Crib Chatter

  For downtown condos, there are a couple of price ranges that are having difficulties in this market. One of those ranges is $400,000 to $600,000.  At this price, without the wacky loans, you either need a very good paying job or two incomes that also pay very good.  Take  away the wacky loans and […]

     The Chicago re-sale market is showing the strains from the housing slowdown.  Some owners have been trying to sell for all of the spring/summer selling season.  And others have been trying to sell since the summer selling season of last year- 2006! Such is the case with several vintage condominiums in this 1894 graystone building on […]

The world’s tallest residential building, the Chicago Spire, is under construction near Navy Pier in Chicago.  Chicago is already home to the current tallest residential building in the world, the John Hancock Building, built in the 1970s (all of the more recent “tallest” buildings have been purely commercial).  The Hancock is a mixture of residential and commercial however.  The […]

  While I’m on the subject of the most foreclosures, we’ll continue on with the list of the buildings that top the list.  This is an unscientific survey based on the number of times I see the building’s address when looking at the foreclosure listings put out by Record Information Services.  The building that has […]

Crain’s is reporting that the Illinois Association of Realtors said that Chicago area sales dropped 20.1% in August compared to August 2006. Sales in August 2007 were 9,736 Sales in August 2006 were 12,192 Prices also dropped.  According to the Case-Schiller index, the Chicago region fell 0.9% for the 12 months through July 2007. Chicago […]

  Looking for something outside of the white box high rise? Look no further than 155 W. Burton, the Carl Street Studios.  Only 16 units, the complex was built in 1922 with unique duplex and triplex units, many with interesting terraces and rooftop decks.  The complex has a lovely interior courtyard.  The units have a […]

  A few weeks ago I talked about a loft in the West Loop that was advertised on Craigslist as “pre-foreclosure.” It was a 1700 square foot 2 bedroom, 2 bath authentic loft at the Heartbreak Lofts at 17 N. Loomis. Unit #2K: 2 bedroom, 2 baths, 1700 square feet Previously sold for $378,000 in […]

  You don’t see many units come available in Benjamin Marshall’s classic building at 1550 N. State Parkway – which is actually on Lincoln Park in the Gold Coast.  There are only 28 units in the building.  Only three units have sold in the last three years.  A 6,000 square foot duplex is for sale for […]

     Yes, foreclosures are happening even in the ritzier downtown Chicago locations.  But some buildings are seeing more of them than others. In my unscientific observation, the #1 building in Chicago for foreclosures to date has been The Sterling at 345 N. LaSalle in River North.  Located near the Chicago River just down the […]

  It seems that even some developers know that we are heading into the slow sales time of the year.  Melrose Partners, which is rehabbing 334 W. Menomonee in Old Town with top of the line finishes has units for sale OR for rent in the 18 unit building. It is a gorgeous renovation of a […]