River North's HoJo Tower Scores Its First Construction Permit

Here's the story of a tower in it's early stages in the River North neighborhood.

Now that the retro Howard Johnson Inn along LaSalle Street has been permanently erased from the streetscape, a new 38-story apartment tower is officially ready to take its place. On Wednesday, the city issued the tower's foundation permit, which will allow workers to transition from demolition duties to construction. The plan to replace the mid-century motel with a new apartment tower was approved by the city last August and demolition began on the HoJo Inn earlier this year. As of last month, the site was completely cleared and prepped for the new tower, which will feature 298 rental units and a 114 space parking podium which will also serve as the building's amenity deck. Grab your hard hats—another tower is ready to climb into the sky. 

The River North neighborhood is one of the swankiest in the city.  

A stylish urban neighborhood that borders the Magnificent Mile and is just across the bridge from the Loop, River North is the go-to district for those who appreciate fine art and design. And for those who appreciate fine dining and drinks, the momentum behind the latest trendsetting openings continues to build and the late night energy swells.
Dormant factories and industrial warehouses began their transformation in the 1970s and 1980s, becoming work spaces and studios for artists and entrepreneurs. What followed was an influx of new businesses that densely concentrated the area and have made River North a hub for creativity and entertainment. Anchoring the area is the massive Merchandise Mart, with its endless trade showrooms for furniture and design wholesalers, and surrounding this epicenter are eye-catching galleries, home stores and antique shops. And architectural standouts are plenty, from the twin corn cobs Marina City to its neighbor the stately, steel and glass 330 N. Wabash building by Mies van der Rohe.
Cultured by day, River North shifts into high gear by night. The dining scene is always buzzing-from knockout noodles and Spanish small plates to high-end steakhouses and famed pizzerias. Just about every type of cuisine is covered in this mix of award-winning restaurants and local favorites. And for some after-hours revelry, slip into any of the sleek new clubs, upscale wine bars and craft cocktail lounges that dot the scene. 

Crain's Confused on Direction of Real Estate in Chicago

First,here's part of a story from August 18, 2014 from Crain's Chicago Business.

The metastasizing problem of unfunded pension obligations hasn't prevented real estate investors from plunking down big sums — even record-breaking ones — to snap up property in the Chicago area.

Photo by Jaysin Trevino via Flickr.com

The possibility of substantial tax increases to pay for the city's and state's unfunded pension obligations hasn't prevented real estate investors from plunking down big sums—even record-breaking ones—to snap up property in the area.
“I think it's an issue, but I don't think it's stopping anyone from investing in Chicago,” says Mark Stern, senior vice president of acquisitions at Waterton Associates LLC, a Chicago-based hotel and apartment investor whose local properties include Presidential Towers in the West Loop.

In February, for example, a New York financial services firm snapped up a small retail building on Oak Street for about $19 million, or nearly $3,000 per square foot. In May, a California company announced it would pay a record $850 million for a River North office tower. And last month, a Los Angeles apartment firm dropped $78 million for an apartment complex in Arlington Heights, the highest price for a multifamily property in suburban Chicago since February 2013. 

Here's another story from November 2013, 

Real estate investors are slightly warming up to Chicago, but they still think a host of other cities are hotter.

The Chicago market's score inched up to 6.11 this year from 6.05 in 2012, according to the annual “Emerging Trends in Real Estate” report published by the Urban Land Institute and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.

Yet the local market remains stuck in place when compared to other large metropolitan areas, ranking 12th out of 15, the same as last year.

In Chicago, “the investment and development outlook remained virtually unchanged from 2013 to 2014,” with many respondents indicating they think next year will be one to simply stand pat on their assets in the region, the report says.

Looks like two very different messages in the span of nine months from the same news organization with no explanation of the sudden shift.

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Seven Things to Know About Construction

Here are some tips from Chicago Agent Magazine.

1. Construction is Definitely Up – In past months, monthly variations were canceled out by longer-term averages, but for once, quarter numbers were consistent with monthly gyrations. In the third quarter, which September concluded, housing starts were up 16 percent over the same period in 2013.
2. Multifamily is Still King – Of course, the one truly thriving sector of housing – multifamily – has driven those double-digit increases; though single-family building is up 8 percent from 2013’s third quarter, multifamily building is up an amazing 34 percent.
3. History in the Making – Here’s how good multifamily construction is right now: at a rate of 353,000, multifamily building is at its highest level since Jan. 1990, aka nearly 25 years ago! Click here for a great graph on the trends.

Check them all out at the link.

Ted Margaris Construction in Chicago is also featured on Yelp, Super Pages, Yalwa, Local.com, Merchant Circle, Topix, Mojo pages, Ez Local, Kudzu 2 Find Local, Crestwood Private Investor, A Locations, Cyclex USA ,Show Me Local, B 2 Bye Yellowpages, Biz Wiki, QC Times, Facebook page, twitter feed, PJ Star, My Web Times, Link Town, Local Pantagraph,Domain Tools, NWI Times, Chicago At Home, Brush News Tribune, Olney Daily Mail, Santa Fe Mexican, Reporter Herald, PJ Star, Canton Rep, Post Gazette, US Biz Place, My Motherlode, Vail Daily, Tuff Stuff, Totally Local

1. Construction is Definitely Up – In past months, monthly variations were canceled out by longer-term averages, but for once, quarter numbers were consistent with monthly gyrations. In the third quarter, which September concluded, housing starts were up 16 percent over the same period in 2013.
2. Multifamily is Still King – Of course, the one truly thriving sector of housing – multifamily – has driven those double-digit increases; though single-family building is up 8 percent from 2013’s third quarter, multifamily building is up an amazing 34 percent.
3. History in the Making – Here’s how good multifamily construction is right now: at a rate of 353,000, multifamily building is at its highest level since Jan. 1990, aka nearly 25 years ago! Click here for a great graph on the trends.
- See more at: http://chicagoagentmagazine.com/7-important-things-know-new-construction/#sthash.y1hw1ov2.dpuf

1. Construction is Definitely Up – In past months, monthly variations were canceled out by longer-term averages, but for once, quarter numbers were consistent with monthly gyrations. In the third quarter, which September concluded, housing starts were up 16 percent over the same period in 2013.
2. Multifamily is Still King – Of course, the one truly thriving sector of housing – multifamily – has driven those double-digit increases; though single-family building is up 8 percent from 2013’s third quarter, multifamily building is up an amazing 34 percent.
3. History in the Making – Here’s how good multifamily construction is right now: at a rate of 353,000, multifamily building is at its highest level since Jan. 1990, aka nearly 25 years ago! Click here for a great graph on the trends.
- See more at: http://chicagoagentmagazine.com/7-important-things-know-new-construction/#sthash.y1hw1ov2.dpuf

1. Construction is Definitely Up – In past months, monthly variations were canceled out by longer-term averages, but for once, quarter numbers were consistent with monthly gyrations. In the third quarter, which September concluded, housing starts were up 16 percent over the same period in 2013.
2. Multifamily is Still King – Of course, the one truly thriving sector of housing – multifamily – has driven those double-digit increases; though single-family building is up 8 percent from 2013’s third quarter, multifamily building is up an amazing 34 percent.
3. History in the Making – Here’s how good multifamily construction is right now: at a rate of 353,000, multifamily building is at its highest level since Jan. 1990, aka nearly 25 years ago! Click here for a great graph on the trends.
- See more at: http://chicagoagentmagazine.com/7-important-things-know-new-construction/#sthash.y1hw1ov2.dpuf

Home builder confidence U-turns, drops 5 points

Check out the story here.

  After jumping to the highest level in nine years last month, confidence among U.S. home builders took a sharp U-turn in October.
While still in the positive range, builder sentiment fell 5 points to a level of 54 on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index. Fifty is the line between positive and negative on the index. This reverses four straight months of gains.
"We are seeing a return to the mid-50s index level trend established earlier in the summer, which is in line with the gradual pace of the housing recovery," said NAHB Chairman Kevin Kelly, a home builder and developer from Wilmington, Delaware. "While there was a dip this month, builders are still positive about the housing market."

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Noah Properties condo seeks 30% price increase after 18 months

Here's the story.

This is a show we’ve seen a number of times before, and it’s generally had a happy ending for the home seller.

A 3-bedroom, 2 ½ bath Noah Properties condo at 4042 N Western Ave that was purchased 18 months ago for $329,900 has just been listed for resale at $432,900. We shot the above video in February of last year at an incomplete unit in the development.
It’s not unusual for Noah Properties’ developments to sell out pre-completion, and also not unusual for resales to fetch significant price premiums.

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More information on Noah Properties can be found here.

Record number of new downtown apartments opening in 2015

Chicago apartments will be plentiful next year. 

Renters will have a bonanza of new apartment offerings to choose among in downtown Chicago next year.
We define downtown Chicago as the area bordered by the Stevenson Expressway on the south, North Ave (1600 N) on the north, Lake Michigan on the east and Ashland Ave (1600 W) on the west.
The downtown market added 2,882 apartments in larger projects in 2013 and another 2,104 this year. All of those units have not yet been rented, although occupancy levels are high at buildings that have been open a while. Next year, 2015, 3,838 new apartments, a record number, will begin leasing downtown. 

The Foreclosure Crisis Hit Blacks Hardest

So says the liberal American Prospect.

Driving through Prince George’s County, Maryland, it’s not obvious that its towns and cities are at the epicenter of the foreclosure crisis in the Washington, D.C., region. In the town of Bowie, for instance, large colonial-style homes with attached two-car garages, spacious apartment buildings designed for families, and modern shopping centers line the streets. As in any other middle-class community, school-aged children chase each other in front yards while their parents monitor from the porch, and twentysomethings in workout gear jog the tree-lined streets. There’s no shortage of schools, community centers and places of worship, and if any homes are abandoned, it’s not glaringly obvious.
What sets Prince George’s County apart from other upscale regions is that most of its citizens are black. No other majority-black counties in the United States are even comparable in terms of numbers of educated citizens and middle-class incomes, but when the economy crumbled, so did the dreams of many homeowners living in Prince George’s. And despite promises of help by President Barack Obama and lawmakers, seven years after the housing bubble burst, the county’s foreclosure crisis has only slowed, not abated.

Prince George's County Government

Attractive homes line a street in Prince George's County, Maryland.

As the wealthiest black-majority county in the United States, Prince George’s has long represented the pinnacle of black success. The county’s median household income is $73,568—a full $20,000 more than the median household income of the United States as a whole. Only 7.1 percent of U.S. firms are black-owned, but in Prince George’s that number stands at a whopping 54.5 percent.

A full 29.5 percent of people over the age of 25 hold bachelor’s degrees—slightly higher than the 28.5 percent rate for all persons in the United States. Known colloquially as just P.G., the county is filled with lawyers, entrepreneurs, teachers, and federal employees. In popular lore, Prince George’s was proof that, while blacks still lagged behind in education, wealth and employment, the black community was finally catching up.

Prinicpal Reduction Calls Confront FHFA's Watt

Here's a Bloomberg article about the troubles the FHFA's problems with the continued implementation of the HARP program, the program which gives struggling borrowers better loans.

The U.S. overseer of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, visiting Detroit to promote aid for underwater homeowners who’ve kept up loan payments, found himself confronted by protesters complaining that he’s not doing enough to help those who have fallen behind.
Melvin L. Watt, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, appeared yesterday at the main branch of the Detroit Public Library and urged officials to spread the word to 27,000 eligible local borrowers that they could save hundreds of dollars a month through the Home Affordable Refinancing Program.
In a city such as Detroit, where 40 percent of homeowners owe more on mortgages than the properties are worth and nearly 10 percent are behind on payments, that’s not nearly enough, said Steve Babson, a spokesman for Save Detroit -- Save Our Homes. He faulted Watt for failing to lift a ban on debt cuts for distressed borrowers in his nine months on the job. 

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Crowdfunding Your Home Renovation

Crowdfunding, using the internet to get funding for projects, is all the rage, and CNN looks at the idea of using crowdfunding to pay for construction projects.

 She and her husband are hoping that family, friends and maybe even complete strangers can help fund the $500 renovation.
Reidy posted her appeal in July on recently launched crowdfunding website FeatherTheNest.com.
The website allows users to create campaigns, known as "nests," to request donations to help fulfill home-related needs: whether it's a down payment, closing costs or home improvement projects. The couple has been sharing the campaign with friends and family members for birthdays and holidays. So far, the family has only raised $25, but is hopeful. 

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Big-ticket items you might be better off renting

Here's the full story.

Cubs Break Ground on Wrigley Field Construction

Here's the story from the Chicago Sun Times.

Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts could hardly stop smiling Saturday morning. At the official breaking of ground in the long-awaited renovation of Wrigley Field, Ricketts delivered a speech, shoveled some ceremonial dirt and shook plenty of hands.
It was a day he has been waiting for and one he truly relished after a long and sometimes contentious process of political wrangling that threatened to derail the makeover of the 100-year-old ballpark.

Bill Daley Lists His Chicago Condominium

The former White House Chief of Staff is selling his Chicago condo. Here's the full story from the Chicago Tribune.

Developers Push Closer to Cabrini Green

Check out the feature from Crain's Chicago Business.

As the downtown real estate boom races on, residential development sites are getting tougher to find and builders are scrambling to get into an area near the southern end of the Cabrini-Green public housing complex that offers something rare: plenty of places to build.

The wave of projects just north of the River North neighborhood includes a high-rise apartment tower, smaller-scale rental deals and two condominium buildings, as well as a nearly finished townhouse project.  

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Streeterville Property

Check out the details at Yo Chicago.

The one-bedroom plus den at Streeter Place has always been one of the most popular floor plans at the luxury Streeterville apartment tower. The layout ranges in size from 979 to 1,067 square feet. A number of residents have opted to use the den area as a home office.

Are You a Home Buying Genius?

Another one from CNN. Go to the link and answer the five questions.

Five Things to Consider Before Tapping Your Home

Here's some advice from CNN.

1. Rates In recent years, mortgage rates have hovered near historic lows -- with nearly 9 million borrowers getting 30-year fixed mortgages at or below 4%, according to CoreLogic.
Now rates are expected to rise.

Check out all five.

$4 Million Construction Project in Wicker Park

Here's the story.

The city of Chicago issued a new construction building permit on Dec. 13 for a project at 1611 N. Hermitage Ave. The estimated cost of the building is $4 million.
The project description is to “erect a four-story mixed-use building with retail and enclosed parking on the first floor and residential units (17 total) on the second, third and fourth floors. Construction will be type iii-b with fire wall separation, exterior will be brick veneer with stud and masonry backup. Garage will be sprinkled.”

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How to Buy a Home in One Market While Selling in Another

Here's the full details.

Someone being transferred for work or making a major move for personal reasons may end up selling in one market and buying in another. The ideal scenario would be to sell in a sellers' market, like the San Francisco Bay area or Seattle, and buy in a buyers' market, such as Providence, RI. The worst-case scenario is to do the opposite.
Here are some tips for buyers and sellers in any market.
Know before you go
The days of a national estate market are gone. Today, markets vary by state, town, city and even block by block. But most people don't realize this. So it's important to start by researching the hyper-local market of the town or neighborhood that interests you. Read local blogs. Watch the number of days a home is on the market. Understand the sale price to list price ratio in the town where you're buying. Upfront research can save you a lot of time and headaches. Plus, you don't want to rely entirely on your real estate agent to tell you about that market. Get informed on your own.

Check out all six steps.

Going Solar to Save Money?

Here's the full story. 

Pat Kennell's motivation for installing sun power in his home is typical of the solar industry's new customer: He did it to save money.
The retired police officer from Stony Point, New York, said his cost of energy per kilowatt hour will go from 20 cents with the local utility company to 13 cents with his new solar technology. And it didn't cost him anything to install. The firm Kennell worked with, SolarCity, offered him a lease program, where customers with long-term contracts can have the equipment installed and maintained for free. Rivals of SolarCity offer similar programs.

Chicago Mansion Spans Five Lots

Here's the Huffington Post story.

Chicago's got a new McMansion on the market -- and it's definitely a beaut.
While it's not the city's most expensive property -- that title is still held by the $32 million 89th floor penthouse of the Trump Tower -- this Lincoln Park mansion, listed earlier this month with an $18.75 million price tag, is the most expensive single-family home the city has seen.
The seven-bedroom home, which spreads across an estate spanning five city lots, also features an indoor pool, home theatre, expansive gardens, a spa and an excellent view of the city skyline -- plus a separate two-bedroom guest house. All told, the property, listed by agent Janet Owen of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices KoenigRubloff, offers 20,000-square-feet of space.

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