While several planned condo developments around town are delaying the start of construction, and others seem to be postponed indefinitely, @properties sales agent D. Waveland Kendt seems upbeat and optimistic about the prospects for Solstice on the Park, the 26-story Studio Gang-designed tower planned for 5526 – 5540 S Cornell Ave in Hyde Park.
“We like our traffic and we like our sales,” Kendt says. He says the numbers look just fine, considering that sales began around Memorial Day.
When pressed for some details, Kendt offers a story instead.
“There are two developers for the project, and they each bought a unit,” he says. “One bought a south-facing unit because he wanted views of the Museum Campus and the park, and the other bought a north-facing unit, because he wanted the city views.”
That means at least two of the units in Solstice have been sold.
Kendt says ground will break in the spring. Back in the winter, we had written that construction would begin in the fall of 2008 and delivery was scheduled for 2010. This should move deliveries to a later date.
Watch my video tour of the Solstice on the Park’s sales center with Kendt from May. The second part of the Solstice tour is here.
– Rate and review Solstice on the Park at NewHomeNotebook.com.
Right, because developers or brokers would never lie about sales numbers. Do you have Andrius Augunas & partners on line one, and American Invesco holding on line two?
Jeff,
Nothing in what was said here justifies your cheap shot.
Oh CoAu contraire, mon frère. Your kidding right? Have you not been paying attention to, oh say one of the most incredible real estate and credit crisis in our lifetime?
You ask for sales numbers and they give Mark the old “well the developers from the project each bought a unit”, and this is supposed to excite the masses? Big deal, show me a big development where the developer has not bought a unit. And this is all after the subtle note that the developer has already blown a milestone on construction start for a project that was just approved. (they already knew the market was in trouble)
Listen, most like sales updates, but in light of the fraudulant issues coming out in the real esate & finance industry, for you to not expect people to question the numbers of any project is humorous, but not surprising.
My snide comment was not directed at Mark; I give Mark Boyer’s writing credit, he is not afraid share the in between the line thoughts, vs. spreading the cheese. I meant to jest in the direction of the developers snappy rebuttle for sales status.
Jeff,
I’m not kidding. You equated an evasive answer with a lie. That’s a low blow without any basis.
Have you been paying attention? This wasn’t a post about a real estate crisis. If there are fraudulent issues here that you’re aware of, state them. Not everything is a hook for you to nurse your personal grievances against real estate developers as a class.
“You equated an evasive answer with a lie. That’s a low blow without any basis.” Wow, you are full of one liners today. Read how the story is written; with recent news, you are the only one not asking that question?
Joe, do you not read your own links? You linked the various development stories about Rokas, 2520, etc. some of them sponsored articles and then later link the stories of the corruption, fraud, and then you try to make it out as personal grievances…brilliant change of direction, better than a Michael Jordan crossover dribble.
Give it up, Jeff. Nothing we linked has anything to do with this post on Solstice.
Unless you have some facts to offer about Solstice that call into questione what we posted you should hang your head in shame.
I’m not the only one who thinks you’re being unfair here.
Word on the street in Hyde Park is Solstice may not happen.
Edgewater….sssshhhhhhhhhh….remain calm, all is well! (think Kevin Bacon in Animal House)
Edgewater,
So then it’s settled – we can rely on “the word on the street in Hyde Park …”
If you’re going to make stuff up, is that the best you can do?
It’s not made up, that is what the scuttlebutt of the neighborhood is saying Joe. Notice I say word on the street with irony, but the talk in Hyde Park is it won’t happen. Obviously the developer isn’t giving off confidence that the neighbors are buying into.
Edgewater,
Thanks for conceding that you have no facts to offer about the state of the development.
Here’s my non-ironic take: a couple guys told me that they heard from some other guys that the word on the street is that the scuttlebutt of the neighborhood isn’t giving off confidence that anyone should buy into.
I’m skeptical about any large development that hasn’t broken ground yet actually breaking ground anytime soon. Although as I walk and bike around various north side hoods I am amazed at the number of smaller developments still breaking ground.
That being said because of the lack of competition in Hyde Park for new construction I imagine Solstice has a good chance of being a “go”. Add in an architect with buzz and I’d say the chances are higher than Sarah Palin making a coherent statement. Not a good example, yet I hope I made my point.
Another point about “word on the street”. Around 1990 or 1991 I co owned two adjoining six flats with my brothers in Lakeview. I was doing some sort of work there and was likely filthy with dirt. Maybe I was just cutting the grass. Some “guy in the know” came up to me and started telling me the buildings were going condo because that was “the word in the neighborhood”. I told them they weren’t and he harrumphed “how would YOU know”?
I think my answer was “because I own the building”. That says all you need to know about “word on the street”. The buildings were sold in the late 90’s so my one brother could invest in vacant land in Bronzeville. We thought he was nuts. Turns out we were. At least that’s the word on the street.
irishpirate,
Maybe your brother wasn’t letting you in on his iplans …
The word on the street isn’t always just il-informed – it;s often deliberately misleading, spread by competitors or someone with an axe to grind.
Hyde Park has always been the most cautious market I’ve seen in Chicago. Every new development takes much longer to sell in Hyde Park than it would in other parts of town.
Joe,
my brother was very open about buying lots in and around Bronzeville. We could have joined him or bought lots on our own. They weren’t hard to find at prices in the mere thousands then. By thousands I’m talking single digits if my memory is correct. Low single digits.
He just took an educated guess and a bigger risk. I don’t believe he told his wife until he started to sell them. Brave man that he is. It worked out well for him. I’m only whining because I did ok compared to his doing ridiculously well. I don’t begrudge him at all. Well maybe just a wee bit…………ok WEE bit.
Joe, that’s not always true, 1700 (56th Street) was according to – can’t remember the company’s name – the realtor’s ads at the time – the fastest selling conversion (I can’t say if they meant that time or ever of course). I think a lot of the problem of slow sales is that developers often misjudge the market – product that sells elsewhere won’t in HP-K, especially in high-rises. Solstice has smartly gone for large units, both in room count and square footages.
But a lot of projects don’t go through in Hyde Park, one proposal to redevelop a church has gone through I think about six scheme’s and nothing has ever come of it – and it had nothing to do with local objections in this case, which happens often in HP-K.
But I don’t know why you have an issue hearing the local gossip. That’s what is being said at neighborhood gatherings. So if you don’t like it, well, tough.
Edgewater,
Unless I’m missing something I said “new development” and you’re talking about a conversion (by Draper and Kramer, as I recall). I think it was several years before that project was fully sold out, although most of it did sell quickly.
Back in the late 70s I did some of the legal work on The Newport condos, 4800 S Lake Shore, for the developer. It seemed like the project sold out in a heartbeat, so I’m well aware that some things do sell rapidly in Hyde Park – Kenwood.
I don’t have an issue with hearing local gossip. I have an issue with lending it any credence.