The Chicago Boom (Manhattan, Ohio, Buffalo: apartments, condos, how much)

[mdz]

well, via, I hope you're right, but I'm kind of bearish on all this as well. Even Trump was out here a few mos ago trying to get more people into his condoplex. Only so many people can afford 500K+ for a condo, especially with the loan excitement as of late (esp for jumbos). Whatever the case is, lots of nice looking stuff going up, and thank God Chicago has stayed relatively afloat.

[via chicago]

the prospect of landing the Olympics also adds to this equation. If somehow Chicago lands '16, look out because you wont have seen anything yet.

also, foreign buyers are increasingly "discovering" chicago. i've heard asians especially have changed their views of the city, as more have come as tourists. surprisingly, its the europeans who still have an outdated stereotype of Chicago (mobsters, meatpacking, michael jordan, and thats about it)

the olympics would definitely have the power to transform the image worldwide, much as it did for Barcelona.

[via chicago]

another one I got my hands on today. this is all for the Central Station development

Grant Park Tower 3 (~790 ft)



Grant Park Tower 4 (~900')

The south wall of Grant Park is going to be awesome.

[rsruss6399]

I have been all over the country and no other city has the architecture or skyline like Chicago. It's amazing.

[desibear]

I sincerely hope and pray and wish that 680 n. rush gets axed. I live literally next door and this building will basically ruin the view/feel for everyone in the neighborhood, including north facing residents at 55 e erie, east facing at the Fordham, SE facing at the Pinnacle, South facing at 30 e huron and west facing for 100 e. huron. It will ruin the openess still found due to the church and the adjoining plaza (where 680 n. rush is being proposed) and will make a congested area even more so. My assumption is that most of these were being dreamt during the delusional days of easy credit and hopefully their backers are hung-over enough to let a few of these go. I love the architecture in Chicago as much as the next person but I don't want to see a sky scraper everywhere at the same time. I was in Sao Paulo, Brazil last year and their skyline is a complete mess because of so many tall buildings crammed together, all competing for your attention. Hope that never happens to Chicago.

[via chicago]

Originally Posted by desibear

I sincerely hope and pray and wish that 680 n. rush gets axed. I live literally next door and this building will basically ruin the view/feel for everyone in the neighborhood, including north facing residents at 55 e erie, east facing at the Fordham, SE facing at the Pinnacle, South facing at 30 e huron and west facing for 100 e. huron. It will ruin the openess still found due to the church and the adjoining plaza (where 680 n. rush is being proposed) and will make a congested area even more so. My assumption is that most of these were being dreamt during the delusional days of easy credit and hopefully their backers are hung-over enough to let a few of these go. I love the architecture in Chicago as much as the next person but I don't want to see a sky scraper everywhere at the same time. I was in Sao Paulo, Brazil last year and their skyline is a complete mess because of so many tall buildings crammed together, all competing for your attention. Hope that never happens to Chicago.

no offense, but you live in downtown chicago (the birthplace of the skyscraper) and you're complaining about skyscrapers going up? classic case of NIMBYism: "Not In My Backyard". you want the benefits of living in the city, without everything that comes along with living in the city. this isnt naperville. its like moving to a rural area, but then complaining about being surrounded by corn...sorry, i just dont have a lot of sympathy. its like the director of urban planning told a lady in a Q&A session who had the same complaint about Park Michigan:

Q: My husband and I bought our home in this neighborhood in 2000 because we liked the quiet low-rise loft envronment here. Now we can hardly recognize our block anymore. How can these developers be allowed to change a neighborhood this way?

A: It's always a good idea to take a look at the Zoning map for the area you are buying a home in to see if it meets you needs.

680 Rush will be the first condominium project for Canyon Ranch (mainly operate resorts and spas now), which touts a "wellness" lifestyle (free on site medical, etc), especially aimed at baby boomers. there is a market for this, and all indication point to it being built. Also, the church will be using it for their offices.

[oakparkdude]

Agree with Via. North Michigan Avenue is supposed to be congested and full of tall buildings.

[HockeyFan]

How much do these condos go for? Does anyone have links to websites?

Very impressive!

[Drover]

Originally Posted by via chicago

the thing is, most of these are not offices. in fact, the only office buildings are the Riverside Plaza location and 300 LaSalle (as well as the BCBS expansion). All the rest are residential condominiums/hotels. The fact is, there is a demand for these buildings or they woulndt be getting built. The Arquitectonica tower was just revealed a couple months back and theres already a waiting list several hundred people long. Aqua is practically sold out....

If that's supposed to give me some assurance, it doesn't. Have you seen what's going on in the housing market lately? Prices are falling, interest rates are rising, housing turnover is at a 10-year low, new construction is at a 10-year low, and units are sitting on the market for months unless they are very aggressively priced to move. How many people who are supposedly lined up to buy these things have actually bought them outright? How many are going to walk away from their hold deposits because a bunch of the equity in their current homes that they were counting on to leverage their new purchase has disappeared? Or how many had planned to dip into their investment portfolios before they watched them drop 20% of their value? Or how many who theoretically could afford one of these places are nonetheless going to wait and see while we ride out the current investment and housing turbulence? How many are looking at the market right now and asking, "wait -- is this condo really worth what they're asking for it?" I'm sorry, downtown Chicago has not instantly become THAT big of a residential draw that we all of a sudden need thousands of new units there THIS VERY MINUTE. I just don't see it. I hope I'm wrong, I really do. But I have to tell you, looking at all this makes me shake my head right now.

[nanannie]

They keep building more and more and up and up,yet the "Sears Tower",the one time tallest,most impressive sky scraper in its day,,sits almost empty.Are they really going to fill up these buildings? or will we have a huge amount of huge white elephants in our future