Market Conditions: Is a $45,000-a-Month Rental Penthouse “Peak” Apartment?
Crain’s Dennis Rodkin got to tour the new 4-bedroom duplex penthouse apartment at Old Town Park at 1140 N. Wells in Old Town.
This is the development at Wells and Division which will be 3 towers.
The penthouse is in the first tower. It’s 32-stories with city views. The second tower will be just south of it at 39 stories.
The unit is 4,185 square feet with outdoor space totaling an extra 3,540 square feet.
The first level is the living space with the second floor, which is the penthouse floor, as your own personal rooftop pool, complete with a hot tub, an outdoor shower, and grilling area.
The apartment is furnished with furniture, linens and even dishes.
It includes 3-car parking.
From Crain’s:
“We expect to rent it to a CEO or professional athlete,” Santos said. It’s not certain yet whether a renter will be required to sign a one-year lease or if renting by the month will be allowed. Duncan Wlodorczak, chief of staff for Onni Group and the firm’s only designated spokesman on the property, was not available for comment.
Inside is a sleek design by Onni’s in-house interiors person, Joy Huynh of Toronto, who used a light-toned palette of wood, stone and metal finishes, a handsome set of cantilevered stone steps with a glass stair rail. At one end of the main living space on the 31st floor, the bar and media space are on a slightly raised mezzanine that gives them the intimacy of a library in a suburban mansion. Concealed behind the kitchen, which has a vast quartz-topped island, is a second kitchen for caterers or prep work.
This apartment is now, apparently, the most expensive on the Chicago market.
According to Rodkin, there is a 4-bedroom unit on the market for $37,500 at the Waldorf-Astoria in the Gold Coast.
The apartment buildings continue to be built.
The prices, and apartments, continue to get more extravagant.
Is this penthouse a sign of the top?
And will the apartment market crash or will there be a soft landing?
This $45,000-a-month rental comes with its own outdoor pool, as it should [Crain’s Chicago Business, by Dennis Rodkin, June 17, 2019]
You can see the Old Town Park website here.
baahahahahahaha anyone paying that much to basically live in Atrium village is a complete idiot
“to basically live in Atrium village”
So, what’s next door is the key?
“I can’t believe someone paid so much for Sonies place to basically live in the Cabrini rowhouses.” is the equivalent.
They’ll never get a $45k/month (using 2019 real USD) tenant on a 12-month lease.
pretty sure this IS atrium village, rebranded as Old Town Park right?
They tore down some of those ugly 5 story apartments to build this tower right?
oh looks like the developer is braking the law and not putting any mixed income units in the luxury towers like they were supposed to
https://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2018/02/21/low-income-tenants-say-luxury-developer-is-treating-them-like-bald-headed-stepchildren
yikes…
Pure publicity stunt. I mean, here we are talking about it, as did Crain’s. So it’s working. It’d have to be one dumb CEO or a really misinformed athlete.
Well, it certainly has all the luxury trappings. And if someone can afford $45,000 a month for it, sure, let the owner get what they can from the next MLB or NBA athlete who signs a 9-figure contract.
If I had the $45,000 a month to rent and already owned an $8 million home (as the article notes, this wouldn’t necessarily be the primary residence for the prospective renter), it’s not the location I’d necessarily choose. I still think of Wells and Division as a slightly seedy area, though I know it’s changed a lot in the last two decades.
I’d rather save $28,000 a month and get something like this, with more character (though it doesn’t have the private pool):
https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_rent/Chicago-IL-60610/house,condo,mobile,land,townhouse_type/2103623402_zpid/84612_rid/3-_beds/1030931-_price/4000-_mp/paymenta_sort/41.924376,-87.600132,41.885473,-87.66193_rect/13_zm/
Or go more for a modern feel and save even more money (and be closer to the lake) in this one:
https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_rent/house,condo,mobile,land,townhouse_type/2084842642_zpid/3-_beds/1030931-_price/4000-_mp/paymenta_sort/41.930443,-87.582107,41.891543,-87.643905_rect/13_zm/
thanks for that article link. I had assumed all the buildings were for mixed-income. But the article said most of the affordable units (210 units) will be in a non-rehabbed older building, with just 89 units affordable sprinkled in the new buildings. Now, I don’t feel as angry walking by and thinking that the new building is for mixed-income.
With that said, I still wouldn’t want to live in this building and be so close to the affordable units.
Why are we still subsidizing “affordable” housing units in luxury apartment buildings? If a middle class family couldn’t afford to live there, a taxpayer subsidized family shouldn’t live there either. Chicago does not have an affordable housing problem. It has an “I want to live in a boujee neighborhood, but don’t want to pay my way for it” problem.
“be so close to the affordable units.”
How far away is far enough?
“Chicago does not have an affordable housing problem. It has an “I want to live in a boujee neighborhood, but don’t want to pay my way for it” problem.”
While this is true, it is ALSO true that a lot of the affordable housing is in really crap neighborhoods.
AND it is also also true that the reason a lot of crap housing options aren’t cheaper than it is is because of the Section 8 housing program–the rent standards are based on metro-wide rents, and really overvalue C-minus units in D-minus locations:
Studio $900
1-bed $1,100
2-bed $1,253
Its all marketing. I could see it renting for $25-30k / month. This area is really nice despite the public housing nearby. However most of the nightlife within walking distance is geared towards 25-35 y/o yuppies rather than baller athletes or bigwig CEOs. My guess is those types would prefer to drop this coin in prime RN / streeterville where they can walk to the more expensive / glamorous bars and restaurants or a more family friendly spot in prime LP (burling / orchard).
“They tore down some of those ugly 5 story apartments to build this tower right?”
The one that abutts Division is staying. They repaved the parking lot, reconfigured some of the sidewalks and are updating the playground. Basically lipstick on a pig.
I’m wondering if the tenants thoughts they were going to get the same finishes as that $45k/month apartment in there rehabbed units LOL
“While this is true, it is ALSO true that a lot of the affordable housing is in really crap neighborhoods.”
False
There is plenty of affordable housing in VERY safe neighborhoods such as Clearing, Garfield Ridge, Archer Heights, the list goes on. You can get a 2 bed 1 bed for less than 1k a month with heat included. The orange line can take you downtown from midway.
@Mike HG — You confirmed that all those mom & pop landlords in those neighborhoods are accepting Section 8 vouchers, right? Clearly they must otherwise the fact that the recipient of a voucher frequently isn’t able to rent in a “nice” area and has to either relinquish the voucher or move into a slum within the brief window of time they have to use the voucher, wouldn’t be an issue, right?
If I had silly money like this I would absolutely consider it. Why own an illiquid $8MM home when you can live here briefly and own homes elsewhere where the budget crisis isn’t going to hammer your home value in the near term.
“False”
WTF?
What part of “a lot of Chicago’s affordable housing is in crap hoods” is *false*?? I didn’t even use “most”, just “a lot”.
Are you contending that “little” of Chicago’s affordable housing is in crap hoods?
Per CMAP, in 2016, the CAs you listed have the following number of renter-occupied units:
Archer Heights: 1,719
Clearing: 2,675
Garfield Ridge: 2,317
For a total of 6,711 units.
By comparison, the homicide capital CAs have:
Englewood: 6,828
Austin: 19,419
Garfield Park: 9,301
for a total of 35,548 units.
I think it’s safe to say that 5x as many rental units in crap hoods as in the good hoods you cited is enough to say that “a lot” are in crap hoods.
“You confirmed that all those mom & pop landlords in those neighborhoods are accepting Section 8 vouchers, right?”
Even if every one of them did, they would be able to provide housing for fewer than one out of every 40 households in Chicago with income below 50% of the area median income.
I’m completely ok with the contention that 2.5% of low income Chicagoans *can* afford to live in a nicer neighborhood that is just rather inconvenient to the loop. Doesn’t mean that a lot of low income Chicagoans aren’t stuck looking for places in crap hoods.
That looks nice but feels like it’s missing the market in that neighborhood. The vast majority of people paying that rent would prefer to live in a rich person building. Waldorf etc and have 4K feet and a far worse unit for 20k but be surrounded by people paying 20k.
Not sure what happened to the comment I posted earlier. I said if someone wants to pay this much it’s a free country, but the location isn’t a $45,000 a month location. I also found some better high-end rentals on the Gold Coast and North Michigan Avenue that I felt were much better places for much less money. If the phrase “less money” and “$12,000 a month rental” can ever be used in the same sentence.
There’s a 55th floor unit available at 161 E. Chicago for $12,000 a month that I’d pick in a minute over the property here. Imagine what I could do with the $33,000 a month I’d save!
“Not sure what happened to the comment I posted earlier.”
You put two links in Dan #2. It automatically goes into moderation when that happens.
“pretty sure this IS atrium village, rebranded as Old Town Park right?”
Not really. But kind of. This is a completely new building as are the other two towers on this parcel. The old Atrium Village building is still there, to the west of the new buildings.
Think the market has potential for a short term VIP deal. Movies being shot in a chicago all the time. Or as a temporary corporate relocation rental for a high level exec being asked to move to chicago with family in tow. In both examples they would be spending $2500 night for a suite at the Peninsula Ritz or Four Seasons. This offers said family a better experience and vibe that seals the deal. Especially in the summer months.
But who’s gonna pay that $$$$in January to March?
Can’t really assess the “right” price for this rental. However loads of ballers buy places and when they need to unload a few years later quite a few end up taking a beating. So, a rental might not be such a bad deal after all for let’s say a 3 year stay.