Chicago Real Estate Blog

Things to do in Downtown Chicago in June

From live music and craft beer to a day aimed at making the city a better place to live, there’s a lot on tap for Downtown Chicago this June.

Chicago Blues Festival- June 10-12

Downtown’s Grant Park is the place to be the second weekend of June for a free, three-day live music show. The Chicago Blues Fest kicks off each day at 11am, with headliners and cover bands invited to take five stages before an expected crowd of more than 500,000 fans.

Chicago Ale Fest- June 17-18

Head back to the park the next weekend for the annual Chicago Ale Fest, with some proceeds benefiting the Grant Park Conservancy. Going on at Buckingham Fountain, the festival is expected to serve up an excess of 200 beers from more than 100 craft breweries around the…

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We've Launched a New-And-Improved Chicago Condo Finder!

As you may have noticed, the look and feel of Chicago Condo Finder has changed! That’s right, we’ve updated our entire site to help make your home or condo search in the Windy City easier and more enjoyable.

Along with a cleaner, more modern layout, the new ChicagoCondoFinder.com is also mobile-friendly and enables our clients to run more effective searches from the convenience of their phones, tablets, and other mobile devices. Our branding has also been slightly modified with a chic new logo, but rest assured, we’re still providing the same high-quality service to all our clients, regardless of whether you’re looking to buy or sell.

When browsing around our new state-of-the-art Chicago real estate website, keep in mind, we’re still working out a few…

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Buyers Finding Great Deals on Homes and Condos in Chicago

If you’re in the market for a home or condo in Chicago you could be in for a great deal. That’s according to real estate data compiled and analyzed by OpenHouse. The group is reporting that most of the homes sold over the last month or so went for below the asking price.

Looking closer at the nearly 2,500 Chicago homes that sold during this period, nearly 500 of them went for more than the asking price, another nearly 650 went for the asking price and almost 1,400 others sold for below the listing price.

While the news is encouraging to buyers, it doesn’t necessarily mean all neighborhoods in Chicago deliver the same value. The most competitive markets in the city, according to Crain’s, include the greater West Town area and Logan Square. These are the…

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Prairie Court Townhomes in the South Loop Now Listed on the MLS

Prairie Court is a fabulous new luxury townhouse community set right in the middle of Chicago’s ever-evolving South Loop neighborhood. Having just hit the market recently, townhouses in this charming new community are settled directly in between all the towering high-rises, lofts, and historic mansions that fill out the South Loop real estate landscape, but in a way that still provides residents with plenty of privacy and a unique and highly desirable sense of community.

The luxury townhouses for sale at Prairie Court feature roomy floor plans, between three and four bedroom, attached two-car garages, and even some outdoor living space as well that will allow owners to fully enjoy the sights and sounds that coincide with living in downtown Chicago.

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Apartments Coming to 301 W North Avenue in Old Town

New apartments are set to be developed at North Park and North in Old Town, currently the location of a parking lot on the southwest corner. Officially identified as 301 W North Avenue, the finished development will eventually include 69 separate rental units, ranging in size from 600 to 1,300 square feet.

Along with the one, two- and three-bedroom rentals, the building will also include rooftop space for residents to enjoy as well as retail stores on the ground floor. In addition, the building permit reveals that the project will offer an underground parking garage.

With a brick exterior design, the building joins two others also slated for development in the area by Sedgwick Properties. They include a 60-unit, seven-story development at 1325 N Wells and…

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Navy Pier's Centennial Wheel Opens Today

Chicago’s fancy new Ferris wheel is set to make its long-awaited debut today, which is being called the Centennial Wheel in recognition of Navy Pier’s 100th anniversary. So if you plan on swinging down to the Pier sometime this summer, here are a few key changes you can expect regarding this cool new attraction:

1) The Centennial Wheel is 200 feet tall, which is 50 feet taller than the older wheel. Rides are also longer, between 13 and 15 minutes. According to Navy Pier staff, a ride on the old wheel only lasted 7 minutes.

2) Yep, the new Ferris wheel at Navy Pier is more expensive than its predecessor, now costing $15 per adult. Patrons only had to pay $8 to take a ride on the old wheel.  There’s also the option of purchasing a day pass, which cost $35,…

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Vince Vaughn's Penthouse in The Palmolive Might be Split Into 2 Units

A pricey Michigan Avenue penthouse could soon be split into two units. Owned by actor Vince Vaughn, the three-level, Palmolive Penthouse was reportedly recently split into two listings and both are said to be under separate contracts.

Originally a native of Lake Forest, Vaughn paid $12 million for the high-rise residence in 2006 when he came to Chicago to film a movie with Jennifer Aniston. After privately listing the home for $25 million, he made the listing public in 2012, cutting the price to $18.4 million, then eventually dropping the price several more times.

Recently, though, the actor agreed to sell the penthouse in two listings, $4.2 million for a 35th floor condo and $8.5 million for the two floors above it. Within days of this the two properties…

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Chicago Real Estate First Quarter Market Update

Year-to-date, the median price for properties in the 9 county Chicagoland region jumped 4% from $202,000 to $210,00 in the month of March. As expected, consumer confidence has also been on the rise, with recent statistics showing and Index of 96.2.

Homes for sale in the Chicago area are also selling at a more rapid pace as well, taking around 77 days to selling March of 2016, down from 85 days in March of 2015. New construction prices specifically are also rising steadily, up nearly 15% from a year ago to $539,000.

As for the luxury market in Chicago specifically, which is classified as properties $1 million and over, sales numbers of up significantly, jumping 8.8% from what we say just last year. The average days on market for luxury real estate in…

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New Condos Coming to River West

More than two-dozen new condos are coming to River West. Chicago-area developer The Domain Group just secured a construction permit to put in a seven-story building at 640-650 N Morgan. Including 25 units, the building will be going up in the 12,300-square-foot triangular space located between the Kennedy Expressway and Morgan.

While little information is listed about the design of the building, Chicago’s Vari Architects is signed on as the architectural firm. A published rendering of the building does show a garage and bike parking on the ground level along with five different floor plans of three-bedroom, two-bath units on floors two through six. The rendering also leaves room for a large rooftop deck, taking up at least half of building’s upper level.

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City of Chicago to Install New LED Street Lights

The City of Chicago is aggressively moving towards a more energy efficient future.  The city plans to change out 85% of all of its current public outdoor lights and replace them with LED lights.  While the Emanuel administration previously detailed the more than 348,000 lights included in the plan, a mayoral trust is now officially requesting proposals.

Called the Smart Lighting Project, the plan is aimed at making the city’s street lights more reliable and making the city’s energy usage more efficient.  While many city lights were installed during the 1970s, some of the electrical wiring and poles have been in place since the 1950s.

LEDs use less electricity, plus the bulbs are said to last longer than the current high-pressure sodium lights.  The city…

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