A new 56-story skyscraper has officially broken ground this week and will rise over south Michigan Avenue.
Named Essex on the Park, the tower is designed by Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture and will ultimately include 479 luxury rental apartments at 808 S. Michigan. The project will also include a renovation of the soon to be landmarked Essex Inn located on the parcel to the north. It will include 271 new guest rooms and amenities like a chef-driven restaurant, "sky bar", indoor winter garden and pool/spa.
Read more at Curbed Chicago here.
If the current numbers are any indication, this year home buyers are going to face a big problem when the spring selling season begins: low inventory.
As of earlier this month, there are fewer homes listed for sale in the city than at any point in the last ten years. A total of 7,028 homes were on the market, the lowest number recorded by the Chicago Association of REALTORS® and 3.7 percent below the level from one year ago.
"You'd better have your ducks in a row, because it could be a fast-paced market with such low inventory," Urban Real Estate's Matt Silver, also CAR's president told Crain's today.
To read more on what this means for buyers and sellers, head over to Crain's here.
It seems Chicago developers have gotten over their fear of heights, if they ever had one.
In the latest in a slew of recent high profile and high flying towers, Houston-based Howard Hughes Company and Chicago's Riverside Investment and Development have unveiled a proposal for an 800-foot office building for 110 N. Wacker. Designed by Goettsch Partners, it would ultimately feature 1,350,000 square feet of rental space and a new public space and riverwalk interface.
While not a residential project, the proposal is particularly notable because it would be the tallest office building built in the city in a quarter century.
Read more on the project at Curbed Chicago here.
The latest report predicts that the Chicago metro area will again be among the top housing markets for investors in 2017.
According to a report from HomeUnion, single family rental yields will be at 7.5 percent, ahead of markets around the country including smaller cities like Tampa and Charlotte. Chicago was way ahead of markets on the west coast like San Francisco and San Jose which offer among the lowest yields.
Beating out Chicago were cities like Atlanta and Philadelphia. Topping the list was Cleveland, which will yield 10.9 percent, HomeUnion predicts.
Read more at Chicago Agent Magazine here.