In 2007, a Wisconsin man told his friends and neighbors that he was moving away, but instead he shot himself in the head at his West Allis, Wis., home. David Carter's body was not found until Jan. 23, 2012. more ›

Zell is buying the Elysian Hotel for $98 million. That breaks down to $502,000 per room. more ›

People will come to Iowa for reasons they can’t even fathom. Or maybe just to work on their curve ball. Field of Dreams' new owners are pretty sure if they build it, people will come. more ›

With just one year left on her mortgage, she hit financial roadblocks, and now the the bank is breathing down her neck. more ›

The first time we heard about Peter Silberman's project The Antlers was when they released the lineup for the 2009 Pitchfork Music Festival. That year alone, we were inundated with releases from an army of fellow Brooklyn indie-hipster bands like Dirty Projectors, Real Estate and Bear In Heaven, and, really, we just had it up to our eyelids with that particular scene. When we had the opportunity to catch them at the Fest on that cold, rainy Saturday afternoon underneath that canopy of of tall, slender birch trees that dot the landscape of the C-Stage, we were taken a-back by the unadorned, yet complex beauty of their performance. The combination of Silberman's willowy falsetto and warm, glowing electric guitar and the rain falling ever-so-gently upon us seemed to transcend the hipster the electro-afro-beats that dominated that year's sound aesthetic. more ›

Here’s an idea for the Chicago Fire Department to help fill that huge City budget gap---home renovations. Bear with us on this one. Local home sales numbers remain mired in the dumps, so people are going to need more work done on their houses. Apparently, some firehouses are filling the downtime between blazes with training to address that need. more ›

Earlier this week, Business Insider posted another in the internet's long line of "Hey, doesn't Detroit really suck" articles, in which they list a number of properties going for dirt cheap in the Motor City. Surprise! An economically depressed area with a withering population has damaged properties that are bank-owned that are basically worthless! Vice coined the phrase "ruin porn" last August. But is Detroit the only place where people can gawk at blight? Isn't there something closer to home? more ›

The fine folks at Forgotten Chicago have posted a history of the former Edgewater Golf Club and its kicking-and-screaming-all-the-way fight to the beautiful homes and egalitarian warren Park that it is today. more ›

Today in "Tony Rezko Did What for Whom?," we learn that he gave Congressman Luis Gutierrez free upgrades to a town home Gutierrez purchased from the convicted former Rod Blagojevich fundraiser. The revelations in a 2008 conversation Gutierrez had with the FBI, contradict what he told the Sun-Times in a 2006 interview. more ›

A Frank Lloyd Wright treasure in Riverside is up for sale. Per Curbed Chicago, the Coonley House is for sale for a cool $2.89 million. more ›

If you've got an extra $1 billion lying around, then you might be in luck. Chicago's Merchandise Mart, a noted landmark, is rumored to be up for sale. According to Crain's, Merch Mart's future sale has been an idea that has been floating around for some time:

Parent company Vornado Realty Trust has been dropping hints along Wall Street and with potential buyers that it wants to sell the subsidiary, including the fortress-like structure along the Chicago River. The New York real estate investment trust purchased it from the Kennedy family in 1998 for $630 million. Vornado's efforts already have yielded a $1.25-billion offer, but that deal died last month, people familiar with the negotiations say.

Previously: Day One more ›

If you've ever dreamed of living like Hugh Hefner, your dream can now be (kinda) fulfilled - a condominium is for sale in the original Playboy mansion. Living the glamourous live vicariously through the pages of the magazine not enough for you? Hundreds of late-night hours playing Playboy: The Mansion on your Playstation 2 just not fulfilling anymore? Well, if you have a spare $3,000,000, you can live in Hef's old haunt. more ›

Oakbrook Terrace-based Redbox, operator of the vending machine DVD rental units ubiquitous in supermarkets, will close its call center in Downers Grove, handing operations over to a third-party service provider. Rebox was vague on the details, but did tell Crain's that it's vendor has operations in Texas and Canada. “After considering a number of options, it was determined that using a third party to manage our customer service operations was the best business decision for the company,” Redbox said in a statement. more ›

Weber-Stephen Products Co., which manufactures all of their charcoal grills, as well as the Summit, Genesis and On-the-Go lines in Palatine, has signed a long-term lease on a nearly 250,000-square-foot building in Elgin, Crain's is reporting. Weber plans to expand its local distribution operations, and the site's proximity to I-55, as well as the option to take occupancy quickly were key parts of the deal. No word on how many jobs this will mean for the Chicago metro area, but with consumer spending still lagging and manufacturing taking a beating these days, expansion of a business that manufactures at least some of its product locally is good news for Illinois. more ›

According to a report that compared the responses of six metropolitan areas to the foreclosure crisis, Chicago was among one of the "more resilient metros in the study." The report summarized in Chi Town Daily News, classified Chicago as a "mixed-market metro" meaning it has both weak and strong real-estate markets, and attributes Chicago's ability to bounce back to "regulations against predatory lending, a generous amount of time between foreclosure filings and sales, and collaboration between private and public organizations in Chicago helped prevent thousands of residents from losing their homes." more ›

On Wednesday, the city's 2016 Olympic bid committee, issued a statement saying that they would all feel a lot better if Michael Scott had just been more upfront about his involvement in plans to redevelop a parcel of land near Douglas Park, the proposed site for an Olympic cycling venue. "It would have been preferable if Mr. Scott had disclosed this situation so that the matter could have been vetted by the Chicago 2016 Audit Committee and any perception of conflict could have been avoided," the statement from Chicago 2016 said. It added that Scott also "intends to submit a revised conflict of interest statement outlining his role with the proposed development and affirming that he has had no financial gain from the project and intends to accelerate his separation as agent for the group." more ›

File this under color us surprised: Chicago's 2016 bid committee has determined that Michael Scott, Mayor Daley's President of the Chicago Board of Education, has no conflict of interest in developing a piece of city-owned real estate across from Douglas Park. Scott was served a federal subpoena earlier this month over his alleged role in clouted admissions to elite public schools. He's also part of the mayor's team working to bring the Olympics to Chicago. The Tribune published an investigation last week into Scott's role in redeveloping a parcel of land near a proposed Olympic cycling venue. more ›

The sale of convicted felon Tony Rezko's North Shore mansion at auction was supposed to happen yesterday, but the sale was postponed until August 17. Rezko has exhausted his funds on legal fees and other costs. Bank of America won a foreclosure judgment on the home earlier this year after he defaulted on the nearly $6 million loan. There is just over $5 million still owed on the property. According to Crain's, several Wilmette real estate brokers believe the home could sell for between $3 and $4 million. “It’s a small market for homes that are in that upper bracket,” Sharon Freidman, a sales associate in the Winnetka South office of Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate LLC told Crain's. “There aren’t that many people out there with a lot of money. The dot-commers have come and gone.” Maybe Yelp can buy it and have another Halloween bash, up in Wilmette this year. more ›

Back in 1989 urban planners proposed a plan to develop the South Loop into an arts community that would provide fixed affordable housing for artists alongside studios, galleries, and performance spaces. At the time, a decline in manufacturing and warehousing business in the area north and west of the Chicago River had opened up an abundance of cheap loft space that seemed suited for working artists and galleries. more ›

For just a cool $9,500/month, you can live the lifestyle of Vince Vaughn, who is now renting his River North townhouse, located at 446 West Superior Street. The actor, who turns 39 today, bought the property in 2005 for $1.45 million. He also owns a unit in the Palmolive Building. more ›

We're having flashbacks to when Marshall Field's became Macy's or when Comiskey Park became U.S. Cellular Field. Forget about that proposed paint job. The Sears Tower, currently the tallest building in the U.S, is due to be renamed Willis Tower. London-based insurance broker Willis Group Holdings Ltd. is about to become the tower's largest tenant, taking over 140,000 square feet of space. And that means bragging rights. “Having our name associated with Chicago’s most iconic structure underscores our commitment to this great city, and recognizes Chicago’s importance as a major financial hub and international business center,” said Joseph J. Plumeri, the company's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. They'll have about 500 employees working in the building when the move is complete. more ›

Blaming the tanking real estate market and their bankruptcy-protection case, the Tribune Company has pulled the Tribune Tower off the market. Damn, and we almost had enough to make it the new Chicagoist HQ. The Trib Company had hired a broker to unload both the Tribune Tower and Times Mirror Square, the HQ for the LA Times, but with the economy spiraling further and further down the drain, the sales have been put on ice. more ›

Could one of Chicago's most famous landmarks be getting a new wardrobe? The owners of the Sears Tower, which has soared over the city's skyline since 1973, have proposed a silver paint job for the iconic black tower. So why is silver suddenly the new black? Is the Sears Tower jealous of the attention the glimmering Trump Tower demands on account of the way it reflects the sun's rays? more ›

As if they didn't have enough problems these days, the CTA is dealing with another: too much space. The CTA has added another floor to the space they're attempting to sale or lease at their building, located at 567 W. Lake Street. With the 11th and 12th floors of the building already on the market, the CTA has added the 10th floor, which has become available due to recent staff cuts; each floor is 35,000 square feet. While anyone can buy the space, potential renters are must be "other government agencies or qualified non-profit groups." more ›

With a little more than a month before they were to shutter the windows and drop last call, Goose Island Beer Company has reached a deal with its landlord on a new lease, allowing the brewpub that started it all to stay open well past its proposed December 21 closing. Goose Island founder John Hall, in a press release, summed it up simply: "I could not be happier."
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Architect Santiago Calatrava has stopped work on the Chicago Spire skyscraper and filed a lien against Dublin-based developer Shelbourne Development Ltd., claiming he's owed $11.34 million in work on the planned 2,000 foot tall building. [Cago Real Estate Daily] more ›

Crain's is reporting that The Donald may be seeking a buyer for the first four floors of his 92-story Trump International Hotel & Tower. Trump has reportedly hired a broker to market the building's four-level retail space, and the asking price is believed to be somewhere between $115 and $130 million. more ›

Throughout the month of September, you are cordially invited to spend your weekends touring fancy homes (the $900,000–$4,000,000 kind of fancy homes) during the fifth annual Chicago Luxury Home Tour. Presented by Midwest Home Chicago, 22 homes will be on display throughout the Chicagoland area. Think Hindsdale, Naperville, Glenview, not Gold Coast, Bucktown, Lincoln Park. It's a bit of driving around but after perusing the photo gallery (Hello, George Costanza-worthy Weilert Custom Homes bathroom, above) it might be worth devoting an entire day navigating around the suburbs. But if you're like us, you'll probably just get tired and end up hanging out at the refreshment stop, snacking on catered food and raspberry watermelon lemonade from the Viking Cooking School and Culinary Shop instead. more ›

Block 37 is a black hole where money and plans go to die, and when you combine those forces with the CTA's money-guzzling abilities, well, it's the financial equivalent of a a shark riding on an elephant's back, just trampling and eating everything they see. Time to call City Hall for a bail-out. more ›