No. 9 Walton condo flips for 20% profit

A neurosurgeon is latest buyer to cash in on luxury Gold Coast tower's rising value

9 W. Walton Street
9 W. Walton Street

A local neurosurgeon is the latest owner of a unit in No. 9 Walton to flip his condo, earning a more than 20 percent profit in the process.

An entity tied to Dr. Sean Salehi sold the unit 903 at 9 West Walton Street for $3.9 million last month, according to Cook County property records. That came a year after he bought the unit at the Gold Coast tower for more than $3.2 million.

The buyers were an LLC tied to Rachel and Rafael Santana.

Coldwell Banker’s Melinda Jakovich had the listing. She declined comment on the sale.

Like the Santanas’ new condo, most of the units in JDL Development’s luxury tower delivered last year. But a number of buyers are already selling them, in part because the values of the units have soared in the several years since many went under contract.

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A medical supply company CEO recently bought an 11th-floor condo in the building for nearly $3.5 million, nine months after a trust first closed on it for $3.1 million. The unit was first listed in November for $3.7 million, and was never lived in, the Chicago Tribune reported at the time.

But that 10 percent profit pales in comparison to the 40 percent markup a couple has slapped on their 33rd-floor unit, listing it at $13 million just two months after buying it for $8.2 million.

No. 9 Walton has dominated the list of priciest resi sales since late 2017, when billionaire Ken Griffin broke the record for most expensive residential sale in Chicago by buying the top four floors for $59 million.

Griffin has been followed by a parade of high-profile buyers to pick up condos in the tower, including sports stars, business executives and other well known Chicagoans.