I actually mentioned this Pinnacle penthouse in a previous post on the most expensive homes for sale in Chicago. That was more than 2 years ago when unit 4501 at 21 E Huron was listed at $8.9 MM. The property was initially listed at this price in May of 2010. Since then the price has been dropped twice and just a few days ago they lopped another cool million off the price to sweeten the pot. Each time the old listing was cancelled and a new listing was created, which is a fairly common realtor trick. At 6000 square feet with 3 parking spaces (assume $40K per spot) I estimate that the price/ SF is right around $1130, which is way up there even at this drastically reduced price.
You can see the photos of the interior of this home at the second link above but the most interesting part of this story is who owns it. Public records indicate that Roy and Paula May are the owners. They have a rather interesting background as owners of three Chicago firms that are in the adult film and peep show business in the Midwest: Capitol News Agency, General Video Midwest, and Wednesday Co. In fact the property taxes for this condo go to 4508 W Montrose Ave, which is also the address for Capital News Agency, Playmate Video, and Swingers World Adult. A quick check of Google Street View does not show any noticeable signage to that effect.
Well, I guess we all knew that the porn business pays well. But apparently it also has it’s risks. According to the Chicago Tribune, back in 1993 Roy and Paula May were the victims of an extortion scheme and the intended target of a bomb plot.
Wouldn’t you think that $6.9 MM would be a lucky number for Roy and Paula?