Despite aggressive marketing, sales remain stagnant at The Clare at Watertower, a 53-story luxury retirement home built on the Mag Mile in 2008. So much so that, as Bloomberg reports, with additional reporting by Crain's the building has defaulted on its loans in pursuit of a second restructuring. The first, in 2010, freed up enough resources to pump staff into marketing. But the developer, Franciscan Sisters of Chicago partnered with the Loyola University-Chicago campus, couldn't overcome the economic slump. A spokeswoman for The Clare was less alarmist in her account that "There's not a specific occurrence that happened. During last year's restructure, all parties understood that another restructure of the debt would need to be scheduled for this year." However, she conceded that about two-thirds of the building's 248 units remain unsold. And one would think that a building with retiree-honed amenities and a religious flavor (think built-in chapels) might have a difficult time entering the general condo or rental market.
· Tower Becomes Year's Largest Municipal-Bond Default [Bloomberg]
· Clare at Watertower Defaults on $229 million loan [Crain's]
· Official Site: The Clare at Watertower
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