Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/692589
146 MICHIGANAVEMAG.COM STATE OF THE LOOP BUYERS WHO WANT IT ALL ARE FLOCKING TO DOWNTOWN CHICAGO— THAT IS, IF THEY CAN SCORE A RESIDENCE. BY LISA SKOLNIK Newsweek recently noted that "we're streaming to cities like ants to a dropped Popsicle." That's spot-on in Chicago, where the super-sweet Loop is rocking a hat trick: Recent Appraisal Research Counselors stats showed its resale condo prices exceeded the 2008 peak by two percent; retail brokerage Stone Real Estate just calculated vacancies hit their lowest point since 2002; and Trullia's April heat map of hot Chicago hoods ranked it third behind the Near North Side and Lincoln Park. But the Loop has far fewer residential properties, making it hard to score a home there. Here's the lowdown from two Loop specialists: Baird & Warner's Suzanne Brennan (312-927-3555; suzanne. brennan@bairdwarner.com) and @properties' Laura Rango (312-560-8183; laurarango@ atproperties). Why the Loop? Suzanne Brennan: Proximity to every kind of shopping, great restaurants and cafes, theater, music, film, muse- ums, Millennium Park, nearby grocery stores, and lots of jobs. Laura Rango: These things appeal to all ages, so all genera- tions live here. That's why supply is so limited, especially in the best buildings. Which are those? SB: While it has some beautiful adaptive reuse and multi-use buildings, only two totally SPACE BROKERS' ROUND TABLE