Last week I posted on Chicago’s most expensive single family home sales in 2015. However, the most expensive home in that post, which sold for $13.3 MM and change, was not the most expensive home sale last year. That honor actually went to a condo allegedly purchased by George Lucas back in April for $18.75 MM in the Park Tower on which I previously posted. And even the second highest condo sale last year was more expensive at $16 MM. That was one of Ken Griffin’s condos in the Waldorf Astoria that he recently sold.
2015 was a record year for condo/ co-op sales above $4 MM. 16 units crossed the MLS plus Ken Griffin’s sale and George Lucas’ purchase, neither of which went through the MLS. Going back to 2007 in the MLS we have had as few as 3 sales above $4 MM and as many as 15 sold in 2008. 2013 was also a fairly high year with 14 MLS sales.
Unfortunately, we don’t know much about Ken Griffin’s condo, since it wasn’t on the MLS, other than the fact that it occupies the entire 46th floor and he paid $16 MM for it in 2014. That same year he also bought another full floor unit on the 37th floor, which he still presumably owns.
Ken’s 46th floor condo was originally purchased by Julie and Hugh Sullivan, a vice chairman of Morgan Stanley, as raw space for $5.05 MM in 2011 and they obviously built it out before selling it to Ken Griffin. When purchased by the Sullivans the 7400 sq ft unit had 4 bedrooms, 4 full bathrooms, 2 half bathrooms, and 3 fireplaces – or at least that’s how the developer envisioned it. It was also listed at that time with 4 parking spaces.
The third highest condo sale last year was the 7,662 sq ft full floor 18th floor penthouse unit at 189 E Lake Shore Dr. (in my opinion the best street in Chicago) which sold for $10.375 MM. The home has 5 bedrooms, 5 full bathrooms, 1 half bathroom, 3 fireplaces, and 5 garage parking spaces.
Here is the description from the MLS and a slideshow is at the bottom of this post:
Introducing the most magnificent Penthouse in the city. Beautifully situated on prestigious East Lake Shore Drive. 7,662 square feet plus almost 3,000 square feet of private outdoor spaces. Terraces off Solarium are absolutely breathtaking with lake and city views. You will never see anything like this true Penthouse. Parking for 5 cars included in price.
The next highest sale was a 12th floor duplex penthouse at The Ambassador at 1300 N State Parkway, unit 1201 which sold for $6.9 MM and change – you can see the big gap in prices. With 6800 sq ft of space this home has 3 bedrooms, 4 full bathrooms, one half bathroom, 5 fireplaces, and 2 garage spaces.
#ChicagoExpensiveHomes
Gary Lucido is the President of Lucid Realty, the Chicago area’s full service discount real estate brokerage. If you want to keep up to date on the Chicago real estate market, get an insider’s view of the seamy underbelly of the real estate industry, or you just think he’s the next Kurt Vonnegut you can Subscribe to Getting Real by Email using the form below. Please be sure to verify your email address when you receive the verification notice.