Irene Pritzker Buys Mag Mile Condo at Ask

A member of Chicago’s Pritzker family purchased the Water Tower Residences condo from billionaire philanthropists Lester and Renee Crown for $5.5 million.

Irene Pritzker, who was married to the late Robert Pritzker, co-founded the IDP Foundation. She matched the March 17 listing price for the Streeterville condo. The Crowns acquired the property in 2015 in two pieces for $6.02 million in total, around half a million more than Pritzker’s purchase price, according to Crain’s.

Pritzker is acquiring the Crown condo as she’s attempting to sell her duplex condo in Lincoln Park, listed for $4.1 million and currently under contract. Lester Crown ran Material Service Corporation, a building materials company his father once ran. He held a significant stake in the Chicago Bulls, and served as their chairman in the past. The Crown’s main residence is in Wilmette. The Crown family’s net worth estimate was $14.7 billion in 2024, according to the outlet.

The condo underwent a recent renovation by Kara Mann Interiors, and has a walk-in closet, a bedroom converted into a nursery and a breakfast room that has a view of Lake Michigan. In total, the condo spans 6,200 square feet, and is on the 37th floor of the residential portion of Water Tower Place at 835 North Michigan Avenue. The condo had a $60,000 property tax bill in 2024, and HOA dues are pegged at $56,500 per year.

The building the condo sits in is set to get a $170 million revamp from MetLife. Portions of the upper floors were converted into medical office space to stop the bleeding from the Magnificent Mile pandemic retail exodus. The Mag Mile is experiencing a bit of a rebound in the retail department, with vacancies dropping and redevelopment opportunities like the Hilton Suites at 198 East Delaware Place cropping up.

— Hunter Cooke