CHICAGO | Aqua | 858 FT / 262 M | 87 FLOORS

[denizen467]

Originally Posted by wrabbit

Corrected. More from 9/7

Wow, the waves in the latest couple floors are some of the most pronounced we've seen yet. I guess the seas get rougher as you sail deeper into the atmosphere!

Someone's going to be able to fit about 1 grill on their balcony, and not much more.

[hawkeye view]

Remember the first 20+ floors are hotel rooms, so no grills until the deeper balconies higher up.

I saw a printed sales brochure from magellan last weekend. It showed 3 different floor plans and 1 penthouse unit as well. It is a northeast facing unit of just over 2000 sf, 3br+3ba. Interestingly the penthouse floor plans did not show access to the balconies(?) I cannot imagine paying for that level and not getting access to the most unique part of your unit. The floorplans on lower levels did show balcony access points, even more puzzling. (Maybe they leave these details to the customization process done with the penthouse owner ?)

Just visited the aqua website where multiple penthouses are still advertised(?) They are smaller than I expected with several 1&2 BR options (1000-2000 sf) available. They must be asking quite a bit per sq foot as these should be the most sought after views. I mean if I have a choice of floor 75 vs 80 it seems a no brainer to choose 80.
In every building penthouse I've seen, the units at the top are usually at least 3-4 BR and and rarified pricing due to enourmous square footage. Aqua's penthouse units are not so large, so I wonder if pricing is getting close to the spire crossover points?

I love the building, just found these points curious...

[denizen467]

Originally Posted by hawkeye view

Remember the first 20+ floors are hotel rooms, so no grills until the deeper balconies higher up.

Well I was obviously talking about the 50th+ floor.

Originally Posted by hawkeye view

Just visited the aqua website where multiple penthouses are still advertised(?) They are smaller than I expected with several 1&2 BR options (1000-2000 sf) available. They must be asking quite a bit per sq foot as these should be the most sought after views. I mean if I have a choice of floor 75 vs 80 it seems a no brainer to choose 80.
In every building penthouse I've seen, the units at the top are usually at least 3-4 BR and and rarified pricing due to enourmous square footage. Aqua's penthouse units are not so large, so I wonder if pricing is getting close to the spire crossover points?

Okay, here's some more terminology that might be worth debating on SSP. What the hell is the definition of "penthouse"? At least what does it mean in modern-day Chicago? In my head, it generally means something like "lofty exclusive perch", whether it's residential or office. So then just what does "exclusive" mean? I figure if there are more than 2 or 3 units sharing a floor, or if it's not much more expensive than lower floors, then it's not really so exclusive. So as hawkeye suggests, having lots of 1BR units as penthouses is real estate sales office bull$hit. What do people think should be the boundaries of the concept of a "penthouse"?

[Ryan81]

[wrab]

^ Great job. Still a ways to go. This is gonna be one tall drink of water.

[trvlr70]

Originally Posted by wrabbit

^ Great job. Still a ways to go. This is gonna be one tall drink of water.

good one

[Northwest]

Getting close to the mechanical floor too. I think we are going to get a lot more "wows" as this one climbs. Looking good!

[Mojava]

Originally Posted by hawkeye view

Just visited the aqua website where multiple penthouses are still advertised(?) They are smaller than I expected with several 1&2 BR options (1000-2000 sf) available. They must be asking quite a bit per sq foot as these should be the most sought after views. I mean if I have a choice of floor 75 vs 80 it seems a no brainer to choose 80.
In every building penthouse I've seen, the units at the top are usually at least 3-4 BR and and rarified pricing due to enourmous square footage. Aqua's penthouse units are not so large, so I wonder if pricing is getting close to the spire crossover points?

I love the building, just found these points curious...

How much of a premium is it to live on 80 vs. 75 and what are you getting for it. The view is pretty much the same. The "penthouse" label should carry several added features including higher ceiling heights and higher end finishes. Some penthouses are also sold "raw" as most of these owners want to custumize their space.

[wrab]

Technically, the "penthouse" is the structure on the roof of the tower that houses the mechanicals, etc. When you put a residence in there, it becomes a "penthouse apartment" (not redundant) and the surrounding vacant rooftop becomes a wraparound terrace. But in the rarified world of real estate lingo, where you can never have too much of a good thing, buildings now have multiple penthouses, on multiple floors, below the roof, without terraces.

[BVictor1]

[NYC4Life]

This tower could be used to host any "aquatic" events, should Chicago get the 2016 Summer Olympics.

[Chitown]

Is it possible to get a photo from the position seen in the render that Ryan edited above? I don't know if you're able to stand where you need to be to get that perspective or not, but if you can, it'd be great if someone could take such a picture.

[Dr. Taco]

Originally Posted by Chitown

Is it possible to get a photo from the position seen in the render that Ryan edited above? I don't know if you're able to stand where you need to be to get that perspective or not, but if you can, it'd be great if someone could take such a picture.

good luck. there is a building in the way that appears to be left out in the render

[EarlyBuyer]

Originally Posted by Chitown

Is it possible to get a photo from the position seen in the render that Ryan edited above? I don't know if you're able to stand where you need to be to get that perspective or not, but if you can, it'd be great if someone could take such a picture.

It could be done with an extreme wide angle lens or by stitching a pano together. I'm still out of town for another 2-3 weeks.

[ardecila]

^Yea, stitching plus Photoshop (for perspective correction) should give you what you want.

[jbr12]

Does anyone have the elevation diagram that showed the 'topography' of an elevation with arrows pointing to various views, etc?

[wrab]

Originally Posted by jbr12

Does anyone have the elevation diagram that showed the 'topography' of an elevation with arrows pointing to various views, etc?

http://www.studiogang.net/site/projects_e1.htm

[johnandahalf]

I was in Chicago on Labor Day weekend & took a few pics. I took this one of Aqua, and then cropped it to my screen size when I got home (1920 x 1200). It's DEFINITELY my new wallpaper. I love the way it's darker on the left (where my desktop icons accumulate).

Enjoy!

http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn277/johnandahalf/aquaback-1.jpg

ô¿ô

P.S. The railings are awesome now...not at all like the awkwardly disjointed demo they installed earlier this summer. Yay

[EarlyBuyer]

Nice work johnandahalf!

[andydie]

Hello Aquafriends and Aquafans,

another month has passed and the beautiful Aqua has risen once again as is shown in my latest video:

http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=hYm7HHWeZ58

Music: Fei Fei - Everglow ( Original Mix )

Enjoy!