30% Off the 2007 Price For This Historic McCormick Rowhouse: 836 W. Belden in Lincoln Park
This 5-bedroom rowhouse at 836 W. Belden in Lincoln Park has been on and off the market since May 2010.
In that time, it has been reduced $316,000.
It is now listed about 30% under the 2007 purchase price.
The rowhouse is also now listed just $17,000 above the 2000 purchase price.
Built in 1885 in what is now called the McCormick Row House District, this landmark 4 story rowhouse has many of its vintage features intact including 3 soapstone antique mantel fireplaces and original pocket doors and shutters.
The kitchen has white cabinets and a mix of stainless steel, white and black appliances.
There is central air and by looking at the 2007 listing, it appears that there is 2 car parking on a driveway (but if anyone knows where this is located- please chime in.)
It is on a 20×114 lot.
Why isn’t this selling?
Samuel Tarara at Koenig & Strey Real Living has the listing. See the pictures here.
836 W. Belden: 5 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, no square footage listed
- Sold in May 1995 for $630,000
- Sold in October 2000 for $960,000
- Sold in August 2005 for $1.325 million
- Sold in December 2007 for $1.4 million
- Originally listed in May 2010 for $1.295 million
- Reduced several times
- Currently listed for $979,000
- Taxes of $14754
- Assessments of $110 a month (includes parking)
- Central Air
- 2-car parking on a driveway?
- Bedroom #1: 19×15 (second floor)
- Bedroom #2: 12×11 (second floor)
- Bedroom #3: 12×10 (second floor)
- Bedroom #4: 19×15 (third floor)
- Bedroom #5: 13×12 (third floor)
- Recreation room: 22×19 (lower level)
Beautiful place. What a haircut in price! I’m guessing that it sells well over $1M, and this is just the bait price.
“Why isn’t this selling?”
Probably because along with the inflated home prices the inflated salaries are also gone to afford this. But it’s getting close…
Nice place, but the kitchen and one of the bathrooms for sure need a complete rehab.
““Why isn’t this selling?”
there is a couch in the kitchen.
“““Why isn’t this selling?”
there is a couch in the kitchen.”
It’s a banquette, missing the table.
Is this place rented to someone with no need for the full space, or is the sad amount of furniture in the pix being abandoned to the prospective buyer?
I like the bench/nook in the kitchen (I’m considering some sort of bench/pew/chair seating in my kitchen/dining area).
The initial $1.3 list, with the lack of a garage, probably scared away a few would-be buyers. If this think can close for between $875-900, some buyer who doesn’t mind being so far west (let’s call it WCLP*) and who can live without a garage will have gotten a pretty sweet deal.
* WCLP: West Central Lincoln Park
isn’t selling because:
1) built in 1885 (regardless of rehab or whatnot, place is 125 years old!)
2) it’s a row home and you can probably purchase a SFH for not much more
3)isn’t your backyard Depaul university? do you get a back yard?
4) there better be indoor parking or thats reason #4
5) Bathrooms need gut rehab as pointed out earlier
6) its still 1M dollars!
My guess is that it will sell for high 8’s. (hate to be the 2007 buyer).
um… hate?
Yes. I would *hate* to have paid 1.4M and sell for 870k…
No danny, the fish ain’t biting. Listing history:
5/18/10-6/29/10 $1.295M
6/29/10-10/25/10 $1.195M
10/25/10-11/2/10 $1.095M
11/2/10-2/9/10 $995K
2/9/11-current $979K
“I like the bench/nook in the kitchen (I’m considering some sort of bench/pew/chair seating in my kitchen/dining area). ”
Me too!
Maybe this rowhouse has some deeded parking on Chalmers where the other rowhouses face that circular park next to DePaul’s Courtelyou Commons building? I know the rowhouses behind this one have some assigned parking on the street, but I don’t know if that includes properties that don’t face that little park.
I’m almost positive this must be some kind of reserved street parking because none of these rowhouses that were a part of the seminary have garages.
“No danny, the fish ain’t biting. Listing history:”
Any idea if the pix are the original listing photos? Has the place been totally vacated or staged at all since then?
I really think that having a couple of rooms staged, but the rest basically empty is distracting. If it’s all empty, at least it’s all empty, and it you’re going to stage some, why not the dining room and kitchen (which really looks bad w/o the table).
I’m wired so differently from you guys, I would take this in a heartbeat over a SFH, a big ol loft, or a condo in a tower on the lake. 125 years old is a good thing, assuming it has been taken care of. I would be surprised see this sell at the 2000 price.
The same listing pics back to the 6/29/10 listing. The original listing pics from 5/18/10 are no longer available to view.
The listing when they bought it 2007 indicated “Parking for 2 cars plus guest parking included.”
“I’m wired so differently from you guys, I would take this in a heartbeat over a SFH, a big ol loft, or a condo in a tower on the lake. 125 years old is a good thing, assuming it has been taken care of. I would be surprised see this sell at the 2000 price.”
Me too, but I don’t say much around here.
The parking is permits for two spaces in a loop thing that is about half a block in back of the house, and what Danny says it’s called sounds correct. It’s open season outside parking, as the house does not come with two specific spots. The backyards of the rowhouses all have little gardens that are open to the alley, and there are garden spaces on each side of the alley. Hence, no parking in the alley and no garages, space to put one, or permission to do so (the back area is also protected). It’s not as alley-feeling as you might think given the set-up, but you need to be OK with a low fence leading into the back area of the house with no real way to block it off. Many homes (although not this one) have built enclosed conservatories leading out from the main level. This one has a deck and stone (or was it brick?) paving over the yard space with some raised beds. It is massively cute vintage, if that is what you like (we do). Kitchen space is huge and opens onto the deck. The banquette area is about 2/3 of the way in and the back area is currently done as a mudroom. Tons of room to make into a fabulous space, but needs to be totally redone. Upstairs bath is not ensuite (although possible to reconfigure rooms while retaining original features and fireplaces) and needs a gut remodel. The house is virtually feet from an entrance gate into some DePaul buildings. The right buyer for this will be willing to overlook the parking (major issue, and no indoor deeded spaces nearby to purchase from what we could tell), feel that the vintage details, which are truly wonderful, are worth the work/cost/angst that will be associated with necessary remodels, be OK with the DePaul proximity, and be OK with living with or fixing stuff like electrical. Not sure what price point that will take, but clearly it has not been hit yet. But I won’t discount the effect that the vintage details will have on the above equation. They are remarkable. All other pros and cons aside, though, we couldn’t get around the parking situation.
I have a question what is the difference between a row house and a town home?
Aw man, I can’t even get a “roma pointed out in 2 previous threads this LP rowhouse…”??
Come on, Sabrina, throw me a bone!
If I’m not mistaken they’re synonymous terms, though rowhouse is used more frequently to describe older properties and townhouse is used more frequently to describe newer properties.
“If I’m not mistaken they’re synonymous terms, though rowhouse is used more frequently to describe older properties and townhouse is used more frequently to describe newer properties.”
Frequently, but hardly universally, the difference is also b/t fee simple and condo ownership. It gets hard if the units are fee simple but not real in a row, with party walls, like these.
Joe, thanks for speaking up. I love this place, too. I think I’d rather have one that faces the circular park and Courtelyou Commons. That little nook feels so tucked away from everything…it’s one of my favorite spots in the city. I think it feels like you’re on some little liberal arts college campus in the middle of nowhere, and I really don’t think of having college students and faculty walking by as a negative. The parking issue is a big downer, but I think there must be someone out there willing to dig out their car all winter in exchange for a good price on an irreplaceable piece of Chicago history. At some point surely someone has to do the math and think, “This is exactly what I want and it’s $X hundred thousand less than a similar place with garage parking. Exactly how much is indoor parking worth?”
In Chicago, I think of a townhouse as something built in the last 30 – 40 years, smaller than most SFHs, sharing walls with other townhouses but often in unique configurations where a single property doesn’t extend all the way from the front of the lot to a public alley behind it. (Often the developer creates some little complex with shared private walkways and driveways and such.) A rowhouse, to me, describes the sort of place in this post: something built a long time ago by people with lots of money with at least one shared wall on the left or right. I think of a rowhouse as a place with a back yard and possible a garage and the home includes the entire lot from the street side to the alley.
They might want to put a light fixture in that top floor area. I don’t think exposed wires are too appealing to home buyers, especially the $1mil types.
I think this is a pretty good buy for 1 million dollars. Look at what you can get in the suburbs for the same amount (or more):
http://www.redfin.com/IL/Oak-Brook/20-Regent-Dr-60523/home/21737178
Oh – and if you want to spend twice as much, you can get this:
http://www.redfin.com/IL/Oak-Brook/3420-York-Rd-60523/home/17555653
Finally, if you want to spend 3 times as much (and live near from Clio) you can buy this:
http://www.redfin.com/IL/Oak-Brook/313-Oak-Brook-Rd-60523/home/14170878
lmao
I don’t see what those 2 properties have anything to do with the LP one other than they are expensive pieces of land. What would the target market be for this place? An older DePaul professor, or someone who doesn’t mind not having parking, or doesn’t have a car?
“What would the target market be for this place? An older DePaul professor, or someone who doesn’t mind not having parking, or doesn’t have a car?”
Or someone that only needs to use their car at odd times, perhaps.
Best fit for someone affiliated with DePaul, I would think. Would have been a decent match for a Ped affiliated with Children’s 10 years ago, but not as much now.
I’m sure Oak Brook is a very nice area, but good golly, I finally broke down and looked for it on the map. If you’re going to go that far, why not just keep going and find a nice place along the Front Range?
“If you’re going to go that far, why not just keep going and find a nice place along the Front Range?”
Huh? I can get downtown within 20 minutes without traffic – 40 minutes with traffic. Of all the exclusive suburbs in chicago (median sales price over 1 million), it is absolutely, hands down the closest to downtown.
What? Let’s see…suburb…$1 million and up…
http://www.redfin.com/IL/Wilmette/693-Sheridan-Rd-60091/home/13774173
I bet the resident of that place could get into his or her car (any car, really, not necessarily an Italian super car), head down Sheridan Road and onto LSD, and beat you to Nomi or RL or wheverever you’d like the race to start.
“Huh? I can get downtown within 20 minutes without traffic – 40 minutes with traffic. Of all the exclusive suburbs in chicago (median sales price over 1 million), it is absolutely, hands down the closest to downtown.”
Dunno about the “with traffic”, but the rest is true. Worked with someone who lived in Hinsdale and had arrival time flexibility–regularly left home ~9:30, in east loop office, after parking, by ~10:00 most of the time.
“I bet the resident of that place could get into his or her car (any car, really, not necessarily an Italian super car), head down Sheridan Road and onto LSD, and beat you to Nomi or RL or wheverever you’d like the race to start.”
Not consistently. Even if the Wilmetter were driving the Lambo.
And while East Wilmette is v. nice, Wilmette doesn’t fit the profile.
I prefer the East Wilmette place to either of those place in OB. It’s also near the purple line, but I always forget that rich people don’t mingle with the masses on public transportation…
My husband and I looked at this in the summer. Even at the original price, we thought it was a decent deal (we’re from NYC, so our logic is skewed). Beautiful home but we walked away because:
-The second and third floors need a TON of work- bathrooms were a mess, and room configuration was awkward.
-Kitchen needs almost a gut renovation (but great space).
-Living room was on the small side.
-In my opinion, the basement smelled like mildew (although it was also a great space).
-Lack of garage
Hah who knew that I88 is called the Ronald Reagan Memorial expressway?
I’m gonna start calling it the Ronnie or the Reagan to annoy the union slogs, bohemians, and lakefront liberals that infest this town. Also it will annoy my wife, which is a bonus too
Jesus, can we simply drop the whole Oak Brook vs. [enter North side enclave here] crap? No one cares.
With that out of the way, I love this rowhouse. Granted it needs a lot of work, but it is a beautiful, spacious, classic piece of property that you are not going to find many places for under $1mm. The DePaul proximity doesn’t bother me at all, there aren’t many cheap rentals nearby, so you don’t necessarily have to deal with the noise/parties/drunks/etc.
I totally agree with dude – which is why I posted the OB stuff – 1 million is expensive – but not that expensive at all when you really start comparing what is out there. This place is AWESOME – I would really love to live here.
I fully agree with dude and many before…I love this place! My guess is simply most people able to afford $1MM at the moment aren’t willing to deal with the parking or the proximity of Depaul. For whoever is willing to deal with it, I think this will be a great deal. Too bad I don’t have the $$ and if I did I couldn’t sell my current place….
haha anon, it helps me channel my rage
“My husband and I looked at this in the summer.”
NY Buyer- did you end up buying a place since then? Or are you still looking?
“Aw man, I can’t even get a “roma pointed out in 2 previous threads this LP rowhouse…”??”
I wanted to mention you roma- I did! But I didn’t know if you’d be up for that.
I’ve been following this property for awhile and thought I’d post on it when it reduced again- but after you mentioned it in the other thread I figured at least one person was interested in it right now so I’d go ahead and post on it.
Thanks for the explanations on row and town houses.
No depaul prof, not even in the b school or law school, could afford this place.
@ Endora, So someone who makes $200K a year and has potentially a spouse making good money cannot afford this place even in their middle age?
There goes miumiu with her hypotheticals again.
Whether its that she actually makes what she claims she does, has a spouse like she claims she does OR could even stomach people like me walking home from McGee’s using her yard as a urinal she is hilarious.
C’mon miumiu time for a come to Jesus meeting: you aren’t buying here if you have any sense unless you want to be the “old lady” watching the college aged drunks urinate.
And when I say “old lady” please don’t interpret that as literal. Its all context–that’s what you would be around here because _I_ am middle aged around here. Because real middle aged in a sea of 20-somethings means old lady around these parts. Even I feel old around here which makes your statements doubly hilarious.
Do you ever walk around these parts you comment on or just drive through during daylight hours?
This is a good price for what appears to be a structurally sound home in a nice neighborhood. I suspect the current owners did not do too much in the way of upgrades (a good thing since they are selling)and the home looks livable now and can be changed over time to meet the new owners tastes. Certainly good space for a family. Below ground basements I think were/or should not be meant to be lived in especially older homes with stone foundations unless they have some outdoor wall exposure for ventillation (walk out). Mold is universal and exists everywhere in the midwest especially during the torrid summers: above and below ground, only air movement stops it so all basements with covered over cement walls will harbor it.
As to the non sequitur Oakbrook comps: first of all who cares; second I ask: where is the lake to improve the view?
ed – where is the lake to improve the view of 99% of the listings in chicago? Lake views and lake access are extremely limited in the vast majority of properties for sale in chicago and suburbs yet that is the first thing morons complain about when talking about the western suburbs (or when comparing the north shore to the western suburbs). Please, if you don’t have any valid criticisms, just shut it.
I think multi-million dollar properties and lake views are valid discussion points especially in Chicago. I see no reason to not live within easy walking distance of the lake and I think many feel the same. I am sorry that you take it so harshly but Oakbrook is really “no where”.
I’m sure many DePaul profs could afford this place. Many are married and in a 2 income fsmily. Others have equity from previous homes and other money saved up. I know of 2 DePaul profs who live in Gold Coast condos that were over $1M.
The “student ghetto” factor in DePaul neighborhood should be noted, and buyers should check out their prospective home’s street-life on a weekend night before making their offer. Our friends own a $2M-caliber beautiful vintage house in DePaul, next to an unrenovated two-flat + coachhouse property always rented to students. The abutting buildings share a lightwell and their small backyards align. Party noise and related littering is a regular occurence, in addition to views of disorderly housekeeping (if our friends want daylight in their rooms facing this building). Our friends love their home, but the “bad neighbor” situation is always present.
What DePaul Prof makes 200,000 a year?
I’m a Prof, so I know of what I speak.
Unless you are a Prof of Medicine–and DePaul has no med school–it is impossible.
Even my friends who are named Chairs at U of C only make 130,000.
I think people may have wildly inflated ideas of how much academics make.
Maybe *B* school chairs at a fancy school like U of C make that much. Not DePaul, which is notoriously cheap.
“Even my friends who are named Chairs at U of C only make 130,000.”
U of C notoriously underpays physicians/professors. Just look up what the head basketball coach at Depaul makes – point proven.
Whose point? He is not a professor! It is *sad* that he makes so much more than the faculty.
And I’ll say this for all of those people who are always complaining about the high cost of college education. Consider this: guess what a faculty member in the Social Sciences/Liberal Arts at an institution like DePaul makes? Let’s suppose that this person has a Ph.D. from an ivy league institution, wheres s/he spent 8+ years. Take a guess. I think you will be shocked.
I’m not saying that higher education doesn’t cost too much, nor that it doesn’t needs to get smarter about how it uses its money–witness Clio’s remarks about DePaul’s b-ball coach. But it is not the faculty who are taking all of the money.
So just how much does a prof at DePaul make then endora? Benefits? Work schedule? Pension? Health care? I’ve been watching the demonstrations in Madison and I can’t figure out what side I should have more empathy for… unions or taxpayers. I just hate it when nobody talks hard facts. Everything is a soft sell in this country, real estate leads the way. Sure a prof probably can’t afford this house without a lot of saved down payment dollars, but have a look at the snow covered cars in the pic… that’s why this beautiful house isn’t selling… no garage!
Bob, did you pass reading comprehension? When did I say I am buying this.
I simply asked why Endora thinks a business school prof potentially married to someone who makes a good salary cannot afford this place. I never said I can afford it. My dream place is a 700K condo which I cannot afford and am waiting for the price to come down so not sure what you are saying.
“There goes miumiu with her hypotheticals again.”
B.S. You think finance assistant profs at U of C make less than $170 and yes “assistant profs” not full profs! I can tell you for sure because I know that.
Also you know these people consult and have incomes out of that.
“Even my friends who are named Chairs at U of C only make 130,000.”
Don’t profs publish? Helo additional income from speaking engagements. I would also hope that the successful business profs could handle some consulting work as well…
Jay,
Okay, here are the facts: my partner is a tenured professor at an area university in the Liberal Arts or social sciences, with a Ph.D. from an Ivy League institution. s/he spent 8 years obtaining my Ph.D. and has spent more than ten years at the institution. And s/he makes a whopping 65,000 per year.
No pension. Health benefits are so-so. Truly. Not nearly as good as the public school teachers.
The biggest benefit is the flexible work schedule. That is truly a nice perk. Great for a family.
Sure, miumiu, Business profs at U of C might make that much. And they might make money from speaking engagements.
But if you are not in the B school or law school, you will not make money from speaking engagements and you will not (in all likliehood) consult. And that is the majority of professors at an undergraduate institution.
Publications bring in zero dollars. Zero. In fact, many profs have to pay to get their works published, since academic presses are in real trouble. It is called a subvention.
I’m not saying it is not a great career–it is, for lots of reasons. But money is not one of them.
Bob’s right. I would never live on or near Chalmers — it’s a huge walk-through area for DePaul students traipsing from the big dorms just west of there (Corchran/McCabe) to Lincoln Ave and back again. Never mind Cortelyou and its ongoing events.
At ~$1mm I don’t know why anyone would want to live right in the middle of the campus.
“Why isn’t this selling?”
I suspect it will be selling soon enough, seller’s agent represented to me they have three offers on the home.
“Sure, miumiu, Business profs at U of C might make that much.”
Ok, it’s not DePaal, but the UI system has a searchable database here:
http://data.illinimedia.com/salaries/index
And, while all the top paid profs are at the Med School, and there aren’t *tons* of $150k+ profs in the social sciences, the total *is* far greater than zero.
Also, on the implication (yeah, yeah, no one said it outright) that “X years in Ivy League PhD program” = debt, if that’s the case, they weren’t doing it right.
Endora, Social science and liberal arts profs make very little money because their job market pays little in any category. Academic salaries are function of how much the person can make if they took another position. Doctors, engineers, and business experts can make money if they go to industry, private practice and so on. My objection was to the fact that you said even business school profs cannot afford this place.
Anon (tfo)–Thanks for the interesting link.
U of I (both Urbana and Chicago) are research one universities, which means they pay far more than a school like DePaul.
And you are right: they are not tons of 150+ profs in the social sciences and even fewer in the Humanities. The few who are paid that much are academic superstars. I’d bet if you averaged it, it would be far less than 100, 000.
Again, my partner makes 65,000 per year as a tenured prof in the Humanities at an area university. I know this for a fact.
But here is another interesting fact: most Ph.D.’s in the Humanities or Social Sciences have little debt because the schools offer them stipends and scholarships. My partner had his/her Ph.D. entirely paid for with a tuition remission and small scholarship from the University. Otherwise, only the very wealthy could get Ph.D.’s in these programs, since, as I am suggesting, graduates have very limited earning potential.
Miumiu–
We don’t disagree. I’m sorry if I suggested that about B school profs because a few may make that much–although Anon (tfo’s) link suggests that not many do. I’d be curious to see what they are paid at DePaul, though. I’d bet only a few make close to 200,000.
“about B school profs because a few may make that much … to see what they are paid at DePaul, though. I’d bet only a few make close to 200,000.”
I think that question is *completely* immaterial to this property, as the DePaul B-School is at their Loop Campus, not the LP campus, thus negating the location advantage.
As a prof’s house, this is good for one on a 2d career, with family money or with a high earning spouse, and that’s about it. But, were that you, it would be nice, no?
Anon (tfo)– Absolutely! I love these homes! My diatribe on how most profs can’t afford this home is motivated mostly by jealousy:)
Does DePaul hire profs that have “partners”?
Dan– I genuinely don’t understand your comment . . .
“Dan– I genuinely don’t understand your comment . . .”
He’s operating under the assumption that the only people who refer to their spousal equivalents as “partners” are gay.
Thanks, Anon (tfo). I get it now. I’m not going to respond further, since anything I say will just antagonize him.
ya know, since its catholic?
Universities are not allowed to even ask their faculty candidates if they are single or married let alone what sexual orientation they have. I think it is a great thing as can only lead to discrimination and also I have no idea why the heck it matters if you are single/married/gay/or running a harem! It has anything to do with your intellectual fire power which is what matters in an academic job!
lol…good one anonny : )
“After filming some of the outdoor shots for “What Women Want (in the Loop, outside of 2400 N. Lakeview, etc.), a certain actor and film maker developed a fondness for Chicago.”
Don’t forget Payback, which seems more appropriate and was shot before WWW.
Dan: be careful, your ignorance is overwhelming in that last comment at mutiple levels not worth commenting on.
The sexual abuse of boys by men, i.e., has a long history and vocabulary, going all the way back to the Greeks and Romans. There is hardly anything factually controversial about it!
Is anyone else here bemused by the way that endora refers to her* partner as he/she? Doesn’t she know? Or is it too private to say out loud? Ah, only in America!
*(I assume endora is a woman because in our Indo-European linguistic context, names ending with “a” are feminine gender.)
Endora was the mom of Samantha the witch on Bewitched, a 1960’s sitcom.
Endora was played by Agnes Moorehead, often rumored to be a lesbian, although her biography states otherwise.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnes_Moorehead
Under contract!!!!