[Via Chicago]

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=31880

Condo market thumps 2 South Loop tower plans

(Crain’s) — The calamitous condominium market has toppled plans for two ambitious high-rises proposed by developer Warren Barr for South Michigan Avenue.

Mr. Barr last week sold the site at 830 S. Michigan Ave. for $17.55 million, about $1 million less than he owed his lenders on the project, which was hit with a foreclosure lawsuit early this year. The buyer’s identity couldn’t be determined.

Just south at 1000 S. Michigan Ave., which is still in foreclosure, Mr. Barr confirms he has begun returning “some deposits” of earnest money to condo buyers. He declines further comment on the 40-story project, saying: “We’re still trying to figure out what makes the most sense for that property.”

The project at 830 S. Michigan Ave., about three blocks south of Congress Parkway, was to be 80 stories tall with 376 condos. At 855 feet, it would have been the tallest tower in the burgeoning South Loop. Mr. Barr and his firm Oak Brook-based Renaissant Development Group LLC were among the cadre of developers fueling the area’s growth in recent years.