Residents of apartments at the tip-tops of Chicago`s skyscrapers may never have considered this comparison, but a marketing director for one high- rise says they are like primitive cliff dwellers.
”This may sound funny, but I think (living on a very high floor) is sort of like being a cliff dweller of olden days,” says Keith Deal of the 54-floor ParkShore, 195 N. Harbor Dr.
”It`s something about the perspective,” he explains. ”You can see the storms coming, the sun going down or coming up, and the changes in the lake.”
And seeing those views is a large factor motivating people to select apartments on high floors. ”It`s part of the glamor of living in a high-rise,” says Deal. ”It`s the difference between buying a Chevy as opposed to a Mercedes. It`s the prestige.”
High-rise apartment dwellers like to show off their spectacular views.
”They enjoy having their friends be awed at their view. It`s a great place to entertain,” says Kelly Mulock, leasing director for the New York, 3660 N. Lake Shore Dr.
Judy Pasas, who lives on the 54th floor of the ParkShore, agrees.
”We just had some company in . . . They are from Kansas City. And I just couldn`t get them away from the windows. They couldn`t get over the view,”
she says.
Price of prestige
But the prestige of having a stunning view comes at a price. Residents of high apartments often pay a premium for their domiciles in the skies.
Typically, the cost of renting an apartment increases incrementally with the altitude. The difference can range from as little as $5 or $10 per floor to whatever the building management believes the market will bear.
The variations can reflect the size of the apartment and the amenities as well as the quality of the view. For instance, a lower floor apartment may rent for more than its loftier neighbor if it has an unobstructed view.
The least expensive one-bedroom at the ParkShore rents for $990 a month and a penthouse is $5,700. A one-bedroom on the fourth floor, which is the lowest residential floor of the New York, goes for $750. The most expensive one-bedroom on the 47th floor is $1,036.
At Cityfront Place, 480 N. McClurg Court, the smallest one-bedroom on the 10th floor is $1,147 while the same size apartment on the highest floor, the 39th, rents for $1,575.
Despite the lofty rents that accompany apartments with breathtaking views, demand is high.
”We have nothing (available) on our high floors,” says the New York`s Mulock. ”And we have a waiting list for people who want a southeast view (of the city skyline).”
Climbing to safety
Residents of these aeries cite reasons besides the view for living there. Safety from crime is one. ”I think high-rises are more secure,” says Mary Pat Regan, who lives on the 37th floor of Cityfront Place. ”When you`re on a top floor, the chance of someone breaking in through a window is pretty impossible.”
Her reasoning is supported, to an extent, by Will Shannon, crime prevention research officer with the Chicago Police Department.
”Usually high-rise buildings start at a level where you`re away from the street (lessening the threat of break-ins or attacks from the street),” says Shannon.
Fire is another concern that high-rise apartment dwellers need to consider. June Gould, a resident of the 37th floor at Regents Park, 5020 S. Lake Shore Dr., says she occasionally worries about it.
”Once in a while I think about it and then it bothers me. So I just don`t think about it,” she says.
For added peace of mind as well as safety, the building should have a sprinkler system, says Chief Stanley Span, ombudsman for the Chicago Fire Department. ”Obviously, if you`re on the 89th floor or the first floor, it does not take a lot of common sense to tell that the first floor is probably safer (from fire),” he says.
”I can tell you that we`ve never lost a life in a building where there was a sprinkler system that was working,” says Span.
Count the elevators
Regents Park`s Gould says renters should also look for high-speed elevators and be sure that there are enough to serve the occupants.
”You don`t want to spend your time waiting around,” she says, noting that slow elevators are not a problem at Regents Park.
There are four high-speed elevators serving Cityfront Place, where Shawn Davis lives on the 39th floor. The elevators can operate on a generator in an emergency, and Davis` unhappy experience in another building taught him how important that can be.
”There was a power outage and I had to walk down from the 45th floor,”
he recalls. ”It was a hike. It took 15 minutes and I felt it most of the next day when my legs were sore.”
And while living in the clouds can be an upper, doing your laundry can be a real downer if the laundry room is on a bottom floor.
At Cityfront Place, for instance, the laundry room is on the 8th floor. Regan lives 29 floors above it and has to haul her laundry baskets up and down all those floors by elevator. ”It would be better if there were a washer and dryer in the apartment,” she says.
In the fog
While a big part of the allure of being in a high-rise is a view, the vagaries of the weather take their toll.
Two or three times a year, low-lying clouds surround Gould`s apartment at Regents Park.
”It`s odd. It`s like you`re in a cocoon. You can`t see anything. It`s all grey outside,” she says.
A more frequent problem may occur in winter, when condensation can build up on windows.
Gould recommends ”double-glazed, well-insulated windows that won`t get as foggy in January and February, especially if you want to see the view.”
High altitudes also can give a different perspective on the use of terraces or balconies.
Pasas does not use hers. In fact, she prefers looking at her spectacular view from a safe distance, she admits. ”(The height) bothered me at first. I had to sort of sneak up to the windows.”
Regan feels about the same. ”We haven`t used our balcony,” she says.
”It`s been kind of cold and, well, it makes me kind of dizzy.”
But Jan Jeffries uses his balcony often at Cityfront Place.
”I`ve got a table and chair and I sit out there,” he says enthusiastically.
Davis also uses his. ”Being so high up you can see far because your view is not obscured by other buildings.”
If you think that you need to live in the city to have a spectacular view, think again.
Penthouse in Du Page
Frank Johnson ”gave a cursory thought to living in Chicago,” but opted for Elmhurst instead. He thinks he`s gotten the best of both worlds in his ninth floor, penthouse apartment at Elmhurst Place.
A penthouse at Elmhurst Place runs $1,790; a one-bedroom is $870.
”I have a west view because I like the afternoon sun,” says Johnson.
”The building is similar to living in the city. But I have the suburban convenience and the quiet, grassy areas,” Johnson says.
To listen to renters of high-floor apartments talk about their homes, you may begin to think that Deal`s cliff dweller analogy is dead-on.
For Jeffries, high-rise living sounds like an almost mystical experience. ”Being this high up offers me inspirational energy . . . The view seems to keep my day up-tempo and bright,” says Jeffries.
”You feel like you`re in touch with all of the different areas of Chicago, and yet you also have an overview of this great city.”
