August 2015

Aside from 4 E. Elm and 9 W. Walton in the Gold Coast, much of Chicago’s new development news in recent years has largely related to luxury rentals, but according to reports, an ambitious new luxury condo project could be making its way over to the West Loop if River North-based Taris Real Estate has its way.

Earlier in the week, DNAinfo.com broke the news about plans for a striking new 10-story condo development proposed for 900 W. Washington over in the West Loop neighborhood, which currently occupies a small, one-story office building.

In short, the project would only include 24 ultra-high-end condo residences with anywhere from two to five bedrooms and a price point starting at more than $500 a square foot. Included in the development would also

Chicago will once again take over your tastebuds and palates while giving you a break from funnel cakes from August 28 - 30 at the inaugural Chicago Food + Wine Festival sponsored by "Food & Wine Magazine." Sponsors of the festival have brought in culinary titans from Chicago and across the nation to indulge and delight patrons with cooking demos, cocktail seminars and the Grand Tasting Pavilion where more than 90 wine, spirit and artisanal food vendors are stationed. 

Unlike other food festivals, the culinary gurus here want you to stay, watch and learn their trade. Trouble pairing the correct wines with your dinner? Not a problem here with several seminars on how to correctly combine the flavors. After jotting down some notes and and tossing back

It’s OFFICIAL! The Chicago Plan Commission has now approved plans for a shiny new 22-story mixed-use tower over in River North that will include 251 high-end apartments and 12,000 square feet of retail space.  

Plans for the new JDL project, which will eventually replace the Ed Debevic’s restaurant in the neighborhood, was first unveiled back in April, but uncertainty about whether or not the project would move forward grew when local officials made mention of the incredible amount of new apartments flooding the market, specifically around the downtown area.

But as demand continues to maintain for high-end rentals in downtown Chicago, construction continues to move forward for a wide-range of large-scale projects, which now includes the Ed Debevic’s

With summer slowly winding down and the traditionally busy fall market right around the corner, we thought now might be a good time to check-in on some of downtown Chicago’s most expensive condos currently on the market.

As of today, August 21st, some familiar units still occupy a place on this ultra-elite list—like Vince Vaughn’s immaculate 5-bedroom penthouse at The Palmolive Building, for example—while plenty of new construction units inside some of Chicago’s most dynamic new condo buildings are also still available.

The extravagant, 7,100 square foot full floor residence with 2,750 square feet of outdoor space at the spectacular new No. 9 Walton building is listed for a cool $12.5 million, while the raw full-floor penthouse at the Ritz Carlton

Recent data released from CoreLogic is showing that all cash sales are continuing to decline not only in Chicago, but also around the country as well. According to the report, cash transactions have been on a steady downslide for about 29 months, with recent figures from May showing about a 3% decrease year-over-year, bringing the total percentage of all cash home purchases to about 31.9% nationwide.  

In Illinois specifically, cash sales occupied about 28% of the total market share, with traditionally financed purchases seemingly on the rise. As for the city of Chicago, cash sales are still just over 30%, even despite dropping 4.4 percentage points year-over-year in May.

So what does all this mean?

According to research from CoreLogic, cash sales around

It’s been nearly 5 months since plans for No. 9 Walton were first introduced, and now, it appears construction is ready to begin on what will essentially be one of Chicago’s priciest and most exclusive condo developments once completed. Being developed by JDL, reports are now surfacing about construction permits finally being issued for the lavish new condo tower in the Gold Coast, which was designed by Chicago’s very own Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture (HPA).

When finished No. 9 Walton, located at 9 W. Walton in the heart of the city, will stand 35 stories high but only house 66 individual units. According to the developers, the average unit size will be right around 4,000 square feet, providing more than enough space for potential home buyers looking

An update on a luxury single-family home project caught our eye today in Chicago Magazine, which when completed will bring six incredible new single-family homes to a plot of land that was once the home of DePaul University’s vacant Theater School on Kenmore Avenue, just south of Webster Avenue.

As noted, the new homes will range from 5,700 to 9,500 square feet in size, and offer attached two- to four-car garages, top-of-the-line finishes, and even some pretty amazing add-on features like a basketball court or indoor lap pool should the eventual buyer choose. But with all that extra living space and all those lavish interior and exterior finishes, these home in particular come at a premium, with prices anywhere between $3.6 and $6.2 million, or about $2

The Ambassador, located at 1300 N. State Parkway in the heart of the Gold Coast, is one of Chicago’s most elite condominium buildings, even despite not getting the same kind of press as buildings like Trump Tower, the Ritz Carlton Residences, or any number of other luxury high-rises. Regardless of how few people are talking about The Ambassador, its status as an elite building was once again solidified recently, as one of its units has reportedly sold for almost $7 million.

According to Crain’s, the sold unit, which features 6,800 square feet with an additional 1,400 square foot terrace with a private dog run, now holds the crown for being Chicago’s second-highest sale price this year, and the fifth listed property to sell for over $6 million in 2015