:
Still renting? Why…. We’ll pay off up to six months of your existing lease so you can buy at Grand Plaza. Spend your summer here!
That’s textbook starter-home enticement, and it seems to be based on an assumption that potential buyers are holding out on luxury condos because they’re locked into rental leases. Because the incentive is tailored to renters, I asked project director Ginny Kronsted if it the incentive was geared more towards some of the more inexpensive units in the building.
Kronsted reminded me that renters and first-time buyers are a group that defy easy categorization because they can fall into a variety of income brackets, which is why the promise to cover six months of rent could cost developer Jaeger Equities as little as a few thousand dollars or more than $100,000 per unit.
Kronsted says there is a limit to how much rent the developer is willing to pay, and that there’s a discretionary fund attached to each condo. For example, the developer will pay up to $30,000 in rent to buyers of a one-bedroom that’s listed at $300,000 (floor plan at right), while the discretionary fund for a 2,500 square-foot bi-level penthouse listed at $1.3 million is set at about $150,000 (floor plan below).
Although the banner in the photo at the top of this post says “Totally Terrapin,” Terrapin Properties is no longer involved in Grand Plaza; Jaeger Equities is now the sole developer. Twenty-four of Grand Plaza’s 284 units are still available, and they are priced from the $300s to $1.3 million.