Page 6 - CooperatorNews Chicagoland Spring 2021

6 COOPERATORNEWS CHICAGOLAND
—SPRING 2021
CHICAGO.COOPERATORNEWS.COM
Industry Pulse
Events
Chicagoland Virtual Condo Expo Is
Coming!
Attention Property Managers, Board
Members, Co-op, Condo, HOA, and Apart-
ment Owners! Cooperator Events announces
its first virtual Expo in Chicagoland, taking
place on May 26, 2021, from 10:00 am to 4:00
pm. This virtual gathering will be a who’s
who of Chicagoland’s industry professionals.
Explore the virtual exhibit hall, interact with
vendors and service providers at their booths
through text and video chat, and attend a full
day of seminars, panel discussions, and vir-
tual networking, all from the convenience of
your office or home computer.
Best of all, the event is completely FREE
to attend; just visit chicago.yrexpos.com to
register. You’ll receive an email confirma-
tion with a link to attend the event that will
activate on the day of the show, unlocking a
wealth of information on everything from
better management practices to boiler repair.
It’s that easy!
CooperatorNews Presents FREE Webi-
nars—a Valuable Resource for Boards and
Managers at CooperatorNews.com/events
CooperatorNews,
a Yale Robbins Publish-
ing publication, has been a resource for the
boards, managers, and residents of co-ops,
condos, and HOAs for nearly two decades,
both in print and online—and we are pleased
to provide another platform in our toolkit.
Cooperator Events presents a series of FREE
educational ‘town-hall’ style webinars, spon-
sored by leaders in the multifamily industry
and focusing on issues and challenges facing
today’s boards. We have assembled expert
panels on everything from legal questions
around the COVID-19 pandemic to opti-
mizing your insurance coverage to disinfect-
ing your community’s pool. Registration and
attendance are FREE to all—just visit Coop-
eratorNews.com/events, choose the webi-
nar you’d like to attend, and sign up. It’s that
simple. You’ll get an email link and reminders
for the event, and will have the opportunity
to submit questions for the panelists before
AND during the webinar itself. Past events
are archived and available on-demand at
CooperatorNews.com/events.
Serving on your board is a big job, and a
big responsibility, but sound, timely advice
from industry veterans can help lighten the
load and make your building or association
run more smoothly. We’re committed to
helping you achieve that, and look forward to
‘seeing’ you at an upcoming webinar!
CAI-IL Expo Goes Virtual
The annual conference and expo of the
Community Associations Institute’s Illinois
Chapter (CAI-IL) will be held virtually this
year, April 27–30, 2021, according to the or-
ganization’s website. The event will feature
online education; a virtual exhibit hall with
pre-set appointments, video chats, and con-
tests; networking opportunities; and prizes—
all in a safe and accessible format. Visit cai-il-
linois.org for more information or to register.
Transactions
Chicago Condo Market off to Strong Start
in 2021
Bisnow
reports that Chicago and its out-
lying areas are seeing robust sales in the first
months of 2021—not just in the single-family
market, but in condos as well.
The outlet cites a report from the Chi-
cago Association of Realtors (CAR), which
indicates that the 1,684 homes sold in Janu-
ary, including condos and single-family, were
a 15.2% increase over the same month last
year. With so much activity, prices are going
up as well. The median sales price of a Chica-
go home in January was $310,000—a 15.9%
jump over January 2020, the outlet notes.
The trend seems to be continuing as spring
approaches and the concerns that hampered
real estate activity last year wane.
Chicago’s home sales market took a heavy
hit last year when COVID put the city on
lockdown and episodes of civil unrest fol-
lowed after the police killing of George Floyd
in Minneapolis. According to CAR data,
1,666 Chicago homes sold in May 2020—a
43.6% decline from May 2019.
Downtown high-rises were the hardest
hit, Wolf says, with sales in that segment re-
maining sluggish as the year progressed. But
recovery could be seen elsewhere, especially
in mid-rises outside downtown; by October,
2,541 homes sold, according to
Bisnow
—a
21.9% increase over the previous October.
Now downtown is starting to return to
form, too, especially at certain price points.
@properties executive vice president Cyn-
dy Salgado says that the under-$1-million
market is receiving particular interest, specu-
lating that buyers in higher price points might
have second homes where they are continu-
ing to wait out the pandemic. “In general,”
she says, “we’re starting to see people tiptoe
back into the downtown condo market.”
Salgado indicates that interest is strongest
for condo units with enough space for work-
ing and schooling at home, as well as those
with outdoor amenities such as balconies
and rooftop terraces. Such interest is in line
with wider trends in all markets that seem to
stem from the pandemic’s influence on home
needs.
Even during Chicago’s historic stretch of
days with snowfall this winter, Salgado says,
four condo units sold at Alcove Wicker Park, a
development with a rooftop terrace whose 42
condos—priced at about $600,000—include
oversized balconies. “It really hits the sweet
spot,” she says of the development, which also
includes 12 townhomes and whose sales are
being handled by @properties.
Wolf—who is optimistic about sales num-
bers for the rest of the year as vaccine admin-
istration ramps up and Chicago’s great eater-
ies, museums, and theaters might be able to
reopen fully—says demand can only increase
for condos under $1 million. The only prob-
lem? Lack of inventory.
“There is a lot of demand for condos in the
$700K to $800K range, but what’s out there?
Nothing,” he laments. According to
Bisnow,
the multifamily market was so strong for so
many years that Chicago developers concen-
trated on creating apartments, leaving buyers
few options.
According to CAR, January’s supply of
inventory was 3.4 months—a 2.9% decrease
from January 2020, cites
Bisnow.
Arlington Heights Condos Sell in Bulk
Multi-Housing News
reports that Ran-
dolph Street Realty has purchased 185 units
at Ashton Condominiums in Arlington
Heights for a bulk price of $25 million.
Lawton Realty Group, who bought the
entire property for $40 million, continues to
own the remaining units. CBRE represented
Lawton in the bulk sale.
According to
MHN,
the condominium
property, located at 2302-2416 S. Goeb-
bert Road, was built in 1989 and underwent
renovations between 2015 and 2019. Each
apartment has one or two bedrooms with a
separate storage room and use of the com-
mon amenities including swimming pool,
clubhouse, party room, fitness center, patios,
and laundry facilities. It is located eight miles
from O’Hare just off the Kennedy Express-
way.
CBRE’s brokerage team on the deal in-
cluded John Jaeger, Dan Cohen, Justin Puppi,
and Nisha Mishra, notes
MHN.
n
PULSE
Please submit Pulse items to
Darcey Gerstein at
darcey@cooperatornews.com
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