The Chicago 77

29 October 2009 –GET YOUR CHECKBOOKS OUT……. Bad news and not so bad news for Cook County and Chicago residents. The new tax bills will be arriving shortly and some residents may want to be sitting down when they open their mail. Most Cook County residents will be looking at a median increase of 10 [...]

14 October 2009 ? Some good news – perhaps for all the margarita lovers in Chicago. The Beckman family, makers of Jose Cuervo tequila, is expected to purchase a 310,540 square foot building at 303 W. Madison St. for approximately $60 million. The sale would be the first significant sale of a downtown office building [...]

30 September 2009 ? Today?s big cliffhanger: Will the old Chicago Main Post Office actually close today or not? Inquiring real estate minds want to know. With an opening bid of a measly $300,000, everyone is waiting to see if wealthy would-be buyer Bill Davies (the high bidder who pledged $40 million for the property [...]

16 September 2009 ? Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. plans to sell Cityfront Place, a 39-story, 480 unit apartment building at 400 N. McClurg Court. The building was initially developed back in 1991 and is currently 97.5% occupied. The downtown market has been mostly dormant for the past several years. The last time a big [...]

02 Sept 2009 ? In keeping with yesterdays theme of ?Is your neighborhood appreciating or depreciating?? here are a few more popular Chicago neighborhoods and their year-to-date sales for 2008 vs 2009 (January 1 through September 2nd): These averages are for 2 bedroom / 2 bath condos only: Lakeview 2008: 429 condos sold with an [...]

26 August 2009 ? JDL Development Corp. won zoning approval from the Chicago Plan Commission for a 15-story, 250-unit apartment tower in Old Town located at 1223 N Wells St. What was initially planned as a four-story auto mall was squashed based on local resident?s concerns/complaints about increased traffic. All the hoop-la prompted Grossinger to [...]

For the price of a condo, you very well could buy 2.7 million square feet in downtown Chicago. Sadly, after 13 years of failed re-development efforts, the US Postal Service is auctioning off what was once described as the world?s largest Post Office with a suggested opening bid a measly $300,000. Hard to believe that [...]

5 August 2009 ? The city of Chicago is helping the Sears Willis Tower on its comeback to the tune of  about $25 million. That’s the total in incentives the city is planning to give United Airlines to pay for moving costs and building-out expenses on roughly 450,000 square feet of space United will lease [...]

Earlier this month I highlighted some key points about short sales: What is a short sale? How does it compare to foreclosure? Are short sales on the rise and does this mean I should wait to buy? This week, I?m outlining the challenges faced when dealing with a short sale, what is being done?if anything?to [...]

8 July 2009 ? A former luxury apartment hotel that many Chicago Cubs called home during the 1940?s is headed for foreclosure. Beal Bank, based in Dallas TX, is seeking to foreclose on 4607 N Sheridan Road, alleging that payments were not made on an $8.2 million mortgage and also that one of the partners [...]

Here?s a question real estate agents are hearing lately??With so many short sales out there?does that mean the market is getting worse and should I be concerned about buying now verses later this year?? The answer, in a word, ?No.? Short sales certainly seem to be on the rise due to a variety of reasons: [...]

Take comfort home sellers! Celebrities are having the same problem as we common folk. Here are some celebs who can?t seem to sell their houses: Jon and Kate Gosselin, co-stars of the popular TLC show “Jon & Kate Plus 8,” have been trying for three months to sell their former home in Elizabethtown, Pa.

24 June 2009 ? Today we have news on both extremes concerning Chicago’s real estate market. On the very bad side…yesterday The Sun Times, Chicagoist, and many others reported Chicago has 4 of the most dangerous neighborhoods (in Chicago’s case they are actually sections of well defined neighborhoods) in the country. They are: #2 State [...]