CRAIN'S CHICAGO BUSINESS
January 21, 2020
DENNIS RODKIN
In another indication of the strong appetite for high-end condos in the West Loop, an upcoming building ran out of $3 million-and-up units so fast that the developer changed the plans to add more.
And sold two of them in the first few weeks.
Because the building, called Peoria Green and planned for a site between Peoria and Green streets near Mary Bartelme Park, has not broken ground yet, reconfiguring the condo mix was primarily a matter of redrawing plans.
When sales launched last fall, Peoria Green was to have 20 units: five priced at $3 million to $3.5 million, and 15 at $1.2 million to $1.9 million.
Four of the five upper-priced units “sold within the first weeks, and we sold the last one over the holidays,” said Cory Robertson, director of developer services for Jameson Sotheby’s International Realty, which is representing Peoria Green for the developer, ZSD.
Four of the 15 lower-priced condos sold In the same time frame, Robertson said.
Late last year developer Zev Salomon agreed to change the mix, Robertson said. Now the building will have 17 units: eight in the $3 million to $3.5 million higher-priced kind and nine in the lower price range.
The once-scruffy West Loop matured quickly in the years after the recession and in the past few years has stood out as one of the city’s hottest areas, not only for homes but as a job center and a restaurant and nightlife hub. Elementary school Skinner West is a Tier 1 school, CPS' highest ranking.
In 2019, four condos in the neighborhood sold for over $4 million each.
As of today 33 condos in the West Loop are listed for between $1 million and $2 million and six at $2 million or more, according to Midwest Real Estate Data.
At Peoria Green, the $3 million-and-up condos are 4,700 square feet with five bedrooms and 1,300 square feet of outdoor space. At under $2 million, they’re 2,350 square feet with four bedrooms and 240 square feet of outdoor space.
The larger units drew mostly buyers who have been living in the West Loop for a while and now have families, Robertson said. “They’ve been coming to us saying they want to stay in Skinner, but they can’t find something they like for north of $3 million.”
When the redesign was done, Robertson said, the sales team called some buyers who had previously missed out on the $3 million units and sold one quickly.
After a few early-January sales of lower-priced units, one Peoria Green unit is left to sell at $3 million-plus and one at a little over $1.67 million, Robertson said.
Robertson said an early plan for the building was heavier on the high-end units, “and I was the one who chickened out. I was afraid to put that many $3 million units into the West Loop market.”
The developers expect to break ground in early February, according to Robertson.