South Loop Chicago Neighborhood

The South Loop is a prime location for new residential development in Chicago – one that has caught the attention of both condo builders and condo buyers. A number of new construction condominiums have gone up in the area already and several more are on the way. A line of residential towers and glass-covered high-rises have shot up along Michigan Avenue next to great dining, swanky lounges and major tourist destinations. The rest of the South Loop is a flurry of activity with cranes and craftsmen buzzing around construction sites as this south side Chicago neighborhood continues to grow into one of the city’s hottest real estate markets.

Chicago’s South Loop neighborhood has experienced one of the swiftest turnarounds of any Chicago neighborhood ever. In the 19th century, the South Loop was a center of train freight and printing. However, by the second half of the 20th century, most of the commercial enterprise that had formerly flourished in the South Loop had moved elsewhere and was replaced with surface parking lots and warehouses, and the neighborhood was known for attracting criminal elements.

It’s difficult to say exactly when change began in the South Loop, but most experts would point to the construction of the Dearborn Park community as a catalyst. In the late 1970s, Chicago city leaders devised a plan to revitalize the South Loop, and the large Dearborn Park residential development was constructed between 1979 and 1988. Dearborn Park was a planned community, with private parking, cul-de-sacs, and small green spaces that are shared by residents.

However, it took a couple of decades after Dearborn Park was completed before the South Loop really started attracting the attention of developers and homebuyers. Maybe the thing that really jump-started the South Loop’s turnaround was when Mayor Daley moved his family to a Central Station townhouse in 1993. Since then, the neighborhood has taken off, and it’s become one of the fastest-growing residential neighborhoods in the country.

Part of what has fueled the South Loop’s boom is its close proximity to the Loop. People that work in the loop can literally walk to their jobs, and there’s easy access to several CTA train lines. But there’s also the fact that the average price of real estate in the South Loop is still much cheaper than similar property on the North Side.

Then, all of a sudden, massive shimmering high-rises started emerging in the South Loop, and reaching for the heavens. The most obvious example of this upward trend is One Museum Park, which, at 62 floors, stands like a beacon over Grant Park and the rest of the neighborhood. That building is the largest of the Central Station high-rise complex that is currently under construction on East Roosevelt Road along the southern edge of Grant Park. Just to the west is One Museum Park West, which will have 54 floors when it is completed in 2010.

Of course, the real estate crop in the South Loop isn’t limited to brand new sky-high high-rises – they’re just the most visible. The neighborhood also features a wealth of mid- and low-rise condos and townhouses. The Aspen Burnham Station, for example, is one of the most popular mid-rise condo buildings in the neighborhood. The building is terraced, creating spacious sun decks for residents that look out on the Chicago skyline.