Gold Coast: Gilded age redux

Burst of tower construction creates a condo boom on the Gold Coast

By Jeffrey Steele | Special to the Tribune

November 23, 2007

Marilyn Perno loves to walk. Really loves to walk. So after raising her family in the Washington, D.C. area, and later living in Naperville, the born-and-bred Chicagoan, as she describes herself, felt it was time for a return to her pedestrian-friendly roots -- this time to the Gold Coast.

"Why not? I mean, really, why not?" said Perno, a youthful, effervescent and energetic 77, who will move to The Clare at Water Tower next year.

"Even though you can take a train from Naperville and go downtown, it's a bit of a pain. I like to be able to walk everywhere. And this way, I'll be able to do a lot more walking in the city."

From her new home at The Clare, whose strikingly curvilinear lines are pushing skyward at the corner of Rush and Pearson Streets, Perno figures she will be able to hoof it to theaters, restaurants and a wide array of retail boutiques.

Her philosophy: "Let's get back to where we can do what we wish to do, and not worry about the train."

She is one of thousands poised to move into new luxury residences, many of them high-rises, scheduled to open in the tony Gold Coast over the next two years.

It's a second Gilded Age of sorts, and one that comes more than a century after the well-situated community witnessed its first wave of luxury home construction.

That one followed the trailblazing move of Potter and Bertha Palmer to their manor on the lake. It wasn't long before the city's gentry followed the Palmers, abandoning their beloved Prairie District mansions on the Near South Side for the newly christened lakefront "Gold Coast."

These days, a catalyst for the latest construction spurt is the highly touted 92-story building rising not quite in the Gold Coast but a bit south of the neighborhood: Trump International Hotel and Tower Chicago. The stratospheric structure offers 486 luxury condominiums and 339 hotel condominiums ranging from 530 to 6,800 square feet, with prices starting at $580,000 and extending to more than $9 million, said sales manager Leah Harriet.

"Trump gave developers and home buyers alike newfound confidence in the city's super-luxury real estate market," Harriet observed.

"It has raised the ante in terms of building luxury buildings. It's proven there is a rather sizable market where very few believed one existed. People didn't think you could build a building of this size, and this luxury, and sell it out," she said.

While some units remain available, "we've proven there's a demand for this type of luxury," she said.

Among the highest-profile of the high-end high-rises now sprouting on the Gold Coast is Ten East Delaware, a 36-story building slated for 120 luxury residential units. Construction commenced last fall, with completion slated for January 2009.

Ten East Delaware represents the first luxury residential tower on the Gold Coast for The Prime Group, a Chicago developer whose properties include a number of high-rise Loop office buildings.

The building is to be "classically arranged" and symmetrical, with an exterior of masonry, stone and ornamental grillwork, balconies and terraces on all units, and a 9th floor step-back with green roof plantings, said architect Lucien Lagrange, president of the Chicago architectural firm bearing his name.

Buyers will find the building well conceived, with considerable attention devoted to interior layout, Lagrange observed.

"We took great care to design units that would respond to that market and that price range," he said. "You have to make sure the size and price are right, as are the bathrooms, family rooms and walk-in closets. The market is expecting a unit responding to its needs."

"It's a beautiful building," said Michael W. Reschke, chairman and CEO of The Prime Group. "In laying out the units, we took advantage of every available inch, the way you design would a yacht. There's a lot of functionality for the dollar."

Ten East Delaware features a private club called The Ten Club, with a health club and "country club room," on the 35th floor, as well as a rooftop pool, gardens and sundeck. Adjacent to the Talbot Hotel, the building gives residents access to the hotel's amenities, such as room service, housekeeping, catering and concierge services.