Ty Warner, the man who created the plush toy phenomenon known as Beanie Babies, has signed a contract to buy the penthouse in the Chicago Spire. The Spire’s foundation is the only thing complete at this point. It’s slated for completion in 2012. A lot can happen in (almost) four years.
The Chicago Tribune reports the news of Warner’s contract to buy a 10,000+ square-foot, two story penthouse with an original price tag of $40 million. Of course, the actual contracted amount has not been revealed.
Warner is notoriously media-shy. He doesn’t grant interviews anymore. He guards his privacy religiously. And that’s reportedly what may have attracted him to the Spire. It’s a very exclusive, private building. And with the penthouse on floors 141 and 142, Warner will have the tallest residential floor in the world. And 360-degree views of Chicago.
Beanie Babies were astonishingly popular almost from the beginning. A limited run of characters helped inflate the demand for the toys. People would wait anxiously for the release of new Babies, hoping that they could get their hands on the stuffed toys. In the height of their popularity, Beanie Babies were selling for up to hundreds of dollars in the collector arena.
The demand was insane. Stores sold out almost immediately. It was rare that a store actually sold the Babies for only $5. Most of them I saw marked the toys up to at least $7, and many times more than that. And collectors paid it. Over and over.
At one point, Ty, Inc. thought about retiring the Beanie Babies line. Yet customer demand was such that they continued them. They aren’t as trendy as they used to be, but they are still regularly traded. I have a few myself, but never tried to keep them in pristine condition. They’ll be passed along to my son for play toys when he’s old enough, and if he wants them. Except the Princess Di bear. I’m keeping that one.
photo: Ty, Inc.
[chicago tribune via berg properties]
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You should try to get us floor-plans for the unit. That would be interesting to see. The lower floor units have terrible floor plans, being that the building is round and not really that big as you can tell by 2 full floors only occuping 10,000 sq ft.
Presently, Chicago’s sales record is $12mm, which was paid by actor Vince Vaughn for a 7,880 sq ft unit that occupied the buildings 36th & 37th floors.
The Donald, repordly as been shopping the 14,000+ sq ft building topper he has at his new Trump Tower Chicago for around $28mm. And talk about big, in comparison to the Spire unit, this penthouse 14,000+ sq ft sprawls one entire floor of the massive building with 16 ft ceilings!!!! Trump claims he wanting to keep it for himself, but truly is looking to sell it just doesn’t think he’ll get his price unless he makes it seem “unavailable”. However, with the sale of this Sprie unit, Trumps much bigger place seems like a bargain.
That was suppose to be….
Presently, Chicago’s sales record is $12mm, which was paid by actor Vince Vaughn for a 7,880 sq ft unit at the Palmolive Building that occupied the buildings 36th & 37th floors.
Michael, still working on whether or not I can get floor plans for that. Trying to track down some info. Thanks for your comment.
Even though the purchase price hasn’t been released, it seems like this sale will blow Vaughn’s record right out of the water, won’t it?
Why pay more for a celebrity home when you can buy my house for a lot cheaper and so much more luxurious.
http://www.141wonderview.com
I’m not a celebrity but a lot of people know me
Fantastic-looking home Helen. Massively annoying website with no way of turning the automatic music down though.
You might want to take a look at our main site as a venue to help sell your house:
http://www.luxuryproperty.com/
Which will go live in the next week or two. Do you already have a video of the property? Because that house is crying out to be shot by a professional videographer and featured on Luxury `Property.
Is it true that while Mr. Warner has made this purchase that he has also let some of his employees go and demoted others in both title and salary during these difficult times?
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