Perhaps you`re tired of circling the congested streets of your neighborhood looking for a parking space every night. Maybe scraping ice off the windshield is getting you down. Would driving your car into a heated garage make you feel better?
Finding a warm spot for the car may be as easy as looking at the Chicago skyline, because many of the city`s glistening residential high-rises rent their lots to non-residents. In fact, many also let non-residents swim in their pools, play on their tennis courts and use their party rooms.
To take advantage of these amenities, however, you have to know about them. Many buildings advertise, but the ads seek new tenants, not new health club members. Still, that shouldn`t be a deterrent. Many property managers say they welcome non-residential activity in their buildings, but admit it`s not their main business.
”Why shouldn`t non-residents take advantage of the resources we have here?” says Terry Hillis, acting building manager for Onterie Center at 441 E. Erie St. ”If our health club is every bit as good (as one of the chains`) wouldn`t it make sense for someone from the neighborhood to come here?”
Feel at home
Watching neighbors come and go from their swank apartment buildings may make some people envious. For these people, luxury buildings hold a certain allure. Few, though, have wallets to afford them. Even if you can`t pay the rent on a one-bedroom apartment in an upscale high-rise, however, there are other ways to make yourself feel at home in one.
One of the easiest ways to do that is to shop in the stores typically found in full-service buildings. Many have grocery stores, dry cleaners, hair salons and the like in the lobby or along a streetside entrance. True, they`re for tenant convenience, but they`re also open to the general public. If you travel several blocks to buy food, have your clothes cleaned or your hair styled, you may find the short stroll to the nearest tall building a little easier.
Julie Ichiba, for example, lives near high-rise buildings on the North Side where she drops off her dry cleaning and buys groceries. Ichiba figures she saves more than $200 a month living elsewhere, while still enjoying many of the amenities a full-service building has to offer. ”All I have to do is walk across the street rather than into a lobby,” says Ichiba. ”And I save money.”
Hopes of living in a luxury building must often wait for the wallet to catch up to aspirations. For Ichiba, once that happens, the building she frequents now will be high on her list. Many building managers rely on this kind of buildup business to attract new tenants. They know that neighbors who come in to use the hospitality suite, health club or parking garage may not be ready to move into a full-service building right at the moment, but eventually they may.
”Most of the businesses we have downstairs are for the tenants, but they`re certainly a way to bring people into the building,” says Laurie Zakrzewski, manager of the 48-story building at 401 E. Ontario St. On the main floor, non-residents can patronize a coffee shop and a secretarial services center-a facility that`s now typical of many downtown apartment buildings that cater to white-collar professionals who live and, in some instances, work in their apartments.
Party hearty
Until you`re ready to join society`s wealthier renters, you may find the good life can be bought for a night or two in a well-appointed party room. Sure, a one-bedroom in a little graystone may be perfect for day-to-day living, but elegant parties for several dozen friends and relatives can be a logistical nightmare, and make the landlord fume. So, if you`d like to make a favorite aunt feel like a queen on her birthday, a party in a luxury party room or hospitality suite may be the answer.
If the party room is in a high-rise, there`s the possible added benefit of a city or lake view. Another plus is that you don`t have to move any of your furniture to accommodate the crowd. The party room at the 2800 N. Lake Shore Dr. condominium, for example, rents to non-residents for $250 a night, plus a $100 security deposit. As in most buildings, however, non-residents must be sponsored by a resident of the building.
Amenities like health clubs and pools aren`t free, but they can be less crowded, and in some cases less expensive, than commercial health clubs. A year`s pass to the health club at Onterie Center costs $56.65 a month, for example, while a membership at some commercial clubs can cost $1,000 a year.
Others seeking the sporting life might look down the street at McClurg Court, 333 E. Ontario St. The health club there has a full-service exercise center, including tennis courts and racquetball facilities. And dental appointments can be made before or after a workout because the dentist is one door away from the club.
A more practical amenity for many high-rise neighbors may be an apartment building`s parking garage. Besides providing cars and drivers with a warm start on a cold winter morning, or even a shaded haven from the summer sun, a parking garage also protects cars from the dangers of the street: theft, vandalism and the occasional errant snow plow. One of the best advantages to storing a car in the garage of a luxury high-rise, however, may be the person whose duties include helping drivers jump-start dead batteries.
A home for the car
Monthly garage fees at many buildings range from $120 to $160. The New York, at 3660 N. Lake Shore Dr., for example, charges $150 a month to store the car. There are waiting lists at some garages, though, and residents are given priority over non-residents.
Feature-rich apartment buildings are not restricted to Lake Shore Drive or Streeterville addresses, of course, though such facilities do tend to be located in Chicago`s tonier districts. The Transportation Building in the Printers` Row area boasts dry cleaning and valet services, as well as a jeweler, florist, hair salon, convenience store and a Chinese restaurant.
Prairie Shores at 2851 S. King Dr. has a dry cleaner, restaurants and a pharmacy, as well as a full-service supermarket. And the building at 2555 N. Clark St. has car rental and banking facilities and an eye care center.
