As 2001 begins, it’s time to reflect on 2000’s celebrity real estate transactions.
In 2000, Chicago-area celebrity buyers and sellers generally were not as high-profile as those in 1999. However, the prices of the homes bought and sold continued to amaze, as the red-hot real estate market continued.
A slew of $10 million-plus listings on the North Shore and in Oak Brook–previously unheard-of–raised eyebrows, while virtually every bracket experienced a competitive buying market. Here’s Upper Bracket’s review of 2000:
– Welcome: Local buyers included Mike Ditka, Eric Young, Magglio Ordonez, Jon Lieber, Jamie Dimon, Jennifer Mitchell, Boris Mironov, Patrick Elwood and Brian Urlacher.
– Arrivederci: Sellers were Doug Gilmour, Brent Barry, Robin George, Matt Guokas (who sold his Burr Ridge town home for $440,000), Billy Corgan (whose Lake View house remains listed for $1.1 million, a slight increase from its original, $1.05 million listing price), Jaime Navarro, Amy Stone, Erik Kramer, Joe Bohannon, Don Baylor, Anita Padilla, Lester Holt, Carol Moseley-Braun, Frank Thomas (whose Oak Brook mansion remains listed for $11 million), Mike Pomeranz and Neal Anderson.
– Internal moves: Celebs moving within Chicagoland included the husband-and-wife former anchor team of Bob Sirott and Marianne Murciano, Chip Beck, Janet Davies, Jim Ryan, Randy Brown, Rob Stafford, Mike Adamle, Dina Bair, Andrew “Flip” Filipowski, Roger Bossard and Dennis DeYoung.
– Expected “for sale” sign: Former Bull Dicky Simpkins’ place in Buffalo Grove. Last year’s review correctly forecast that ex-Bull Ron Harper would list his Northbrook home, but unsuccessfully predicted that former Bull Bill Wennington would sell his Lake Forest home. In fact, Wennington reportedly likes this area and plans to stay here after his career ends. Ditto for ex-Bull Toni Kukoc, who plans to hang onto his place in Highland Park. – -Before the bar: Instead of Chairman Reinsdorf, how about Plaintiff Reinsdorf? White Sox and Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf, who paid $1.055 million in September 1999 for a house in Northfield, sued a neighbor for allowing a man-made pond to overflow onto his property.
In the suit, Reinsdorf complained that the stagnant water produces “foul and unpleasant” aromas.
Reinsdorf already faces a $5 million breach-of-contract lawsuit, filed by his own sister, for allegedly breaking a promise to their late mother to provide his sister with funds to allow her to “maintain substantial quality of life.”
Reinsdorf’s other properties include a Gold Coast house, which he purchased in 1991 for $1.3 million.
Homebuyer in Chief: Probably 2000’s biggest national real estate story was the President and First Lady’s house-shopping.
The Clintons paid $1.7 million for a house in Chappaqua, N.Y. and then, after Mrs. Clinton was elected to the Senate, began looking in D.C.
They considered a sprawling Georgetown mansion–listed for $4.4 million–that once was owned by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’ mother and is next to writer Kitty Kelley’s house.
On Dec. 30, the First Couple signed a contract to pay $2.85 million for the purchase of a six-bedroom, 5,500-square-foot brick house, at 3067 Whitehaven St. NW, that was built in 1951 and listed for $3.5 million.
Owned by Republican Joseph W. Henderson, a general partner of an investment group, the house is in the exclusive Massachusetts Avenue Heights area, near Embassy Row.
President Clinton will become the first president since Woodrow Wilson to reside in Washington after his presidency ends, although the Clintons insist that Chappaqua will be their official residence.
The Washington house’s neighbors include former Treasury secretary Nicholas Brady, architect Leo Daly, who designed the nearby Italian Embassy, and businessman and Republican fundraiser Wayne Berman.
Another neighbor will be Dick Cheney, whose official residence as veep is the nearby Naval Observatory.
Cheney made news in 2000 for listing his house in suburban Dallas for $3.5 million (later reduced to $3.1 million). On Nov. 30, Cheney sold the house for an undisclosed sum to Republican donor Dianne T. Cash.
Cheney also owns a place on a golf course in Casper, Wyo., and two homes in McLean, Va.–a town house that he purchased for $450,000 and a single-family house that he purchased for $1.35 million.
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Have a tip about a home sale or a piece of property being put on the market that involved a well-known Chicagoan or a well-known piece of Chicago real estate? Write to Upper Bracket, c/o Chicago Tribune, Real Estate section, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Ill., 60611. E-mail: rgoldsbo@enteract.com
