While some development in and around Downtown have stalled or shifted from condominiums to rentals, the Fordham developments have been virtually immune to the economic slowdown and fallout from Sept. 11. Fordham's immunity stems from its hold on an exclusive top-bracket niche. Carley's customers don't flinch at paying $1,000 per sf for finished space at 65 E. Goethe, with units starting at 3,560 sf, or $3 million-plus for raw space, north of $3.5 million and up for a finished product. Two buyers have taken 13,000-sf spaces.

"What we were fortunate in doing was seeing a real void in the upper end in a very dynamic market," says Carley, former managing partner for Trammell Crow Co.'s residential developments in the 14-state Midwest region before forming Fordham Co. in 1988. "It's growing, and there's a lot of momentum behind it."

The momentum, Carley believes, comes from demographics that include wealthy Baby Boomers who desire the super luxury housing Fordham Co. is providing and the renaissance that is occurring in Chicago, especially the Downtown submarket. Carley began transitioning Fordham into the higher-end market when he saw his friends selling homes in North Shore suburbs and moving into the city, but finding the supply of luxury condominiums lacking.

"Their choice was very limited," Carley tells GlobeSt.com. "The bar has been raised. But it's only to meet the demands of a sophisticated buyer."

For instance, the Pinnacle will offer "five-star hotel" amenities such as maid and car services, use of a wine cellar, a private theatre, health club and "pocket offices" in units as well as sitting rooms off master bedrooms. Criticizing architecture in the market that has been "marginal at best," Carley hired Lucien Lagrange and Associates, which was involved in the marathon planning involved in 65 E. Goethe, to design the Pinnacle, which feature high 10.5-foot ceilings.

"Our buyers appreciate that," Carley says.

Construction on the Pinnacle probably will begin in the first quarter of 2002, when Fordham Co. expects to moves from a 30% pre-sale to 50%. Financing was set before Sept. 11, Carley says and the 50% pre-sale condition is voluntarily.His next projects, he says, will be "AAA sites" within a short walking distance of Fordham's offices, located across the street from the Pinnacle construction site. One or both will be announced early next year, Carley says, although completion could take three to five years. "We have to be more prudent, if not conservative," Carley says. "We've made a strategic decision, too, to provide Chicago with the finest residences. So future projects will be the same profile."

Carley's patience was tested, though ultimately it will be rewarded, in the deal involving 65 E. Goethe. Assembling the site, including a parcel that included a 148-unit studio apartment hotel building, took a year before a nearly five-year battle for approval that saw Fordham Co.'s plans chopped down from 32 floors to eight, largely at the insistence of Astor Street area neighbors.

"It's turned out to be a win-win situation. We went from being the guys in the black hats to the homecoming king," Carley says. "It's been fun working with the buyers, because they appreciate what I do. It's what these people would do if they were building their own home."