The University of Illinois’ private foundation in November paid $1.32 million for a combined two-unit spread on the 41st floor of the Harbor Point condominium building on Chicago’s New East Side.
The Urbana-based foundation bought the totally remodeled, three-bedroom, 2,585-square-foot condo in response to a request from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign leaders, said foundation spokeswoman Sue Johnson.
“The University of Illinois Foundation purchased this condominium (one combined unit) at the request of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to be used by the chancellor and other university units to support ongoing business and fundraising efforts and to be more accessible to Chicagoland alumni and donor communities,” Johnson told Elite Street in a statement.
Many public universities have private foundations, which raise money to provide additional financial support. In Chicago, the University of Illinois Foundation now owns three separate residential properties. In addition to the Harbor Point unit, the foundation also owns a two-bedroom condo on the 25th floor of Lake Point Tower, which it bought for $640,000 in 2020 and which it uses for events by foundation administrators when they are in Chicago for meetings, Johnson said.
And after her death in 2006, pioneering female surgeon and U. of I. alumna and faculty member Olga Jonasson left her $1 million, vintage row home in an enclave of historic houses on Chicago’s Near West Side to the U. of I.’s foundation. Now known as the Jonasson House, the 4,600-square-foot red brick house has been used in the past as UIC’s chancellor’s residence and as a location to engage potential donors. At present, however, UIC’s chancellor does not live in the Jonasson House, a UIC spokeswoman told Elite Street.
Although the foundation is a nonprofit organization, it pays property taxes on some of its Chicago real estate. The foundation’s new Harbor Point condos had a combined $18,338 property tax bill in the 2022 tax year, while its Lake Point Tower condo unit had a $10,695 property tax bill in the 2022 tax year. The Jonasson House is tax-exempt.
Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.
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