Crib Chatter

We’ve already looked at how New York lofts stack up against Chicago lofts (in a price per square footage basis.)  I thought, given the cold wintery feel in the air, I’d look at a comparison between Chicago and sunny, warm(er) Northern California- specifically the San Francisco loft. Yes, amongst all of those Painted Ladies, a few old […]

    The Printers Row Loft Walk is a great selling strategy for loft owners to get their product seen by about a thousand people.  Did you fall in love with some of the lofts on the walk?  Some of them were on the market.  And in some buildings, there are other units that are […]

      This year’s loft walk tour in the South Loop only had 6 loft buildings represented (with numerous lofts in several of the buildings).  Only two of those was in Printers Row, which is where, in my opinion, the most authentic of the lofts in the South Loop are located.  Printers Row was converted […]

The original loft conversions were just open spaces with high ceilings and great light. That is because lofts were first occupied in most cities by artists who benefited from the light and the open space. It was only later that walls were added into the mix, destroying the natural spacious feel of most lofts. But […]

In honor of the Printer’s Row Loft Walk this weekend, I thought we’d see what you can buy in the great industrial buildings in the neighborhood. Who knows, maybe you’ll see some of these lofts on the tour? The first conversion in the neighborhood was in the Donohue Building at 711 S. Dearborn. The units […]

Everything in this market right now seems to be about new, new, new. Re-sale units are languishing- even the nicer ones. Lofts used to be the “in” condo to buy in River North but the shift has been made to the high rise. Maybe it’s time to reconsider the loft. You can get a two […]

      They just don’t make loft buildings like the originals anymore.  Even when they convert an old warehouse today- for whatever reason – the units still turn out boring.  Either the developers strip out the natural features or they skimp on square footage. But 15 to 20 years ago they didn’t.  If you want […]

    Not every building is a sure fire winner in Chicago over the last five years, even in the once booming loft market.  One River Place, or 758 N. Larrabee in River North, was a conversion of one of the old Montgomery Ward storage buildings in 2002.  It sits on the North Branch of the […]

  I was reading New York Magazine a few days ago and stumbled upon its real estate section which has a “featured property.”  The realtors discuss what they like or don’t like about the property and try and estimate what it should list for. This issue had a Tribeca loft.  The pictures of the loft are above.  Here […]

  When you think of a loft, you think of the ones you see in the movies or on television with spiral staircases, massive ceilings, brick, timber and unique features.  In recent years, the lofts that have been renovated and marketed in Chicago have not really been close to this old loft ideal as developers rushed to […]