In case you missed this story earlier in the week, according to Crain's the infamous Lexington Park highrise at Cermak and Michigan is going rental. Although many will probably see this as a negative, in our mind it could be positive.The southern end of the South Loop (if you consider this the South Loop) is probably the bleakest area of the neighborhood in regard to retail and it's mostly due to the fact that there is little foot traffic these days. Well the good news is that by this building going rental, foot traffic should pick up. Hopefully it brings some more shops to this stretch of the neighborhood.
The article goes on to talk about estimated price at the building:The ST spokesman says the venture hasn't chosen a property manager or decided on rents. But people familiar with Lexington Park estimate that one-bedroom units will rent for $1,300 to $1,600 a month, while two-bedrooms will go for $1,700 to $2,100.
By comparison, monthly rent for a one-bedroom unit starts at $1,500 at Terrazio, a 180-unit development about a half-mile north of Lexington Park, says Jennifer Witt of Coldwell Banker NRT, who is leasing a block of unsold units for Terrazio's developer, Sedgwick Properties Development Corp. of Chicago.
For the saga behind Lexington Park click here for old Sloopin posts.
(Image from Curbed Chicago)
I was looking forward to ST trying to sell these units, but I am happy that it is going rental as it will bring 300-700 residents to the area and now they can focus on bringing in Retail below.
ReplyDeleteCompletely positive in my mind. Brings in people and doesn't add to the existing glut of condos currently on the market.
ReplyDeleteAnother one bites the dust. I can't imagine a lot of interest in someone paying up to $1600 to this part of Chicago.
ReplyDeleteVery positive news for current owners in the sloop....unless u are renting out your unit. I actually hope they rent lower to pile in the people and inject some life into cermack
ReplyDeleteDavid - Do you live in the area? You're right about 1,600 for 1 bed in the area; however, that is going to be for a high-floor with the views of city AND lake. Plus this building has 24hr security, gym, rooftop deck and is BRAND NEW. Plus easy CTA and Highway access.
ReplyDeleteI do live in the South Loop but not that far south. Can't imagine paying over 1000 to live down there, much less 1600 no matter how nice the building is. The area's improving, but I still remember it 5 years ago being terrible. I just think this building isn't fitting the neighborhood well which explains why the units weren't selling. Maybe 10 years from now.
ReplyDeleteI'm all for this as long as they don't take public housing vouchers. Anyone know if this is the case? If so, it's terrible news for the hood.
ReplyDeleteThis building had 55% under contract when the bank closed (nothing to do with Lexington)- just bad timing. Lexington would have easily been 70% occupied if they started moving people in around 2008. Just bad timing: bank closed, sold, on hold..here we are. This building is exactly what the neighborhood needs and fits in perfectly.
ReplyDeleteYes - hope it doesn't turn into another Long Grove House
ReplyDeleteWhen I was house shopping back in 2008, Lexington was one of our top picks. Even so we put down a temporary $1000 hold to reserve a north facing unit (the views on higher levels are actually really great). Long story short, glad we got out of it before signing a full contract.
ReplyDeleteAnd David, you do realize no matter where you are in the South Loop, you're probably less than 1 or 2 miles away from this horrible "part of Chicago" lol. Cermak is not that far south.