Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/123336
Haute Property NEWS, STARS, AND TRENDS IN REAL ESTATE The Flat Iron Building, a Wicker Park landmark, is getting some fancy new neighbors. hipster luxury WICKER PARK MAY STILL BE A DRAW FOR THE YOUNG AND TRENDY, BUT CUSTOM HOME BUILDER NOAH PROPERTIES HAS FOUND SUCCESS IN THE AREA WITH ITS LUXE PROPERTIES. BY STEPHANIE SIMS PHOTOGRAPHY BY GETTY IMAGES W icker Park has long been known as a bohemian mecca sprawling with students, artists, and comparatively affordable housing. But over the past dozen years, the neighborhood has embraced luxury, from trendy boutiques like Marc by Marc Jacobs and Nanette Lepore to high-end food and drink destinations like Schwa and Storefront Company. So when luxury home builder Noah Properties started building in Chicago in '05, Wicker Park and the nearby neighborhoods of Bucktown and West Town were their first targets. Founded by Anita Lisek and her husband, Bart, in 2001, Noah Properties got its start with condo conversions and single-family home rehabs, but it was the company's foray into building custom homes in 2005 that helped business take off. With Lisek spearheading interior design and decoration and her husband managing construction and engineering, the duo has built such a successful business that its homes routinely sell before construction is completed, or very soon after. Take 1524 North Wood Street, which sold for $1.275 million in January, fast on the heels of its December completion. The five-bedroom, three-and-a-half bathroom home is on a smaller lot (standard for Wicker Park), but features stunning light fixtures, eye-catching tiles, textured walls, and high-end appliances. The residence also includes luxury amenities that have become signatures for Noah Properties: a built-in espresso machine, home theater, closet-sized temperature-controlled wine storage unit, and rooftop deck with gas, water, and electricity hookups for outdoor entertaining. "We do so well with our spec homes that we usually don't have a lot of requests for custom design," Lisek says. "In the beginning, we did four or five continued on page 128 MICHIGANAVEMAG.COM 127-128_MA_HP_Opener_MayJune13.indd 127 127 4/16/13 4:26 PM