From yesterday’s Chicago Tribune:
A key parcel on the south end of Chicago’s Magnificent Mile appears headed for redevelopment in an ambitious project that would include a high-end hotel, condominiums, offices and stores between North Michigan Avenue and Wabash Avenue.
The National Association of Realtors’ board of directors unanimously voted Monday to move forward with a preliminary plan to replace the group’s headquarters building, 430 N. Michigan, and space to the west with 1 million to 2 million square feet of building and plaza space, Stephanie Singer, a spokeswoman for the association, confirmed.
According to Inman News, the “Rockefeller Center-like” project may reach a height of 93 stories.
The Realtors building currently occupies a small part of the project’s footprint, but it controls the key Michigan Avenue access point.
This is the first announcement of a project of this scope in nearly a decade. Is it a sign of more to come?
Good golly I hope there is more to come.
I still think there is a lot of pent up demand for residential in Chicago’s central area. There has been only moderate job growth, which is the major thing holding it back. Also, recent news that the condo market has reached a 16 year inventory low just fuels speculation that more projects have got to be ready to rise.
I don’t think we will see a 1999-2009 phenomenon again (over 200 skyscrapers in one decade), but I certainly think the engine will keep humming along.
What is not being discussed, however, is the demand for cheaper rentals in the city. Developers are almost always going to build for the highest end of the market (downtown, Gold Coast, $2.50 /sq ft and beyond) or the lowest end of the market (heavily subsidized projects on the south side), but what about all that meat in the middle?
I suspect that there are tons of people who would like to rent in the city but don’t want to pay premium prices, yet still want to be in a safe neighborhood. The small time investor still has a lot of opportunities in the city, the problem being that it’s becoming increasingly difficult to snab a cheap property these days.
I agree. It seems like all new condos are being marketed as “luxury”; perhaps the most overused word in real estate.