Chicago Real Estate News & Neighborhood Notes - June, 2015

Most Expensive Home in the Gold Coast Gets More Expensive

There’s no doubt the home for sale at 924 N. Clark Street in the Gold Coast is impressive. And if you like it, there’s also no doubt you’ll have to pay a premium for it— a premium that is actually $2 million more than was it was previously listed for earlier this year.

A contemporary, 15,000 square foot mansion that has 6 bedrooms, 7.5 bathrooms, and a ton of updates and customizations throughout, 924 N. Clark Street has just be re-listed on the market for a cool $15 million flat.

Originally built back in 1916, you’d certainly never know it from the inside, which has been elegantly and tastefully renovated to include some pretty spectacular finishes. On the property is also a private gatehouse and courtyard, which features a large terrace, a marble…

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MILA at 200 N. Michigan Making Progress Towards Early-2016 Completion

The new 41-story apartment tower coming to 200 N. Michigan Avenue is well underway at this point, exciting those keeping an eye on its progress and just waiting for its delivery early next year. Now being called “MILA” (an abbreviation for Michigan and Lake), 200 N. Michigan Avenue is literally just steps from Chicago’s primary theatre district, the Chicago River, Millennium Park, the Magnificent Mile and also the city’s major business and financial district, making it a great walk-to-work location as well.

Designed by bKL Architecture, MILA of course has a pretty sleek look and feel from the outside, not to mention developers are also aiming for a LEED Silver certification for the building once construction wraps up for the project. When finished, 402…

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Construction Well Underway for 298-Unit HoJo Tower in River North

The River North apartment market is about to get a little more crowded as construction for a 38-story high-rise rental tower continues to move forward, replacing the old 71-room mid-century Howard Johnson Motel.

Designed by bKL Architecture, the HoJo Tower will house 298 apartment units when finished, not to mention an abundance of retail and commercial space which should liven up this stretch or River North. In addition, a small public pocket park will also be situated on the west end of the building site—a feature that’s being designed by Kettelkamp & Kettelkamp out of Evanston.

Earlier today, the Chicago Architecture Blog posted photos of the completely demolished, now-empty site of the former HoJo Motel, which will soon be occupied by this…

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Massive 5 Tower Development Could Be Coming to the South Loop's Riverfront

Jaw dropping news from our friends at Crain’s Chicago today, as it appears a development group is looking to build FIVE towers with nearly 2,700 residential units just four blocks south of the Willis Tower.

What would be a joint venture between Chicago-based CMK and Australian construction company Lend Lease Group, the entire project would encompass the 7.3 acre riverside parcel between Harrison Street and the River City condominium complex at 800 S. Wells.

According to reports, the largest of the 5 buildings would be on the north end of the site, standing 47 stories high and housing 626 residential units. As of now, it hasn’t been determined whether the project will include rentals or for-sale housing, or perhaps a combination of both.

Although some…

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Just 1 Unit Remains on the MLS® at The Row in Bucktown

Although our focus tends to be on the downtown Chicago real estate market, every now and then we branch out into many of the surrounding neighborhoods around town should we happen see a great deal or want to highlight a particulate property or project.

While browsing around earlier today, we noticed that only 1 row home remains on the MLS over at The Row—a dynamic new 24-unit row home development located in the heart of Bucktown and just steps from the new 606 Trail that officially opened earlier this month.

Over the last several years, the Bucktown real estate market has exploded, and it’s now one of the hottest areas to not only call home on the west side, but in all of Chicago. If you’re still unfamiliar with The Row specifically, homes here have…

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BUSINESS WATCH: Hotel Lincoln Up For Sale, Could Fetch $70 Million

Less that 2 years ago, Walton Street Capital purchased the 184-room Hotel Lincoln, located at 1816 N. Lincoln Avenue up in Lincoln Park. Now, looking to capitalize on strong investor demand for hotels in Chicago, that same firm is putting Hotel Lincoln back on the market in hopes of making a pretty substantial profit.

After acquiring Hotel Lincoln back in 2013, Walton Street made some pretty significant improvements to the property, which included installing a retractable roof to its rooftop bar, the J. Parker, allowing it to be open all year long.

In addition, occupancy levels and room rates are significantly higher than pre-recession levels, further boosting hotel values throughout the city. According to reports and those familiar with the property,…

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Home Sales Around the Country Up at Nearly Every Price Range

The National Association of Realtors’ recently released their most recent Existing Home Sales Report, which shows home sales in nearly every price range are up dramatically from this time last year.

As noted in the report, five of the six price ranges tracked saw an increase, with the under $100,000 category showing the only decline, down just over 10% from 2014. And those behind the report are linking an overall lack of inventory in distressed properties on the market with that particular decline, which is a telling sign at just how well the market has recovered since the crash.

As for the other categories, home sales in the $100,000 to $250,000 price range are up 9%, home sales in the $250,000 to $500,000 price range are up an astounding 21.2%, homes…

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1336 N. State Now Chicago's 3rd Priciest Listing at $14.5 Million

A new Gold Coast listing is getting a lot of attention from the local media, but when you see its listed for the cool price of $14.5 million, it's easy to see why. Now the third priciest home on the market in Chicago, 1336 N. State Parkway is a stunning 9,000 square foot Georgian-style mansion that’s been fully renovated from top to bottom.

Originally built in 1914, 1336 N. State Parkway is located adjacent to the onetime Playboy mansion in the Gold Coast, while inside, it offers five bedrooms, five bathroom, four half bathrooms, five fireplaces, a library, a fitness room, and even an at-home movie theater.

According to reports, the current owners bought the property in 2013 for $7.13 million, although as mentioned above, extensive updates and…

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Average Sales Prices Down For Chicagoland's Luxury Listings

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…

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Belly Up Smoke House & Saloon Coming to the South Loop

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…

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