South Loop Printers Row Park

    Fred Scovell of The Scovell Team was baffled by the stone blocks in the new Printers Row Park-did someone make a humongous mistake? The lettering is backwards! What gives! It turns out that it is intentional-the blocks mimic printers typeset pieces; when inked and pressed down on paper the letters would then be facing in the correct direction. This is after all the Printers Row Park!

South Loop Loft Walk

South Loop Loft Walk is a tour that your moderator, Fred Scovell recommends highly!!

Chicago Marathon Route And Street Closures

By: Fred Scovell of www.thescovellteam.com


Bank of America Chicago Marathon
Date: Sunday, 11 Oct 09

Start Time: 7:30 am


Start Location: Monroe and Columbus
Finish Location: Columbus north of Roosevelt




Street Closures for site set up, event and teardown:


Columbus from Roosevelt to Congress Pkwy-
Close: Friday, 09 Oct 09 at 10am Open: Monday, 12 Oct 09 at 6am


Columbus from Congress Pkwy to Jackson-
Close: Sunday, 11 Oct 09 at 3am Open: Sunday, 11 Oct 09 at 4pm


Columbus from Jackson to Monroe- Close:Sunday, 11 Oct 09 at 3am Open: Sunday, 11 Oct 09 at 11am


Columbus from Monroe to Randolph-
Close: Sunday, 11 Oct 09 at 3 am Open: Sunday, 11 Oct 09 at 9:30am


Balbo from Columbus to LSD- Close: Thursday, 09 Oct 09 at 7pm Open: Monday, 12 Oct 09 at 6am


Balbo from Michigan to Columbus- Close: Friday, 10 Oct 09 at 10am Open: Monday, 12 Oct 09 at 6am


Congress Pkwy from Michigan to Columbus-
Close: Sunday, 11 Oct 09 at 3am Open: Sunday, 11 Oct 09 at 4pm


North & South Congress Circle Michigan to Congress Pkwy- Close: Sunday, 11 Oct 09 at 3am Open: Sunday, 11 Oct 09 at 3pm


Jackson from Michigan to Columbus-
Close: Sunday, 11 Oct 09 at 3am Open: Sunday, 11 Oct 09 at 11am


Jackson from Columbus to LSD- Close: Saturday, 10 Oct 09 at 6am Open: Monday, 12 Oct 09 at 6am


Monroe from Michigan to LSD- Close:Sunday, 11 Oct 09 at 3am Open: Sunday, 11 Oct 09 at 9:30am


For further marathon route and information go to www.chicagomarathon.com

There will be rolling street closures and streets will be opened as soon as it is safe to do so.

South Loop Photo Contest Winners

Second Prize winner "Light Night Pool" by Mel Theobald

"8th Street Garage" by Christie Chew-Wallace was the Grand Prize winner at the recently held 10th annual South Loop Neighbor's Photo Contest and Show. The winning photos and finalists will be part of a photo tour-currently at the fantastic gourmet burger establishment of "Epic Burger" on State Street, moving to the eclectic dining establishment of "Café Medittera" on Dearborn through October and finally showcasing at the Harold Washington Library for November and December.

South Loop New Child Care Center

There is a fantastic new child care center in the South Loop! The Mary Sears Children's Academy opened its doors approximately 4 weeks ago between Roosevelt Rd and 13th street on State St. It provides a number of tailored child care programs: infant care,pre-ones, pre-twos, two, three year olds, pre kindergarten, kindergarten ,before and after school, enrichment and summer camp. It has all day and half day sessions for 2,3 and 5 day scenarios. You can reach the Academy at 312-913-1234.

NO MORE BOOZE!

Sam's Liquors is no more! The South Loop, which had a storied history involving bootlegged liquor, Al Capone, red light districts, vagrants and drunks, obviously has changed in more ways than one could have ever imagined. This is not to say that it can't support a beverage retailer of spirits, wine and beer, but it is a disappointment that Sam's has left as of August 9th,2009. No more gourmet cheeses, $300 bottles of wine or exotic beers. Sam's fall in the South Loop probably had more to do with practices not condoned by the Federal Regulators. Wine Spectator wrote:
"Last week 10 of the largest alcoholic-beverage distributors in the state agreed to pay a total of $803,000 in fines to the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB). The penalties were levied by federal regulators following a six-year probe into abuses at Sam's Wine & Spirits Inc. in Chicago, which was caught accepting kickbacks from wholesalers and running an unlicensed warehouse for the storage of surplus inventory."

South Loop Rentals At Roosevelt Road

A new 342-unit condo project on Roosevelt Road is now being converted into apartments. Centrum Properties, the developer had 60% of the condo units under contract but due to the shift in the real estate market, a sufficient number of sales had not been reached which would allow lenders to provide financing for the contract buyers to close.
The Lofts at Roosevelt Collection, at 150 W. Roosevelt Road, is the second South Loop condo project to go rental in the past two years, after Burnham Pointe, a 298-unit high-rise at 730 S. Clark St. Rents in the Centrum project will start at $1,375 a month for a one-bedroom unit and $2,300 for two bedrooms.

South Loop Dearborn Park Opportunity

How about a 2 bedroom condo with 1 and 1/2 baths with 1250 approximate square feet for the price of a 1 bedroom condo? Yes, a unit at 899 S. Plymouth Court is currently listed with Rubloff Residential Properties by the Scovell+Sabatini Team for only $255,000-in a building that has a doorman, exercise room, restuarant and an outdoor pool/sundeck.

OOPS! MY VIEW IS GOING TO BE BLOCKED!

Yes, this tower in the South Loop of Chicago promises fantastic views. My real estate partner Maria Sabatini and I recently took a tour of a number of condo units available for sale at Museum Place 1-my conclusion? Absolutely great views towards the North, East, South and West as long as you choose from the tiers which are located on east and northeast portion of the building. As soon as this tower was completed, a second tower adjacent to the west began to spring to life. Compromised will be west and partial north views from the west and northwest side of Museum Place 1. Your best choice remains with Museum Place 1 as numerous units are still available through the developer as well as units which owners are attempting to flip at prices below the developer's!

A Chicago Brunette Standing Next to a New York Blond

The corncobs of Chicago! This is a photo of Marina City taken in the early 1960's-notice the Suntimes building to the right. Marina City has been an icon of Chicago for 40+ years, never upstaged by its neighbors.
Today, the Suntimes building no longer exists, in its place, the Trump Tower which seems to rise higher and higher each day.The corncobs of Chicago may suffer the same fate as a brunette in a room filled with blonds-she will be simply invisible!
written by Fred Scovell of The Scovell+Sabatini Team of Rubloff Residential Properties.

The British Are Coming.... To Chicago!

America: the top property hotspots for investors from Great Britain

British Buyers just have to work out when prices will stop falling - and where the hotspots are!

By Helen Davies
The American sub-prime mortgage crisis that started in the trailer parks of the poorer parts of the country is starting to spread to the middle classes. Property prices are plunging and repossessions are on the rise. According to the National Association of Realtors (Nar), America’s largest trade body, sales slipped 2.2% in December and 22% against the same period in 2006. And last month the Case-Schiller house price index revealed prices in December fell by 8.1% year on year, with an overall 8.5% decline in 2007. So even with the weak dollar, as America faces a downturn, is it a good time to buy?
Yes, according to Sean Conlon (www.conlonandco.ie), an Irishman who runs a billion-dollar property empire in Chicago. “The current downturn and repricing going on in the American economy is providing potentially the biggest real-estate buying opportunity I have seen in 20 years,” he told a conference in January. “It is the perfect storm.”

Where the investors are heading:

Chicago: Building is already underway on the Spire, set to be the tallest residential skyscraper in the world. The 150-storey tower will rise 2,000ft over Lake Michigan and its iconic status and prime prices — starting at £385,000 and going up to £20m for its penthouse — mean that Shelbourne Development, the Dublin-based developers behind the project, believe prices will stay up.
“Not only is Chicago the birthplace of the skyscraper, it is the fourth-largest economy in the world,” says Dominic Grace, head of new homes at Savills, which is marketing the Spire (Savills; 020 7409 9998, www.thechicagospire.com). Elsewhere, building is underway at the Trump Tower on the Near North Side, which will feature a £4m penthouse. Prices for XO Condominiums will start at £110,000 for a one-bedder rising to £1m for a three-bed penthouse, through Winkworth (020 7691 4269, www.winkworth.co.uk).
America is not a market for the novice and, as with any financial investment, it is important to do your homework over the short, mid and long-term and seek independent specialist legal, financial and tax-planning advice.

A Golden Chicago Skyline

This is why Chicago has the most beautiful skyline in the world.

Museum Tower One

This newly constructed condominium building creates a strong presence and can now be considered the anchor for the South Loop. The views from the units within encompass the Lakefront and across Grant Park with north exposures taking in a very dramatic city skyline.

600 N Fairbanks View At Night

The view from unit 2809 during the day really highlites how beautiful the geometric shapes city skyscapers can create. The view at night creates an entirely different cityscape which explodes with gem like and dazzling light.

600 N. FAIRBANKS

Multiple architectural styles jut upward, each appearing to joust with each other for prominence in this wonderful city scape view from 600 N. Fairbanks #2809, Chicago IL. This photo, taken by Fred Scovell of the Scovell+Sabatini Team of Rubloff Residential Properties, is from a 28th floor balcony at Helmut Jahn's acclaimed new glass tower

In essence, 600 North Fairbanks recapitulates the age-old formula of the skyscraper as a three-part building with a clearly articulated base, middle and top. The base consists of a high-ceilinged, light-washed lobby and 11 floors of parking, the middle houses 24 floors of apartments, and the top holds four floors of penthouses and an amenity floor (with lap pool, fitness center and sun deck). What sets the building apart, however, is the way Jahn plays with this convention, creating a persuasive essay in minimalism.Windows on the north and south sides consist of large sheets of extra-wide, floor-to-ceiling glass that are unencumbered by the clutter of mullions, air-conditioning units or operable windows. The concrete floor slabs are just eight inches thick, due to Jahn's use of post-tensioning cables rather than old-fashioned steel reinforcing bars. He expresses the slabs on the facade with narrow bands of extruded aluminum. Concrete columns are recessed behind the glass.As a result, 600 North Fairbanks looks remarkably crisp and transparent, though its see-through quality invariably will be compromised as more people move in. If Mies' 860-880 high-rises are skin and bones buildings, clearly expressing their structural frames, this is every bit a skin building. And due to the presence of extra-thick glass, the skin is mirror-smooth, beautifully reflecting the sky, the clouds and nearby structures. That's a welcome shift from the fun-house mirror distortions of other high-rises.

CHICAGO SPIRE-Awe In-Spire-ring

Click on the title CHICAGO SPIRE for a great preview of what may become the greatest residential building in the world located right here in Chicago!

Miesian Lines at 860-880 900-910 N. LAKESHORE DRIVE

To really appreciate Mies van der Rohe try walking in and around his buildings located at 860 and 880 N. Lake Shore Drive which are cooperatives. Two adjoining buildings located at 900 and 910 N. Lake Shore Drive are condominiums and were constructed as replicates of the original Mies properties.


"The scheme consists of two identical 26-story towers placed 46 feet apart with their long axes set perpendicular to each other. The steel skeletal frame is based on a 21-foot grid and is clearly expressed in the elevations, indicated by black-painted steel sheets covering the fireproofed columns and beams. The rigorous consistency of the design is seen in the uniform treatment of each building face regardless of orientation. Each bay is subdivided into four window units by three wide-flange steel mullions. A supplementary mullion is welded to the face of the exterior by the others. Within these divisions aluminum-framed floor-to- ceiling windows are set. The significance of this work is a pioneer curtain-wall expression as well as a fulfillment of the all-glass skyscraper schemes proposed by Mies three decades earlier."
— A. James Speyer. Mies van der Rohe. p26.

CHICAGO RIVER MEETS LAKE MICHIGAN

FUR TRAPPERS TO PROFESSIONALS
Think of denizens of the Chicago River in the 1800s', and fur trappers, canal diggers and stockyard workers come to mind. But look along the river banks these days and you'll see professionals, drivers of the city's current economy, seeking an urban lifestyle with a bit of nature.
Data confirm the large numbers of residences emerging along the river. The number of housing units one block from the Chicago River between 1200 south and 1200 north has risen 85 percent to 10,332 in 2006 from 5,576 in 1996, said Gail Lissner, vice president of Appraisal Research Counselors Ltd., Chicago.
New condominiums and apartments continue to be built, a prominent example being the New East development, where 17 buildings -- including three completions -- holding 4,950 housing units are planned between the Main Branch on the north and Randolph Street on the south. Another major development north of the river in Streeterville is River East, where seven high-rises are complete and six are in planning.
Indeed, projections show the number of housing units is expected to increase 22 percent through 2009, to 12,653, Lissner said.
"The river has great attraction in the market," Lissner added. "I call it our new lake."

NEW EAST/RIVERVIEW WINTER NITE

Winter can be a beautiful time of year for those extra special vistas. The nite air is cold and crystal clear; Lake Michigan quiet and placid as it slows to a frosty state of being and dusk imbues the horizon in holiday blues. This view is from a 12th floor condo at 415 E. North Water Street. It is located neither too high nor too low-just at the right height.

Snow Blanket On Lake Michigan