John Buck sells Gold Coast residence for $5M

Prominent Chicago developer John Buck has landed a buyer for his Gold Coast residence, but he had to shave about $7 million off the initial asking price.

Buck and his wife, Kathleen, sold their five-bedroom, 9,600-square-foot unit, in the co-op building at 199 East Lakeshore Drive, for a little under $4.9 million, Crain’s reported. That’s about $510 per square foot. Michael Rosenblum of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago was the listing agent, representing both the buyers and sellers.

The Bucks first put their 23-room unit up for sale in September 2019, asking $11.5 million. It was taken on and off the market a few times before the recent sale, which marked a 42 percent drop from the original price tag.

The unit, situated on the top two floors of the 11-story building, offers scenic views of Oak Street Beach and the Streeterville skyline. Originally designed by Benjamin Marshall in 1913, the property features bay windows, ornamental plaster ceilings, and terraces facing north and south. There’s also a 2,000-square-foot rooftop terrace that’s in the works, the outlet said.  

John Buck’s firm converted the building from apartments into a co-op in 1996, and the Bucks subsequently bought their residence from the conversion firm. It’s unclear how much the couple paid for it. 

The substantial price reduction reflects a broader trend in downtown Chicago’s residential real estate market, which has been plagued by high crime rates and a slow recovery from the pandemic. 

Other examples of this trend include a Gold Coast condo that sold for $9.3 million in January, down from a March 2023 asking price of $13.9 million. A nine-bedroom unit on the 14th and part of the 15th floors at 1500 North Lake Shore Drive, another co-op building in the area, recently traded for $4.5 million, marking a $9 million drop from when it first hit the market in 2016. 

—Quinn Donoghue 

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