Chicago Real Estate News & Neighborhood Notes

An impressive new proposal is making headlines, as a joint venture between CMK and Australian-based Lend Lease has been unveiled that would potentially bring 900 more housing units to the South Loop, just south of River City.

Already planned by the same developers are 2,700 homes just north of River City on a riverfront site that’s now being called “River South.” If both developments move forward, the entire South Loop landscape could be dramatically different by the time construction wraps up, and that’s a good thing for a downtown neighborhood that was arguably impacted the most by the recent housing crash that started back in ’09.

Complete details about the latest addition to CMK and Lend Lease’s plans are still sketchy, but what we do know is that

Another day, another development proposal for Chicago. According to a recent report from Curbed, a developer has recently unveiled plans to redevelop the large industrial building at Wrightwood and Hermitage in Lincoln Park that was most recently a large outlet store for Tag Furnishings.

If all goes according to plan, Broder Lincoln Park LLC would replace the industrial, loft-style building will two new four-story buildings that would be a mix of both rentals in one building, and condos in the other.

Already surrounded by luxury townhomes and up-scale single-family dwellings, the projects would also offer very spacious residences, with the average size for each condo unit having about 2,500 square feet, and the average rental offering about 1,250 square

Although news about a new luxury tower coming to 9 W. Walton in the Gold Coast only first broke back in March, the upscale condo tower known simply as No. 9 Walton is now already 50% sold despite first units not even expected to deliver until the summer of 2017.

Being developed by JDL and located on the corner of State and Walton, No. 9 Walton is the epitome of luxury living in Chicago’s iconic Gold Coast neighborhood. Its elegant design blends in seamlessly with all the historic and mesmerizing architecture that surrounds this part of downtown Chicago, while inside, only 66 ultra-exclusive residences will be offered over its 36 total stories.

Described by JDL as the city’s first “six-star” condominium development, top-of-the-line finishes and lavish

A report from Crain’s earlier this week detailed some exciting news relating to The Loop—Chicago’s primary business and financial district. Although nothing is official, two major projects are currently in the works, with one tower that’s being proposed for the corner of Clark and Lake Streets potentially standing 83 stories high and housing 600 hotel rooms and 300 apartment units.

Just three blocks west, also on Lake Street, an additional tower is also being planned, which would stand 33 stories high and house an additional 265 apartment rentals. This particular tower is being developed by Thomas Roszak, who has already acquired the two parcels the building would need, and is hoping to break ground in the spring.

The primary advantage of each building

Just when you thought development around downtown Chicago couldn’t get anymore widespread, recent reports are detailing a unique proposal that would bring an ultra-slim, 41-story tower to Michigan Avenue just north of Millennium Park.

According to Crain’s, the new Loop tower would feature a mix of hotel rooms and full-time residences, and in a part of town that seems to be gaining a substantial amount of momentum with the opening of Maggie Daley Park and the announcement of the Mag Mile Apple Store moving further south to around this location, the idea seems to make a lot of sense.

As of now, it’s unclear whether the residences inside the building will rentals or condos, however, early plans call for about 74 units.

Initially, Park Ridge-based developer

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