Luxury developers propose boutique 12-unit condo building in Gold Coast

Developers David Pisor and James Laskey unveiled a proposal to build a 22-story building with just 12 ultra-luxury condos in the Gold Coast.

The building at 12 West Maple Street would feature units ranging from 3,800 to 8,000 square feet, according to Crain’s. Alderman Brian Hopkins (2nd) said in an email to constituents the building also would include “a restaurant, private dining space and commercial space.”

The site is two blocks north of the 60-story Waldorf Astoria hotel and condo tower, which Pisor completed in 2009. Pisor sold the tower, then known as the Elysian Hotel & Residences, to Sam Zell for about $95 million in 2011, according to Crain’s. Zell sold the building to hotel operator Laurence Geller in 2015.

Pisor and Laskey last year paid $13.1 million to buy the Maple Street property, now home to a three-story retail building. The duo already co-owns Maple & Ash restaurant next door at 8 West Maple Street.

Hopkins will hold a public meeting Jan. 22 to discuss the zoning change that Pisor and Laskey would require in order to advance the condo proposal.

Wealthy buyers have been buying condos at the top of the market, incentivizing developers to create more extravagant new options while prices flag on older luxury homes. Across the street from the Waldorf, JDL Developlment’s newly-completed condo tower No. 9 Walton continues to regularly rack up pricey sales, and Related Midwest’s One Bennett Park is gearing up to begin condo sales this spring.

Brokers are having a harder time selling opulent single-family homes in the Gold Coast, where a 12,000-square-foot mansion this month took its third price cut in four years. [Crain’s] — Alex Nitkin