Back in December, we reported that Sutherland Pearsall Development had lowered the prices on the 32 remaining condos at 550 St Clair, the 112-unit high-rise at 550 St Clair St in Streeterville. Sales have been brisk since then, according to Ron Ruby of Weichert Realtors First Chicago. Thirteen homes have closed, and five more are under contract, Ruby says.

In this market, Ruby says buyers are looking past the bells and whistles to the bottom line. “I think people are tired of incentives, I think people are now looking for value,” Ruby says. “How much am I getting for the money? How does this compare to everything that’s on the market? And it’s always comparing apples to oranges.”

Ruby believes selling the remaining homes at a deep discount makes more sense than auctioning them off, as we’ve seen at several new developments like Vetro and the McKinley Park Lofts.

“My feeling about prices is it doesn’t really matter where you start, because buyers are going to dictate where the market is,” Ruby says. “You can give 80 percent discounts if you’re priced 90 percent too high – it doesn’t matter.”

Most of the remaining homes in the Brininstool and Lynch-designed high-rise are larger three-bedroom condos, but there are still a few studios and one- and two-bedrooms available as well. The three studios have 550 to 650 square feet of floor space and are priced in the $210s; the one- and two-bedrooms are priced from the $340s to the $520s; and the three-bedrooms are priced from the $730s to $880s. Garage parking is $50,000 per space.

Ruby leaves open the possibility that the developer will lower the prices again to “create another buzz,” but he says the remaining homes are already priced well below the competition.

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