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/241240
Haute Property NEWS, STARS, AND TRENDS IN REAL ESTATE This home at 1234 East 56th Street features a soaring beamed ceiling and distinctive brickwork. Miracle on 53rd Street WHEN IT COMES TO TODAY'S SURGING REAL ESTATE MARKET, ONCE-SLEEPY HYDE PARK IS SUDDENLY ONE OF THE CITY'S MOST HAPPENING 'HOODS. BY LISA SKOLNIK H yde Park and South Kenwood, home to the Obamas and ostensibly at least some of those 89 Nobel Laureates associated with its largest landowner, the University of Chicago, has long been branded highbrow but less-than-thrilling—blame it on the legendarily scholarly university and the überintellectual population it attracts. But these descriptors may now be moot. In the past six months, three indie boutiques (Gold Coast's Independence, Ukrainian Village's Sir & Madame, and Lincoln Park's Comfort Me) and 110 two trendy eateries from acclaimed Logan Square chef-restaurateur Matthias Merges (A10 and Yusho) have opened on 53rd Street, the closest thing Hyde Park has to a main drag. And soon to come are The Promontory, a restaurant-cummusic venue from the savvy restaurant group that owns North Side hot spots Longman & Eagle and the Empty Bottle, as well as a Whole Foods Market on 51st Street. Both are much touted in the media and eagerly awaited by residents. Thanks to the neighborhood's newfound buzz, its homes—which are almost all part of the Hyde Park–Kenwood Historic District, deemed a national landmark in a 1979 conservation effort that encompasses almost all of Hyde Park and the toniest portion of Kenwood—are pulling down prices that have been unheard of in the area. "What's extraordinary is that 13 properties have sold here for $1 million or more since May," says broker Margie Smigel, who heads a namesake brokerage and has specialized in the area since 1989. "And some have gone really quickly, like 5728 South Dorchester Avenue, which sold in a day for its asking price in June [$1.075 MICHIGANAVEMAG.COM 110-111_MA_HP_Opener_Winter_14.indd 110 1/9/14 5:23 PM