Apr 28, 2008

Sale of the Week

Sale of the Week—Renter Buys His Mag Mile Penthouse

List Price: $3.6 million
Sale Price: $3.6 million
The Property: A large 54th-floor penthouse in the 55 East Erie tower changed owners last week, but no movers were involved. Sanjay Khosla, an executive vice president of Kraft Foods and president of the company’s Kraft International unit, had been renting the 4,500-square-foot, three-bedroom condo from Michael Giambrone; on April 23rd, Khosla bought the place.

The condo has three bedrooms; an open floor plan that combines its contemporary-styled kitchen with the living and dining rooms; views east, west, and north; and three balconies. The view east is unlikely to be blocked any time soon since the plans to build a 67-story Canyon Ranch high-rise immediately to the east were called off last month by the developer Related Midwest.

Giambrone still owns the other half of the 54th floor, says Susan Miner, his agent for the sale to Khosla. He bought the entire floor from the developers when the building was completed in 2003 (for a price that is not clear in public records) and rented both “until he decided what to do with them,” she says. Miner says Giambrone has not put the other half of the 54th floor on the market yet.

The 56-story tower at 55 East Erie is two blocks off Michigan Avenue and across the street from two ornate landmarks, the Samuel M. Nickerson mansion and the John B. Murphy Memorial Auditorium. There’s an air of exclusivity in its long, arcaded entry along Erie, and the building’s crisp architecture, with rhythmic insets and setbacks, is a nice addition to the skyline—although the building did get dubbed the city’s tallest blockhead by architecture critic Lynn Becker because of an uncharacteristic two-story “hat” for mechanical equipment on its roof.

Price Points: A slightly smaller unit one flight up from this one also sold, on April 4th, for $3.6 million; according to its listing agent, it had never been occupied although it was finished lavishly. According to Midwest Real Estate Data, the only residence in the building to sell for more was a 51st-floor unit that sold last September, fully furnished, for $3,825,000. In all, there have been five sales of 55 East Erie penthouses for over $3 million. Another eight units have sold for between $2 million and $3 million.

Listing Agent: Susan Miner of Premier Relocation, (312) 397-1923; sminer@premier-relocation.com

Posted at 10:10 AM in Sale of the Week | Permalink

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