NEW LISTING ALERT! 3Bed/2Bath Single Family near O’Hare!

Just listed and ready for a quick closing.  This 1.5 story English style single family home, located at 3636 N. Page Avenue has three bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.  If you’re looking for a ton of living space, you’ve got it here.  Large living room and large family room great for your family and friends.  Tons of storage space, a large basement with finished walls and ceilings, a great two-car garage, and a fenced in backyard.  All for $250,000.  You’re close to country clubs, a forest preserve, parks, schools, tons of shopping, transit, and even places of worship.  If you or someone you know are looking for a great home, just message me!

Check out the photos and full virtual tour HERE!

If you’re ready to buy a home, sell your current place, find a rental apartment, or rent you home in Chicago, contact me and we can get started!  jeffstewart@atproperties.com.

New 427-Unit Apartment Tower Set for River North

According to this ChicagoRealEstateDaily article, AMLI Residential is partnering up with developer Friedman Properties to build a 49 story apartment building in the Southeast corner of Clark and Hubbard.  The building isn’t slated to begin until spring of 2011 at the very earliest but a completion date of 2013 seems to be a good bet.

Taking advantage of having the Greenway Self Park right next door, the AMLI building’s residents will enjoy a large landscaped roof deck on top of the garage. Amenities will include a swimming pool, a jogging path and dog runs.  Pretty cool!

As long as they keep saving the old three story buildings in River North and keep building on surface parking lots, I’ll be a happy camper.

Check out the full ChicagoRealEstateDaily article by clicking HERE!

It’s Mayfest time! Head up to Lakeview for some food and music!

Located at 3100 N. Ashland Avenue in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood, Mayfest lasts from May 21st through May 23rd so you still have two full days of Mayfest fun to be had. 

Description
Mayfest kicks off the summer festival season for Chicago. This event features great music, lots of food and plenty to drink. Dont miss it. A courtyard of fantastic merchants, artists & corporate booths

Performers
Chicagos Best Entertainment! Maggie Speaks, Mike & Joe, 16 Candles and many others.

Times
Fri 5:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Sat and Sun 12:00 pm – 10 :00 pm

Admission & Parking
Only $5 / parking is not offered at event.

Come check it out.  I went to Mayfest last year and had a good time, mostly because I love food and there was plenty of it.  Also, the bands are pretty good and let me reminisce about my college days…er, last weekend if I’m talking about 16 Candles.

 

GREEN ROOF ALERT! 901 W. Madison in the West Loop goes the green route!

I was up on the roof of 901 W. Madison in Chicago’s West Loop neighborhood and the first thing I noticed was the building’s green roof!  Figured that a lot of people don’t see a green roof up close so I made sure to take a closeup photo.

Do you know of any other good green roofs that I could get access too or that you have photos of?

Shelbourn Development scales back its Chicago Spire sales center.

Not too exciting or surprising news coming from Chicago Breaking News but at least Shelbourne’s doing the smart thing by downsizing their sales center operation to the Shelbourne Development offices at 111 S. Wacker Drive.  During the Spire’s peak in sales, their lease took up the entire 18th floor at NBC tower but for the past nine months, we have seen some legal drama going on when NBC Tower sued Shelbourne in order to evict them from the building.  I’m really curious to find out if anyone is buying in the building still.

Chicago Spire developer scales back on sales office

Published on May 17, 2010 9:52 AM | Submit a comment

The developer behind the Chicago Spire closed its posh sales office over the weekend, relocating the marketing arm for the long-stalled project to a much less grand office space nearby.

Shelbourne Development Group, which has been battling the owner of the NBC Tower for nine months, consolidated the sales function into its own office space at 111 S. Wacker. A spokeswoman for Spire developer Garrett Kelleher denied that the move signaled that the project was dead.

“He’s being smart,” the spokeswoman said. “If you’re in a situation where things are slowing down, you need to consolidate and you need to be smart. Clearly the economy has been tough and he’s had to focus on areas of his portfolio that are doing well.”

The sales office in the NBC building, which occupied the entire 18th floor, opened in early 2008 and included touches designed by Spire architect Santiago Calatrava and a built-out model of a Spire condominium.

The owner of the NBC Tower sued Shelbourne to evict the developer last August, charging that the company had not made a rent payment since April. In March, the case was dismissed by agreement, and a $55,082.06 judgment for NBC Tower was voided.

Instead of touring a model unit, potential buyers will see samples of materials and three-dimensional computer models, the spokeswoman said.

The sales office’s closing is likely to cast more doubt on whether the twisting, 2,000-foot-tall skyscraper will ever rise from the circular hole in the ground that now exists alongside 400 N. Lake Shore Drive. Shelbourne has been beset by financial problems since starting the skyline-defining project just as the financial and real estate markets were seizing up.

Shelbourne and Kelleher remain in litigation with Bank of America Corp., which filed suit last August, charging the developer with defaulting on a loan and said it was due $4.9 million. Bank of America said Kelleher personally guaranteed the loan. Kelleher and his company fired back in a countersuit, claiming the lender committed fraud and deception in arranging a loan used to start the building…

Check out the full article by clicking HERE!

View from University Commons just South of UIC!

This view is taken from the roof deck of a new listing that I’m partnering up with another @properties agent, Jodi Faulkner, in University Commons.  University Commons stands on five blocks that, for over 75 years, was home to Chicago’s South Water Market.  The developer, Enterprise Companies, did an amazing job transforming these once dilapidated marketplaces into a vibrant neighborhood.  Kudos to them!

Downtown views from Chicago’s Avondale neighborhood.

Check out the view towards downtown from my newest listing at Belmont Lofts, located at 4131 W. Belmont Avenue!  Feel free to contact me for any of your real estate needs.  jeffstewart@atproperties.com

View from my new listing at 4131 W. Belmont Avenue.

155 N. Wacker detail in the Loop.

Photo brought to you by Skyscraperpage user J M Tungsten.   This would make a perfect background for your computer so cheers to the photographer.

Crain’s video highlights the demise of the Armitage Avenue retail corridor.

The Armitage Avenue retail corridor, between Halsted and Racine, has become another casualty due to greedy real estate developers and real estate owners.  With retail rents at an affordable rate, Armitage Avenue was able to attract droves of mom and pop businesses that appealed to, not only Chicagoans, but tourists from around the world.  These boutique shops and low rents made Armitage Avenue one of the most sought after destinations to go shopping and to open up a store respectively. 

But during the residential and retail boom years ago, the owners of the retail spaces were able to jack up rent to a level business owners couldn’t afford.Now that the economy has plummeted, businesses could no longer afford the sky-high rents and now Armitage Avenue is filled with vacant storefronts or banks. 

Take a look at the Crain’s Chicago Business video by clicking HERE!

Chicago’s Downtown Office Vacancies Have Reached a New 4 Year High.

Downtown office vacancy highest in 4 years

By: Thomas A. Corfman March 29, 2010

(Crain’s) — The downtown vacancy rate has made its biggest leap in seven years, as a sharp drop in demand was compounded by the completion of yet another office project.

The vacancy rate spiked to 14.9% during the first quarter, compared to 13.8% during the fourth quarter and 11.5% during the first quarter of 2009, according to a report by the Chicago office of real estate firm CB Richard Ellis Inc.The jump of 1.1 percentage points is the largest single-quarter increase since the fourth quarter of 2002, when the vacancy rate climbed 2.1 percentage points, to 12.9%, in the wake of another recession.

The vacancy rate has climbed for six consecutive quarters and now stands at the highest level since first-quarter 2006, when the vacancy was 15.1%. During the last decade, the vacancy rate peaked at 16.0% at the end of 2005.

Yet in a hopeful sign, the amount of sublease space fell during the first quarter, the first decline in two years, prompting some landlord representatives to think the worst may be over.

“I think we have nudged off the bottom,” says landlord rep Robert Gillespie, a senior vice-president with CB Richard Ellis. “I am not suggesting that we are on a sharp V-type of recovery, but we are on an upward trajectory.”

Including sublease space, the overall vacancy rate shot up to 17.1% during the first quarter, compared to 16.2% during the fourth quarter and 13.3% during the first quarter of 2009, CB Richard Ellis says.

The increase in overall vacancy is the largest single-quarter jump in five years.

Demand for downtown office space plunged by more than 700,000 square feet during the first quarter, the fourth time during the past six quarters that demand has fallen. The drop in demand is the biggest single-quarter decline since the fourth quarter of 2002.

Demand is measured by net absorption, the change in the amount of leased and occupied space, compared to the previous quarter.

Mr. Gillespie says that first-quarter demand reduction is the result of corporate decisions made six to nine months ago.

But tenant representative Daniel Arends says he expects the vacancy rate to rise another full percentage point this year, adding, “There just doesn’t seem to be a lot of demand.”

More than half of tenants with leases coming due are renewing, compared with just 30% to 35% in 2008, says Mr. Arends, a principal in Rosemont-based Colliers Bennett & Kahnweiler Inc.…

Read the full Crain’s Chicago Business article by clicking HERE!

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