Rarity alone doesn’t guarantee a sale, at least for one Gold Coast penthouse.
An 8,000-square-foot duplex that hit the market last year for the first time in half a century had its price chopped by $4.9 million to $12 million, according to a listing on Zillow. Owner Michael Wilkie first tried to sell it privately in July 2020 for $24.5 million, then cut the price to $17 million in November.
Wilkie, chairman of industrial products distributor DGI Supply, told the Wall Street Journal when he first tried to sell that he was moving to Key Largo in Florida to escape Midwestern winters. He’s made only minor changes since he moved in, including a kitchen renovation.
It sits atop the entire 24th and 25th floors of a vintage cooperative building at 1500 North Lake Shore Drive that was designed by New York architect Rosario Candela and Chicago firm McNally & Quinn, according to the Chicago Tribune. It was built for its first owner, George Woodruff, a banker and Republican Party leader. Woodruff died in 1946, according to the New York Times.
The six-bed, seven-bath home has 5,000 square feet of outdoor space, a private elevator and a stone fireplace. The outdoor areas include an east-facing terrace with a lawn, fountain and views of Lake Michigan.
Christie Baines and Cheryl Prosperi, the brokers in charge of the listing, didn’t respond to requests for comment.