Optima Signature apartments, 220 E Illinois St, Streeterville

Optima Signature is a 54-story, 490-unit apartment tower at 220 E Illinois St in Streeterville. It includes 44,000 square feet of office space and 14,200 square feet of retail space and is directly east of Optima Center, which was built by the same developer.

First occupancies were in mid-2017.

DeBartolo Development and Optima Inc are the developers and Optima’s David Hovey is the architect

The apartments

Optima Signature has a mix of studio to 3-bedroom apartments.

Apartments have floor-to-ceiling windows, wide plank flooring, stainless steel appliances, quartz or granite counters and in-unit washer / dryers.

The top 15 residential floors, the “Apex” apartments, have upgraded finishes and 9- or 10-foot ceilings.

Views. Optima has good north, east and south views, and largely unobstructed views from higher floors.

Amenities, services, policies

Optima Signature’s extensive amenities span three levels.

You’ll need to visit the sprawling multi-level amenities at Optima Signature to understand their scale and how they enhance the experience of living there. The wide variety of amenity spaces can accommodate a crowd or an intimate gathering of friends.

Budget a greater than usual amount of time for your tour at Optima Signature, because the amenities are far more extensive than what you’ll see at other new apartment towers. Start with a walk through one of the resident lounges toward the basketball and bocce courts, the golf simulator and putting green, the yoga studio and indoor pool and whirlpool.

Optima Signature has extensive fitness facilities. The lavish men’s and women’s locker rooms have showers, steam and sauna, and towel service.

When you head outside you’ll find larger steam and sauna rooms adjacent to private and public grilling areas.

The sprawling outdoor terraces on the 7th and 8th floors have lush landscaping, hot tubs, an outdoor pool with private cabanas, a variety of seating and sunning options, a playground, and open vistas to the south.

Club 52, on the 52nd floor, is set aside for residents of the apartments on the top 15 floors of the building.

Optima Signature is pet-friendly and has indoor and outdoor dog parks, and grooming facilities. The building has on-site management, maintenance and leasing staff, and 24/7 door staff.

The location

Optima Signature has an attractive location near the southwest corner of Streeterville, a block east of Michigan Avenue’s Mag Mile and a half-mile west of Navy Pier.

Illinois is a multi-level street at Optima Signature. The upper level provides pedestrian access to Michigan Avenue while the lower level accommodates through traffic headed for Navy Pier and the lakefront.

Shopping. Optima signature has excellent access to grocery shopping.

Whole foods is connected to Optima Signature and Target is two blocks east of the building.

A Walgreen’s Pharmacy is a short walk east of the building.

Michigan Avenue’s Magnificent Mile shops begin a block west of the building.

Dining, nightlife, entertainment.
The building’s near-Michigan Ave location is close to River North, and there are literally 100s of dining and nightlife options within blocks of Optima Signature.

Bowling or movie buffs can loft a few over the lanes at Lucky Strike then head downstairs to catch a movie at AMC River East, just east of the building.

Parks, recreation. There is a tree-lined plaza with benches directly across Illinois from the building, Optima Signature is three long blocks west of Navy Pier, Jane Addams Memorial Park, Ohio Street Beach and the Lakefront Trail.

Chicago’s wonderful Riverwalk is a block south of Optima Signature.

Lake Shore Park, which has a running track, softball fields, tennis courts, a playground and a small field house, is half a dozen short blocks north.

Transportation. Access to CTA and Metra train lines is inconvenient from Optima Signature. CTA bus service, via multiple routes, is excellent along Michigan Ave and lower Illinois (one-way east-bound) and Grand Ave (one-way west-bound). Many residents are likely to opt for cabs or Uber as their preferred mode of public transit, and cabs are always plentiful.

Zipcar car-sharing locations are nearby.

Optima Signature has convenient access to and from Lake Shore Drive. Reaching I-90/94 and the rest of the city’s expressway grid can often be time-consuming. Expect near-gridlock conditions when there’s a major event in the neighborhood.

Chicago Water Taxi offers seasonal commuter service between Michigan Avenue and Madison Street, affording future residents a pleasant, low-cost way to reach the Loop and the Willis Tower.

The competition

You’ll find additional options at YoChicago’s comprehensive Streeterville apartment guide. You can see every Streeterville apartment complex on the following map. Click any green icon on the map to view video tours of the property.