Top 5 Chicago Real Estate News Stories from West Town and Near Northwest Side Neighborhoods - December 2016
/West Town in the Spotlight
1) West Town is #2 Selling Neighborhood in Chicago for October 2016
Top West Town Real Estate Agent Chicago
According to real estate research firm, Redfin – West Town was the #2 selling neighborhood in Chicago for October 2016 with 104 total home sales. There were 14 single family home sales and 81 condo sales.
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Check out the top selling neighborhood chart on ChicagoAgentMagazine.com here.
Eat / Drink / Sleep
2) Publican Anker Opens, Breathes More New Life into 6 Corners Wicker Park Intersection
Riding on the momentum of the recent opening of Groupo Habita’s Robey Chicago Hotel, Chicago restaurant group One-Off Hospitality has added another highly-anticipated addition to the ‘6 Corners’ intersection of Wicker Park – Publican Anker. The new restaurant puts a new spin on One Off’s meat-focused Publican and their butcher shop / café concept Publican Quality Meats which are both located in the West Loop. The restaurant is taking the place of the old Forno restaurant main-stay and is another sign of the times that things are constantly evolving in this bustling neighborhood.
Publican Anker is located at 1576 N Milwaukee Ave and has 91 seats. According to the Publican Anker website, the restaurant / bar concept is an “homage to the early 20th century saloons and breweries that once comprised Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood.” Their mission? “to capture the spirit of those timeless establishments and translate it to guests in a way that feels storied and modern all at once.”
The Publican Anker menu features a variety of meat and seafood dishes, a lavish drink menu and a variety of heart warming, soul-satisfying desserts. The restaurant accepts reservations and you can read the full menu on the Publican Anker website.
One thing is for sure, the residents of Wicker Park and Bucktown, both old and new, will make Publican Anker a successful business for years to come.
3) New Sichuan Chinese Restaurant and Bar Opens in HOT West Loop
As the West Loop continues to grow with new residential buildings, hotels and businesses, the recently opened Chinese restaurant, Won Fun Chinese and upstairs bar concept, 2Fun Chinese are giving residents even more spice in their life.
Located at 905 W Randolph Street on the ground floor level, Won Fun Chinese specializes in serving Sichuan cuisine – family style and includes such far-east favorites as Peking Duck and Dim Sum. Some other noteworthy dishes include: Sichuan Pork Wontons, Dan Dan Noodles, Red Braised Beef Short Ribs and Foie Gras Fried Rice.
Upstairs from the restaurant, 2Fun Chinese will feature a party-like atmosphere for the night owls with quirky cocktails such as the Navy Strength Old Fashioned, Lychee-Rose Martini and the Open Says Me – a blend of sesame gin, coconut, ginger and lime.
It seems the days of trekking to Uptown’s Sun-Wah Bar-B-Que and Chinatown for some of these Asian specialties are over. The West Loop is the new hub for some of the best and most innovative Chinese food in Chicago. Check out the complete Won Fun Chinese menu here.
New Development
4) Prices of Single Family Homes Near The 606 Bloomingdale Trail Surges 48.2% in 3 Years
The 606 Bloomingdale Trail Real Estate
A recent study by the Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University has examined the impact of The 606 Bloomingdale Trail on the local housing market within a 1/2 mile of the trail. The findings? Since construction of The 606 Bloomingdale Trail broke ground, single family home prices have skyrocketed a whopping 48.2% in ‘606 West’ which is identified as the area within 1/2 of a mile of the trail west of Western Avenue in the Logan Square and Humboldt Park neighborhoods. Conversely, single family home prices in ‘606 East’ increased by only 13.8 percent. 606 East is the area defined as within a 1/2 mile of the trail east of Western Avenue in the Wicker Park and Bucktown neighborhoods. The primary difference between the single family home price increases in 606 East vs. 606 West is largely due to the fact that 606 East was already a strong and stable housing market area before construction began on the trail. 606 West had more affordability before the construction of the trail and thus, attracted more demand from home buyers willing to pay higher prices to live near the trail.
Another interesting finding by the study was that home buyers in 606 West were willing to pay a 22.3% price premium to live within one-fifth of a mile of the trail. This translated to more than $100,000 of the area’s average 2015 sales price.
You can read more on The 606 Effect study, here.
5) Chicago is #1 Real Estate Investment Market in the United States
According to real estate investment firm, HomeUnion – Chicago is the #1 real estate investment market in the United States.
Since 2015, Chicago’s capitalization rate (or the expected rate of return on a real estate investment) rose 18.3%, almost 3 percentage points higher than any of the other markets HomeUnion does business in.
Check out the table by ChicagoAgentMagazine.com to see how the Chicago market compares to the rest of the cities in the United States. You can also read the story on ChicagoAgentMagazine.com here.
