The Chicago Tribune and Crain’s reported today that Chicago’s most expensive home sale ever closed on April 28 and speculation is running high that the buyer is George Lucas of Star Wars fame. The property which is the subject of this speculation is the 65th floor penthouse unit in the Park Tower Residences at 800 N Michigan Ave.
This transaction did not go through the MLS and there is no mention of realtors so I guess the seller avoided the exorbitant commission on this one. The transaction was recorded with the county on May 6 and it’s showing a transaction price of $18.75 MM.
The reason that people are speculating that George Lucas is the buyer is because the property was bought by Ennell LLC, and the contact person on the documents is Natalie Delagnes Talbot. According to the Tribune:
She is a San Francisco attorney who has done work for George Lucas and is a director of the George Lucas Family Foundation, according to the charity’s most recent public tax documents. Mellody Hobson [George Lucas’ wife] is also on the foundation board and in Chicago is president of Ariel Investments. Hobson also owns property in Park Tower and has been represented by Talbott’s San Francisco firm in real estate transactions.
Such a move could be tied to the planned development of the Lucas Museum here.
Back in 2012 the unit directly above this one sold to Ken Griffin for $15 MM. It was listed as having 7900 sq ft of space (so this one would be the same size) and at the time it was the most expensive condo ever sold in Chicago. However, since then Ken’s purchase was trumped by the Trump Tower purchase of Sanjay Shah for $17 MM. Now Lord Lucas comes along and obliterates both of these purchases.
#ChicagoExpensiveHomes #ExpensiveHomes
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 I’m the next Kurt Vonnegut you can Subscribe to Getting Real by Email. Please be sure to verify your email address when you receive the verification notice.