Back in the day, moving up to the corner office was a sure sign you’d made it. Offering greater room, abundant natural light from two walls of windows and dual perspectives on streetscapes below, a corner office was a coveted badge of success. But with more folks working from home, the corner office’s cache may be shifting to corner condominiums and apartments.

Optima Signature

Streeterville provides a dynamic backdrop for the luxury tower Optima Signature, situated steps from the city’s “Magnificent Mile” of Michigan Avenue. With an eye to creating dramatic views, the developer, Optima, expressly designed the building’s corner units with the intention of creating column-free perspectives.

The post-tensioned concrete structure incorporates a two-way cantilevered slab. The column was placed between the kitchen and living area rather than in the traditional corner, to ensure the layouts of residences delivered unobstructed, eye-popping views from the living room’s floor-to-ceiling windows.

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Streeterville’s Optima Signature Leases Space as Solution for Parents Working From Home

Necessity is the mother of innovation, and in this case, it’s finding a place to settle kids into remote school learning during the coronavirus pandemic when there’s not enough room at home.

Optima Signature found a way to lease unused space and solve the problem at the same time: turn business suites in the 57-story, multifamily Streeterville complex in Chicago into e-learning labs.

It creates a reprieve for dual-working parents with children at a time when the Chicago Public School system, among others, said all learning this fall will be done online. “It’s a place at home away from home,” said Ali Burnham, Optima’s marketing director at the 490-unit high-end tower.

Built in 2017 by Optima, based in suburban Glencoe, Illinois, the building at 220 E. Illinois St. stands out with its multistory, bright-red, glass exterior right above its base against a cluster of blue-glass buildings and concrete parking structures.

Besides the luxury one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments in the mixed-use tower, it also is home to Guidepost Montessori at Magnificent Mile, the Streeterville outpost for toddlers to elementary-aged children with a Spanish immersion program.

The suites, which can be used for young elementary school-aged children as well as those in middle and high school, are pretty much already suited for e-learning with five to seven workstations, a minifridge, built-in cabinetry and outdoor space. And, of course, they’re cleaned professionally on a regular basis.

They all come with Wi-Fi and have access to the site’s 1.5 acres of amenities that include plenty of outdoor lounges, a basketball court, a pool and lots of running and playground space, Burnham said. What’s more, they’re open to nonresidents too.

“The workstations are perfectly set up already for middle school or high school students,” she said. “They just have to bring their things.” For younger children, there’s a 500-square-foot suite that includes a lot of open space that can be used for workstations, art projects, reading hubs and music.

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When it comes to the home and design trends experts anticipate prevailing in the year ahead, the overarching theme will be options in abundance.

While homeowners continue to want their outdoor spaces that offer a safe retreat, that appeal has shifted into other parts of the home, coupling comfort with function. In other words, homeowners want amenities for work and leisure, and they plan to enjoy long them long after the pandemic.

Here are 10 trends to watch in 2021.

7. What it is: Grander staircases

Why now: Entryways into a house became the star a few years ago with the rise of mudrooms for organizing backpacks, jackets, and boots in cubbies—maybe even including a place to bathe Fido. The spotlight has now shifted to playing up the main staircase’s size, shape, and detailing to add “wow” to a first impression. This may include replacing the treads, risers, and handrails, and possibly adding a runner.

“Staircases are, by their nature, incredibly sculptural, so they are the perfect architectural feature that can be exploited in a variety of ways,” says architect Bob Zuber with Chicago-based Morgante Wilson Architects. “They can be overly grand, stripped down to the bare essentials, modern, or super traditional, warm, and cozy, or industrial and techy.”

The trend is gaining speed in multifamily buildings, too. One Bennett Park, a luxury residence in Chicago developed by Related Midwest and designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects, has an Art Deco staircase that winds between two amenity floors with an ornamental brass railing and steps made of two contrasting, polished marbles. At the Optima Signature Chicago building, architect David Hovey Sr. gave a staircase vivid pops of yellow and orange.

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The well-publicized troubles of WeWork have not put a damper on coworking in Chicago. Amid signs the sector will continue growing over the next few years, Optima officials said Wednesday that the company leased all 22 furnished office suites at its Optima Signature tower in Streeterville.

The 57-story, 490-unit apartment building at 220 East Illinois St. opened in June 2017. Early last year, Optima debuted the office suites, which are open to both residents and nonresidents, and range in size from 194 SF to more than 1K SF.

“The fact that the office suites at Optima Signature leased in under a year shows our shared office experience resonated with the growing number of professionals who work remotely in this area,” Optima CEO David Hovey said. Hovey said the suites are a great amenity for residents, allowing them to have a true office environment within their own building, and nonresidents can work just steps from Michigan Avenue, as well as access the Signature tower’s amenities. Rents range from $1K to $2,800 per month.

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School is in session at the Optima Signature, a 57-story apartment tower in Streeterville. Glencoe-based developer and architectural firm Optima is converting four of its 25 office suites in the 490-unit tower into classrooms, according to the Chicago Tribune.

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Integrated real estate firm Optima, Inc. announced that Reform Studios, a Pilates studio, will open at Optima Signature, a 57-story luxury apartment tower comprising 490 apartments and 58,000 square feet of commercial space in Chicago’s Streeterville neighborhood.

Offering both live and self-guided Pilates classes, Reform Studios will open June 22, in a 4,000-square-foot ground-floor retail space. It joins Optima Signature’s roster of current commercial tenants, such as Guidepost Montessori School, Egg Harbor Café, Bedazzled and GoodVets Streeterville.

Founded by local Streeterville resident Jennifer Villamil, Reform Studios is the only studio in the Chicagoland area to offer Reform RX machines, the world’s first commercial-grade smart Pilates reformer. Equipped with high-definition touchscreen displays uploaded with an ever-growing library of on-demand classes, the machines can precisely track users’ movements and present real-time data on calories burned, heart rate and power output as well as post-session workout summaries.

The newly remodeled retail space at 228 E. Illinois St. features a custom Streeterville-inspired wall mural created by Chicago-based artist Eric Harold and pays homage to Chicago by only selling local athleisure brands such as Fox & Robin and Public Rec. Furthering its community-focused mission, Reform Studios will work with Streeterville Organization of Active Residents (SOAR) to invest 1% of revenue back into the neighborhood.

Designed, developed and managed in-house by Optima, Inc., Optima Signature was completed in 2017. The LEED Silver® Certified luxury rental community features 1.5 acres of amenity space, including resort-style indoor and outdoor heated swimming pools, a cutting-edge fitness center with a sauna and steam rooms, resident lounge with coffee bar, basketball, squash and bocce ball courts, golf simulator and putting green, dog park and children’s play area.

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The well-publicized troubles of WeWork have not put a damper on coworking in Chicago. Amid signs the sector will continue growing over the next few years, Optima officials said Wednesday that the company leased all 22 furnished office suites at its Optima Signature tower in Streeterville.

The 57-story, 490-unit apartment building at 220 East Illinois St. opened in June 2017. Early last year, Optima debuted the office suites, which are open to both residents and nonresidents, and range in size from 194 SF to more than 1K SF.

“The fact that the office suites at Optima Signature leased in under a year shows our shared office experience resonated with the growing number of professionals who work remotely in this area,” Optima CEO David Hovey said. Hovey said the suites are a great amenity for residents, allowing them to have a true office environment within their own building, and nonresidents can work just steps from Michigan Avenue, as well as access the Signature tower’s amenities. Rents range from $1K to $2,800 per month.

Read the full feature on Bisnow

Visit Optima Signature for more details