Crib Chatter

Alas,  I’m not talking about Vince Vaughn (who was rumored to have bought the top floor penthouse for $10 million several years ago. Did he? Who knows.)

 

Crain’s recently had a tidbit about the CEO of  the Intercontinental Exchange and his “move-up” from a paltry two bedroom condo on the 5th floor of The Palmolive at 159 E. Walton in the Gold Coast to a full-floor, high floor unit in the same building. From Crain’s:

IntercontinentalExchange Inc. CEO Jeffrey Sprecher lost his bid last year to buy the Chicago Board of Trade. But now he’s bought himself a better view.

Mr. Sprecher, whose exchange is headquartered in Atlanta, purchased a condo in the historic Palmolive Building in Streeterville last April. At the time, he was in the midst of a bidding war with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange over Chicago’s second-largest futures market.

CME ultimately won that battle, but Mr. Sprecher kept the condo, outfitting its kitchen with Clive Christian cabinetry and using the home during his frequent stays in the city, where his company has its primary data center.

Now Mr. Sprecher is moving on up, buying a whole-floor, $5.9-million unit on one of Palmolive’s upper floors, public records show. He’s put his fifth-floor digs, bought for $1.7 million, on the block.

This is the unit he bought in April of 2007 (alas, no pictures of the interiors have been posted yet):

Unit #5B: 2 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 1 car parking, 2800 square feet

• Sold in April 2007 from the developer for $1,669,500
• Currently listed for $2,495,000 (includes the parking)
• Assessments of $1697 a month
• Sudler Sotheby’s has the listing

The listing states:

STUNNING RE-SALE RESIDENCE IN PREMIER CONDOMINIUM BUILDING, STEPS FROM MAGNIFICENT MILE! ONE MILLION DOLLARS IN UPGRADES CLIVE CHRISTIAN KITCHEN. EVERYTHING COMPLETED IN EXCELLENT TASTE BY TOP DESIGNER. WOOD-PANELED STUDY. GLORIOUS FORMAL DINING ROOM. 2 FRPLCS. SPLENDID MASTER SUITE, SITTING AREA. MOVE RIGHT INTO THIS EXTRAORDINARY RESIDENCE. 2 PETS OK. PRICE & ASMT INCL. PRKG. BEST HOME AT SOUGHT AFTER PALMOLIVE

Do you think he did the upgrades AFTER he bought last April or before?

If it was after, the “million dollar upgrades” means he’ll be out some cash on the sale.

The Palmolive is a luxury building that is holding its own. While we’ve seen some of the smaller units struggle to sell, there seem to be buyers for the very expensive units in the building.

Within the last six months, three $5 million+ units have sold in the building, which must be some kind of record for condo re-sales in the city. It’s pretty rare when a $5 million dollar sells at any time- let alone this many units in that price range.

• Unit #32A: Sold in February 2008 for $6,898,000
• Unit #27A: Sold in February 2008 for $5,150,000
• Unit #34A: Sold in October 2007 for $5,387,000

Never fear. If you’re still interested in one of the $5 million+ units,  you’re in luck.

Unit #20A: 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, 2 car garage, 4700 square feet

• Sold in December 2005 for $3,416,500
• Currently listed for $5,250,000
• Parking included but there is a valet fee of $255 a month per space
• Assessments of $3,699 a month
• Katherine Chez at Coldwell Banker has the listing.