Luxury Agents Celebrate Chicago Agent’s Newest Issue at The Legacy Release Party

May 13, 2010 - PRLog -- Luxury agents throughout Chicagoland gathered at The Legacy at Millennium Park, located at 76 E. Monroe, on May 11 to celebrate the release of Chicago Agent magazine’s annual luxury issue.

Currently 90 percent sold, The Legacy (www.thelegacyatmillenniumpark.com) treated luxury agents to unmatched views of Millennium Park, Soldier Field, Lake Michigan and beyond. Many agents were excited to finally catch a look inside the building, while others have already sold units to a number of their luxury clients. Attendees enjoyed wine, beer and hors d’oeuvres as they toured The Legacy’s models, and two lucky agents left as raffle winners: Mary Beth Smith from Prudential Rubloff won a free meal at Gibsons Bar & Steakhouse, and Gayle Batchelor from Baird & Warner won an overnight stay at the nearby University Club.

The event was held in conjunction with Chicago Agent magazine’s annual luxury issue, which was delivered to offices throughout the city and suburbs on May 10. On the cover, Greg Bernadette, a sales associate with Baird & Warner, was featured inside his $15.5 million listing in Palatine. Inside, the issue showcased luxury throughout, from a Great Listing highlighting a stunning home in Kenilworth listed by Monica Klein of Prairie Shore Properties, to a My Style featuring Bob Satawake, the chairman of Keller Williams Chicago’s Luxury Council.

Bernadette and Satawake were both in attendance at the event to mix and mingle with other agents of their caliber, as was Meladee Hughes of Sudler Sotheby’s International Realty, another contributor to the cover story. Hughes is also the listing agent on the famous “Ferris Bueller” home that is currently for sale in Highland Park.

In addition to features that explored luxury in Chicagoland, the cover story in CA’s latest issue addresses the luxury market as a whole. Across the board, agents are confident that luxury buyers still exist, though they stress that it takes a little extra work to get them into homes. In “Signs of Life in the Luxury Market" (www.chicagoagentmagazine.com), Vera Purcell of Koenig & Strey in Lake Forest East explains, “It takes longer to sell a home in this economy. To speed that process up, I have had to do more of everything: more Web sites, more advertising, more open houses.”

Despite the need for extra effort, overall the agents interviewed feel that the industry is picking up. “We are better than we were at the same time last year,” says Milena Birov, a real estate consultant with The Heritage team at @Properties North Shore. “I think people are more confident than they were last year.”

Regardless of their feelings about the market, the agents that attended the event enjoyed the night, and left with a renewed sense of excitement for the industry. “It was great event,” says Bill Stegeman, managing broker of Baird & Warner in Lincoln Park. “It was really inspiring to see so much support from the agent and broker community!"

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