A guest suite at Optima Signature. Photo: Courtesy of Optima, Inc.
If you want your mother-in-law close when she visits, but not actually in your house, a new apartment building guest suite may be the answer.
The big picture: On top of amenities like multiple pools, pickleball courts and planned events, some high-end apartment buildings in Chicago are luring in renters by offering on-site, fully furnished apartments that residents can rent for visiting friends and family.
State of play: Optima apartments in Streeterville, Wrigleyville and Wilmette have one- and two-bedroom apartments that are fully furnished with cooking supplies, cutlery, dishwashers and washers and dryers, making it more like an Airbnb.
Plus the building has multiple pools, hot tubs, gyms, saunas, pickleball courts and recreation areas.
And parking is included.
The hot tub and indoor pool are available to guests. Photo: Carrie Shepherd/Axios
Between the lines: The arrangement could be especially appealing for international renters who have family visiting for long periods or new parents who want grandparents nearby (but don’t want to share a wall).
By the numbers: A two-bedroom is $375 on weeknights and $400 on weekends.
A one-bedroom is $325 on weeknights and $375 on weekends.
Reality check: Suites at the Fairmont from Thursday to Sunday range from about $285–$350 before taxes and parking, according to the hotel website.
The bottom line: On-site guest apartments may become another amenity buildings offer as the rental market heats up.
The coronavirus pandemic is forcing a rethinking of the multifamily amenities so important to attracting and keeping tenants in apartments over the last decade.
Some social distancing built into the design is going to need to be an option, though the exact nature of changes isn’t clear yet.
Tenants will expect changes, but not a decline in quality, Illinois-based Optima President and Principal Architect David Hovey Jr. said. “We believe that residents will expect the full return of their amenities and services, but also changes to accommodate safe social distancing without sacrificing their experience,” Hovey Jr. said. One design strategy, at least for larger multifamily properties, will be to spread the amenities out. The 490-unit Optima Signature in Chicago, which was completed in 2017, offers 1.5 acres of amenities across four floors. That includes seven distinct fitness spaces with overflow areas, so there is space to spread out equipment and add sanitizing stations, Hovey Jr. said.
Optima, Inc. completed the buildout of Guidepost Montessori at Magnificent Mile’s new elementary school at Optima Signature, the firm’s mixed-use development at 220 E. Illinois St. in Streeterville. Completed by Optima’s team in three months, the new 14,000-square-foot elementary addition, which will serve grades 1-6, is now accepting registrations for in-person learning.
“As a vertically integrated firm, Optima was uniquely positioned to exceed construction timelines and deliver a new quality education choice in Streeterville at a time when so many parents need in-person alternatives to traditional schools,” said David Hovey Sr., CEO of Optima, Inc. and architect of Optima Signature.
The elementary expansion features two new mixed-age learning environments with the capacity to eventually serve 80 students. At present, though, spots are limited as the network operates with smaller class sizes and heightened health and safety protocols due to COVID-19.
Whether using a third-party designer or acting as the architect for your own projects, it’s important to have a vision for your community and what elements you want to utilize. This includes materials, structures, floor plans and multipurpose furniture or elements.
Optima Inc. has been incorporating biophilic design within its communities for more than four decades, starting with the use of green roofs, courtyards and gardens back in the ’80s. It eventually launched its own vertical landscaping system 15 years ago at Optima Camelview Village, a property located in Scottsdale, Ariz.
“This system helps enhance the natural beauty of our projects by allowing a palette of vibrantly colored plants to grow up and over the edge of each private terrace on every floor of the building,” explained David Hovey Jr., president & COO.
The first couple decades of this century witnessed a marked decline in golf’s popularity. Some 1,200 golf courses were shuttered nationwide, and from 2003 to 2018, U.S. golf participation plunged by 6.8 million participants. Golf pros feared for the sport’s future.
Then came the Covid-19 pandemic, and its corresponding recommendation of social distancing. Moving outdoors onto the wide-open golf links seemed an ideal response.
Interest in the game has surged ever since, and is reflected in the growing popularity of golf simulator experiences like TopGolf and X-Golf, as well as in golf driving ranges. The opportunity to play a round on 3D virtual representations of legendary golf courses has hooked legions of linksters. Golf simulator settings have become a relaxed place for fun, social gatherings, as well as corporate events and team-building experiences.
Never one to pass on crowd-pleasing features that can attract move-ins to their residential offerings, shrewd developers have increasingly found reason to incorporate golf simulators into their buildings. The move ensures residents can hone their swings or play a round with friends without ever booking a tee time. Here’s a look at several residential communities that top the leaderboard in golf-related amenities and extras.
Chicago’s high-end condo buyers and apartment renters are shifting their priorities in a Covid world, and are seeking out units with balconies, and communal spaces with plenty of room.
At Optima Signature — built by Optima Inc. and DeBartolo Development — the new reality has brought the Amenity Boss.
Residents now use the app to schedule times for some of the spaces they would ordinarily use without planning. That includes reserving the basketball court, bocce and squash courts, children’s playground, 40-yard dash track, sundeck terraces with fireside lounges, and private dining areas. The complex rolled out the app on June 3, when the city began Phase 3 of its reopening that included — with restrictions — residential amenities. If Optima residents want to use the terrace for grilling, they can reserve space, limited to two hours.
Demand has been high, said Optima Signature business manager Kattia Halaoui. “On the first day alone, we had 159 reservations to use the amenities,” she said. A couple of days later, that was up to 259 reservations.
In Streeterville, Optima Signature provides a host of resident amenities, from rentable business suites to a two-floor health and fitness center. Services include an on-site chef, a restaurant, a nail salon and a veterinarian.
Mark Segal, senior vice president of Optima, said the Glencoe-based real estate developer wants to make life easier for residents — particularly during as stressful a time as a global pandemic.
“Time has become one of the more precious commodities, and things that focus on delivering convenience and the quality of life … are the focus for so many folks,” he said.
Optima Signature also has an indoor connection to an adjacent Whole Foods Market. “It offers the convenience of being able to do grocery shopping and limit what your interactions with other folks will be,” Segal said.
Renters are looking for COVID-19 safety measures in their new homes — like the electrostatic disinfecting of Optima’s common areas, Segal said. Some of those pandemic safety features also add convenience, like in-home package delivery.
“Everyone is dealing with today’s circumstances differently,” Segal said. “Everyone is having their own experience today, so it really is a wide range of things that people are looking for in terms of how to manage their own lives at this time.”
This 57-story rental development boasts hundreds of apartments, from studios to three-bedrooms. Just a short jaunt from Michigan Avenue and the Riverwalk, the location couldn’t be better. The complex’s 1.5-acre amenity space provides a resort-level menu of activities: heated swimming pools, basketball, squash and bocce ball courts, and a golf simulator.
Medical spas are popping up in storefronts and office buildings across the land, creating a real estate boom fueled by high-margin procedures and minimal regulation.
Egg Harbor Café opened a nearly 5K SF restaurant in Optima Signature, a 57-story, 490-unit luxury apartment tower just east of Chicago’s Magnificent Mile. This is the first downtown Chicago location for Egg Harbor, which has 20 locations in Illinois, Wisconsin and Georgia, and specializes in breakfast, brunch and lunch. Developed by Glencoe, Illinois-based Optima Inc., Optima Signature is located at 220 East Illinois St., and features 490 apartments and 60K SF of retail and professional space.
