The condo market around the city is still hotter than ever despite a slight slow down in sales.
The market "slump in the summer time" says Myrna Skilling of Chicago Real Estate a Realtor with Prudential Preferred Properties who specializes in residential real estate for down town and other prime locations: the Gold Coast Lincoln Park, Printers Row and Wrigleyville. Currently she has 11 listings, all condominiums and no lofts. If you're an individual buyer still looking for a loft with high ceilings, a converted building, or wide open spaces there still are some choices but condo developments that have seeped into every level of the market are selling well, offer more choices, and are far from being over saturated.
Most of the condos that Skilling is selling are at the lower end of the market "under $350,000." She doesn't expect the eleven condominiums she has listed to remain unsold for long. She feels "the Chicago market moves pretty quickly." Since it's "always changing" its high unlikely her listings will be the same at the end of August. A lot of the properties will have been sold. The growing number of young professionals and empty nesters are still trying to take advantage of great locations, property that will appreciate and lower interest rates while they still can. Buildings are still being developed, existing condos are still being sold and there's still an increasing number of city and suburban dwellers that want to buy into condo heaven.
Though the majority of condominiums being developed and sold are for upwardly mobile city dwellers, first time homeowners just starting out. Chicago is unique in the sense that possibilities for developers and buyers are limitless. A combination of luxury condominiums and hotel suites is already in the works for Chicago's Gold Coast. Elysian Development headed by David Pisor, acting as company president and CEO is on the verge of something unique for the high end condo market: an innovation of space allocation combining luxury hotel suites, condominiums, and senior housing. Not the first development of it's kind but a reflection of the type of unique type of construction the Chicago condo market can generate.
A building will rise on "East Walton Street, between State and Rush." Construction begins in the fall on a three-lot space. The 200 million dollar project will see "the last part of the Gold coast that needs to be cleaned up" redefined into "a 58 story, Beaux Arts restyled building. The building will consist of 171 hotel suites, 93 will be suites and 50 condominiums, and 75 of the hotel suites have already been sold. Hotel units sold from $490,000 to $840,000, the remaining hotel suites will be sold for $630,000 to 890,000. Condominiums will be stacked together at a rate of 2 per floor and will occupy floors 29 through 58. The "3,000 to 11,000 square-foot-condos will begin around $2 million. The unique mix of hotel suits and condominium living will be further enhanced by a "lobby of restaurants, meeting rooms, a ballroom, and an 18,000 square-foot exercise facility," said Risor.
Construction will begin on the main building this fall and be completed by fall of 2006. The entire development consisting of three lots will be completed by fall of 2007. The development consists of the main building with the condominium entrance "on Walton Street" a "two story retail wing that will flank the tower," and a motor court off Walton that will serve as the hotel entrance. Plans for the project's second building have not been finalized but "229 condo or 279" senior units" are scheduled to be built on the "corner of State and Delaware Place" in conjunction with the first building. Developers are trying to utilize the unique concept and prime location for everything they can. Presently Pisor's agenda is calling for senior housing because " the need for senior housing in that area is very strong." The building may ultimately house other condo units. Elysian Development will definitely construct senior housing, condominiums and hotel space in the three lot areas.
The development mirrors activity in "the typical big city downtown area" accept instead of converting buildings or warehouses into apartments because of an excess of condominiums like a lot of major cities Chicago is still developing more multi-purpose residential sites that include condominiums, hotel suites, senior housing and many more amenities. They are working on satisfying a demand. The walls of a combination condominium hotel will rise with nearly all of its open units sold in a location where builders are looking to tap three aspects of the market: tourism, rise in professionals and empty nesters looking for homes, and a lack of senior housing for a growing number of seniors. It will fill a void that is currently not being satisfied.
Chicago's condominium market is full of contradictions and exceptions like any place else. On one end you have lower end properties selling better than luxury condominiums with more of them scheduled to be developed. In cities like Philadelphia, Houston, and Los Angeles a lack of rental space is prompting developers to replenish resources of apartment buildings but not so much in Chicago. Chicago's condo market is healthy and most don't see much to thwart the many new developments that have been taking place. Millennium Park has been completed and quite a few developments have been scheduled to begin this summer or fall, taking advantage of prime locations of unutilized space. In a lot of cases space in the developments is completely sold before construction begins.
Other areas around the city are still growing, more condominiums are being developed and sales of existing buildings are far from slacking. It's an expected situation in smaller cities where population growth!