CHICAGO | General Developments

[emathias]

Originally Posted by marothisu

It is sometimes actually. There's actually a number of high frequency, algorithmic traders in their 20 and 30s making much more than $200K/year in Chicago - it's actually pretty ridiculous. I have a friend who worked for a firm and some of his friends at his firm were millionaires and not even in their 30s yet - all because of their work. There are lawyers who are making at least $150K in that age bracket - there's even a firm in town that pays its "starting" lawyers $180K/year (it was in Crains because they're willing to pay their people what a lawyer in NYC would start at in a good firm). There are doctors who make that much. I have a friend who works for Northwestern Medical as a doctor, and only works every other week and still makes around $200K/year with that schedule - he's in his early 30s. There's a startup in town that, at least in a job posting, was offering its senior software engineers (which you could get if you work hard enough by 30 years old) up to $190K. I have numerous friends in their 20s and 30s who are in the 6 figure bracket and single. There are consulting firms in town that pay people with 5 or 7 years good experience in consulting at least $120K.

I first earned six figures the year I turned 30. And I'm not even a hard-core computer science guy, my undergraduate degree is in sociology.

[prelude91]

Originally Posted by marothisu

It is sometimes actually. There's actually a number of high frequency, algorithmic traders in their 20 and 30s making much more than $200K/year in Chicago - it's actually pretty ridiculous. I have a friend who worked for a firm and some of his friends at his firm were millionaires and not even in their 30s yet - all because of their work. There are lawyers who are making at least $150K in that age bracket - there's even a firm in town that pays its "starting" lawyers $180K/year (it was in Crains because they're willing to pay their people what a lawyer in NYC would start at in a good firm). There are doctors who make that much. I have a friend who works for Northwestern Medical as a doctor, and only works every other week and still makes around $200K/year with that schedule - he's in his early 30s. There's a startup in town that, at least in a job posting, was offering its senior software engineers (which you could get if you work hard enough by 30 years old) up to $190K. I have numerous friends in their 20s and 30s who are in the 6 figure bracket and single. There are consulting firms in town that pay people with 5 or 7 years good experience in consulting at least $120K.

Really off topic, but I manage 2 enterprise sales teams at a very large software company, and of the 16 reps in my org, HALF of them are between 28-32; and all make between $300-400K / year pretty consistently. Top reps pull in $800K - $1M a year.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by prelude91

Really off topic, but I manage 2 enterprise sales teams at a very large software company, and of the 16 reps in my org, HALF of them are between 28-32; and all make between $300-400K / year pretty consistently. Top reps pull in $800K - $1M a year.

Yeah - totally forgot about sales. I have friends doing that pulling down a lot of money. A lot of them were trying to get me to go over to the sales side because although my salary is good, it's nothing compared to what I could be making. I have friends in their late 20s and early 30s who have gotten 6 figure bonuses, apart from their salaries, for selling contracts (consulting for example) and also for large, multi million dollar sales orders.

[aaron38]

https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/2016...ts-around-2500

Is this new? Link has renderings.

Plans call for a mix of 19 two- and three-bedroom apartments, 19 parking spaces and ground-floor commercial space, which would be occupied by Miller's apartment management office.

The project would be built in place of two vacant and dilapidated two-story homes on the corner of Fullerton and Maplewood avenues, not far from a similar new construction building at 2550 W. Fullerton Ave.

Streetview shows this replaces two small houses plus a larger 2 story building, if this goes to the corner per the rendering. Nothing that will be missed.
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.9248...YKSg!2e0?hl=en

[KWILLSKYLINE]

For anyone interested.

http://chicago.curbed.com/maps/open-...must-see-sites

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by KWILLSKYLINE

For anyone interested.

http://chicago.curbed.com/maps/open-...must-see-sites

Not bad - really want to check out the place in Englewood and there's an African style church nearby that looks really cool. I'm surprised that Our Lady of Sorrow in EGP is not listed (maybe it was on a previous year's list?). Most beautiful religious building I've been to in Chicago for sure.

[LouisVanDerWright]

The income discussion is way off topic for this thread and should be moved to the Chicago economy thread.

My two cents are that tbere are Anton of ways to make low six figures and up in a half trillion dollar metro economy. One that hasn't been mentioned yet is real estate itself. The recession bankrupted a lot of people, but the recovery has minted a ton of young millionaires. I know probablyba dozen people who got in at the bottom and now have net worths of $750k+. Three people on my block alone are basically semi retired living in buildings they bought at the bottom with several more income properties paying their bills. They tend not to be the type to rent downtown, but there are a lot of people who are making lots of money on this current run up in RE. I know dozens of brokers, mortgage brokers, GCs, etc who have been killing it for seven or eight years now. A whole generation of RE wealth was wiped out in the crash, but a new generation was created who are young and unusually shrewd for their age after experiencing the trauma of the recession.

The new money in RE is no different than any other group of millennials and, instead of taking their profits and decamping to Barrington or holing up in Lincoln Park, they are staying in the newly gentrified neighborhoods that made them that money or moving downtown or to West Loop. The crazy thing is that the new banking regulations basically prohibit RE professionals from getting personal mortgages. If you make 1099 or self employment income, you are basically never getting a mortgage unless you make like $300k a year for three years straight. This means that, instead of buying a penthouse condo when they break off a $500,000 year, most RE professionals are relegated to renting. This probably further drives demand for rental RE.


On a totally unrelated note, I had a terrifying experience yesterday when I ran across a loan underwriter who literally had no knowledge of the Financial Crisis. They were genuinely confused as to how I managed to buy the building I was trying to refi for 1/7th the current valuation. Like they were going to make it a sticking point of underwriting despite the fact that we would only be like 60/40 LTV against current cash flow at an 8 cap. At first I was confused as to why this guy was surprised, but it quickly became apparent that he literally had no idea what it was like 6-8 years ago. It was shocking to me, but I suppose it is easy to forget something when you haven't lived it and it happened 5 years before you entered the workforce. In any case, terrifying because anyone who is working for a lender should be required to have in depth knowledge of how shit bit the fan or history is bound to repeat itself.

[Via Chicago]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

This means that, instead of buying a penthouse condo when they break off a $500,000 year, most RE professionals are relegated to renting. This probably further drives demand for rental RE.

who needs a mortgage that has had a "500k year". just cut a check.

that said, these types of earnings, despite nice anecdotal stories, are still wildly out of the norm. if you travel in these sorts of circles perhaps it seems more common than it is. but lets be real for a sec here and acknowledge the fact that 66 million Americans have zero dollars saved for an emergency expense — zero — and 28 percent have only six months worth of savings. 47 percent of Americans cannot afford an emergency expense of $400.

i think that should put this into perspective.

[KWILLSKYLINE]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Not bad - really want to check out the place in Englewood and there's an African style church nearby that looks really cool. I'm surprised that Our Lady of Sorrow in EGP is not listed (maybe it was on a previous year's list?). Most beautiful religious building I've been to in Chicago for sure.

Lakepoint Tower skygarden! Giddy-up photographers.

[SamInTheLoop]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Also, the parking garage at 425 S Wells (Wells and about Congress - https://www.google.com/maps/place/42...633347!6m1!1e1) was sold about a month ago for $4M. Would love to see something else go there..


Random things from October's zoning agenda:
1) Streeterville Hotel that will replace where the Museum of Contemporary Art used to be on Ontario. 20 stories, 383 rooms - Aloft hotel. I mention this because the neighbors are not happy at where the developer wants to put the valet station - in a busy alleyway - according to a Crain's article from today (http://www.chicagobusiness.com/reale...raws-fire-from). Luckily the neighbors aren't against the hotel itself. According to the article, the CDOT already approved the valet station for the alleyway. Kind of a weird place for valet, no?
.

Good stuff.

Speaking of South Loop garages, the garage at (I think I'm getting the intersection right) Clark and Polk that Roszak had been trying to buy for a very nice residential tower has had a foreclosure suit filed against it....this is one of those properties owned by the quite distressed Arthur Holmer.....maybe Roszak can actually get his talented hands on the property after all (hopefully this doesn't drag on in the courts forever)

Also, on the also very nice VDT-designed Streeterville Aloft proposal, I also noticed that article in Crains (which cited it as now 19 stories and 336 rooms), the project to my knowledge never went to Plan Commission, yet it's showing up on a Zoning board meeting - does this mean it's as-of-right and/or doesn't require a PD I wonder??

[LouisVanDerWright]

^^^ No one is talking about the "working class Americans" when we are discussing $3,000/Mo luxury apartments. We are discussing the exploding population of "upper middle class" types in Chicago that can and do afford such things.

Also, read more carefully, there is a huge difference between "making $500,000 a year" and "breaking off a $500,000 year". One is a one time gain through a business that may not ever be repeated, the other is an absurdly high salary. The funny part about types like you is that, as much as you think people "in those circles" can't comprehend the struggles of the lower classes, you've made it abundantly clear that you can't comprehend the struggles of actually creating and running a business. The fact that you think people can just go "cut a check" because they had one good year is telling. It is not at all uncommon to scrape by for years making $15,000 or $50,000 and then finally have a project pay off all at once and pop off a $300,000 or $500,000 year. That's a very real struggle for small businesses and all the regulation (Obamacare for example) being heaped on them is crushing. Real Estate is also a capital intensive industry, just because you make $500k in a one time gain doesn't mean you get to spend that money. When I get cut a six figure check from a closing, I don't get to go buy a yacht, I can't or I'll go bankrupt. I have to constantly put most of my profits back into my business or I, unlike the "working poor", have no ongoing income source. Either I constantly reinvest my hard earned money or I have no future income.

Also, for someone who likes to portray others as out of touch, you are very judgey. You don't know others backgrounds or how "in touch" they are. I probably am in touch with more "working poor" on a weekly basis than you interact with in a year. Granted I don't know what you do, but few lines of work put you more directly in contact with "the people" than being a landlord of multiple "affordable housing" type older buildings.

[r18tdi]

Originally Posted by SamInTheLoop

Also, on the also very nice VDT-designed Streeterville Aloft proposal, I also noticed that article in Crains (which cited it as now 19 stories and 336 rooms), the project to my knowledge never went to Plan Commission, yet it's showing up on a Zoning board meeting - does this mean it's as-of-right and/or doesn't require a PD I wonder??

"Given the site’s generous underlying zoning of DX-12, even the original 24-story design was proposed without the need for Tishman to pursue a Planned Development (PD)."

via Curbed this morning.

PS that NIMBY website is pretty hilarious.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by SamInTheLoop

Also, on the also very nice VDT-designed Streeterville Aloft proposal, I also noticed that article in Crains (which cited it as now 19 stories and 336 rooms), the project to my knowledge never went to Plan Commission, yet it's showing up on a Zoning board meeting - does this mean it's as-of-right and/or doesn't require a PD I wonder??

The hotel only appears on the Zoning Board of Appeals for a variance.

They want to provide 25' deep loading spaces instead of 50' deep loading spaces - this means they will need to use small box trucks instead of long trucks for all deliveries.

This is apparently the only leverage that the alderman has over the developers...

[Ryanrule]

Originally Posted by prelude91

Really off topic, but I manage 2 enterprise sales teams at a very large software company, and of the 16 reps in my org, HALF of them are between 28-32; and all make between $300-400K / year pretty consistently. Top reps pull in $800K - $1M a year.

lets not even talk about the vast overpayment in sales jobs...

[Kenmore]

love when this thread becomes a bunch of aspies humble bragging out all the great high paying software jobs in chicago as if that anecdote means a damn thing in a city with a credit rating 2 notches above junk

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by Kenmore

love when this thread becomes a bunch of aspies humble bragging out all the great high paying software jobs in chicago as if that anecdote means a damn thing in a city with a credit rating 2 notches above junk

The credit rating is about the city, it has nothing to do with the businesses inside of it. There's been numerous articles with companies stating that they aren't phased by it at all. It's reality - there's many, many people in the city who make that kind of money, not to mention that Chicago had an almost 20% increase of households making at least $200K from 2014 to 2015, and over 11% increase in 6+ figure making households which was the third highet of any city in America. The REALITY is that many people can afford these, and continue to.

Chicago is a big economy - one of the largest and most diverse in the entire country. As LVDW alludes to, there's a variety of ways to make a very good living in the city - and the best part is that the affordability of nice stuff in Chicago is much easier than that of NYC or SF. You could be making $140K or $150K as a single person with minimal debt in Manhattan and you still wouldn't be living in a high rise with a gym, pool, etc included. In Chicago though, you could make $85K and very possibly get that.

[Rizzo]

Originally Posted by marothisu

I guess it would be wishful thinking that Wirtz would make something like that, but it would be cool seeing that in the city.

Agree, although far more practical to build a basketball court on the top floor than an ice rink. Ice rinks are big and would require a lot of modification for refrigeration equipment. You have mixed occupancy with not so friendly chemicals in the building...ammonia brine and exhaust from resurfacing equipment. I would have preferred the hawks built an underground rink like the Red Wings and placed that new office buildings on top. Combining structures may have helped offset some of the costs buiding underground, plus there would be some access to the existing loading areas of the UC

[marothisu]

Fish wholesaler sells Fulton Market property

A Fulton Market fish wholesaler sold its buildings to a developer for $9 million, becoming the latest food company to cash in on soaring property values in the fast-changing area.

The owners of Isaacson & Stein Fish on Sept. 30 sold its connected buildings at 800 and 810 W. Fulton Market to Chicago-based R2, which plans to convert the property to flagship retail space, said R2 Managing Director Matt Garrison

...

R2 plans to demolish the two-story building along Halsted, replacing it with a new two-story structure connected to the four-story loft building it plans to keep. The combined, Gensler-designed structure could include four floors of retail for a tenant looking for a large, unique space, Garrison said. Or R2 could sign a retailer on the lower one or two floors and fill the top floors with office tenants in the new, 26,000-square-foot structure, he said.

Several other big retailers are scouting the area, some of which are looking for big, multilevel spaces, Garrison said.

“I think we're close to reaching a tipping point for retail on Fulton and Randolph where we'll see a lot more soft goods,” he said.

That kind of sucks - HOPEFULLY they re-open elsewhere (why wouldn't they?) and it's not in a super weird location.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/reale...ers-sold-to-r2

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Fish wholesaler sells Fulton Market property



That kind of sucks - HOPEFULLY they re-open elsewhere (why wouldn't they?) and it's not in a super weird location.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/reale...ers-sold-to-r2

Originally Posted by bcp

That sucks... love going in there ....hope for another location soon

Yeah, that really sucks. Best place in Chicago area to buy seafood

[Near North Resident]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

Yeah, that really sucks. Best place in Chicago area to buy seafood

I'm going to cry when Olympic meats suffers the same fate

retail retail retail... don't these morons know that people don't go into stores anymore unless they really have to?