Ken Griffin’s Haircut Drags Prices in Chicago Waldorf

Ken Griffin’s luxury real estate purchases, which regularly set record high prices, can move markets, yet one of the billionaire’s Chicago deals is tipping the balance in the other direction, dragging down one of the city’s priciest listings.

A $15 million asking price at Chicago’s Waldorf Astoria is getting cut by 28 percent after a long stint on the market.

The listing for two condos on the 34th floor would create a full-floor property. It was originally listed in May for $13 million before the sellers raised the price to $15 million in August. It was cut on Sunday to $10.8 million.

Melinda Jakovich-Lagrange, an agent with Compass representing the sellers, said the cut is in line with broader market trends and also follows other sales in the building.

“We’re following the market with what Ken Griffin did,” she said.

Griffin, after announcing his hedge fund and financial services firm Citadel would move its headquarters to Miami from Chicago, sold his longtime home in the Gold Coast building last month for $10.2 million. That’s an 11 percent discount from the asking price when it hit the market in July with a flurry of the billionaire’s other luxury Chicago condos.

His five-bedroom, 7,400-square-foot unit on the 37th floor was listed in July and went under contract Sept. 26. Griffin’s list price meant he was poised to take a loss on the home even if it had sold at its full price. He bought it in 2014 for $13.3 million. Before his move to Miami, he was the richest man in Illinois.

Griffin isn’t the only seller taking a price cut at the Waldorf. Late last month, Scott Saldana, founder of SKTY Trading, and Elyssa Saldana sold their $9.4 million full-floor Waldorf Astoria condo, after it had previously been listed for $15 million.

Jakovich-Lagrange said the discount on the 34th-floor unit also allows a larger budget for the buyer to bring in an interior designer and renovate the property, a common move at the high end of the market regardless of how recently the property has been renovated.

The seller, whose identity is not clear from public records, plans to remain in the city and is currently using the two properties as rentals, Jakovich-Lagrange said. Should the buyer opt to combine the two units, it would be over 7,400 square feet and have four terraces and four parking spaces.

Discounts like these are common at the end of the year, she said, because if high-end sellers decide to take a loss on a property, they’re usually ready to write it off at the end of the year and move on.

The listing is a rare opportunity to own an entire floor at the Waldorf, Jakovich-Lagrange said.

Built in 2009, the Waldorf Astoria building includes condos on the upper floors and a hotel on the lower portion. Condo owners in the 60-story get access to the hotel’s amenities through a fee in their association assessments. Those include 24-hour security, room service, access to the spa, indoor pool, fitness center and Pilates studio.