It’s being billed as the first new high-rise in Hyde Park in more than 30 years – and this spring, buyers will get first crack at Solstice on the Park, the new 26-story tower planned for 5526 – 5540 S Cornell Ave. We spoke with Waveland Kendt, the sales manager with @properties, about the project today; he shared a few specifics, as well as the plan to ramp up marketing in the next couple months.
In the months since we first described Solstice on the Park’s unique green design (angled windows shade living spaces from the summer sun, for example), a few more renderings have been released from Studio / Gang / Architects, the project’s designer. Together they paint a rather impressive view of the project, which is planned for a vacant parking lot in the South Side neighborhood.
According to Kendt, developer Antheus Capital eschewed the one-bedroom units that traditionally form the bread and butter of many high-rise projects. Instead, the smallest unit is a two-bedroom home totaling about 1,500 square feet, and the largest bumps 3,500 square feet. The model, which Kendt expects to be open this spring, will be a 1,900-square foot, three-bedroom unit.
Solstice on the Park will comprise 145 units, and prices start in the low $500s and top out near $2.3 million. The development’s Web site offers only a tantalizing teaser and a registration form – but expect that to get a lot more interesting in the next couple months.
“The fact that there has not been recent development in high-rise living is very exciting for us,” Kendt says. “We really feel that there’s a pent-up demand, and this is going to sell very well.”
At this point, Solstice on the Park will break ground in late fall 2008 and begin delivery in 2010.
I like how the Brady family dropping off groceries in front of their new home. Yeah, like that’s going to happen. 🙂
I, too, was wondering WTF with the SUV in the middle of the highrise’s front lawn.
I live down the block from this. Maybe it’s just the rendering, but I cannot imagine a building less appropriate to its surroundings. I love the idea of a highrise there–I’m no NIMBY–but this one? Ugh. I can see it in west River North. For the life of me, I can’t picture it here in HP.
I’m glad for once that somebody didn’t misjudge the Hyde Park market for unit sizes. Bigger units with wall space will do very well.
Hyde Park Tower Apartments and Montgomery Place were both built in 1990, which is within the last 30 years.
The Monte Carlo fits in so much more than the building…
First high rise CONDO in 30 years? Montgomery Place is senior care building; Hyde Park Tower Apts are, well, apartments.
Good call – you all got me. I regurgitated Waveland’s comments a little too warmly, it seems, with respect to Solstice’s prominence in the history of Hyde Park’s high-rises. First CONDO high-rise would have been more appropriate.
Truce?
Actually, you’re ALL wrong. I think it should be the FIRST EVER condo tower in HP. Everything else was built as rental. Wait, I think Cornell Village was condo from the start.
Heh, I’ll let those who know more about HP slug this out.
It will make a fine indoor driving range some day.
In the building rendering, either the cars are facing the wrong way or the stop sign is.
Yes, if the rendering is that much on crack–stop signs facing wrong, SUVs in the middle of the lawn–how well will the actual product turn out? Maybe (hopefully) after they build it it will fall down.
I think the price point is really not attractive for this location. Ok, the view of the museum is cool, but not $550K for a 2BR (wo parking?), far from a lot of things.
For all the lecturing we get from the peanut gallery on the benefits & ‘forward thinking'(barf) of modern architecture, what are you getting here? They are using cheaper design and material and charging you more for it – yep that is ‘forward thinking’ – it’s called Value Engineering.
Everything about the project, the building style, the sparse drive-up, etc. oooozzzzes, “I bought this overly priced cheap thing to make people think I am hip…now lets go to IKEA to buy some quality furniture”
One other thing, aesthetically, don’t these architects design these buildings assuming people will live in them? They may think it looks great in an 10×12″ rendering, sleek – clean, but just wait until people move in and start piling crap up in the balcony and windows. Those balconies and window scenes are going to have a huge case of the crapolas.
You also have to love the privacy factor. I can see it now, families on an evening stroll, gazing at the building, “Hey dad, check it out, what Mitch is doing to Biff?”. Start your dueling banjos now 🙂
I’ll be the first to stand up and nominate Jeff for the spam filter. Can I getta witness?
Clever…feel free refute any of the points with your opinions.
Ecker, I’ll second that.
Jeff doesn’t qualify for the spam filter. He contributes knowledge from time to time.
I think that high rise condos like these will be hit hard due to the incoming supply; 6000 plus downtown condos will come on the market in 2008 and thousands more in 2009 before this building is even half way done. Prices will be falling.
Alan,
Eighty percent of those 6,000 units for 2008 have already been sold.
And what do downtown units have to do with the Hyde Park market anyway? That’s traditionally been a very, very distinct market. Not many people are asking “Hyde Park or downtown?”
Joe, do you have any recent data on how many of those have been immediate resales or flips? I remember some Fannie data that indicated something like 25%+ were 2nd home+ purchases????
Jeff,
The only solid data we have comes from Appraisal Research Counselors, which doesn’t pretend to solid knowledge about flippers.
What we get is a fairly detailed data set that’s made available to the press. ARC’s fee-paying clients get access to far more detailed data – that’s another way of saying that developers and lenders know an awful lot more about the market than people pulling numbers out of the air.
Anyone can order a copy of the most recent quarterly report from ARC for $2,000.
Joe- I agree that these have traditionally been distinctly different markets, but I would also argue that residential high rises in the loop and south loop didn’t exist in these numbers 10 and 15 years ago. I think that the high rise condo market as a whole will be affected by the downtown boom (and what I estimate will be an oversupply) in that buyers to some extent will be comparing high rises alike. If they can get a $400k 2000sqft 3br/2bth of equal quality in the south loop, they will take it over a a $550k 2br/2bth in Hyde Park. Not everyone, but many.
I like the driving range comment, it does look like a 26 story driving range.
500K without a parking spot is very expensive. Sustainable living should cost less money.