February 25, 2008 - The hotel condos at Trump Tower only began closings a few weeks ago, but the Chicago Tribune reported today that the first independent resale of a unit has taken place. With a good percentage of new developments closing on contracts, there are units that immediately come up for resale and sometimes sit on the market for weeks if not months. The fact that this first available secondary market hotel condo at Trump’s was grabbed so quickly may well be a good sign for investors who bought units there with the sole intention of selling.

According to the article, the unit that was resold is a studio on floor 21 with 607 square feet. It has exposures on the east, west and north, but parking isn’t included. It is however one of the lucrative residences in the hotel condo rental rotation, which means that the owner will receive an income from the unit if they put it in the pool. Whomever stays in the residence also has rights to use the in-unit kitchen and access to all of the Trump Hotel services.

In the Tribune article it stated that the brother and sister team of investors that sold this unit also own two others. They listed the asking price at $1,025,000 but accepted $890,000 and still claim to have made a profit. They listed the unit with an agent on February 15th but located a buyer themselves and closed the deal by the 21st. According to advertised prices, Trump is selling similar units from the low $800,000s and up. For those of you who want to Sell your Chicago Condo, all you need is a great building, location, good timing and maybe a bit of luck.

Technorati Tags: Trump Tower, Chicago Condos, Chicago Real Estate

February 23, 2008 - Avenue East began first deliveries last fall but a few statistics about the development have surfaced lately and are interesting to note. Last week the Sun Times mentioned that 101 condo closings took place in 75 days at Avenue East. Chicago Agent Magazine had a similar story, stating that those numbers were part of a record year for sales for developer Residential Homes of America. They describe the 160 E Illinois tower as “a 27-story pet-friendly luxury condominium building with 133 total homes.”

Most of the remaining units left for sale are located on the 9th through 23rd floors and are two bedroom or two bedroom plus den plans. These units are dubbed either Avenue homes which run 1,390 to 1,716 square feet or Tower homes that are 1,100 to 1,716 square feet in size. They range anywhere from the high $300,000s to $900,000s. Parking is an additional $50,000. If you check around a little though, there are quite a few units for sale by buyers, including one bedroom condos. A few unconfirmed reports even put the number of potential ‘flips’ in the building as high as 40 percent.

The condos have the standard luxury finishes, including GE appliances and marble baths with soaking tubs. Building amenities include a 6,000 square foot multiple level green roof and the Avenue Club, which contains a fitness center, surround sound theater and catering kitchen. But what may be the most attractive feature of the development is the location. It sits practically on Michigan Avenue and is close to Navy Pier, Lake Michigan, Grant and Millennium Parks. That alone is a big selling point for these Chicago Condos in Streeterville.

Technorati Tags: Avenue East, Chicago Condos, Chicago Real Estate

February 22, 2008 - Draper and Kramer’s proposed Lake Meadows redevelopment that we posted about back in mid January is back in the news again. It seems the project received a less than enthusiastic response from the residents who packed a local church to listen to a presentation from the developer last Tuesday night, according to a Crain’s report.

Even if approved, the development wouldn’t begin construction for at least 3 years and would probably take 20 to complete. It would involve first tearing down the Lake Meadows Shopping Center to make way for a new retail complex that would consist of lower level shops with low-rise condos or apartments on top. All of the area’s more than 1,800 current apartments would be torn down and eventually replaced with around 2,000 new apartments and about 5,845 condos and townhomes. D&K intends to build a combination of several low-rise building plus four high-rises, and join the complex to a nearby 15 acre park by way of a new bridge.

Current residents fear they will be pushed out of Lake Meadows permanently and not be able to afford new housing there, despite D&K assurances that they would be given first choice of renting there as well as have a selection of senior housing at what they termed affordable pricing. Interestingly, D&K was the original developer of Lake Meadows more than 50 years ago, building many of the Chicago Apartments that are still there today.

Technorati Tags: Lake Meadows, Chicago Condos, Chicago Real Estate