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“I’ve worked
probably in and on every major building in the city,” says Menna,
principal designer at Richard Menna Interior Design. “I feel like
the management and staff of Teng went out of their way to make things
easy.” That’s high praise,
considering the source. Interior designers aren’t known for being
easy clients and they tend to have a few ideas about how their homes should
look. The Mennas say Waterview’s staff allowed them to drop ceilings,
add closets and change flooring to create the home they envisioned. “The people at
Waterview could not have been more accommodating,” says Diane Menna,
a senior vice president at ABN Amro Bank. In November 2004 the
Mennas purchased a three-bedroom, three-bath condominium at Waterview
Tower with views of Millennium Park, Soldier Field, a sliver of lake and
the western cityscape. Of course Waterview’s
more apparent perks were not lost on the couple. One of the biggest is
a newly announced hotel condo component. A popular new trend in Chicago
real estate, hotel condos allow buyers to own a suite in a hotel, use
it when they want and put it in a hotel rental pool where it can produce
income when they are away. In addition to the
project’s 233 traditional condos, Teng plans to open sales on 200
hotel condos at Waterview in August, according to Development Project
Manager Sean McMahon. “It’s going
to be a spectacular hotel,” says Dorrie Freiman, director of marketing
and sales at Waterview Tower. “(The Waterview hotel condo) is unique
to Chicago because it’s the only one within a mixed-use building
that has its own amenities. As a resident living in the tower you don’t
have to share your pool, but as a resident you can have the benefits of
having a hotel below you.” Residential condo
owners like the Mennas will have on-site access to room service, maid
service, a restaurant, a ballroom, a business center and a sunset promenade.
The full spa will have a pool, seven treatment rooms and spaces for manicures,
pedicures, Pilates and yoga. “I very much
liked the idea that there’s a hotel and all the amenities that go
along with that – room service, spa, restaurants,” Diane Menna
says. She also looks forward to using the private pool and fitness center.
“I can quit all the health clubs I belong to.”
The residential condos
have one to four bedrooms and two to 4.5 baths, priced from $617,000 to
$6.3 million. Standard features include Italian cabinets; granite kitchen
countertops; marble bath countertops; hardwood floors; and a universal
system allowing residents to control lighting, temperature, window shades,
and audio, visual and appliance technology from one central location.
But views, as the
name implies, may be the biggest benefit at Waterview Tower. “The design is
really all about capturing the views,” says Principal Design Architect
Thomas Hoepf, of Teng Associates. The building will
overlook the Chicago River, Chicago skyline and Lake Michigan, and because
of the riverfront location, the views are protected against obstruction
that might result from future construction. As the third tallest residential
building in Chicago, according to Freiman, Waterview promises to have
some of the best vistas in the city. “People are very
view-oriented which is why they’re driven here,” Freiman says. The prime buyers have
been mostly empty nesters, who like the Mennas, are looking to downsize,
Freiman says. With its comparatively
small footprint and great height, Waterview Tower will be a sleek and
slender giant of granite, aluminum and glass taking a prominent position
in the city’s skyline. But the building’s intimate detailing
will distinguish it as much as its soaring profile, according to Hoepf. “The way we
detail the granite when it comes to the metal is very prismatic and jewel-like,”
he explains. “The granite is very rich and light-colored so the building
has much more visual texture.” The contemporary look
has inspired the Mennas, who with Teng’s assistance, are using it
as a model for their home’s interior. “This is going
to be very sleek and very contemporary,” Richard Menna says. “I’m
going to use the term minimal – lots of glass, ceiling to floor…I
want my home to reflect my lifestyle, my personal life. They’re going
to allow me to do that.” At press time, the
residential condos at Waterview Tower, www.WaterviewTower.com,
were about 48 percent sold. Construction is scheduled to begin in September,
and first occupancy is planned for September 2008. |
Waterview
Tower, a luxury highrise planned for 111 W. Wacker Drive, has plenty of
features that might catch a buyer’s eye – its dramatic 89-story
height, the luxury hotel component, the breathtaking lake and river views
– but interior designer Richard Menna has worked in the city’s
top residential towers and is not easily impressed. In the end, he and
his wife, Diane, say developer and architect Teng Associates won them
over on a more personal level.
In
addition to the hotel amenities, residential condo owners will have their
own private amenities, including a hospitality room with a gourmet kitchen;
a roof garden with a sundeck and dog run; a fitness center with a 60-foot
indoor lap pool, a Whirlpool, exercise machines, a sauna, steam and massage
rooms; a business center; a concierge; and door staff.