Cannabis exec lights up high-end market with $8M Tribune Tower ask

One of the Tribune Tower’s most luxurious condominiums is going up for sale next week, with an initial asking price of $8 million.

The owner of the three-bedroom, 22nd-floor condo is George Archos, the CEO of $1 billion cannabis company Verano, and the listing agent is Vincent Anzalone of Dream Town Realty, Crain’s reported.

Archos acquired the condo in 2021 for $6 million but has decided to sell it because he spends more time at his properties in Florida and Colorado. It’s unknown how much he spent on building out the unit after buying it from developers Golub & Co. and CIM Group, which in recent years performed a major overhaul of the old Chicago Tribune office building to turn it into condos.

It’s a rare resale of one of the units Golub and CIM have spun out of the conversion, especially near the building’s highest price point, assuming it fetches a buyer willing to pay near its asking price.

The tower was purchased for $240 million in 2016 by CIM and Golub in 2016, and the residential conversion has turned it into 162 condo units. More than 60 percent of the building’s condos are now under contract. Its first residents moved in during 2021, according to the developers.

Archos’ place is decked out with dazzling interior design work led by Jen Wolff Jacobson, breathtaking views and two lavish outdoor terraces. The building also has an elegant, private condo for its residents.

“It’s like you’re walking into Batman’s building,” Archos told the outlet. “You walk in and you feel like you’re part of history, but it’s your home.”

The interior boasts brass and dark-colored wood and fabrics to help create a “luxurious look,” he said. The whiskey room is styled like an old speakeasy with green velvet and an expansive liquor shelf.

The whiskey room adjoins the 1,000-square-foot terrace, which consists of a stone floor, grilling station, spacious lounge area and a firepit.

Viewpoints from the condo include the Wrigley Building, InterContinental Hotel and all sorts of other eye candy along Michigan Avenue. Even with the many sky rises in the Streeterville area, the view line has been protected, ensuring its next inhabitants will have the same sights to enjoy.

— Quinn Donoghue