West Town Contemporary Penthouse Now 14% Under the 2007 Price: 2145 W. Division

We last chattered about this 3-bedroom newer construction penthouse at 2145 W. Division in West Town in May 2011.

2154-w-division.jpg

See our prior chatter here.

At that time, many of you liked the unit but thought it was overpriced at $699,000 and that it wouldn’t sell for more than $625,000.

It has since been reduced to $645,000.

If you recall, the building was built in 2007 and is one of two nearly identical buildings on either side of Division that book end the street right before the hospital complex.

With northwest exposures, it has modern features such as floor to ceiling windows and ceiling heights of 10.5?.

The kitchen has mocha Archlinea cabinets and stainless steel appliances by SubZero and Miele.

There is also Ann Saks tile in the master bathroom.

The unit has several outdoor spaces including a second level private deck measuring 24×23 and a landscaped terrace off the living room.

The unit is currently listed $106,000 under the 2007 purchase price.

Is this now priced to sell?

Robert John Anderson at Baird & Warner still has the listing. See the pictures here.

Unit #402: 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1750 square feet

  • Sold in August 2007 for $751,000 (included the parking space)
  • Was listed in May 2011 for $699,000 (parking is $30,000 extra)
  • Reduced
  • Currently listed at $645,000 (parking is $30k extra)
  • Assessments of $320 a month
  • Taxes of $11011
  • Central Air
  • Washer/Dryer in the unit
  • Bedroom #1: 14×11 (main level)
  • Bedroom #2: 11×11 (main level)
  • Bedroom #3: 11×10 (main level)
  • Deck: 24×23 (second level)

56 Responses to “West Town Contemporary Penthouse Now 14% Under the 2007 Price: 2145 W. Division”

  1. Great place, I just don’t know if I would want to live on such a commercial (loud) street. It seems to me that if you live in this part of town you want quiet tree lined streets. If you wanted to be in the action, you’d live downtown (streeterville, GC, RN) and be in a highrise where its quiet. I think the location is what is holding it back.

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  2. I like this place and it is staged real well. If i was shopping in that price range and in the ‘hood I’d be all over it.

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  3. a local:

    some people don’t mind the city noise

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  4. I believe this is Ranquist and they have great properties. I like East Village a lot but not right on Division. Sorry.

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  5. Off topic:

    I come to cribchatter to ask for help. I am being evicted from my apartment (one of the American Invsco buildings). I know there has been a lot of advice left here over the years in terms of filing for hardship as a tenant to delay the eviction process. Which is bare minimum what I need to do (delay).

    My landlord and I had a verbal agreement after my lease expired. We both agreed to continue business as usual under the same terms of the lease. Additionally, this time last year he tried to get me to move for the big “renovation” and move back. I disagreed, and he left a voicemail later saying that so long as I wanted to live here he would not do the renovation.

    I’m not entirely certain, but I think this constitutes an amendment to our previous verbal agreement no? This couldn’t come at a worse time due to job searching, and honestly I think his agreement should be enforced.

    If anyone is willing to offer any advice on how to stop/delay this process or perhaps email me directly please let me know. Thanks.

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  6. “If anyone is willing to offer any advice on how to stop/delay this process or perhaps email me directly please let me know. Thanks.”

    I would buy the building…..

    Seriously, I have no idea. How many months are you behind?

    On second thought, isnt’ this site for chatting about properties for sale? Who has insight on a rental owned/managed by a large real estate firm? I havent rented in almost a decade.

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  7. My advice would be to pay up or move out.

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  8. I really like Ranquist properties. I almost bought one but decided against going with the super modern look. Oh well.

    2000 W Division is hipster central, Converse loving skinny jean crowd. I can see a successful person in the arts or something along those lines picking up a place like this.

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  9. “Verbal agreements” are worth ZERO, and do not hold up in court. Never assume so.

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  10. Are you behind on the rent, or is the landlord just asking you to move out? It’s not clear from your post. If you are behind the landlord has every right to evict you. You’d be better off asking for help at somewhere like City Data.

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  11. a: File a jury demand with your appearrance. Six man juey is only An extea 25$ it transfers the case from housing court to a jury room. its the trick the nonprofit housing agencies use to delay cases months…….years……..you will come to love room 1404 of the daley center as a defendant, its the worst place in the world to be as a landlord, the best as a tenant….

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  12. After the case is transferred to the jury room from the regular joint action court room, opposing counsel will file a motion for use and occupancy. Which means you have to pay rent while you are fighting the eviction.

    However, (I love this stuff), if you don’t pay rent while you are fighting your eviction – you still can’t be evicted!!! Supreme Court said so a few years back.

    The ‘sanction’ for not paying rent during the pendancy of your eviction is that the judge closes discovery and sets a trial date….usually two months out. So there’s another two months of free rent…

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  13. What’s with the two different shades of brown on the wall of kitchen cabinets. Looks more like a mistake than a design element.

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  14. The outside of the building looks like the love child of Cabrini Green and a parking garage.

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  15. Ya, anything that is not brick or stone just looks cheap and/or bad to me.

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  16. “The outside of the building looks like the love child of Cabrini Green and a parking garage.”

    A Cribchatter classic!

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  17. Are these taxes in line? Is this what I have to look forward to if I buy in the $650 range?

    Thanks.

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  18. “Are these taxes in line? Is this what I have to look forward to if I buy in the $650 range?”

    An assessed value of 65,000 (implying the assessor deems a market value of $650k) last year (2009 taxes paid in 2010) would have been right around $10,000 in taxes. So, the taxes here are just a smidge *low* considering a last sale price of $750k.

    And yes, I do realize it doesn’t work exactly like that, but all I’m getting at is a 650,000 market value leads to ~$10k in taxes.

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  19. For the record, I AM NOT BEHIND ON RENT. I have paid in full and on time every month. He wants to evict me to renovate.

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  20. “For the record, I AM NOT BEHIND ON RENT. I have paid in full and on time every month. He wants to evict me to renovate.”

    He doesn’t want to “evict” you, yet. He wants to terminate your verbal, month to month, lease. Provided he gives you 30 days written notice, he has the winning hand on this. You can be an anti-social ass (if you borrowed my lawn mower, and refused to give it back when I asked for it–same thing) and force him to file suit for eviction, or you can just move out.

    Yes, you can fight it like HD sez, but do you really want to do that? Do you have no assets he could seek to attach? He *will* eventually win, and if you make it hard on him, he could well get nasty in attempts to colloect his (double) rent, court costs, etc. Do you want to potentially deal with that?

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  21. Of course he has the right to take back his own property within the terms of the law. When you went month-to-month you gave him the right to give you written notice to leave. If you think you are entitled to a cheap place to live go talk to CHA.

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  22. I’m cheap because I pay my rent on time and was told that I didn’t have to move out, and then oops nevermind I lied you do?

    How is that cheap? I consider it a valid agreement between landlord and tenant. It would be an entirely different thing had he not told me roughly 9 months ago that he would not be seeking to kick me out to renovate the place.

    To be clear, I’m trying to get a little more time to get settled into a new job and find another place. Not be “entitled to a cheap place”. I still pay my rent, but thanks for being a bitch and assuming otherwise.

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  23. lied to you?*

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  24. anon (tfo): I’m not borrowing a “lawnmower”. I am paying, rightfully, for a roof over my head. What I am trying to do is delay when this move happens, because as of today I am (finally) legally able to search for work in my industry without getting sued by my previous employer. So the next month is going to be exhausting enough as it is going through dozens of interviews with various companies and trying to select the right place of employment that fits well.

    Doing that while getting kicked out of my apartment is not something I want to go through. Many times in many posts on cribchatter have people discussed tenant rights when it comes to lease termination/eviction. I just wish there was a search button.

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  25. You are not getting “kicked out” or “evicted.” Your month-to-month lease is being terminated with appropriate notice.

    My landlord-tenant knowledge is pretty slim, but I am pretty sure that if stick around after the end of a written lease, it converts to a month-to-month lease. Sounds like your landlord is being reasonable here.

    You can be a dick and refuse to leave – then he would have to evict you. But do not try to tell yourself that it is he who is the cocksucker here – it is you.

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  26. Did you ask if you could stay one more month?

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  27. So I’m the cocksucker for believing that an agreement is an agreement, when my landlord specifically said he WOULD NOT do this?

    How does that work? Exactly? Because I would love to be able to go around and tell people one thing and do another and have them be the “cocksucker”.

    Please enlighten me how to do this.

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  28. a do you really care about what an anonymous internet poster whose moniker is “Nat” cares about you, who is also anonymous?
    Do whatever makes you happy.

    I think a fair amount of notice is 30-days. Or if you want to interpret it more aggressively 30-days + number of days till the end of the month. If he doesn’t agree trash the place.

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  29. Oh didn’t see that he’s trying to kick you out before his verbal agreement. If he did indeed agree to it verbally trash the fucking place.

    You are in an uncommon position to have recourse, via collateral damage, against someone who renegs on a verbal agreement. Make the damage look unintentional. Toilets flood, y’know.

    In some neighborhoods, neighborhoods timid CC regulars rarely venture to (unless to buy drugs) and would never consider living in even for free, you would get your ass beat for reneging on a verbal agreement. Maybe even shot. Your landlord should consider themselves lucky if you only do a few k worth of damage.

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  30. I’m not that kind of tenant. I just believe that fair is fair and going back on an agreement is really poor on his side of things.

    In fact, even after he agreed not to renovate while I was living here I contacted him in March about getting it done to help him out. There was a narrow couple of months where I had the time and resources to accommodate this. He opted not to exercise to do so during that two month window I suggested.

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  31. a – Do whatever you want. Convert your unit into brothel. Start breeding a particularly aggressive strain of staph infection. No one gives a crap. You just have no legal leg to stand on, you are going to get an eviction complaint served on you, and you will have no defense. Good luck ever renting again – I’m sure that would look nice on your credit report. If you wanted to, you could threaten to refuse to leave unless he gives you X more months at the current rate or something like that – easier on him than filing an eviction suit, and buys you some more time. But no court is going to enforce an oral agreement that you can terminate the lease whenever you want, but the landlord can never terminate the lease.

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  32. @ a: life is too short to fight every unfair thing that happens to you. If I were you, I would go rent somewhere else. It is not end of the world and you’d be happier avoiding the nastiness. That being said some people thrive on disagreements, if you are one of them then you might feel like going to battle : ) Good luck either way.

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  33. Let’s play ‘a VISITS AN ATTORNEY’

    a: a landlord is required to give a *minimum* of 30 days notice NOT INCLUDING THE DAY HE TELLS YOU; which means he can tell you on the first of the month that your lease terminates on the 31st; but he can’t tell you on the 1st that your lease ends the 30th (as in August). That’s important. because if he messes that up, the lease legally terminates the following month. Your lease must end on the last day of the month because you are on a month to month basis.

    So, when did he provide you with ‘written’ notice? Did he sign it? Did he or his deliver it by hand to you (putting it into your mailbox or on your door is not enough). IS all the information in the notice correct? If it’s not, he loses, and the 30 days notice is ineffective. our landlord tenant laws have evolved over hundreds of years and the courts construe the law strictly in favor of the tenant as they have for hundreds of years. Even our word ‘tenant’ comes from the anglo-norman word ‘tenaunt’ which comes from the latin ‘tenere’ which means to hold, as in ‘holds lands by title or by lease’. SO you are well within your rights to assert them and require your landlord to follow the law.

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  34. Landlord seems to not keep his/her word, so it is better not to continue to rent with this person. It is important to keep stress level down, dealing with an eviction will not do this. Don’t trash the apt or put your credit in jeopardy. Good luck on the job search.

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  35. a: My gut tells me to do what is legally allowed (AKA: HD’s advice), but my brain tells me to move on (AKA: miumiu’s advice). On the decision making front, my gut has a bad track record.

    And your landlord sounds like a bit of a dick. Been there…

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  36. Wow cheers for calling me a bitch – great way to get people to help you. Stop being so ungrateful and bitter and you might have better luck in life.

    If you’re so busy why would you want to start a war with your landlord and get into going to court, finding an attorney, etc etc. Take a half an hour to look at Craigslist, rent a truck and get it done. It will take you all of a day. The alternative will take much more time and hassle.

    I’m sure the landlord didn’t mean that you could stay *forever* when they said you could stay. Maybe something has changed on their side since they said that, which is why a month-to-month lease gives them a way to get you out.

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  37. A- welcome to crib chatter. Most people on here are haters, so dont get too caught up with the comments. Regarding your situation, keep in mind that Chicago favors tenants and not landlords. If he trashes your place, you can go to court and win plenty of damage compensation. Technically I think he could just Start the Reno with you there but read the contract you signed for specifics. My advice is perform some due diligence. Research your rights and if you rented through an intermediate, leverage or ask them to intervene.

    I rented for 7 years and sometimes it’s just easier to move. But of course, leave a little harmless prank behind, like a raw fish behind the washer or toilet top bunk him….heh heh

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  38. This discussion regarding “a”s problem really should enlighten readers as to the major pitfall of renting: basically, that you are NOT in control. If you want to be in control (or more control), then BUY a place. As a renter, you don’t have the same rights or control as a buyer. “a”s dilemma just underscores this concept.

    As an aside to “a”, you are likely to have many many problems in life if you think that your landlord is being unfair and cannot see his point. He owns the fucking unit – he put up the money for the downpayment – he may even be losing money every month. So he DOES have the right to kick your ass out of there. Man up.

    Oh , and don’t listen to Bob (who told you to “trash” the place). You WILL be arrested, you WILL be sued and you WILL not be able to get a job. Good luck paying for your attorneys on that one……

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  39. “I’m not borrowing a “lawnmower”. I am paying, rightfully, for a roof over my head. What I am trying to do is delay when this move happens”

    With your verbal “lease”, your in basically the same position. If he delivered you written notice on August 31 or earlier, telling you to be out by Sept 30, you can go the route of forcing him to file an eviction suit, but you have no “legal” right to remain after that and, *when* you lose, he will be legally entitled to collect double rent for your holdover period. If you are judgment proof, fine. If you have assets, he can make your life miserable if you don’t just pay up.

    So, if its really important to not move til (date X), why not offer to pay some additional rent and *get a f’ing written agreement*.

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  40. a, homedelete is giving you very good advice. Did he give you written notice as HD outlined? If not, you always have until the end of the next month at a minimum.

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  41. “he will be legally entitled to collect double rent for your holdover period. ”

    Does a judge allow this very often? It hasn’t been my experience.

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  42. a: since it’s a month-to-month verbal agreement, either party can “change his mind” and decide to “terminate” this non-binding (verbal!) agreement, so long as adequate notice (previously described) is given. Owner absolutely is within his rights to ask you to leave, to give you notice to vacate, and to expect you to move-out of premises and leave apartment in “broom clean” condition. (I’m assuming owner also has a security deposit, and he can deduct all clean-up and repair costs due to more than “normal wear” conditions.)

    If you chose to resist his request that you vacate apartment, and particularly if legal action occurs, note that your credit record will reflect legal action. And you won’t get a positive reference from this “landlord”. Most landlords ask for references from prior landlords, and DO CHECK, even the one-unit accidental landlord-owners of condos. Many check your credit record too, it’s easy to do, so it’s prudent to follow other folks’ advice and vacate apartment in a timely manner and leave it in good condition.

    In no instance does a tenant have sole right to determine length of tenancy at tenant’s convenience. Sorry. no point challenging this further without causing yourself more problems.

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  43. “Does a judge allow this very often? It hasn’t been my experience.”

    Dunno, but the ll has more legal basis for it than a does to holdover after the 30-day notice period ends.

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  44. I am a landlord, and have been in the rental business for a while. They have the right to give you 30 days notice if you are not in a lease (your lease expired). Also, contracts are limited to the 4-corners of the document (what’s written) and verbal discussion outside of what is actually recorded in writing will be tough to prove.

    If you’re in a bind and dont want to move out at the end of the month, you could always stay, and pay your rent on time. If the landlord cashes your check, then they have agreed that it is cool for you to stay another month.

    If they dont cash the check and decide to change the locks and throw your stuff in the street you will most likely be able to sue them (Chicago has pretty good laws to protect tenants from this sort of thing). The landlord could decide to get the law involved(sheriff) instead of throwing your stuff in the street, and it would probably take at least 30 days for them to forcibly evict you.

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  45. clio: “As an aside to “a”, you are likely to have many many problems in life if you think that your landlord is being unfair and cannot see his point. He owns the fucking unit – he put up the money for the downpayment – he may even be losing money every month. So he DOES have the right to kick your ass out of there. Man up. ”

    Of course it’s his unit and of course he is within the law given the month-to-month situation. But if he told “a” that he could stay for a year then gave him notice mid-way through the year, it is a complete dick move. Somehow, I doubt you’ll see the other side of this.

    And you can keep your fucking condescending life lessons. Nobody wants “man up” advice from some random, cranky old douche on the internet. Ever.

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  46. ” Nobody wants “man up” advice from some random, cranky old douche on the internet. Ever.”

    Which is why the current Lite ad campaign is so damn grating.

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  47. “I rented for 7 years and sometimes it’s just easier to move. But of course, leave a little harmless prank behind, like a raw fish behind the washer or toilet top bunk him….heh heh”

    That is mature now and you call most people on CC haters?

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  48. “Which is why the current Lite ad campaign is so damn grating.”

    hahaha

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  49. A: If you really had a verbal agreement (albeit unenforceable) to stay longer, I recommend you offer to you landlord to efficiently vacate after he compensates you with x dollars. As a landlord, I have paid out more than a couple of times to keep exiting tenants happy, and the apartment in good shape. Landlords do not like fighting tenants, lawyers, wasting time arguing about stuff, dealing with damaged apartments, etc.

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  50. My friend is a landlord. When one of his tenants won’t pay or won’t move (or both), he get’s medieval. Don’t forget, your landlord has the keys to your unit. My friend shuts down the water, takes the mail, cancels utilities, cuts the cable, etc etc. Sure the tenant is living for free but at what cost? Yes it is illegal for him to do these things and no, that doesn’t stop him. Really, you should move.

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  51. Miu miu – yes? I’m making a joke. Why so serious? I’m not insulting anyone, trying to create crib laughter! If u were insulted I am sorry but see…ur hatin on me now! 🙂

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  52. I guess I over reacted. I think most of us are nice here on CC : )

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  53. These units are quite nice (address is 2154 not 2145) and the seller is taking a big hit (purchase price of $781,685 in 2007) but there are some similar units priced more competitively in the area that I’d go for first.

    I’ve seen 1555 West Pearson, Unit D (currently listed for $594K with garage parking) and it’s pretty cool.

    http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/1555-W-Pearson-St-Apt-D_Chicago_IL_60642_M87603-56949?source=web

    839 N Hermitage is a Ranquist resale for $530K that looks good, too.

    http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/839-North-Hermitage-Avenue-Unit-101_Chicago_IL_60622_M89884-22744?source=web

    And 1024 W Fry, Unit 302 (listed for $575K) is also Ranquist (or Ranquist-like):

    http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/1024-W-Fry-St-Unit-302_Chicago_IL_60642_M71850-66221?source=web

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  54. With Clio on this one. When renters start doing basic civic duties like shoveling snow they can complain about mistreatment- until then, fuhgeddaboutit, they have the same attitude as 19 year olds who haven’t learned the score yet.

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  55. on another topic:

    cool penthouse. still overpriced. neighborhood’s great, but precise location…not so much.

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  56. I think people who would live exactly right here could not afford this price, and people who could would not want to live exactly right here. too bad.

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