Courtesy of Belgravia Group
What do you do with a 10,000 square foot basement? Belgravia Gro…
Before the housing crash, 565 Quincy was destined to be a success.
The condominium project on Chicago’s West Loop, created from an early 20th-century garment district warehouse topped with a steel and glass tower, had all the elements a young hip urban buyer might want.
There were lofts on the bottom seven floors, sleek glass boxes in the new top 11 floors. Parking was included, and the 10,000-square-foot basement area housed an über rec area called the Q Room equipped with a two-lane private bowling alley, a movie theater, a putting green, a fitness center, ping pong, foosball, billiard tables, and a lounge.
In fact, Belgravia Group, the developer, had 125 units under contract while the building was under reconstruction from 2006 through 2008. But by closing time in 2009, half the buyers had fallen off the list. In 2010 Belgravia lowered 565 Quincy’s prices, from the low $200,000s moving up through the $500,000s, to starting in the $150,000s through the $380,000s. And it launched an edgy marketing campaign with slogans that included: “Missing this would suck” and “Our prices still don’t suck.” It worked. Last year Belgravia sold 131 units in 565 Quincy, making it the fastest-selling condo in the city. In April there were only 13 left in the project. “[The sales success] was really price-point driven,” says Kaufman. “Once we [lowered the prices], they just flew off the shelf. The people came …. We had the right location, the right amenities, the right layout.”
Learn more about markets featured in this article: Chicago, IL.
