Chicago Real Estate News & Neighborhood Notes

While Chicago’s luxury real estate market seems to be red hot with several new condo developments in the works and a number of high-end apartment towers having just been completed in recent months, sales prices for Chicagoland’s top 5% of listings have actually dropped by about 3.9% from the first quarter of 2014 to $1.491 million. Although the price drop is relatively minimal, it’s also very intriguing given the bottom 95% of Chicagoland listings saw average sales prices jump substantially by nearly 12%, or to about $265,000.

The analysis, which was originally conducted by national real estate data company and brokerage Redfin, isn't all bad however when it comes to the Windy City’s luxury segment of the marketplace. In terms of the average days on

The South Loop real estate market is once again picking up steam, meaning more restaurants and things to do are also popping up all over this up-and-coming Downtown Chicago neighborhood. Yesterday, Eater Chicago brought those already living in the South Loop more good news, with Belly Up planning to open by summer’s end.

For those who haven’t heard, Belly Up will be an authentic, Texas and Kansas City barbecue joint once officially making its debut, which couldn’t be more perfect for the South Loop given the lack of top-notch barbecue options in the area.

According to owners Nick and George Tsoukalas, Belly Up will offer a pretty casual and fun atmosphere with country music playing in the background, but aside from that, the decor and design of the

As first reported by our friends at ChicagoArchitecture.org, the new 34-story high-rise at 833 N. Clark is now officially underway, marking the beginning of two residential high-rises that are set to begin construction sometime during the month of June.

Obligated to incorporate the historic Georgian Revival style bank building that sits on the site as part of an agreement made with the city to revive this landmark-status structure, 833 North Clark is a pretty unique project that, when finished, will have eliminated yet another surface parking lot in the city, providing even more residential retail and residential space in one of the hottest neighborhoods in the entire city.

In all, the new 833 N. Clark development will stand 380 feet high, house 392

Although Downtown Chicago’s luxury condo market seems to be making a strong comeback—see 4 E. Elm, 9 W. Walton, and 100 W. Huron—news about Circa922 being sold $75 million, or around $500,000 per unit, suggests the luxury rental market doesn’t appear to be going anywhere any time soon.

According to a recent report from Crain’s, Clarion Partners looks to be acquiring the 149-unit apartment building over in the West Loop—a location that, along with being extraordinarily hot over the past several years, should continue to attract renters will the opening of 1K Fulton, an ambitious new office project that will soon be the Chicago home of Google.

The entire Circa922 development includes an older, 45-unit building along with the new 10-story, 104 unit tower

Six months after Shake Shack’s Chicago debut in River North, a second downtown location is now officially open for business. Located inside the new Chicago Athletic Association Hotel at 12 S. Michigan Avenue, the new Shake Shack will be situated on the hotel’s ground level, and will actually be one of the first things you see upon entering the hotel lobby. And if you’re worried about a fast food chain ruining the character and appeal of the historic 1893 Venetian-Gothic building in which both the hotel and Shake Shack call home, the design and decor inside the restaurant blends in seamlessly.

The restaurant’s booths have an old-fashioned art deco look and feel, while the ceilings, moldings, and marble floors are all a testament to the building’s

Since the record breaking sale of the penthouse at Trump Tower Chicago, it’s been a little while since we’ve checked in on some of downtown Chicago’s most expensive properties on the market.

As of today, just 10 listings are currently active on the Chicago real estate market for $10 million and over—appropriately enough—and as you can see below, some like the single-family mansion at 1547 N. Dearborn and the penthouse at 189 E. Lake Shore Drive are relatively familiar to those of us working in the industry every day, while others like the 7,100 square foot, full-floor condo at 9 W. Walton only just recently hit the MLS®.

Despite the luxury market being extremely hot right now in Chicago, when dealing with this sort of price level, it’s of course common

In case you missed it, units for the luxurious new No. 9 Walton development have officially hit the MLS®, opening the door for anyone who might want to get in early at one of Downtown Chicago’s newest luxury condo towers in the Gold Coast.

As of today, just 6 units are listed on local MLS®—one 2-bedroom, two 3-bedrooms, one 4-bedroom, and one 5-bedroom. Prices for listed condos at No. 9. Walton range from $1,950,000 for the 1,950 square foot two-bedroom to $12 million for the 7,089 square foot five bedroom.

News for the No. 9 Walton condo project only broke back in March, so developers are wasting little time getting each of the 67 total planned residences on the market and ready for buyers to act. In all, No. 9 Walton, which will be located on the

Changes are coming to the state’s most popular tourist attraction, and a new ordinance that was just introduced by Mayor Emanuel is raising some eye brows. According to reports, visitors to Navy Pier this summer will now be able to consume and carry open containers of alcohol both inside and outside the pier, as long as patrons purchase the alcohol there.

As part of the new ordinance, anyone consuming alcohol in or around Navy Pier must be doing so out of a disposable cup that clearly identifies the name of the establishment in which the beverage was purchased. In addition, alcoholic beverages MUST NOT be brought into or consumed inside the Navy Pier parking area or any other prohibited area designated by authorities, with violators faces steep fines

As most of us already know, one of the coolest things about living in Chicago is all the different outdoor events, concerts, and festivals that happen all summer long. From the various neighborhood street fests to all the fabulous concerts in Grant Park, there’s nothing quite like summer in Chicago, and we can’t wait for this year’s season to begin.

Although any list of great summertime activities in Chicago is hard to narrow down, one of our favorite things to check out every year are all the free concerts at Millennium Park and the Jay Pritzker Pavillion. Referred to as Downtown Sound, this series of incredible musical performances will actually be held on Mondays and Thursdays this year—an expansion of what was previously just Monday evenings in

Memorial Day is one of the best holiday weekends of the year. It’s the unofficial kickoff of summer, the weather is still somewhat mild, and it’s of course the perfect time to honor all those brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice while protecting our country’s freedom.

Nobody knows how to celebrate Memorial Day Weekend quite like us Chicagoans, and there’s no better way to kickoff the annual festivities than attending the nation’s largest Memorial Day parades in the Loop. But along with that, there’s usually a long list of events, activities, and things to do during the long 3-day weekend, and 2015 is certainly no different.

For our reader’s convenience, here’s a short list of things going on in Chicago over Memorial Day Weekend 2015, and