Chicago Spire Listings Appear on the MLS: 400 N. Lake Shore Drive
The Spire, at 400 N. Lake Shore Drive, in Streeterville, is now on the MLS.
Apparently The Spire sales team feels it is in their best interest to list some of their units – just in case a possible buyer is looking around and hadn’t heard of the building yet.
Right now, I count 12 units.
Here’s one of the floorplans. Sorry it’s so light and hard to read.
Unit #8801: 3 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, 3,801 square feet, 1 car parking
- Currently listed for $7,160,000
- Assessments of $3,300 a month
Here’s the listing:
THE CHICAGO SPIRE DESIGNED BY SANTIAGO CALATRAVA. ARTISTIC BUILDING FEATURES 3 FLOORS OF AMENITY SPACE EXCLUSIVE FOR RESIDENTS. PANORAMIC NORTH VIEWS OF LAKE AND CITY FROM THIS SPACIOUS 3801 SQ. FT PLAN. ALL HOMES FEATURE FLOOR TO CEILING WINDOWS W/10’CEILINGS, MAPLE OR WALNUT HERRINGBONE FLOORS, MIELE, GAGGENAU, SUB ZERO, SLAB STONE BATHS… DELIVERIES BEGIN 2012
@Properties has the listings.
No word yet how sales are proceeding.
The Chicago Spire [website]
I don’t know if anyone else feels this way, but despite gloom and doom and a (perhaps) condo market collapse, I cannot help but want to praise this building. This project really is the final triumph of this real estate cycle, and at least it is something this magnificent. Whether it sells or not, it may end up like some of the other iconic buildings of the city, that were planned during the roaring 20’s, but were not completed until the depression was in full swing. They ended up being divided into smaller units and rentals (gasp!) Does anyone know if Ken Griffin finally put money down on the penthouse? Calatrava really is a gifted architect-engineer. I cannot wait to watch this go up.
I forgot to add, why do they never show the new 100 story Waldorf Tower that is to rise right nearby in any of the images. Is the Waldorf a “no go”. I thought they had completed the financing package for that tower as well.
“why do they never show the new 100 story Waldorf Tower”
They also never show Trump, and Trump doesn’t show the Spire (or Waterview or anything else that isn’t already finished). You don’t give free advertising to the competition.
You laugh about the necessity of an mls listing, but, I have one friend who bought into 600 N Fairbanks, and another who bought into 340 OTP, and NEITHER of them had heard about the Spire in conversations I had with them in the last few weeks. Not everyone, shockingly, is as obsessed with real estate as we are!
And Morgan, I agree with you. Just looking at this thing makes my heart soar. Also sore. Because WANT!
Oh also, does anyone know if oxygen is included as part of the assessments?
Practically speaking, I wouldn’t want to live in the Spire. I don’t love the location, right near Navy Pier, and getting in and out of your unit and to the parking garage will be hard. Has anyone else been in the Hancock before? There are about 800 units and you have to take 3 elevators and an escalator to get to your car (that includes transferring in the “sky lobby”). Hopefully, the Spire folks have learned from this and will make that a consideration in the design.
No doubt it’ll be a fantastic addition to our skyline, but good lord are the units pricey.
Is there still a chance that this won’t be built?
Wow, $1883.00 a square foot! What a deal, I think I will get two or three to flip, or maybe to rent out.
Wouldn’t surprise me, Valasko!
Nobody thinks the Spire would make a good rental investment property. That’s not the foreign market the developers are trying to tap. The current market for the Spire is incredibly wealthy Chicagoans (an Oprah or a scion of Marshall Fields or a Kanye), and uberwealthy nonChicagoans (both foreign and domestic) who are so rich that they can afford a fabu US crash pad for the few weeks a year they actually stay there (a Saudi prince here or a hotel heiress or a Greek shipping magnate there). And that market DOES exist. The only question is, is it 1200 deep?
I’m pessimistic about that. Most Saudi princes and hotel heiresses want a crash pad in New York City, not Chicago. I wonder what the actual cost is to build this thing? That is, how low could the developer go in price and still get it built? Because if they can make it cheap enough for second-tier millionaires (like Jeremy Piven or a senior law firm partner) to buy there, it would have a lot better chance of succeeding. (Not that I’d personally want to live next to Jeremy Piven. But you get my drift.)
Smell like the tulip craze to me.
In 1593 tulips were brought from Turkey and introduced to the Dutch. The novelty of the new flower made it widely sought after and therefore fairly pricey. After a time, the tulips contracted a non-fatal virus known as mosaic, which didn’t kill the tulip population but altered them causing “flames” of color to appear upon the petals. The color patterns came in a wide variety, increasing the rarity of an already unique flower. Thus, tulips, which were already selling at a premium, began to rise in price according to how their virus alterations were valued, or desired. Everyone began to deal in bulbs, essentially speculating on the tulip market, which was believed to have no limits.
The true bulb buyers (the garden centers of the past) began to fill up inventories for the growing season, depleting the supply further and increasing scarcity and demand. Soon, prices were rising so fast and high that people were trading their land, life savings, and anything else they could liquidate to get more tulip bulbs. Many Dutch persisted in believing they would sell their hoard to hapless and unenlightened foreigners, thereby reaping enormous profits. Somehow, the originally overpriced tulips enjoyed a twenty-fold increase in value – in one month!
Or you could have this:
MLS ID# 06483456
for only $6.295M
And you can still be by the Lake!
what would the $$$ for the transfer tax be on the spire??!!
Stuck,
These are apples and oranges. If you’re looking for a highrise downtown, you aren’t the kind of person who is interested in a suburban mansion. Me, I might slit my wrists if I had to live in that Lake Forest house for longer than a month. (Have you ever tried to buy good ethnic food in Lake Forest? I have it. It’s hell.)
If you want to make the case that a person thinking of buying in the Spire could spend their money better elsewhere, then I’m with ya. But “elsewhere” isn’t Lake Forest.
Kenworthey,
“The current market for the Spire is incredibly wealthy Chicagoans (an Oprah or a scion of Marshall Fields or a Kanye), and uberwealthy nonChicagoans (both foreign and domestic)”
I agree with this but like you said is there a market for “1200…” If I was apart of this breed and needed the extra weekend pad here in Chicago I would go with Trump Tower over the Spire. The 5 star ammenities (health club, spa, restaurant, night club, white glove treatment) and the location would make me choose Trump.
“Practically speaking, I wouldn’t want to live in the Spire. I don’t love the location, right near Navy Pier,” I agree with SR that the Location is not for me… I guess if they truly are going after any Foreign Market that will listen they do not know the difference in location…
I guess the Spire is going to have 5 star ammenities as well. I could see it working as a condo/hotel more than a “1200 plus residential high rise.”
The Burj Dubai http://www.burjdubai.com/ designed by SOM is going to have the 1st Armani Hotel http://www.hotel-online.com/News/PR2005_2nd/May05_Armani.html. I was hoping Calatrava would have go down this route…
Even with the Financing in place, “If this building ever gets built it will be a serious accomplishment for the City of Chicago.” My guess that it wont officially start construction above ground until Chicago finds out about the Olymipics in 2009. They can easly stall progress until then because the foundation work is such an enoromus task.
He’s already building the building and financing it with his own money (at least $400 million of it.)
It will get built- but how high up will it go? I could see a 50 or 60 story building ending up there instead of the full 160 stories- simply because there won’t be enough sales at these prices.
It certainly will be an iconic building for the city that will last for generations. I agree with Streeterville Realtor- the location isn’t the greatest (loud traffic noise from LSD, looking at the huge lit up ferris wheel all night long from Navy Pier, lots of tourists and traffic leading up to the building)- but it certainly makes a statement.
Someone asked about elevators at the Spire. The agent at the sales center stated that the elevators will operate in a single run from the street-level lobby to the residential floor. In other words, no transfer floors like the Hancock or Sears Tower. The agent said that the elevators would be the longest single-run elevators in the world. [as with all new developments, you should read the property report, but this is what the sales agent stated]
Sabrina,
“He’s already building the building and financing it with his own money (at least $400 million of it.)”
I don’t disagree that construction is going on and crains are drilling as we speak. I do think that if sales don’t go as planned it will be scaled down or a new building will take its place…
From Chicago Tribune article last August by Blair Kamin, “The foundation work, which involves drilling 34 steel and concrete caissons, is expected to take a year. Of course, starting does not guarantee finishing. Kelleher, who will start a marketing campaign for the condos in September, ultimately could use the caissons for a much-shorter tower should his grand design fall flat.Yet the work is winning over previous skeptics, given that a single caisson going down to bedrock is said to cost at least $250,000.”
That’s interesting about the elevators. They’ll have to have a lot of elevator banks then! They’ll need different runs to get those on the higher floors to their units faster.
I’m sure there has been some technological advances in elevators since the 1970s when they built the Sears and the Hancock.
The one thing this building has going for it is that it is Calatrava’s only residential project in the US (yes, the greatest living architect bar none 🙂 ). And so that might attract international buyers and architecturally-minded Americans. However, this wasn’t enough to get Calatrava’s project in Manhattan (South Street Seaport, aka “the Cubes”) off the ground, and it stalled. Granted prices there were something like 25-50MM.
I really don’t know what will happen with this project, but it will be interesting to see.
I agree with Morgan. I think there is going to be a lot of pain in the luxury condo market over the coming years, but not as much or any in a building like this IF it gets built to spec.
This is really the capstone building of this real-estate cycle as stated above and this spire is going to be so tall as it nears completion it will be the talk of the town. The prestige and tourist-attraction factor of living here I think will help sales.
Prospective owners are going to care more about living in the tallest building in the western hemisphere vs. what block of Streeterville its on. The views from up top I can’t wait to see as I will be one of those tourists when it opens 🙂
Bob,
You seem to forget about a little thing called affordability. How many people can afford a 1MM+ 1BD condo, and why would they pay this much to live in Chicago? Prices like that are seen in Manhattan.
I heard that there will be no public observation deck in The Spire, so basically I hope I am invited to a party there, because I cannot afford even a low floor 2bd. A fellow architect told me that the top floor viewing room is ONLY for owners and their invited guests to experience, and this will definitly add to the alure of ownership in the tower. Now, would the homeowners consider changing this to allow paying visitors to go to the top? The Public Viewing Deck would be a great way to reduce HOA fees, but I don’t think this group would care that much about lower fees, but would care about cameras flashing from loud tourists slumming through their lobby.
Bob,
I agree that there will be very wealthy people who want to live in the in this tall building at the highest floors. These people will pay regardless of cost to live a the top. But who is going to pay $750,000.00 to live in a 560sf studio apartment on the 2nd floor. The top of the building may have good sales. The lower portion I doubt there is a market at this price point.
Ja also make a valid point, I love Chicago but it’s not New York City, London, Hong Kong or Tokyo. Nor does Chicago carry a similar price point.
Affordability might be an issue with the studios and lower priced units, but I’d bet the developer is really counting on the high-end sales to really pull the project through.
Also I can’t envision a scenario where there is no public viewing deck a few years into this building being open. Either the developer will reserve the right do this later on or the residents will want it.
The future residents likely didn’t get wealthy by turning their back on revenue generating opportunities and the developer will see this as well. It might not be on as high a floor as the owners deck but I don’t believe interested parties will want to keep this exclusivity factor over their economic interests.
Once the tower is built and closed the $2.2 billion will be a sunk cost and I’m hoping for a deck. 🙂
Bob, I agree with what your thoughts regarding a viewing deck. I was very suprised to hear that there would be no deck myself. Could it be possible that they view it as a possible security concern? I am also suprised they did not throw in a hotel tenant to help move this project along. A tower like this would be a “natural” for sharing building amenities such as pool and gym with a top hotel. (This is what they did at the Burj Dubai)
It could be possible that the “meditation and viewing space” at the top of the tower could be changed to a public space by the owners, but would the elevators in the building handle the additional traffic?
Here is an interesting article on the Spire:
http://www.shelbournedevelopment.com/press_release.php?id=93
And the best part is:
“Apartments in The Chicago Spire sold briskly, organizers crediting sales to the strong Singapore dollar and the unique design of the project.” “The response to The Chicago Spire was overwhelming with so many attending our event and exhibition,” he added. “We’ve seen very strong sales coming from both Singaporeans and expatriates based here. Judging from their comments, everyone was attracted by the same thing – the truly iconic nature of this spectacular project, and the realization that The Chicago Spire is destined to become the most significant residential development in the world.”
“Our sales team was busy signing deals throughout the exhibition.”
From yet another Article:
“Savills could not disclose official sale figures, but sources said about 30 units were sold, mostly one- and two-bedroom flats that averaged US$1 million (S$1.38 million) each.”
http://propxprez.blogspot.com/2008/03/realedge-st-sporeans-flocking-to.html
Thanks for the update and the link Aleks. So that is even less than I thought. Sure, 30 units isn’t bad for one days work but there are 1200 units in the building.
I’m curious about how sales are going in that building. The sales center has “officially” been open for two months now.
A lot of the sales can be accredited to an opening sales rush. But after Asia they are going to 15 European cities or so, and who knows how the sales do there, with a $1= 1.5 euro. They also have almost 4 years until the construction is complete.
Another quote from the blog:
Mrs Tan’s clients, mainly Singaporeans or permanent residents, are ‘sophisticated investors who know what’s going on in property markets around the world’.
If they are sophisticated investors, at $1,400.00 per square for a unit on the 3rd floor. I want to see their proforma on how great this investment will be. And do they have any clue of Chicagos condo market.
Aleks,
1 EUR = 1.575 USD and rising daily. Also with the GBP at $2, there might be more than a few expat execs from the UK who could afford to buy here as the UK experienced a higher real estate run up than here. 500K GBP is not unusual for a home over there and its probably nothing special at all in London.
Bob,
You are right about the rate. That’s what I meant to say.
I dont agree with the dollar vs eur aguement. Fine, the european buying power is higher. But why not look a comps in Chicago, and then select a property. If the option is a studio apartment for $750,000.00 or a 3 bedroom unit, I beleive the 3br will always be the better investment. Also comparing what 500k buys in london to chicago is comparing apples with oranges.
All of America will look even cheaper with our exchange rates. Why buy The Spire? Heck, look what you can get in Miami with the collapse in housing prices there AND the exchange rate.
It’s a nice vacation home.
But I don’t doubt the dollar situation will help them sell some of the units. It certainly makes The Spire much more attractive than it otherwise would be.
Valasko,
The reason this building doesn’t necessarily follow comps is because its in a league of it’s own. People will be willing to pay a premium for the prestige factor and it’s main selling point is it’s the tallest building in the western hemisphere.
The very top and very bottom of markets don’t always follow the same market dynamics as the rest of the market. If you want to live in the newest tourist landmark building and the tallest building in this hemisphere your choice is limited to one.
Still I am curious why they chose Chicago–theres far more old money in NYC than Chicago. Maybe the events of 2001 make it unfeasible in that market?
Bob,
part of the reason why internationals might not buy into Manhattan is that the prime real estate (along Central Park on the Upper East Side) is mostly coops, and it’s hard for internationals to establish credit to buy into a coop.
However, for condo buildings, there was a statistic released a few months ago showing that 1/3 of all new Condo construction in manhattan was purchased by internationals during the last 1.5yrs. Manhattan prices have not retraced, and so maybe these buyers are looking into other cities where collapses are happening or on the verge (such as Chicago).
One other thing, keep in mind in Manhattan 1400/sqft gets you a typical luxury new construction in Manhattan (looking into another building most likely). Add views to that, or a starchitect name, and you’re going to run from 2000-5000/sqft.
Were Calatrava to have put this building in Manhattan, even in a second-tier Manhattan location, it would fetch insane prices.
So maybe these internationals are seeing this as a bargain Calatrava building, and not viewing it in comparison to other surrounding buildings in Chicago (as Bob mentioned).
Sabrina there was a tribune article today that the spire has sold 30% of the units….
Thanks Valasko. I saw it and will post it tomorrow.
here is an article from Apr. 23 stating the spire developer failed to pay his property taxes (along with some other not-so-positive words):
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=29112
anybody have an update on this issue? did he pay them yet? 😉
there is a certain market for this, and i KNOW i am in the minority here and understand there are different opinions (a former client/current close friend of mine was totally freaked when i said this), but, i think it’s ugly. i think it looks like a big shiny dildo. i said it. ha!
but i’m just not much of a new construction girl.
also, ya, i hate the location too – near navy pier, right by lsd, traffic sitting there, backed up behind chicago ave. and the merge during rush hour, but, well, if that building goes up, i would imagine the area will be altered significantly – not the location, but the service/amenities/restaurants/etc.
it will definitely be interesting to watch!
also, i have a colleague who sold a unit in the building. i am under the impression that there was NO negotiation re the numbers/price, but i’ll ask ‘im!
*a big shiny dildo* LOL. Good one.
I have my doubts about the Spire too mostly due to the timing of construction. They aren’t planning to even start building above ground until December. There is no way foundation work takes almost a year…sounds fishy and like the developer is stalling for time in order to get more cash.
“There is no way foundation work takes almost a year”
How long did trump take? It was definitely more than 6 months, and, as difficult as the Trump site was to work with, the Spire site is tougher.
Looking at the World Trade Center history (another exceptionally tall building built on river-edge landfill) at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/newyork/timeline/index.html
Groundbreaking was August 1966, but steel work didn’t start until August 1968 (north tower) and January 1969 (south tower). That sounds like two years for excavation and foundation.
The Sears Tower took ten months from groundbreaking (Aug 1970) to steel (June 1971) per http://web.bryant.edu/~ehu/h364proj/fall_98/gean/sears.htm