$1 million-plus market for new condominiums thrives in Chicago Whether you have
a paltry $1 million to spend, or as much as $16 million, Chicago’s
luxury condominium buyers have plenty to ogle these days. If you hurry,
you still can grab a posh residence in the mammoth 661-unit Trump
International Hotel & Tower or at the elegant Ambassador, a development
of 38 luxurious condominiums under construction within the walls of
the renovated Ambassador West Hotel, 1300 N. State Parkway. For new construction,
try 50 E. Chestnut, a boutique 39-story highrise planned for 34 luxury
condominiums on the southern edge of the Gold Coast, or the Lakeview,
an “ultra-luxury” development in Lincoln Park planned for
about 220 units in three high-rises and a group of “city mansions.” Sales have boomed
at Trump Tower Chicago, so it is no surprise that “the Donald”
recently replaced office space with residential units, bringing the
total to 461 luxury condos and 200 “pied-a-terre” hotel
condominiums. “No project
in Chicago has ever reported contracted sales of more than 300 units
in less than three months,” boasted Charles Reiss, senior vice
president of the Trump Organization. Trump Tower, www.trumpchica-go.com,
now offers hotel condominium guestrooms and suites priced from $542,000
to $1.8 million. The residential condominiums are priced from $673,000
to more than $15 million. Amenities at the
90-story Trump Tower, scheduled for ground breaking on the site of
the Chicago Sun-Times building this summer, include designer European
kitchens and baths and 10-foot floor-to-ceiling windows with views
of the city, the Chicago River and Lake Michigan. Designed in 1918
by the renowned architectural firm of Schmidt, Garden and Martin,
the historic Ambassador may provide some more down-to-earth luxury
housing choices, said developer Fernando Leal, managing partner of
L3 Development. The legendary
Ambassador Hotel opened in 1924. Over its 78-year history it welcomed
royalty, celebrities (including the likes of Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett
and Ronald Reagan) and served as a backdrop to some of Hollywood’s
most famous Golden Era movies, including North by Northwest starring
Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint. The newly renovated
building, www.ambassadorsales.com, features many one-of-a-kind residences,
ranging from a two-bedroom, 2.5-bath condominium with 2,031 square
feet to a four-bedroom 4.5-bath duplex penthouse with media room,
5,913 square feet and a rooftop terrace. “Condominium
sales at the Ambassador have been strong,” Leal said. With nearly
half of the residences already sold, including two $4 million penthouses,
base prices currently range from $1.095 million to $4.73 million.
All homes include at least one parking space, and penthouses include
two spaces. Construction now
is well underway at the corner of State Parkway and Goethe Street,
and the first residences are scheduled for completion in September
of 2004, Leal said. A model condominium is on display at 66 E. Oak.
Nearby, at 50
E. Chestnut, sales got underway in mid-March for 34 deluxe residences
in a 39-story new “boutique condominium building” one block
west of Michigan Avenue’s “Magnificent Mile,” on the
southern edge of the Gold Coast. Jameson Development
LLC is planning one luxury residence per floor, with approximately
3,550 to 3,905 square feet of posh living space and two outdoor terraces
per unit. Pre-construction base prices at the project, www.50eastchestnut.com,
range from $2.2 million to $2.9 million. Construction is expected
to begin this summer with first deliveries anticipated in about 16
months. “Since there
are a limited number of units, 50 E. Chestnut will be a very intimate
building where residents will have plenty of privacy, something that
you don’t get in a sprawling highrise where there are 200 to
300 units,” said Charles Huzenis, president of Jameson Development. The Lakeview,
a posh new highrise and mansion development in Lincoln Park, is designed
by architect Lucien LaGrange to be the city’s ultra-luxury boutique
condominium development, with prices ranging from about $1 million
up to $16 million for the largest penthouse. Developer Nicholas
S. Gouletas said that the Lakeview, planned for the three-acre former
Columbus Hospital site, at 2520 N. Lakeview, is attracting top corporate
executive buyers from the Gold Coast and Lincoln Park as well as wealthy
empty nesters from the North Shore. “About a
third of the residences already have been sold during a very quiet
sneak preview held in an unfinished sales center at the hospital,”
Gouletas said. Plans call for
a maximum of 220 residences in three highrises ranging from 20 to
37 stories. Fourteen city mansions also are planned on Deming Place
and St. James Place just west of Lakeview Avenue as part of the project.
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