Skyline and Lake Views from this 2-Bedroom Gold Coast Penthouse: 1300 N. Astor
This 2-bedroom penthouse in Astor Tower at 1300 N. Astor in the Gold Coast came on the market in March 2023.
Astor Tower Condos was built in 1962 by Bertrand Goldberg. It was originally the Astor Tower Hotel and had some famous customers including the Beatles.
It now has 74 condo units and garage parking. It has 24-hour door staff, on-site maintenance and management, a fitness center and a rooftop 360-degree deck.
Apparently, the building is not on the historic register nor landmarked. Block Club Chicago has more on how it was built:
In 1959, Bertrand Goldberg began designing a strikingly modern high rise for Astor Street, juxtaposed by the surrounding classical revival townhouses and apartments. The Astor Tower featured a structural center core of poured concrete upon which twenty-four residential floors were hung, and further supported by twelve parameter columns. The core and columns rise for a full five stories before the residential floors begin, giving the building the shape of an “ice pop.”
This innovative design required Bertrand Goldberg Associates structural engineer Bert Weinberg to revise the building’s structural calculations, requiring three more stories to be added to the design, delaying the start of construction. Meanwhile, Marina City had broken ground beside the Chicago River in 1960 and was constructed as scheduled, with its first residents moving in to the finished first tower in 1962, a year prior to the opening of the Astor Tower Hotel.
This penthouse is a half floor unit with skyline and lake views from floor-to-ceiling windows facing south, east and west.
It has limestone floors and unique features such as a ceiling mounted wood sliding door that can be shut to close off the second bedroom from the living room.
The second bedroom has an integrated desk, a hidden television and a built-in floating settee, which is also a hideaway sleeper.
The primary suite has south and west views with a laurel wood bed wall with built-in floating night stand and an en suite bath with a soaking tube with skyline views and a marble walk-in shower.
The kitchen has chestnut hued cabinets, Carrara marble countertops and backsplash and high end appliances from Subzero, Gaggenau and Miele along with a concealed pantry.
This unit has the features buyers look for including central air, washer/dryer in the unit, a built-in sound system, and garage parking is included.
Astor Tower is in the heart of the Gold Coast with restaurants and shops nearby on Rush and Division and in Old Town, along with a smattering within the Gold Coast itself.
Originally listed in March 2023 for $1.2 million, it has been reduced $100,000 to $1.1 million.
If you love views, is this mid-century penthouse a dream home?
Jonathon Spradling and Jason Roberts at @properties Christie’s have the listing. See the pictures and floor plan here.
Unit #28A: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1600 square feet, penthouse
- Sold in May 1986 (no price listed)
- Sold in September 1999 for $370,000
- Sold in January 2003 for $435,000
- Sold in April 2007 for $1 million
- Sold in July 2012 for $700,000
- Sold in July 2015 for $816,000
- Originally listed in March 2023 for $1.2 million
- Reduced
- Currently listed at $1.1 million
- Assessments of $2299 a month (includes heat, doorman, cable, exercise room, exterior maintenance, scavenger, snow removal)
- Taxes of $11,935
- Central Air
- Washer/dryer in the unit
- Built-in sound system
- Garage parking included
- Bedroom #1: 14×19
- Bedroom #2: 17×15
- Kitchen: 12×9
- Foyer: 6×8
- Dining room: 14×19
- Living room: 15×15
I really want to like this but..
If they spent 1/2 a day decluttering and cutting the artwork in 1/2 this probably would have sold
As it sits, the design pulls the worst of MCM + McMansion with a splash of a horder. No cohesiveness in the design. I know the seller is probably very proud of it but damn its jarring
Feels like someone from Iowa tried to create what they think someone in New York would live in
Gorgeous unit that must have cost a lot of money with all the custom upgrades.
So much crass artwork. The place needs an exorcism.
I love all of the pocket doors! It’s awesome that you can close off the kitchen if you want. Looks great in the primary suite too. I had a pocket door installed in my new bathroom and I really like how the door doesn’t swing in and take up space.
I also love that they used an undermount tub. I went with an undermount tab and the stone was super expensive, but I love it and am so happy my designer put that in the plans. The only weird thing is that the toilet is in the shower and the bathroom vent is in the shower too. I wouldn’t want the bathroom as a whole to get steamy, but I want steam in my shower. The toilet in the shower is bizarre. Does the floor have some sort of dryer mechanism?
Love the unit.
However, their crap is really taking away from seeing the unit. Look at the bad 2015 pics to see beyond their stuff. Massively overpriced.
Jenny, thanks for sharing. I love pocket doors too. Curious, how expensive was a pocket door installation?
“Gorgeous unit that must have cost a lot of money with all the custom upgrades.”
All the upgrades were done previously, right? Looks like prior listing had them.
What do people think about the limestone floors? Limestone countertops are hard to take care of. They stain easily. Is that true of using them as a flooring too?
The wood is a really beautiful wood in this unit. I like how they made more storage in unusual places like the cabinet in the living room that acts as a room separator for the hallway.
Also, that bathtub is a dream come true. To sit there at night and just look at the twinkling lights? Amazing.
I thought comments about the Owner’s personal property were forbidden on CC.
What happened?
“July 2015 for $816,000” + CPI = $1.026m
Initial ask was defintely a stretch for a 1 bedroom.
Yes, you can “easily put up a wall”, but it’s still a one bedroom at present.
I’m gonna stay away from the personal property comments, tho I agree they should have edited to sell this place.
My question is why two fairly large espresso machines sucking up counter space on opposite counters? Could you not have put at least one of them away?
Oops, wouldn’t let me edit. EDIT: Ooops I guess that’s another personal property comment. 🙂
Where’s the garage?
“Jenny, thanks for sharing. I love pocket doors too. Curious, how expensive was a pocket door installation?”
They gutted the entire bathroom, so the walls where open to add the door. I’m not sure how much it would cost to just add a pocket door on its own. It wasn’t listed out as a separate line item.
“Please don’t comment on the décor”
https://cribchatter.com/this-2-bedroom-lakeview-duplex-has-been-reduced-40k-2859-n-southport/#comment-352013
“It’s Cribchatter policy to not get into a discussion about interior design choices as that can, and will, be changed by the new buyer”
https://cribchatter.com/what-will-happen-to-the-luxury-market-111-s-peoria-in-the-west-loop/#comment-1038360
What’s the espresso machine on the left in pic 23? I think the one on the right is https://clivecoffee.com/products/lucca-a53-mini-espresso-machine-by-la-spaziale?variant=39948235440216
This is a beauty. Wish circumstances allowed me to own it.
“Please don’t comment on the décor”
Only one comment posted about the decor, other than KK’s comment that she didn’t like any of it and others saying there was too much of it. Only one comment commented about a specific piece that will not be there when the new owner moves in. I removed it.
Most of the other comments were about the fixed features, including the pocket doors, the wood door where you can close off the kitchen, the storage cabinet that I referenced in the living room.
I’m okay with someone asking what kind of coffee maker it is on the counter. Lol.
The settee and the side tables in the bedroom are also “fixed” so there is a lot to talk about with the decor in this unit which will stay with the new owner.
Maybe that is also why it hasn’t yet sold? It might be hard to fit somebody’s current furniture into the space.
“Feels like someone from Iowa tried to create what they think someone in New York would live in”
“So much crass artwork. The place needs an exorcism.”
“their crap”
are all still there, and all are critcism of the personal effects of the owners.
Clear violations of your “rule”.
I’ve always felt decor should be fair game within reason. Despite it not being permanent, it does affect how a property shows and can be a big reason why a property isn’t selling or does sell quickly. Buying is very emotional and most want to imagine themselves in a space and decor can make it difficult to do so.
“I’ve always felt decor should be fair game within reason. Despite it not being permanent, it does affect how a property shows and can be a big reason why a property isn’t selling or does sell quickly. Buying is very emotional and most want to imagine themselves in a space and decor can make it difficult to do so.”
I agree, decor plays part in how a place sells. When you look at a property, you want to imagine yourself in it. It can show a life a buyer has currently or aspires to enjoy. It’s why residents remove personal pictures and controversial pieces, such as political signs/artwork. I love the building and the older listing, but not this one. In this listing, the resident has so much distracting crap, I can’t see myself sitting on the couch enjoying the view, working at the built-in desk (too many books to imagine my computer), or cooking at the Gagganau cooktop (two very nice, giant espresso machines makes it look like zero the counter space).
The rich hoarders here might find their place selling faster if they store half their crap and then, I might refer to it as stuff.
IMO there should be special dispensation for circumstances where the furnishings are completely horrible.
KK’s comment about the painting behind the sofa is apt and the painting is befitting of much ridicule
« IMO there should be special dispensation for circumstances where the furnishings are completely horrible.«
100% agree. If the furnishings cross into the highly offensive and/or extremely distracting territory, we would be avoiding the elephant in the room if not mentioned.
“Clear violations of your “rule”.”
Nope. It’s not actually. We have talked about paint colors, mirrors on the ceilings, wacky floors. My “rule” is:
“Why do they have their shirts in color coordinated rows in the closet? Is something wrong with them?”
“Look at that brown couch. Who would choose that? It looks like a turd in the living room.”
In this discussion, people talking about how there is a lot of crap or stuff in the property is not the rule. I DID remove one comment, which wasn’t from KK, about a specific item in the property because it won’t be there when you move in.
I don’t remember if it was Gary, or another realtor who reads this site, who said about 10 years ago that the comments about the interior paint color in a property, which I think was purple if I remember right, was enough to convince the seller to actually have the property painted. Lol. The seller didn’t believe his agent that the paint color mattered.