North, East & West Views from Your 3-Bedroom River North Penthouse: 55 E. Erie
This 3-bedroom penthouse in 55 E. Erie in River North came on the market in July 2020.
55 E. Erie was built during the housing boom in 2004. It has 214 units and a parking garage.
It’s a full amenity building with a 24-hour doorman, a pool, an exercise room and a clubhouse.
This half floor listing is a “custom end penthouse” on the 53rd floor.
The listing says it has unobstructed north, east and west views.
It has three private recessed balconies.
There are 3 entrances to the barrel vaulted hallway with archways and moldings.
All doors and trim work are custom from Muench Woodwork.
There are motorized blinds throughout.
The penthouse has 2 gas fireplaces.
The kitchen has Clive Christian French Oak and Yew Wood custom cabinets with black granite limestone countertops and Paris Ceramic French Refined Limestone floors along with a double Subzero refrigerator freezer, a 60″ Viking Range and Perrin and Rowe faucets.
The kitchen overlooks the family room and has coffered ceilings.
The living and dining room rooms have hand-carved mahogany cabinetry with a gas fireplace which was built from Clive Christian Cabinetry from London.
There is also a mahogany bar with a Subzero wine cooler and refrigerator and built-in TV.
The primary suite has arched double doors, 2 walk-in closets and a spa-like bathroom with heated limestone floors.
There’s a laundry room in the unit, central air and 2 “prime” side-by-side parking spaces are included.
At 4200 square feet, it’s as large as many city single family homes.
Listed at $4 million, is this a good single family home alternative?
Joshua Lipton and Heather Ditlevsen at Compass has the listing. See the pictures and floor plan here.
Unit #5302: 3 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, 4200 square feet
- Sold in April 2004 for $2.12 million
- Originally listed in July 2020 at $4 million
- Currently still listed at $4 million (but is listed as “temporarily no showings”)
- Assessments of $3075 a month (includes heat, a/c, gas, doorman, exercise room, clubhouse, pool, exterior maintenance, snow removal, lawn service, scavenger)
- Taxes of $60,830
- 2-car side-by-side parking spaces included
- 2 gas fireplaces
- Bedroom #1: 32×17
- Bedroom #2: 12×18
- Bedroom #3: 13×18
- Living room: 22×20
- Family room: 23×14
- Dining room: 15×12
- Kitchen: 16×11
- Laundry room: 11×5
- Walk-in-closet: 11×13
- Bar: 15×16
- Balcony: 23×8
- Terrace: 14×14
- Balcony: 20×8
Truly spectacular.
I wish we saw more new builds with design like this — with character and details that make condos feel more like homes.
Fact: most people like crown molding and archways and millwork and fireplaces. Why do we rarely see these features in new condo construction?
Fact: most people like crown molding and archways and millwork and fireplaces. Why do we rarely see these features in new condo construction?
Developers are trying to maximize their profits? Sterile/Modern is on trend?
KK – the answers are simple. it costs too much money to do these build-outs in a large condo building. It’s also taste specific. Developers would rather have to add your personal touch then them doing it and not appealing to everyone. Personally, I’d take out much of the stuff, especially the archways, in this place. Looks too much like a suburban home in Barrington.
“Why do we rarely see these features in new condo construction?”
Value Engineering.
You *do* see it in a reasonable number of ~$1000 psf places. See, eg, 3+ br units in One Bennett Park.
I’m with marco. I’m sorry to disagree with the “spectacular” evaluation but hey, its good that we don’t all like the same things. I love millwork. Love crown moulding. Some of the wood/plaster (?) details here are lovely. Just not in this context. But that’s one of the problems with McMansions. They take everything they like about a particular style and just keep throwing MORE of it out there, regardless of context. However if the goal here was to somehow get an Oakbrook Faux Chateau into the sky… Success!
“Why do we rarely see these features in new condo construction?”
Value Engineering.
Fair point, but I think there are a fair amount of people who’d be willing to pay a premium for condos that look a bit more finished — with crown molding, millwork, and a fireplace. Such as the people who sign up for the $2,000+/mo assessments that come with vintage condos.
Personally, I love modern accents and furnishings in a traditional/vintage building, but I hate traditional/vintage accents and furnishings in a modern building.
Different strokes.
Tom Wolfe wrote a book about the topic From Bauhaus to Our House, which lampooned the concept of moving into a modernist steel rectangular box (reinforced concrete, ok anon(tfo)) and then dragging in all the moldings and curves you’d find in a suburban mansion. Law firms do this to their offices too.
I always thought 55 E Erie had the best location in River North. Close to Michigan Ave but not on it, west of Michigan Ave is better than Streeterville when dealing with a car, close enough to walk to Loop or Oak St beach.
Of course, after the Democrat-Biden racists went bezerk with unpeaceful riots and looting, with Lightfoot as mayor, and stores closing…the location is not what it once was.
I agree, the finishes look too McMansion like. However, the unit itself is nice and sure whoever buys this is probably going to be in an age bracket that is attracted to this look.
I’ve never understood people who buy in modern buildings with sharp lines, clean palettes, etc but then bring in decorations straight out of a suburban subdivision.
“black granite limestone countertops”
can’t be both, it’s either limestone (which it is not) or granite…
kind of like helmethofer can’t truly like his ‘sexy women’ and be a self-hating homosexual at the same time…
Way too ornate for me. Whether it’s worth $4 million is up for argument. I wouldn’t pay that much for these finishes. I’d rather have lower-end finishes that don’t look so phony.
Its a beautiful space, but the decor is bizarre. That dark wood paneling, mantle, counter? WTH is that? Is a Trump moving in here? Its ugly nouveau riche tacky tacky tacky
Kudos to the owner, architect, and int Des – had a vision and executed
Was going to add the realatard, but the blatant lying game about the SF when it’s shown in the floor plan 86’ed that deal
Shocking that this has 2 parking stalls as a self proclaimed very smart individual noted that Chicagoans don’t have cars and only suburbanites do.
By the way, I’ve been keeping a list of penthouses I could crib about for penthouse week and several of them have gone under contract in the last 2 weeks even though the market is supposed to be horrible for condos in the city.
Go figure.
Here’s one in the West Loop:
https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/7-S-Aberdeen-St-60607/unit-3/home/12708079
Sabrina, my ex husband and i nearly bought one of the 7 South Aberdeen penthouses back in 2005. It is the house that ‘got away’ from is. I watched their prices crater during the crash, then skyrocket afterwards. I’d be really interested to see how it’s doing now!
“ By the way, I’ve been keeping a list of penthouses I could crib about for penthouse week and several of them have gone under contract in the last 2 weeks even though the market is supposed to be horrible for condos in the city.
Go figure.”
On the market for > 3 months, $50k cut (minimum) and if they got the current ask they lost money form their purchase 3 years ago (w/ fees)
Sounds like HAWT-ness ™ to me
“Sounds like HAWT-ness ™ to me”
Um…3 months? That’s a short market time for downtown condo inventory and market conditions (yes- even in the West Loop).
I thought the city was “dead”?
Who would be buying that right now since Chicago is NEVER coming back?
Gosh.
And, no, in Chicago if you bought that condo in the last 4 years, you’re not making much money. That’s been true for some time now. Too much inventory.
Here’s another one that I was going to post on but it went under contract as well before I could get to it.
In a small loft building in River North that we’ve chattered about over the years.
This is the 4,000 square foot penthouse.
Came on the market last June and now is pending in January 2021 at $1.95 million.
https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/152-W-Huron-St-60654/unit-7/home/145730353
But everyone is fleeing downtown, Chicago and Illinois. Lol.
Sorry bears but it’s not a bad market, even downtown, and it’s only going to get better from here as the year goes on because the vaccine is rolling out, the tourism industry will be returning by the summer, along with sports, restaurants, festivals. The city will explode with energy.
Better lock in that apartment deal while you can. And good luck buying a single family home.
“ But everyone is fleeing downtown, Chicago and Illinois. Lol.”
It’s amazing how you can extract so much information from a single data point and issue ridiculous proclamations, yet ignore mass data
Think for a second how stupid it would sound if some started proclaiming the opposite every time a suburban house sold.
Yes that’s how stupid you sound