What's Hot
in Housing

Value-oriented lofts are hot, which is to say that the right product in the right location at (most importantly) the right price will sell well. During the last two years, the attitude of builders has been, if you build it, they will come, and for the most part they’ve been right. But competition has become fierce, and buyers have become quite sophisticated. These factors combined with a rapidly expanding loft resale market and a gradual slowdown in overall sales will surface some slow selling projects during 1999.

“Soft” lofts in which ceilings and walls have been covered with drywall and bedrooms are fully separated will remain hot in ’99. The level of finishes and amenities in loft developments continues to be raised.

Lofty layouts are hot in new construction, where the influence of loft style has been remarkable. It’s an oddly postmodern exercise to build new housing to look like old factories, but buyers are hooked on loft living. Higher ceilings, open floor plans, large windows and in some cases even exposed ductwork and ceilings are hot in new construction. River Bend, a new highrise planned for the West Loop, is offering a “loft-style” option on its new high-end condos, with 11-foot ceiling heights and exposed ductwork and concrete ceilings.

Condo conversions have been notably scarce during the current boom, largely because the rental market has performed so well. During the conversion spate of five or six years ago, landlords went condo as an exit strategy to escape high vacancies and red ink. The coming passel of conversions is motivated instead by high potential profits for builders. They see a deep pool of renters who will take advantage of low interest rates and quick delivery times to become buyers and avoid today’s high rents. It remains to be seen if bargain basement prices win buyers over in some of the second-rate, cosmetically rehabbed buildings at the lower end of this phenomenon. Watch for heavy investor participation in these deals (i.e. people with cash buying up 10 or 20 units to rent out or sell later), which can result in lower resale value down the road.

Affordable townhomes will be hot in ’99 - if you can find any. Rising construction costs coupled with new city requirements affecting open space and density have lowered developer profits and resulted in higher prices. “Unfortunately, people who want a so-called `affordable’ townhome are really priced out of the market,” says Dan Mahru of Rezmar Development. “There aren’t going to be townhomes that are ten feet apart and we jam 35 of them onto an acre. So the person who wants to buy a townhome for under $200,000 - there just aren’t going to be any in the city.”

Three-bedroom condos marketed as “stacked townhomes,” or some version of this may emerge as a hot alternative to traditional townhouses in 1999. Such product has sold well everywhere from Dearborn Park II to the Pointe at Lincoln Park and may be part of developments with some traditional townhomes as well.

The city, for the first time in decades, is hot. So hot that suburban builders have moved into Chicago and the exodus of residents has slowed to a comparative trickle. Tracy Cross & Associates recorded sales of 3,059 new housing units in significant developments within the city limits during the first three quarters of 1998, a 17.25 percent share of sales for the metropolitan area. By comparison, Cross reported 1,060 new homes sales in the city during the first three quarters of 1995, or 7.24 percent of metropolitan area sales.

Parking is becoming extremely hot. Indoor garage spaces in most new developments range from $17,000 to $30,000. Car port units at Reliable Lofts in Lakeview (covered but outside) are $15,000, while garage spaces at Union Square range from $23,000 to $26,000. River Bend, a new highrise planned for 327 N. Canal, is charging $30,000 for a parking spot. Look for more “lifts” like the optional ones at Fulton Station. A garage spot at Fulton costs $17,800, and an $11,000 hydraulic lift allows buyers to park a second car underneath the first. You effectively get two spots for the price of, well, a small summer home in northern Wisconsin...

“New” neighborhoods will be hot in 1999, according to builders, who generally think the earth ends at Irving on the north and Western on the west. While residents of the Northwest Side and the West Side will be surprised to learn the neighborhoods where their parents bought homes 40 years ago are “new,” lower property values in outlying neighborhoods will lure development and buyers to places where there has been little new building.

The South Side especially is hot after having been ignored by developers for half a century. Near South development, spreading out from the South Loop, has sparked interest in areas farther south, where acquisition costs are low. The Chatham Club, which sold 120 single-family homes at 89th and Indiana in less than a year, established a good track record, as has the Thrush Companies’ South Side developments. Lake Shore Point, a 150-unit townhome project by Shore Bank Development will be the first new community in South Shore in 30 years. Will it be hot? Garry Benson, who’s handling marketing, says he got 150 calls the first week.

$1.5 to $3 million homes near Armitage in Lincoln Park sell as quickly as they’re built, according to Koenig & Strey sales agent Sean Conlon. The cost of lots in the heart of Lincoln Park has driven home prices through the roof. West Lakeview offers a comparative deal; what’s hot in Roscoe Village are homes in the mid to high $500s.

Condos over the store will be hot in 1999 because the zoning allows developers to build extra-wide units, nearly lot line to lot line, an attractive feature for buyers.  Parking is usually included, and people don’t seem to mind the locations on busy streets, such as Lincoln, at least not while the market is this hot.

What's Not

Rough lofts, the kind that offer an extremely basic product akin to the artists’ lofts the genre began with, are not hot. Even the new lofts that have exposed heavy timber beams and brick walls offer a high level of finishes, advanced sound attenuation and a long list of amenities. Lofts, to the chagrin of some loft lovers, are becoming less and less loft-like.

Lofts on the Northwest or South sides are not something developers want to test. They still see these areas as single-family home markets, where lofts would not sell. A new project is underway in Bronzeville on the Near South Side, and another is slated for 22nd and Archer, but these seem to be aberrations more than the start of a trend.

New high-end highrises cater to a relatively small club in Chicago, even with the amount of wealth generated in recent years. With luxury highrises such as the Park Tower, 2120 Lincoln Park West, the Bristol and River Bend in the pipeline, the slot for such upper-crust towers may be full.

Delivery times are tepid at best in 1999 as developers struggle to ready the backlog of units they sold in ’98 and ’97 for occupancy. Many recently sold homes are not scheduled for occupancy until well after the millennium and given recent poor weather and a high demand for tradesmen, many will be even later than expected.

Uptown has been touted as “hot” and “up-and-coming” for so long, you have to wonder. The rule to follow here is, if you like the neighborhood the way it is now - a truly mixed-income lakefront community with terrific architecture and colorful streets - it’s a good place for you to buy. If you’re banking on the neighborhood gentrifying, don’t hold your breath.

The city building department is icy cold, according to developers, who are grunting endlessly about delays on building permits. Though most are reluctant to comment on the record, they say lengthy delays have gone from nuisance to serious obstacle.

Front-loaded garages, the kind that face an unfriendly row of garage doors onto neighborhood streets, are not hot, to the dismay of some builders. The opposition of neighborhood groups and a new townhome ordinance make this arrangement more difficult to pass in new developments. Not only are such designs the antithesis of urban life, the curb-cuts they require eat up parking and make navigating public sidewalks difficult.

Outlying suburbs are likely to get colder, if not in ’99, then after the millennium. As housing analyst Tracy Cross points out, the center of employment in the area has remained along a corridor near O’Hare airport, while new housing developments have pushed farther and farther into farm country. Commuting times have become unbearable, making both the city and close-in suburbs more attractive.

Chicago Public Schools, although undergoing major reform, are not even warm. A poor perception of public schools continues to be the biggest albatross hanging around the city’s neck. A housing boom and massive public works projects are rejuvenating much of the central city, but what will young homeowners do when the kids hit school age? Private and parochial schools will remain an option for some, but many will move to the suburbs after their five-year taste of urban life in a loft condo.

Traditional households, if such things ever existed, are increasingly cold. Divorce and the aging of the baby boomers has resulted in more single-member households, while immigrants are becoming an important force in the first-time home buyer market in some parts of the country, including Illinois.

Potholes promise to be anything but hot in 1999, although mechanics who are good with suspension might be in high demand. The brutal cycle of heavy precipitation and plunging temperatures that rang in the new year has scarred the city’s aging roads.

Asian Beetles are extremely cold right now, which makes them ripe for extermination on the blocks where they were discovered killing trees last year, primarily in Ravenswood on the North Side. Though it’s yet to be determined how the disappearance of trees will affect property values on certain blocks, early indications are that most homes in the infestation zone won’t seriously be affected, given the number of salvageable trees and the potential of replanting.

What's Hot in Design

“Simple abundance”  is hot, according to designer Mary Cook, of Mary Cook and Associates. She describes this approach in contrast to the opulence of the ’80s, as placing a premium on quality and elegance, but also on simplicity. Joanne Siciliano, a senior designer at Riha Design Group agrees that clean lines and a modern look that is simple and more modern is hot in furniture. “It’s also using one wonderful accessory that really make a statement, as opposed to a bunch of pieces,” Siciliano says.

Earth tones are still in, according to Mary Cook, whose advice is, “Take your favorite color and add mud to it.” She sees wood tones, natural maples and spice tone woods, such as cherry, being hot in ’99. Oak is fading, she says, though it’s still popular flooring in many developments. Joanne Siciliano, of Riha Design Group, says a little bright color will go a long way: “We’re doing a lot of neutral backgrounds and then splashes of bright color. You might do the sofa in something neutral, then the chair that goes with it in red, punches of color but nothing overwhelming.”

Brown. You heard me, brown. Designer John Robert Wiltgen points out that interior design follows fashion and although he says the trend won’t show up in design magazines for maybe two years, brown will be hot in ’99. “A while ago we were doing bright South Beach colors and three or four years later, furnishings followed, but stuff in magazines is not nearly as timely as people would expect.” What kind of brown, you ask? “It’s a yucky, flat brown, but depending on what you package it with, it’s the newest neutral.”

Brushed concrete counters, all seem to agree, are the hottest new element in the kitchen, especially if it’s a loft kitchen. The product is durable, rustic and easy to work with. It is easily poured, colored with pigment and it has no seams.

Unusual flooring, ranging from bamboo to new natural stones is hot. Frosted glass in kitchen cabinets, allowing silhouettes to show through are hot, as are stainless steel appliances.

Mig and Tig, 549 N. Wells, has become the design store of choice for many buying new construction, according to Joanne Siciliano, of Riha Design Group. The store, which features a lot of iron, weathered wood and other rustic-looking materials is all the rage.

What's Not

Ostentatious decor is definitely out, according to designer Mary Cook. If the ’80s were all about spending money and having it show, the ’90s are about spending even more money to look like you spent no money. Buy your sports utility vehicle at $35,000, so you can drive a status symbol but lay claim to earthiness. Similarly, large Whirlpools, spiral stairs, and anything too bright, busy or showy is out.

White laminate, which was standard for so long, is no longer hot in kitchens. The white “Euro-style” kitchen has disappeared in favor of cabinets with wood fronts.

Low ceilings have not disappeared but the hot trend in new construction, encouraged by the loft boom, is to provide ceilings of 10 or 11 feet where the budget allows.

Carpeting is not a hot item and is being replaced with hardwood even in bedrooms at some developments. If carpeting is used, it’s something unusual - textured or woven, according to John Robert Wiltgen.

Black marble, once very popular is on its way out, according to sources, and slate may be soon to follow. “Slate has gone bananas,” Siciliano says. “They’re using so much of it now, that we’re trying to come up with something different in stone flooring and use other natural stones.”