Our Condo on the Magnificent Mile

This article focuses on our unit at the 100 East Huron Residences, which is located at the corner of Michigan and Huron on Chicago's Magnificent Mile. See the previous article for a description of our "neighborhood."

100 East Huron Street entrance

100 East Huron Street

The Magnificent Mile looking south
100 East Huron is the third block on the right

View of Chicago Place and Saks Fifth Avenue
Corner of Michigan Ave and Superior Street
That's our building "growing" out of the center

As always there's a story to tell, which in this case involves the furnishings in the photos below. What you see is what we bought from the furniture staging company.

Here's the background. Almost every unit that Diana looked at contained staged furniture. Turns out that real estate sells faster and for more money (an estimated 6% more than an empty unit) with staged furniture. This actually makes sense. Professional decorators know how to make a unit look attractive and appealing to a broad spectrum of buyers. We know from the experience of our friends that in most cases realtors have advised them to remove furniture and to make decorating changes (mostly painting) to make their unit more appealing.

And here's the best part, we bought all that stuff for $3,750. This made it possible for us to move in without the stress of having to shop for furniture. From our experience, shopping for furniture is time consuming and very frustrating. The frustration stems from the fact that you have to wait as much as MONTHS for many items or buy something that's "OK enough but not exactly what you want.

Note: We also replaced the mattresses in both bedrooms and the box springs in the master (as all were very old, dirty and tired). This added an additional $2,500 of expense. So all told, we were able to move in and enjoy our new place for $7,000. Todd Hague, our realtor, lent us a 40" TV so we could be fully operational from the get go.

The only additional major expense was the entertainment system. Here we contracted with ABT Electronics to propose a system that would work in the available space. The challenge involves limitations related to the HVAC system and the large number of windows. Essentially, you cannot obstruct the intake vent located in the living room. ABT sent a consultant out in early July. He proposed a 55 inch Samsung TV that is glare resistant with a BDI TV stand that was designed to fit in a corner. This enabled us to house the RCN supplied TiVo and cable box without obstructing the intake. The solution was elegant. Cost: Approximately $6,400.

Samsung 55" TV (wall mounted) with Bose soundbar and BDI cabinet
Notice the HVAC intake visible to left of the cabinet

The following are photographs of our unit, the building's amenities and the extraordinary views from our floor to ceiling windows.

Entrance to the 100 East Huron Residences

The living room area looking north
 That's the John Hancock Building in the center of the photo
The TV on the wall is fake

View of the living room with the new entertainment system

Living room looking northwest
You can see O'hare Airport 17 miles to the west northwest

Dining room looking toward the kitchen

Dining room looking toward the living room
View to the right is north and to the left is west, northwest and southwest

View looking northeast
O'Hare Airport is visible 17 miles to the west northwest
The previous owner's telescope and the chaise lounge were the only items removed

Guest bedroom looking out into the living room

View of the Hancock Building from the guest bedroom

Upgraded modern kitchen with view looking due west

Kitchen looking north into the living / dining room area

Standing in the foyer looking into the master suite and kitchen

Foyer chest and art

The entrance to our unit with a coat closet to the right

Kitchen seating at the pass through
Note the French doors

Master bath
The shower has a central shower head, side heads and a handheld
Floors are heated and the lighting is amazing 

Close-up of shower equipment

Master bedroom
View looks to the west.

Guest bathroom

Indoor swimming pool

Workout room

9th floor deck

9th Floor Deck

9th Floor Seating

Corridor leading to the residential elevators

Now to the views.

Looking east to Lake Michigan
That's the 1,148 foot 100 story John Hancock Building in the center
Facts: 4th tallest building in Chicago, 11th tallest building in the world

looking due east toward Lake Michigan

Looking north down historic Rush Street
Named for a signer of the US Constitution
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rush_Street_(Chicago)

View to the northwest

Another view to the northwest
Note the construction site that will eventually block this view

View of the 100 E Huron Street building (dead center) as you walk down Rush Street

View to the southwest
That's the 110 story Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) in the distance
At 1,450 feet it is the second tallest building in the United States

Written by Les.

Our Chicago Neighborhood

It's the real estate agents' mantra: Location, location, location. You've probably heard the phrase often and may wonder what inspires agents to say the word three times. In a nutshell, location, location, location means homes can experience large increases or decreases in value due to nothing other than their location. The saying's repeated three times for emphasis, and it is the number one rule in real estate, while also often the most overlooked.

100 E Huron Street

We chose the One Hundred East Huron Street building on the Magnificent Mile in the heart of downtown for our Chicago condo. The Magnificent Mile contains a mixture of upscale department stores, restaurants, luxury retailers, residential and commercial buildings, financial services companies, and hotels, catering primarily to tourists and the affluent. The area also has a high concentration of the city's major media firms, including advertising agencies and, until recently, the Chicago Tribune newspaper,. The Magnificent Mile includes 3,100,000 square feet of retail space, 460 stores, 275 restaurants, 51 hotels, and a host of sightseeing and entertainment attractions to more than 22 million visitors annually.

Chicago Water Tower - Two blocks to the north

Our goal was to have a unit where we would have easy walking access to everything in downtown Chicago and access via public transportation to the greater metropolitan area. It is no exaggeration that from this location you can access the entire world by walking two blocks to the Chicago "L" stop at the corner of Chicago Avenue and State Street. In addition we have immediate access to the 18.5 mile Lakefront Trail that runs approximately 9 miles north and 9 miles south from our location.

Our Neighborhood

Four blocks to the north of our building is the Gold Coast, which runs roughly from Oak Street (1000 North) at the north end of the Magnificent Mile to Chicago Avenue (1600 North). The Gold Coast is a high end mostly residential neighborhood defined by its stately homes and high-rise apartment buildings. Upscale shopping and dining options can be found along tree-lined North Rush, North Clark and East Oak streets. Meanwhile, if we want to go swimming in Lake Michigan we can head for Oak Street Beach (again 4 blocks north).

A few blocks to the south is the Chicago River Walk. The River Walk, which runs east and west, contains restaurants, park-seating, boat docks, boat rentals, and other activities. It represents the southern boundary of the Magnificent Mile and the neighborhood known as the Near North Side (see photo below) and the northern boarder of the Chicago Loop.

Chicago River Walk

Just south of the Chicago River is the Loop. The loop, one of Chicago's 77 designated community areas, is the central business district in the downtown area of the city. It is home to Chicago's commercial core, City Hall, and the seat of Cook County. Bounded on the north and west by the Chicago River, on the east by Lake Michigan, and on the south by Roosevelt Road, it is the second largest commercial business district in the United States after Midtown Manhattan and contains the headquarters of many locally and globally important businesses as well as many of Chicago's most famous attractions. The entire Loop is entirely within walking distance of our condo.

Field Museumm Shedd Aquarium and Soldier Field

Just to east of the Loop is Grant Park.  This a large urban park (319 acres). The park's most notable features are Millennium Park, Buckingham Fountain, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Museum Campus. The Museum Campus is the home the Field Museum of Natural History, The Shedd Aquarium and the Addler Planetarium. The walk to the Museum Campus from our condo is 2 miles.

Museum Campus and Burnham Harbor looking northeast

Just south of the Museum Campus is Burnham Harbor, Soldier Field (home of the Chicago Bears) and Printers Row. Again all within walking distance.

This is an amazing place to live.

Written by Les.