Chicago Real Estate News & Neighborhood Notes

For luxury, single-family home living on Chicago’s North Side, Wolfram18 brings an exciting mix of new construction possibilities to potential buyers. With just 18 new homes to choose from, buyers can opt for two distinct, multi-level floor plans. 

The north plan at Wolfram 18 is a four-story plan with four-bedrooms and 4.5-baths. This home ranges from around 4,200 to 4,600 square feet of living space. The lower level offers space for a rec room and an office or bonus space, topped off by the main floor and upper level bedrooms. 

The rooftop level makes room for an outdoor terrace and a media room. The slightly smaller south plan at Wolfram 18 also offers four-bedrooms and 4.5-baths, but this particular plan is around 3,800 square feet in size.  

Chicago’s new Lincoln Yards neighborhood aims to be the city’s newest high-profile mega development, promising an impressive collection of parks, green spaces, office towers, and residential high-rises once finished. And although the project is still just in its earliest stages, surrounding development is already well underway. 

According to a recent report from Crain’s, a team of developers has already converted an old industrial building next to the Lincoln Yard site into apartments, and this same group also just ponied up another $15 million for the former headquarters of Anixter Center just down the street at 2032 N. Clybourn.  

The investments are a big bet on Lincoln Yards coming to fruition, which if completed, will ultimately transform the

Another big name is coming to Chicago’s Fulton Market. Guinness recently announced it plans to open up a new brewery, pub and restaurant in the neighborhood.

The company has its eye on a former railroad depot on North Morgan Street. According to Guinness officials, customers will be able to indulge in Irish pub food, plus several beers will be made on site.

The idea is to collaborate with local brewers and chefs to bring a taste of Chicago to its beer and food selections. The Fulton Market location is the second place in the US for the iconic Irish beer brand.

In recent years, Guinness also opened up a production brewery close to Baltimore. The Chicago property, however, will operate a 10-barrel brewing system, which is much smaller in size than the other

Despite questions over the pandemic and office space demand moving forward, it appears the Fulton Market building boom is set to continue, according to a recent report from Block Chicago.

Earlier this year, Chicago’s Committee on Zoning lifted a ban on residential development north of Lake Street, providing new opportunities for both developers and new home owners and renters to become part of Chicago’s hottest neighborhood.

For years, residential construction was prohibited around the Kinzie Corridor Overlay District near Fulton Market thanks to all the industrial companies and meat packing facilities that once dominated the landscape.

That landscape, however, has since evolved and not Fulton Market is where you’ll find many of the city’s trendiest

In case you missed it, the 14,260 square foot penthouse on the 89th floor of Chicago’s Trump Tower officially hit the market last month for a cool $30 million. Not surprisingly, the newly available penthouse is now the highest-priced condo currently on the market.

The current owner, Sanjay Shah, the CEO of Hoffman Estates-based software company Vistex, paid $17 million in cash for the unit back in 2014, which at that time was also just a raw space. According to a report in the Tribune, Shah never actually moved into the space but did finish off the unit with walls and ceilings.

Even with those improvements, the opportunity to make it your own is still there, adding significant appeal to a luxury buyer looking for a truly customized living space.

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The housing market in the Chicago-area has been booming, but recently released data shows the market could be easing up from what we saw over the spring and summer seasons. From January to June of 2021, the median home sale price in Chicago’s nine-county metro area hit $300,000.

According to data from the Illinois Association of Realtors, that’s up more than 16-percent when comparing the first half of 2021 to the first half of 2020. The data also shows homes were on the market between March and June of this year for about 38-percent less time. In addition, the market saw about one-third fewer homes even listed for sale during those months.

Despite all of the figures, some experts say the early 2021 enthusiasm could be cooling. They say they’re starting to

A decision from the Chicago Committee on Zoning a few months ago could have a far reaching impact on development in Fulton Market. The committee approved an ordinance last spring which lifted a ban on residential development north of Lake Street.

That decision was quickly reinforced by a similar vote from the full City Council. In lifting the previous construction ban, it gives approval for new residential development in the Kinzie Corridor Overlay District.

That’s an area bound by Carroll Avenue, Ogden Avenue, Hubbard, Wayman and Halsted. Residential construction had previously been banned in the area, as it was mostly restricted to hotel and office buildings.

Over about the past ten years or so the area has changed over from an industrial, meatpacking

Last year was a year of changes for many, and perhaps most notably among homeowners who are now working from home. With many employers opting for remote scheduling during the duration of the pandemic, employees have started reevaluating where and how they live, and according to some statistics, nearly 40% of those workers still don’t know if they’ll be gong back to the office any time soon.

As a result, workplace flexibility has become a top priority for many of America’s workers, which not only gives them the freedom to live where they want but also an opportunity to move to a place where they’re happy and more productive.

It’s because of the new work from home phenomenon that many housing markets across the country are booming, creating serious supply

Newly released figures show new home sales up for the month of August. The data comes from new reports credited to the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the US Census Bureau.

On a monthly basis in August, new home sales were up  more than one-percent over July’s revised rate of 729,000. For August of this year, sales of new single-family homes were at an annual, seasonally adjusted rate of 740,000. Still, when comparing year-over-year, the August 2021 rate of new home sales was more than 24-percent below the estimate of 977,000 for August 2020.

The new report puts the median sales price of new homes sold this past August to just over $390,000. In comparison, the average sales price for the same time period was more than $443,000.

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Mortgage rates have moved even lower thanks to the COVID-19 delta variant continuing to spread at a rapid pace. According to the latest figures, 30-year fixed mortgages spend a considerable amount of time under 3% last month, and 15-year fixed mortgages remained at historic lows.

As of early August, Freddie Mac reported the following national average for mortgage rates, making now about as good of a time as we’ve seen in decades to renovate a home, refinance an existing mortgage, or purchase a new home:

• 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 2.77% during the first week of August, falling from 2.8% the week prior. Around the same time last year, 30-year fixed mortgage averaged 2.88%.

• 15-year fixed mortgages averaged 2.10% during the first