It looks perfectly appropriate -- maybe for the North Shore.

But the structure that resembles a new home in, say, Lake Forest, is being built atop a downtown high-rise, giving the Chicago skyline a new twist and Near North Siders something to wonder about.

Rising from the roof of the new apartment building called The Bernardine at 747 N. Wabash, the structure is actually three homes, with rents around $5,300 a month.

Clad now in shocking-yellow Ty-Veck insulation, the luxury apartments will later carry the same tan exterior as the rest of the 25-story Italian-inspired structure. Renters will be able to enjoy a paver stone patio with city views.

In its present state, it's got folks doing a double take. "We've been getting phone calls from people asking, 'What the heck is that anyway?' " said The Bernardine's leasing director, Rachel T. Brandstaetter.

She understands the curiosity. Living in a residence a few blocks away, she spotted the canary top in its early construction and also was baffled. "Then I realized, 'Oh, that's our building.' "

What does $5,300 per month -- that's $63,600 a year for those balancing their checkbooks -- get?

Two are 1,600 square feet, the other about 2,000 square feet. All have two bedrooms and 21/2 baths (featuring "cultured marble"). The kitchens are equipped with high-end appliances and granite countertops. Fire up the gas fireplace in the living room, gaze out the floor-to-ceiling windows and welcome your friends through the double front doors. "The Ralph Lauren restaurant is right down the street," added Brandstaetter.

Named after late cardinal

Elsewhere in the building, there's a swimming pool, hot tub, billards room and a yoga/Pilates studio. Outside the sixth floor, there's a landscaped private terrace with a gazebo, a cabana and an outdoor fire pit. On Fridays, residents in the 141-unit building can gather in a first-floor sitting room, kick off their Manolo Blaniks and run their toes through the handmade (in Thailand) wall-to-wall carpet while sipping wine.

The Bernardine -- named after but not associated with the late Roman Catholic Cardinal Joseph Bernardin -- doesn't open until June, and the penthouses won't be completed until August. But already one of the roof homes has been snapped up, said Brandstaetter.

The cost isn't out of line for luxury rentals downtown, said John Jaeger, a vice president with Appraisal Research Counselors, which monitors the Chicago housing market. In fact, rents can go much higher.

Luxury rentals have tough time

Currently available: a fully furnished one bedroom (converted from a three-bedroom) above the Four Seasons Hotel can be had for $16,000 per month. Got kids? Perhaps, then, a six-bedroom, four-bath row house in the 1200 block of North Astor -- advertised as "a true rare jewel of a rental" -- for $18,000 per month.

The luxury rental market downtown as been "tough" in recent years, a combination of a weakened economy and lower mortgage rates that make it more attractive to buy, said Jaeger. But Jaeger is seeing "a slight strengthening" of the market lately.

Who would spend so much on rent? "An executive moving to the city for a limited time, or who is building a house and wants to live in luxury [during its construction]," suggested Jaeger.

Then, he added, there's also the foot loose and fancy free -- who just happen to also be financially flush.

There's "a population out there that just doesn't want to be tied down with commitments," said Jaeger.

By: Andrew Herrmann
Copyright 2005 Chicago Sun-Times, Inc.
Record Number: 2264975