Chicago Cheat Sheet: Baird tells brokers to be frank about North Shore asking prices … & more

Be realistic about North Shore asking prices, Baird tells brokers

Baird & Warner CEO Steve Baird is telling his brokers to be frank with clients when setting asking prices on the North Shore, which has seen a soft housing market in recent years. The longtime head of the big Chicago resi brokerage says in a new video that the old days of homes selling double what owners bought them for are over. He said that was particularly the case as the homes get farther north of the city. “There’s been a fundamental repricing in the high-end marketplace,” he said. [Crain’s]

Rent control referendum on more ballots this month

More Chicago residents will get a chance to weigh in on rent control in the Feb. 26 election. Three precincts in the 45th Ward will have the non-binding rent control question on their ballots, as will some precincts in the 1st, 26th and 50th wards. Similar questions on ballots in two elections last year drew overwhelming support for lifting Illinois’ 31-year-old ban on rent control. [Block Club]

Google hiring hundreds to fill its new space

In the wake of its agreement to expand its space in Chicago, Google said it plans to add hundreds of finance jobs here. The company already employs about 1,000 people at its Midwest headquarters in Fulton Market, and in October it said it was leasing another 132,000 square feet in the neighborhood in order to accommodate more workers. [Chicago Tribune]

Jennifer Pritzker selling another North Shore property

Col. Jennifer Pritzker is selling a North Shore mansion after a previous deal for the home fell through. The billionaire cousin of Gov. J.B. Pritzker has a number of real estate holdings in the Chicago area, including five currently on the market on the North Shore. The 10,000-square-foot Winnetka home that she just listed again is asking $3.9 million. Brandy Isaac of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices KoenigRubloff Realty Group has the listing. [Crain’s]