A rising demand for rental units in downtown Chicago has resulted in a drastic change in demand for luxury for-purchase units in the city. Furthermore, an overall lack of financing has ensured that 2011 will bear witness to significantly lower construction of luxury units this year. Still, there are two luxury condo developments currently under construction in Chicago whose predicted success may mean good things for the Chicago luxury condos market as a whole.
2520 Lincoln Park is a 39-floor building-in-progress located across the street from the urban oasis known as North Pond, in the Lincoln Park area. It will be the first large-scale condo built in Lincoln Park since 2120 North Lincoln Park West was completed some ten years ago. Therefore its success is eagerly anticipated and will be closely observed.
The Ritz Carlton Residences, whose 88 units are being constructed now, is situated in the swanky shopping district of North Michigan Avenue. Both 2525 Lincoln Park and the Ritz Carlton Residences were designed by renowned architect Lucien Lagrange. Both are amenity-filled residential towers marketed to wealthier homebuyers. And both are expected to be finished later this year, making them the only sizable Chicago condo buildings that will deliver units to buyers in 2012.
The Ritz Carlton plans to start deliveries later this year. If it fails to do so, 2011 will be marked as the first year in a decade and a half in which no new for-purchase units were added to the Chicago housing market, says Appraisal Research Counselors. Rising prices on rental properties, however, are predicted to push those looking for homes to the for-purchase market in the coming years.
That, in addition to the fact that both the Ritz Carlton Residences and 2520 Lincoln Park are targeted toward more affluent buyers searching for higher-end units, is expected to set the two buildings apart from the rest of Chicago’s unsold inventory and attract buyers in the coming year.
Clientele expected to take interest in these luxury Chicago condos will likely be in it just as much for the overall lifestyle as for getting a good price. When speaking of the project in a Chicago Tribune article earlier this month, one of the partners for the Lincoln Park development said, “The experience is equally important, if not more important, than price. And that’s where you kind of segregate from the market.”
