If there’s one thing prospective buyers appreciate, it’s the chance to walk around a finished home. Model units are an essential tool for buyers, and most developments are lucky to have two or three furnished units to show buyers.
CMK Companies’ 1720 S. Michigan, a 33-story high-rise in the South Loop, took this trend a step further, adding 15 fully furnished residences to help buyers visualize their new homes.
“They’re finished units that we opted to furnish,” explains Scott Hoskins, president and managing broker with CMK Realty Corp. “We wanted to represent the different unit types that we have in the building.”
This gives the high-rise an entirely new appeal to prospective buyers, he says.
“When buyers can come in and actually see the furniture and see how things are placed, it makes a huge difference.”
The homes feature 10-foot ceilings with exposed concrete surfaces, floor-to-ceiling windows, stainless-steel appliances and granite countertops in the kitchen, hardwood flooring in the living room and dining room, and a choice of luxury carpeting in bedrooms and dens.
About 55 of the project’s 498 total units are still available for sale. Hoskins attributes the development’s rapid sales success to young professionals drawn to both the value and the architectural appeal of 1720 S. Michigan.
For around $209,000, buyers can secure a one-bedroom, one-bath floor plan; the large three-bedroom, two-bath homes start in the $400s.
Nine residences are built per floor on the first seven levels above the modernly adorned lobby, which features slate, stainless steel and imported woods. The ground level will also offer 8,000 square feet of retail and commercial space, including a planned full-service restaurant.
The building’s garage is tucked behind the tower façade and hidden from view. The six-level garage features 411 indoor, heated parking spaces and 40 outdoor spaces on the roof priced at $36,900 per space. Building amenities include a 24-hour door manager, bicycle storage room, pet-friendly dog run and common-access garden area.
Designed by Brininstool & Lynch, 1720 S. Michigan’s architectural façade showcases horizontal ribbons of concrete and residences with large terraces and balconies with glass railings. In a recent press release, David Brininstool said the Michigan Avenue address “demanded that [the firm] design a building that maintained the street façade and blend with the context of the neighborhood.”
The sales center and models are located at 1720 S. Michigan Ave.; hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
CMK has been active in the South Loop since 1997, and Hoskins says the firm is still as excited as ever about the neighborhood’s prospects.
“Every month you hear about announcements and additional retail and restaurants,” he says. “We saw the potential, and now we’re seeing that potential become reality.”