Looking For An Affordable Streeterville Penthouse? Check Out This 3-Bedroom At 211 E. Ohio
This 3-bedroom penthouse in the Grand Ohio at 211 E. Ohio in Streeterville just came on the market.
This penthouse has location, location, location.
At 1700 square feet, it has some unique features that most other units in the building don’t have.
Because it’s on the penthouse floor, it has 11 foot ceilings.
It also has a full-size washer/dryer in the unit. Only the floor with the lofts and the terraces has that grandfathered in.
The kitchen has maple cabinets, granite counter tops and white appliances.
It doesn’t have central air, but there are wall units. There are also 2-parking spaces available in the building for $25,000 each.
The listing says this unit is in the Ogden school district.
The Grand Ohio is a full service building. It has some of the most amazing amenities in Streeterville, including a gym, an indoor pool, tennis courts and other things I’m sure people can fill us in on.
Is this a deal?
Sherry Liang at Baird & Warner has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #2907: 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 1700 square feet
- Sold in May 2000 for $460,500
- Sold in July 2004 for $529,500
- Currently listed for $525,000
- Assessments of $1176 a month (includes doorman, cable, tennis courts, pool)
- Taxes of $6193
- No central air- wall units only
- In-unit washer/dryer
- Parking is available in the building for $25,000 each
- Bedroom #1: 15×11
- Bedroom #2: 14×12
- Bedroom #3: 13×11
- Laundry room: 8×5
Finishes are dated but price seems in line for that.
My general thoughts….from the interior pictures, you’d never know this is a penthouse. It is really blah. Then secondly, why have 11′ ceilings and no bigger windows? Seems like a waste.
Wonder if the assessment for the 2 ‘available’ parking spots is included and, if not, how much that is.
Also, what do we think this would rent for (assuming no ass’n issues with renting)?
Owning a penthouse at 211 E Ohio is like being the number one ranked player on a last place team. You are still the best of the team however your overall situation still sucks.
Put it another way for the ladies. If your engagement ring is a huge stone and flashy setting but matches Big Bird’s feathers on Sesame Street you and your fiancee should get over to see this place!
Canary diamonds are way more expensive than regular clear ones, so don’t really get the reference…
This “penthouse” has to be the worst one I have EVER seen
I don’t understand how people can live in places like this. The place has potential, and the owner clearly has some money, but it has all the charm of a dirty gym sock.
“This “penthouse” has to be the worst one I have EVER seen”
It’s a diamond in the rough. Some paint and some curtains would do it wonders.
But this just goes to show you that most people can’t look past what is there when they look at real estate. That’s why staging is SO important.
I don’t get why people love to put down anything that is not top-notch luxury finishes. My guess is these people negatively commenting don’t own anything themselves. You will be in for a shock after you buy something and look at the cost/time to do upgrades on things that work perfectly fine. Money does not grow on trees to fix things that aren’t broke…
Is it just me, or does it look as if that “lake view” is about to be reduced by 2/3 by the construction that seems to be a’moving on up, Jeffersons-like, across from 680 N. LSD?
Seems VERY reasonable for what you get, especially in this location. Only thing I don’t like is no central air. I think the dated decor workd for the buyer by keeping the price down. I always change things to my personal taste anyway.
Diamonds in Canary Yellow might be great. Cloudy yellowish stones are not.
I usually agree with Sabrina however the diamond in the rough comment Is a stretch. Even with better staging and window treatments you still come home to an average box condo with shabby finishes and amenities that happens to be on the top floor. heating cooling and potential water leaks offset any penthouse benefits to this unit. They needed to add an outdoor terrace or floor to ceiling windows to make this floor more special. Other than that all you get is the perceived cool factor when someone asks “what floor” as get on the elevator.
Had a girlfriend that lived here long ago in a studio and it was just an ok place. Perhaps much has improved as I have not been there since 2003 but my gut says it has not. Location was good!
“They needed to add an outdoor terrace or floor to ceiling windows to make this floor more special.”
Really Jp3? For $500,000???
Where else in this neighborhood are you getting 1700 square feet in a full amenity building for $500,000?
Come on! That’s nuts.
The building was built in 1985 as apartments. No one cared about “terraces” or “floor to ceiling windows” in the 1980s. The fact that this has 11 foot ceilings would have make it very unique at that time because high ceilings were NOT “in.”
Why is everyone holding it to today’s standards? 25 years from now 600 N. Fairbanks across the street will be “dated” too. It’s how you live on the INSIDE that matters.
Chicagoans have NO design sense. They have no style or savoir faire. What a New Yorker wouldn’t do with those high ceilings and that much space! My god. The bland interior can be fixed in just a few weeks with an interior designer.
Welcome to Cribchatter – good luck selling your penthouse.
thisisall1word (April 29, 2013, 10:44 pm)
I don’t get why people love to put down anything that is not top-notch luxury finishes. My guess is these people negatively commenting don’t own anything themselves. You will be in for a shock after you buy something and look at the cost/time to do upgrades on things that work perfectly fine. Money does not grow on trees to fix things that aren’t broke…
Sabrina: “It’s how you live on the INSIDE that matters.”
But if the inside doesn’t have top notch luxury finishes, viking appliances, espresso floors, and floor to ceiling windows, and moderate approval of people on a real estate blog, how can one *really* live in such an interior?
“Chicagoans have NO design sense. They have no style or savoir faire.”
Oh, c’mon.
Yes, everyone here (who isn’t from/spent a long time living on the coasts) is just a GD rube. Whatever.
New Yorkers HAVE to have a good interior decorator since everything there is crap otherwise (in Manhattan), even at the high end. New construction doesn’t really exist, except for that ridiculously expensive high rise being built overlooking Central Park where they had that crane fall off during the storm last fall. So the only real option is to make the best of the space you can get.
Sabrina – You are raising some good points.
The word penthouse always gets people excited and sets expectations higher. While that may not be fair it is accurate. Terraces and floor to ceiling windows are indeed building specific as they have to be part of the original design. Corner units are not and they clearly add a wow factor. I lived in a high rise and truly appreciated my corner unit. I had east north and south views and operable windows. That made a massive difference in venting my unit nine months a year. Everyone who faced south BAKED in the afternoon sun. It was by the lake and all I had to do was open my north and east facing windows or the balcony door and all was good!
BTW it is not $500K as it is really listed at $575K as many 2 bedroom and most “penthouse buyers” would expect at least one parking spot. Even in this location.
As for the New Yorker style comment I have two thoughts.
1. When did Westloopelo buy crib chatter and take over for Sabrina?
2. There are plenty of NY’ers living in s***holes with not a lick of design talent. Just being in NYC does not make you the next HGTV design star. Plenty of people with great talent here in Chicago. Heck there are likely even a few in Harvey, Riverdale, and South Elgin.
In conclusion it is a decent deal for the price and the 11 foot ceilings will appeal to someone but it just is not a truly cool penthouse unit. It is an average top floor unit with some decent ceiling heights.
Sabrina – from what I could gather in a quick look at closed sales for this address on Redfin most 2 bedrooms trade in the mid 300’s making this a $200K premium for the top floor. That seems really excessive. Must be why it would appeal to a NY’er. They are used to paying a high premium for everything.
“from what I could gather in a quick look at closed sales for this address on Redfin most 2 bedrooms trade in the mid 300?s making this a $200K premium for the top floor.”
The two bedrooms are around 1100 to 1200 square feet. This is 1700 square feet.
The two bedrooms also don’t have washer/dryer in the unit. This does. It has a whole laundry room in the unit. That is something that is very unique to the building.
It was NEVER a luxury building. But this is a screaming deal in this location for someone who has any kind of design sense whatsoever (and I don’t mean professional ability, I mean simply painting and curtains.)
“Plenty of people with great talent here in Chicago. Heck there are likely even a few in Harvey, Riverdale, and South Elgin.”
I’m not talking about professional designers (although I’ve seen enough real estate in Chicago to wonder if they’re working within the city limits). I’m talking about your average person’s property.
95% of Chicagoans don’t bother to:
1. Paint their property. It’s white walls, white walls, white walls.
2. They don’t have proper furniture- even in million dollar properties.
3. How about some window treatments? Remember what those are? They matter.
4. How about some vision when you remodel that kitchen? No- the cherry, brown granite and cheap stainless steel appliances aren’t interesting or cool.
5. How about, gasp, some wallpaper???
It’s the same furniture, the same bland paint jobs in 95% of the properties in this city even if you have money or don’t. So it doesn’t matter if it’s the million dollar Trump condo or the $250,000 Lakeview 2-bedroom.
I can forgive the cheaper unit because they’re younger and just starting out. But if you have a million dollar property and you don’t bother to even put up window coverings? There’s not a mirror or painting on the walls? The furniture- all of it- is from Room and Board?
Really?
That is NOT style. That is NOTHING.
I never said ALL NY’ers were great stylists either. But real estate is so much more expensive that so many more New Yorkers actually TRY with whatever space they have to make the most of it. (Also because they realize they will probably live there 20 to 30 years as well.) I’ve just been amazed at what they do with 700 square foot 1-bedrooms in 1960s ugly buildings. I’ve NEVER seen such a thing done on ANY unit in Chicago EVER. The Chicago homeowner just doesn’t even bother.
When was the last time we saw anything even remotely as interesting as this vintage unit we chattered about for a few years in Buena Park?
http://cribchatter.com/?p=13786
I’m not saying everything has to be Apartment Therapy or anything. But, my gosh, we’re pathetic!
95% of ALL listings in most places in the country fall into the same trap with some slight regional flair. No developer or flipper wants to do too much decorating because of cost and the fear of over-personalizing a property. Go to Redfin LA, Austin, Phoenix, or even trendy SFO and you will see much of the exact same thing. I am not the expert on NYC however I suspect that outside the GZ of Manhattan and parts of Harlem it is not that different. Calling WESTLOOPELO – Westloopelo where are you? We need your comments!
There are exceptions in all of these cities that one can use as examples however the norm is vanilla look and unpersonalized spaces. That R&B + pottery barn colored walls suck but are accepted. My favorite example of decorating stupidity is when a flipper or home owner fixes up their WI or MI lake cottage and tries to make it look like a Pottery barn R&B showroom. That is so so wrong. Please don’t put lakeview condo finishes and paint colors on a WI lakefront cabin. Yeeeech that just sucks.
Sabrina it sounds like you are a fan of that HGTV show Color Splash by David Bromstad. That is cool. There are some places I like color as well but that dude is way over the top.
“But this is a screaming deal in this location for someone who has any kind of design sense whatsoever (and I don’t mean professional ability, I mean simply painting and curtains.)”
BTW Sabrina I even gave your most recent comment a thumbs up but I do think that you are still wrong about the place being a “screaming” deal.
If it is really that good a deal then you need to buy it, Buena Park the place up with some color and curtains, flip the unit for a profit, and then come back to matthewlesko us all up with a long lecture post proving us all wrong!
This was just reduced to $519,900.