I fully expected Saturday’s weather to reflect the mood at the South Loop’s various open houses, but I found most sales agents to either be in legitimately good spirits or able to fake some smiles for a few minutes. Surprisingly enough, I caught only one sales center attendant napping during the course of the entire afternoon.
As I mentioned in my One Museum Park West update, one of my first stops was by The Columbian, located at 1160 S Michigan Ave. The Columbian isn’t the newest kid on the block, but it still has enough unsold inventory to warrant an on-duty sales staff all seven days of the week. Most of the tower’s available homes are 1,231 to 1,800 square-foot two-bedrooms priced from the $450s to almost $1.1 million.
The sales associate who showed me around said The Columbian has been popular primarily with two demographics: the “boomer” set, most of whom wanted second homes on Michigan Avenue, and young professionals looking for places close to their downtown offices.
Its “traditional” angle may not be everyone’s bag – the all-brick building not only looks a little staid and stuffy, but even a little weathered compared to other new-construction towers – but I can’t argue with the attraction of its eastern units, even on a cloudy day. Since it’s on the northern side of Roosevelt, it tower has clear sight-lines to the park and the lake, and although the the One Museum Park towers are just a couple blocks away, they don’t come across as obstructions.
– Rate and review The Columbian at NewHomeNotebook.com.
