Here’s another entry in the ongoing saga detailing Chicago’s upscale and heated housing market.
Retail stores and other businesses are still operating in the buildings along Superior and Huron Streets and Wabash Avenue, the site where the 50-story Fordham condominium will be located — 25 E. Superior St., to be exact.
Groundbreaking is slated for May, occupancy for summer 2002.
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Yet, even with first move-ins more than two years away, and well before a two-bedroom Fordham model opened a few weeks ago, 112 of its 245 residences had been sold. They included a mix of the condos, penthouses and town homes, some up to 8,000 square feet, that had pre-construction prices of $279,500 to $3.25 million. Available residences currently range from $364,500 to $2.25 million.
What is it, what are the attractions that lure prospects to sign those contracts? At those prices?
Could the temptations possibly include a rather distinctive amenity such as the building’s wine cellar with private storage? Or an over-the-top extra — a lounge with humidor room where men and women can enjoy their stogies without offending their neighbors? Or guests?
Certainly the health club, spa, business center, conference facilities, valet and 24-hour doormen aren’t the prime attractions; these are becoming de rigueur in high-end buildings.
No, it’s probably the landscaping and architectural details, the decorative metal railings, the ornamental street lamps that “harmonize with the settings of adjacent St. James and Holy Name Cathedrals,” according to a promotional letter.
Undoubtedly, the clinchers are the building’s private theater, or better yet, the swimming pool, maid service and 18-hour-a-day room service. That would make the Fordham almost as neat as staying at the Four Seasons — without having to make reservations.
Whatever. The Fordham is one of those buildings offering amenities that appeal to mansion-owning downsizers, along with folks who are buying homes in the city as their second homes — recreational respites from base homes surrounded by trees and land rather than high-rises.
The model, called a Tower 2, is a two-bedroom, two-bath condo with 1,575 square feet and an additional 68-square-foot terrace, base-priced from $679,500 to $689,500.
Both the Fordham’s Plaza Level, floors 2 to 10, and the Tower Level, 12 to 28, have six floor plans, or tiers. The Pinnacle Level, floors 29 to 40, has five tiers. The Penthouses, 41 to 50, have their own way of life. Town homes are at the 11th level.
Model Tower 2 (at 15 E. Huron St., the former Suntory restaurant) has sumptuous traditional furnishings, elegant rather than showy, looking very much the in-town home of a moderately wealthy mid-aged couple.
But the attention-getters are the windows — two bays in the living room, walls of windows in the dining area, kitchen and bedroom/den (looking out to the terrace), plus four individual ceiling-almost-to-the-floor windows in the master bedroom/sitting room. They’re eye-catching because the decorators have cleverly installed glorious day and glittery night views of Chicago that give the feeling of living high in the sky.
Visitors might want to figure out what they’d see from the condo they’re considering — if it were located, say, on the 6th floor, looking northwest.
Though the model is the flip side of the actual unit’s location, the floor plan is simple and direct: To one side of the foyer is the bedroom wing, while to the other side is a door leading to a roomy kitchen (but space only for a small table and two chairs), then an angled hallway to the dining/living room, each 17 feet wide, the two totaling about 25 feet in length — a comfortable size for dinner for six. The windows make it special.
The model’s second bedroom is open to the living area and furnished as a den — very formally wood-paneled, perhaps a bit of a disservice since it seems made to be the old boys’ after-dinner retreat, while the satin and damask furnishings in the living room would seem to attract the ladies for a bit of chatter.
If the den, however, were a bedroom, it would be part of the sleeping-bathing wing that includes a bathroom, good-sized laundry room and the hall to a grand master suite, which comprises a large walk-in closet, bedroom, a 10-by-8-foot sitting room and large master bath.
All in all and given its amenities, it’s quite nice. But, 1,575 square feet for more than half a million dollars? Taking the low-end price and square footage for the condo ($679,500 and 1,575 square feet) that’s a hefty $431 per square foot (as of March 15). If I were a prospective buyer — especially if I drank beer and/or martinis but not wine, hated any kind of smoking, didn’t swim or give a hoot about maid or room service — I’d certainly wonder and ask just how much of that $431 (and $679,500) would go in to the amenities pot and not my private space.
The cost apparently doesn’t cause problems for some buyers. Director of sales Adrienne Hulse says most people come in looking for more than 2,000 square feet and “many are combining two units. They want space,” she added.