For a closer look at the loft, launch the photo gallery »
List Price: $1.625 million
The Property: When the West Loop was an industrial neighborhood, this building was there, and when the neighborhood pivoted toward a new residential identity, it was among the first, under the name Haberdasher Square Lofts. The area is busier now, which is great, but may get noisier due to a major road construction project.
That will hardly matter to residents of today’s property, a loft on the tenth and eleventh floors all of whose windows have been replaced with new sound-insulating versions. As you’ll see in today’s video, the entire west and north walls—about 100 feet in all, on the tenth floor alone—is windows framing spacious views out over the city. The 100-foot length is just one measure of the enormity of this home; it’s 5,500 square feet in all, the result of combining what used to be three separate residences.
Those windows line the enormous L-shaped main space of the home, which contains an open series of spaces used for living and dining, both formal and informal. They’re surrounded not only by the windows but by original construction materials—exposed brick, concrete beams, sharp-looking matchstick wood floors, as well as by custom-made built-ins like sideboards, a tiled mantelpiece, and bookshelves. There’s also a butler’s area off the dining room, as well as an office or bar area; in short, there’s a ton of space in this main living area. And it expands a little more, out onto a pair of balconies that take in views of the Willis Tower, the West Loop, and up the Kennedy Expressway.
By contrast, the kitchen is a more enclosed space. The floor is raised and the ceiling lowered to set it apart and make it more intimate, and the finishes and furnishings pick up an Arts & Crafts theme that first showed up in the home’s foyer, where an oversized panel of custom-design art glass hangs overhead.
More art glass caps the walls in the two bedrooms on this level. They’re internal, without windows, so they are required to have partial walls for light and ventilation; the art glass gives those walls a tailored look.
A crisp modern steel staircase takes you to the upper level—the portion of the home that’s on the 11th floor. There’s a comfortable office space with views west, another internal bedroom, a sitting room and a master suite that includes laundry, a bath whose tub is positioned for great northern views, and a bedroom with more of those expansive windows facing north and west, as well as a north-facing balcony.
There’s a lot to see north and west, but if you feel deprived of views south and east, then pop up to the building’s rooftop deck, where lying before you is a broad swath of the West Loop, the South Side, and the restaurants of Greek Town. Opa!
Price Points: Sellers Robert and Sheila Goldman put the loft on the market in 2010, asking $1.75 million. At its present asking price, it’s $294 a square foot, “very reasonably priced given the level of finishes and the amount of space,” says listing agent Christine Hancock (who did not represent it at the old price). The asking price includes three indoor garage spaces, which might go for about $30,000 each when sold separately.
Listing Agent: Christine Hancock of Prudential Rubloff, 312-242-5036 and chancock@rubloff.com