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Talk queen helped to spur glitzy condos

Sharon Stangenes
THE HOUSE HUNTER
Chicago Tribune : June 4, 2005

Oprah Winfrey came to mind as I stepped out of a cab at 909 Washington
Condominiums, a new mixed-use building in the bustling West Loop.

When the television talk show queen opened the doors at her Harpo Studios 15 years ago, the $20 million, 100,000-square-foot complex became a catalyst for regeneration of this formerly seedy neighborhood. There were plenty of others--starving artists looking for cheap digs and developers willing to take a chance--who contributed to making the neighborhood what it is today, but the star power of Oprah's investment bought attention to the West Loop and gave it legitimacy.

Today the area is alive with new residents, new construction, renovation and conversions. It is clean, hip, cutting edge, an urban mix of businesses and residences, old and new, and home to several tony restaurants. On-street parking is as tough to find as an open green park.

The homeowners who pioneered the area have seen it transform from a warehouse district where a grocery store was hard to find to a great mix of business, retail and residential.

Once almost entirely an enclave of young singles, young parents can be seen pushing strollers today. The opening of a new day care center now is welcomed with all the enthusiasm some residents once reserved for the opening of a new club.

Townhouses are being added to the mix of housing as are larger residential units in renovated or converted commercial buildings. Some of the young professionals who have been the area's core buyers are looking to move up.

Terrapin Properties' 909 Washington Condominiums is taking aim at this maturing audience. Located midway between Halsted Street and Harpo Studios, the 10-story complex has retail space on the street level (a branch bank, a UPS store and a dry cleaners are among those anticipated). There are two parking levels, topped by 109 condominiums on floors four through 10.

All the units have a balcony or outdoor terrace and there is a common outdoor plaza, part of the city's green roof requirement, on the fourth floor.

The building, which is being marketing by Jameson Realty Group, is about 80 percent sold. Some residents are beginning to move in on the lower floors. About 25 units remain for sale. Buyers have been mainly neighborhood residents or young couples who are first-time homeowners, said Terrapin Properties marketing/public relations director Mimi Harpur, a West Loop resident for several years.

According to Harpur, many of the building's buyers are in their late 20s or 30s. Some are young professionals who have moved from pricey Lincoln Park.

A smattering are suburban empty-nesters for whom buying an in-town place in the West Loop is a better value than moving closer to the lake, she said.

The lobby entrance is in the center of the building, midway in the block. Though not oversized, the room has granite floor tile and a simple but attractive curved glass partition to divide the mailboxes from the entrance and the doorman's desk.

The lowest floor for residences is the fourth floor. This is the level where the furnished model, the sales office (also a model) and the manager's office, exercise room and the landscaped plaza are located. The furnished model is Plan 412, nearly 1,300 square feet and priced from $358,000 as shown, a price that includes upgrades such as 42-inch kitchen cabinets, granite countertops and hardwood floors. It is at the center of the north side of the building overlooking Washington Street. Though above the street, it is low enough to feel a part of the mostly mid-rise neighborhood.

The model is a split bedroom plan with the two bedrooms and baths separated by the kitchen, living and dining spaces.

Visitors step from the hallway into a small entry hall that opens directly into the living room, about 14 1/2 by 23 feet. Large windows take up most of the far wall of the living room opposite the entrance. To the right of the hall is a coat closet, the utility room with furnace and washer/dryer hookup and a nicely sized secondary bath.

To the left of the hall is the kitchen, an 11 1/2-by-10-foot space, open to the living and dining room. A broad serving and dining counter, wide enough for food preparation while someone on the other side eats a snack, divides the kitchen from the dining and living space.

Though not large, the kitchen is bigger than many condos and has decent counter space. The 42-inch overhead cabinets aid storage and there is a small, but useful, storage closet or pantry next to the refrigerator on the west wall of the kitchen.

The living area is rectangular and has a fireplace and mantel jutting into the room from the east wall. I like the fireplace, which serves to define the long narrow room into two spaces--for dining and a conversation area, for example. But the fireplace does steal some precious floor area.

Flanking the fireplace is a door to the second bedroom, roughly 10 1/2 by 14 1/2 feet, and the door to a covered balcony, about 10 1/2 by 5 1/2 feet, accessed from the living room.

The balcony is pleasant but a bit narrow and could accommodate only one person comfortably for sitting or grilling.

At the back of the balcony are the large windows of the second, smallish bedroom, best used for a guest or a home office.

The master bedroom on the other side of the living/dining space is somewhat larger at 12 by 15 1/2 feet, but it would be a tight squeeze for both an oversized bed and an oversized armoire or entertainment center.

The master suite has a large walk-in closet and a very pleasant bathroom with a dual sink vanity and large shower (a tub is in the second bathroom).

Just down the hallway from the model is the small exercise room, which looks out to the common landscaped plaza and the backs of other buildings on the block.

Buyers who value outdoor space, as I do, are likely to check out this building if they are shopping in the neighborhood. Lovers of the outdoors might want to step and walk around the potential outdoor space, not just glancing through the glass door to determine if it will fit their plans.

According to the floor plan, the balcony of the unit next door to the furnished model is two feet longer--which might be the difference between whether one or two people sit outdoors. The sales office at the corner of the building has tons of natural light, an awkward floor plan and a hibachi-sized balcony, roughly 9 1/2 by 5 1/2 feet.

At the other end of the building, two terraces--a 15 1/2 by 19 1/2 space and a 15 1/2 by 24 1/2 space--are being combined into a veritable yard in the sky by a buyer who bought two units. There is not another private terrace like it in the building.

Although the view from the common landscaped plaza is not much, the area is private and once landscaped could be very pleasant.

Those buying condos opening to the plaza will each have a 29-by-7-foot area partitioned off only by low fences from the open common area. The good news is that the view will be landscaped. The bad news is that depending upon how much the plaza is used, there could be little privacy.