After nearly 15 years of deliberation, court hearings, and tenders, Chicago construction company Tucker Development has secured credit for the $155 million development in Lincolnwood. The project is also known as District 1860 in honor of Abraham Lincoln’s presidential election that year; project completion is set for 2023.
Leases have already been signed for nearly 15,000 square feet of the commercial properties, including a Fatpour Tap Works and a Fat Rosie’s.
Fifth Third Bank has announced a plan to invest $20 million in South Chicago, the defunct steel town abandoned by the departure of the South Works steel plant in 1992.
The investment plan includes $2 million in funding for grassroots efforts and $18 million in financing for residential and business loans. Fifth Third’s efforts, in partnership with Claretian Associates, are part of a three-year revitalization scheme to revive the area and correct extended periods of disinvestment and under-funding.
Chicago’s downtown firms leased 2.2 million square feet in Q3, nearly 20% more than 2020. Nevertheless, more than 20% of office space in downtown Chicago remained available for rent, mostly because tenants aren’t expecting to operate at full capacity and are not looking for big spaces. Some industry experts say that many of the leases being signed are for companies that gave up their rentals for the majority of 2020 and the beginning of this year. Lockdowns and cost-saving measures had these businesses working remotely; now they are looking to reopen an office and maintain a downtown presence.
It’s amazing how much of real estate, environment and
infrastructure changes over time…and yet stays very much the same. At the moment one example of this is what has
evolved over the years at West Oakdale Avenue.
In 2005, a new landmark was designated in Chicago
within the Lakeview neighborhood. the
area between Seminary and Sheffield Streets for locals and tourists alike to check
out historical buildings. Many years ago
these were home to the Northwestern Terra Cotta Company officers founded in
1878 by John True and others which became the name in terra cotta
trimmings.
one of those houses – completed in 1887 – was given
the name the Henry Rokham House. that
became known as The
Queen of Terra Cotta Row and in
2012 had a market value of nearly $2.5million.
Featuring stained glass windows, brick etchings of a woman on a spinning
wheel, unique tile work, original coach house and more, it was designed by
Theodore Karls.
now, for the first time in six decades one of these
properties is for sale!!! The two floor building with four bedrooms, three and
a half bathrooms, and two kitchens has a 1970s vintage feel to it. back in its day it
was known as “the absolute crème de la crème.” now
it can be yours for $699,000 to enjoy leopard print carpeting, condo sports and
more. It may be somewhat outdated and in
need of some modernization but the location and the story it tells brings it
more than charm.
Fall in Chicago always looks good but now it’s also looking quite attractive for those in the real estate industry. According to a recent report from a local consulting firm Tracy Cross & Associates, new home sales were 3% higher this September than last. There was a decline however, but that was in the median price of new homes – a drop to under $350,000 in Q2 2018 and Q3 2018.
Tracy Cross’ EVP Erik Doresching explains this as being “from builders trying to gain some momentum [who were attempting to reverse a rather sluggish beginning to 2018, when year-over-year sales were down seven percent.”
Nationwide however, Chicago isn’t faring so well. In 2017 it was ranked 42 (out of 79 largest real estate markets) but this year it dropped to 49. Perhaps more noteworthy and concerning is that in 2016 it came in at Number 19.
Still, within the Chicago real estate industry there is some good news. For a mere $1, lots are available for purchase within the city. 4,000 of these are up for offer – spaces currently owned by the city throughout the South, Southwest and West. Thanks to the Chicago Large Lots Program (established by Mayor Rahm Emanuel in 2015), 2,000 lots have already been sold which are being utilized to “create new social spaces and to grow flowers and vegetables.”
There have been some interesting new construction developments in the Windy City as of late. Here, we discuss three of them: Fulton Market WeWork, the Johnson Publishing Building and the Starbucks on Canal Street.
Randy Rissman of Tiger Electronics is in the process of completing a deal to purchase a six-floor office building located at 210-220 N. Green Street in Fulton. With a price tag of approximately $45 million, those selling the property (Shapack Partners, AJ Capital Partners and Shorenstein Properties) will make a tidy profit on what it paid originally – $6.8 million – in 2013.
The Johnson Publishing Building – located on South Michigan Avenue – is in the process of converting what has been office space to 150 apartments for rent. This should start in the beginning of 2018 by 3L Real Estate which just acquired the construction from Columbia College.
Although it already has the largest Starbucks in Chicago, apparently that’s not good enough for the coffee tycoon. Plans have been revealed to develop it to be more than double of its original size, adding 30,000 square feet in its 111 N. Canal Street building to cater to additional workers behind the scenes who are developing new concepts for the firm. Right now, its regional Chicagoan office is nearly 14,000 square feet, located at 564 W. Randolph Street.
Chicago will soon be home to the world’s largest ever Starbucks. In 2019, North Michigan Avenue will have a Starbucks Reserve Roastery measuring 43,000 square feet, spanning four floors, offering customers a “fully sensorial coffee environment dedicated to roasting, brewing and packaging.”
The Mayor is wholly supportive of this move, seeing the benefit of the city’s “Magnificent Mile,” which he said “brings in millions of visitors from across this globe.” Rahm Emanuel thus believes it to be the perfect location for a world-class coffee destination.” Further, for the economy as a whole it is a positive move, given that it is making a large investment in Chicago and will be of benefit to locals as well.
The development has been received by other business people as well. For example, Crate and Barrel founder Gordon Segal, commented that it will have a “unique way of becoming a beacon for a brand.” He added that he “can’t think of a better retailer than Starbucks to offer Chicago something new and exciting with its Reserve Roastery.”
Other developments in progress include: One Bennett Park (a 70-floor tower at 451 E. Grand that started building last spring) designed by Robert A.M. Stern, a New York architect; Optima Chicago Center II a 57-story tower at 220 East Illinois.
A new record was set in the top-priced, second-home market in November in Wisconsin. Lake Geneva saw three homes sell for at least $5 million. Lake Geneva is 80 miles north of Chicago. Here in Chicago, during the same month only one home sold in that price range, a Glencoe estate bringing in a cool $8.5 million.
If you add in the sale in September of the Lake Geneva estate which went for $9.55 million, it would not be an exaggeration to say “we’ve had a good season of top-of-the-market activity here,” as David Curry, a Geneva Lakefront Realty broker said.
Those four sales alone have already surpassed 2015. Last year Walworth County had just three homes that sold in this super-price range.
In the 15 years prior to that there had never been more than one sale per year in that price range.
Curry added that “If we had five more $5 million listings, I could sell them this year. People are knocking on doors.”
In one more of what has been a long run of high-profile sales, a New York investor purchased the Bronzeville building where Mariano’s grocery store recently opened.
Mariano’s opened the new store at Martin Luther King Drive and Pershing Road on October 11 this year. Just about two weeks later the building was sold for $34 million. The sale should not affect the grocery, which has a twenty-year lease with four five-year options to extend the lease. Rent goes up every five years.
Not too long ago another Mariano’s location in north suburban Vernon Hills sold for $36 million.
Chicago Neighborhood Initiative was part of the venture that developed Mariano’s. The Initiative is a non-profit that helps areas around Chicago where development is sorely needed. Other interests behind the development were Chicago firms WBS Equities, Safeway Construction, and Bartlett-based Abbott Land & Investment.
The total cost of the original development is not completely clear, but in 2014, when the CNI announced plans for the project they said it would cost as much as $24 million.
Lake Forest City Hall, Lake Forest, IL. Photo by Teemu08
The iconic North Shore neighborhood of Lake Forest has one of slowest real estate markets in its peer group. Homes that were sold in May were on the market an average of 186 days. In the middle of June there were 97 homes which had been listed at least 6 months ago. Other areas with similar homes had less than 20 for sale that long. Hinsdale had 46 homes and Highland Park 57.
“It’s been slow up here,” says Marina Carney, an agent for Griffith, Grant & Lackie. “We’re all feeling it,” says Berkshire Hathaway Home-Services Koenig-Rubloff Realty Group agent Sue Beanblossom, in Lake Forest. “It takes a long time to get something sold in Lake Forest today.”
According to Midwest Real Estate Data, at the end of May Lake Forest had enough homes to supply sales for 14.5 months. In just about all its peers, such as Hinsdale and other North Shore suburbs, the inventory is quite smaller. For those other areas it was between three and 10.5 months at the end of May. A rule of thumb is that a healthy, balanced market has about six months of inventory.
Winnetka is a similar suburb to Lake Forest, but considerably smaller. Nevertheless, seven homes priced at over $5 million has sold in Winnetka in the past three years. In Lake Forest only four have sold.
Real estate agents say that the problem is three-fold: the age of the homes in Lake Forest; the extremely high asking prices; a long commute to downtown Chicago, combined with low-motivated sellers.
