Chicago · Cook County · IL
Homes for sale in
Water Tower Residences.
- Active listings
- 4
- Median list
- $2.05M
- Avg time on market
- 27 days
- Sold · last year
- 6
Active listings
4 homes on the market
Be the first to know when a new Water Tower Residences home hits the market
Text + email the moment a new listing matches.
About the community
Private luxury residences high in a marble tower on the Magnificent Mile.
Water Tower Residences are the private condominium floors of Water Tower Place, the landmark mixed-use tower at 845 North Michigan Avenue on the Magnificent Mile, with the residential entrance commonly addressed as 180 East Pearson Street. The homes sit high in the tower, above the Ritz-Carlton hotel and the block-long Water Tower Place shopping atrium at the base. The gray marble-clad, reinforced-concrete tower rises 859 feet and was the tallest reinforced-concrete building in the world when it opened in 1975 and 1976, designed by Edward D. Dart of Loebl Schlossman Bennett and Dart. This is an established, old-money ultra-luxury address in Streeterville rather than a new-construction tower.
At a glance
Magnificent Mile address
High-floor residences in Water Tower Place at 845 North Michigan, entered at 180 East Pearson.
Hotel-grade service
24-hour door and concierge staff, on-site management, and valet parking.
Above the Ritz-Carlton
The residences sit above the Ritz-Carlton hotel and the Water Tower Place shops, with indoor access to both.
Lake and skyline views
High floors capture Lake Michigan, Oak Street Beach, and the downtown skyline.
Landmark 1970s tower
An 859-foot marble tower that was the tallest reinforced-concrete building in the world when built.
Flagship retail at the base
Steps from Magnificent Mile flagship stores, dining, and hotels, with the mall inside the building.
Steps to Oak Street Beach
Oak Street Beach and the lakefront path are a short walk east.
Valet parking
On-site valet parking, typically billed separately from the assessment. Confirm terms per unit.
What’s close
Water Tower Residences sits at the heart of the Magnificent Mile in Streeterville on the Near North Side, one block south of the former John Hancock Center at 875 North Michigan.
- Building services
- 24-hour door and concierge staff, on-site management, valet parking, and a fitness facility, with access to the shops and hotel inside the tower.
- Shopping and dining
- Magnificent Mile flagship retail and a dense concentration of restaurants and hotels at the doorstep.
- Lakefront
- Oak Street Beach and the Lake Michigan lakefront path are a short walk east.
- The Loop
- A short trip south to the Loop's offices, theaters, and cultural institutions.
- Schools
- Chicago Public Schools, with Ogden International commonly cited nearby. Confirm the attendance boundary by address with CPS.
- Transit
- Highly walkable, with CTA bus service along Michigan Avenue and the Red Line at Chicago and Grand a short distance west.
What it’s actually like to live here
Living at Water Tower Residences means an address that few buildings in Chicago can match: a marble tower on the Magnificent Mile where the elevator can carry you from a high-floor lake view down to a Ritz-Carlton lobby, a full-service concierge, and the shops of Water Tower Place without ever stepping outside. The draw is convenience and prestige, hotel-grade service, valet parking, and a walkable core of flagship retail, dining, and the lakefront at Oak Street Beach. For buyers who want a lock-and-leave luxury lifestyle with staff on hand at all hours, the value proposition is strong and well established.
The honest tradeoffs matter. This is a 1970s-vintage building, and while many individual units have been renovated to a very high standard, some homes and shared systems reflect their era, so mechanical, window, and infrastructure condition varies unit to unit and deserves close inspection. The full-service model that makes the building so livable also carries high monthly assessments, and the very high property values translate into substantial Cook County tax bills. Underwrite the carrying costs, not just the purchase price.
Location cuts both ways. Being on the Magnificent Mile means constant tourist foot traffic, congestion, and the noise and bustle of one of the busiest retail corridors in the Midwest right at the doorstep. The mall at the base has also been in transition, with its owner repositioning upper retail floors, so the retail environment there will keep changing. None of that alters the fundamentals of the residential address, but it is part of an honest picture for a buyer weighing this building against quieter Streeterville or Gold Coast towers.
The questions buyers actually ask
Water Tower Residences FAQ
The questions I get most from buyers shopping Water Tower Residences. If yours isn't here, text 224-385-8779, same-day reply.
- What does the HOA actually cover?
- Water Tower Residences is a full-service condominium, so monthly assessments are correspondingly high and scale with unit size. In a building of this class they typically fund 24-hour door and concierge staffing, on-site management, building engineering and maintenance, common-area utilities, insurance for the common elements, amenity operation, and reserve contributions. Valet parking is available and is typically billed separately from the base assessment. Confirm the exact assessment, what it includes, and the parking terms from the association's disclosures and the specific listing.
- What are property taxes like?
- Roughly $18,000 – $90,000 per year, depending on home size and value. Cook County assessor records are the source of truth. Happy to pull a specific bill on any home you're considering.
- When was Water Tower Residences built?
- Loebl Schlossman Bennett and Dart (architect Edward D. Dart), Water Tower Place, 1975 to 1976 built the community between 1975 and 1976. Loebl Schlossman Bennett and Dart (architect Edward D. Dart), Water Tower Place, 1975 to 1976 stopped new construction in 1976, so every sale today is a resale.
- What's the typical closing timeline?
- 60 to 120 days from accepted offer to keys. Cash deals can close in two weeks. Conventional financing is usually closer to 120.
- What exactly is Water Tower Residences?
- It is the residential condominium portion of Water Tower Place at 845 North Michigan Avenue, occupying the upper floors of the tower above the Ritz-Carlton hotel and the Water Tower Place shops. The residences are commonly addressed as 180 East Pearson Street.
- Who designed and built it, and when did it open?
- It was designed by Edward D. Dart of Loebl Schlossman Bennett and Dart. The shopping atrium opened in October 1975 and the property was fully operating by 1976. The gray marble-clad, reinforced-concrete tower was the tallest reinforced-concrete building in the world when built.
- What amenities and services do residents get?
- Full-service, hotel-caliber offerings: 24-hour door staff, concierge, on-site management, valet and garage parking, and a fitness facility, plus indoor access to the shops and hotel within the same structure. Confirm the current amenity list, including any resident pool or sundeck, directly with the building, since those specifics vary by source.
- Why are the monthly assessments so high?
- Because it is a staffed, full-service building in a mixed-use tower. Assessments cover door and concierge staff, management, engineering, common utilities, insurance, amenities, and reserves, and they scale with unit size. Parking is generally billed separately. Get the exact figure for any specific unit from its listing and the association disclosures.
- What are the property taxes like?
- Taxes are set by Cook County. Chicago's effective residential rate is generally in the range of roughly 1.6 to 2.1 percent of value, but because these are very high-value homes, the dollar bills are large. Verify the current tax on any specific unit with the Cook County Treasurer and Assessor.
- What do units cost and how is the market right now?
- Pricing is top-of-market ultra-luxury and it moves with the market, so rather than quote a number here, see the live Market snapshot on this page for current prices, activity, and inventory.
- Who is the real estate agent for Water Tower Residences?
- Joe Keegan is the local licensed Illinois real estate broker who covers Water Tower Residences in Chicago, IL through Subdiview, a neighborhood-first home search for the Chicago suburbs and collar counties. Joe prices and negotiates from the live MRED sold comps for Water Tower Residences specifically, not national averages, and can help you buy or sell here. Reach Joe at 224-385-8779 or joe@joekeeganhomes.com.
Your local agent
Joe knows Water Tower Residences
Most agents will list anything. I focus on the places I actually know, and the things that move value here don't show up in the MLS write-up: which streets and buildings hold demand, what the HOA or assessments really cover, how the comps read once you account for condition and location, and where buyers consistently want to be.
When you're ready to tour or list, you want someone who has read the last 50 closed comps in this specific market, not a national average, and can tell you what they actually mean for your price. That's how I work. Text or call any time, and I'll give you a real take, not a brochure.
- Licensed Illinois broker
- Comp-driven pricing
- Chicago specialist
- Honest local market take
- Brokerocity
Market snapshot
Water Tower Residences, by the numbers
Live MRED data, refreshed daily. The numbers below tell you what this market is doing today, not what Zillow's algorithm thinks it might be doing six weeks from now.
Typical list price
$2,047,747
Typical sale price · last 90 days
$5,500,000
Homes for sale right now
4
Avg time on market
27 days
Sold in the last year
6
This representation is based in whole or in part on data supplied by Midwest Real Estate Data, LLC for the period August 10, 2025 through August 10, 2026. Midwest Real Estate Data, LLC does not guarantee nor is it in any way responsible for its accuracy. Data maintained by Midwest Real Estate Data LLC may not reflect all real estate activity in the market.
Thinking of selling?
What's your home actually worth?
Not a Zestimate. A real CMA from someone who's sold this neighborhood, knows the floor plan premiums, and can tell you which upgrades the buyer pool here actually pays for.
- Pricing range with comp-by-comp logic
- Pre-list improvements that pay back, and the ones that don't
- No obligation, no spam, no auto-dialer
Other communities