By Kerrie Kennedy

Contributing writer

When I first came to Chicago in 1984, I lived in a hotel suite for three months until I could find an apartment. As glamorous as that might sound, it wasn’t exactly like Eloise at the Plaza. For one thing, there was my flight attendant roommate Vicky, who simply vanished one day, taking half of my clothes with her, leaving behind her unpaid rent and numerous restaurant charges.

For another, the hotel where I lived was located in the South Loop, and in 1984 the South Loop was a very lonely place to be. I remember wandering the streets on a Sunday afternoon, wondering where everyone was. It was like living in a ghost town.

Eventually, I moved to the North Side but, in hindsight, I should have stayed and bought some real estate instead. Because today, the South Loop is one of the hottest neighborhoods in Chicago.

Recently named one of the 30 best places to retire by Money Magazine, the South Loop is a vital, thriving neighborhood teaming with students (The School of the Art Institute, Columbia College, DePaul University, Roosevelt College, Robert Morris), theater, museum and restaurant goers and, above all, new homeowners.

Stretching from Roosevelt to Cermak and the lake to Clark, the South Loop has been transformed from ghost town to bustling town seemingly overnight, largely due to its huge stock of old warehouse buildings just waiting to be rehabbed and prime lakefront land available for new construction.

Few Chicago neighborhoods have ever offered that kind of potential. Certainly none have its location.

“The South Loop is walking distance from downtown, Grant Park, the museums, the lake,” says Jameson real estate agent MaryAnn McKenna. “It’s just a wonderful location.”

The once-deserted South Loop is booming with rehabbed loft condo buildings, newly polished turn-of-the-century mansions, new construction townhouse projects, and a plethora of full-amenity new construction high-rise buildings, many offering lake views. Where you were once hard-pressed to find even a convenience store in the South Loop, now there’s a new two-level Jewel/Osco, a Whole Foods, a Dominick’s, a Target and a Home Depot.

It’s been a long time coming for South Loop residents who remember the hard days of pioneering. When Dearborn Park (the South Loop’s first condo project) was erected in 1978, walls were built around the perimeter, to protect inhabitants from the undeveloped, mostly boarded-up neighborhood outside. It took another 10 years before Dearborn Park II was constructed and another five years after that before Central Station was built and the South Loop really started to take off.

Many South Loop residents think Mayor Daley’s presence (he moved into Central Station in 1993) has influenced its revitalization.

“When Daley and his family moved in, all of the sudden the streets got plowed and we got flower boxes,” recalls Garrison Partners general manager Cyndy Salgado. Other residents noticed more visible public services and an increased police presence in the neighborhood.

Although the South Loop often seems like a neighborhood built from scratch, its history goes back as far as the Gilded Age of the 1880s, when it was one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the United States.

According to a spokesperson at the Glessner House Museum, there were more millionaires living on Prairie Avenue than anywhere else in the country. “Millionaire’s Row,” as Prairie Avenue was called, was home to the Pullman family (Pullman Railroads), the Kimball family (Kimball pianos), the Marshall Fields and the Glessners, whose house, The Glessner House Museum, is now one of the many cultural attractions in the South Loop neighborhood.

For the past 10 years, it seems the South Loop has been on a path destined to bring it back to its once-wealthy roots. Numerous developments have been designed to recapture the splendor of Prairie Avenue’s historic mansions. Lavish landscaping has vastly improved the look of this once-blighted neighborhood. A chic, growing dining scene has been drawing people from all over the city. And, on a site that was formerly vacant land, a new $900-million mixed-use residential and retail project is about to emerge.

The development features a grand boulevard the width of Michigan Avenue, flanked on each side by several nationally recognized retailers, and residential loft units with views of Lake Michigan and the Chicago skyline.

Project developers must be hoping that the real estate market improves by the time the project is completed in 2010, because right now, the South Loop cannot absorb the 600 or so new condo units the project will bring.

After years of stunning growth, soaring real estate values and easy sales, the South Loop, like many Chicago neighborhoods, now finds itself struggling with an oversupply of units. But unlike other Chicago neighborhoods, the South Loop’s rich supply of land allowed it to grow at unprecedented levels, which might explain why there are currently more unsold condo units in the South Loop than in any other Chicago neighborhood, according to a recent report by Appraisal Research Counselors.

“Saturated would be the word I would use to describe the market here,” says Rubloff real estate agent Tracey Taylor, who works out of the company’s South Loop office. “The South Loop is a bit more dense in terms of real estate than other neighborhoods. There are lots of large projects here and many that are still in the pipeline. I’d say there are easily 3,000 units for sale in the South Loop right now.”

The good news, says Taylor, is that this is the time to get an incredible deal in the South Loop.

“It’s Christmas early for buyers here,” Taylor says. “Interest rates are low and prices have come down. You can now get a one-bedroom, one-bath new construction unit in the South Loop for about $165,000. If you want lake views, you can tack on another $25,000.”

Even though it may take some time before the South Loop is able to absorb some of its inventory, most local real estate experts think the neighborhood represents one of the best investments in Chicago. A destination spot for dining, entertainment and cultural attractions, the South Loop has already firmly established itself as one of Chicago’s top neighborhoods.

“With its proximity to downtown and the lake, I doubt very seriously you’ll ever see the South Loop turn into a ghost town again, “ Taylor says.