Trying to Sell a 2-Bedroom Penthouse in the Parkside of Old Town: 437 W. Division

437 w division

This 2-bedroom at 437 W. Division, which is one of the Parkside of Old Town midrise buildings in Old Town, recently came on the market.

It is a penthouse unit with 11-foot ceilings and 2 terraces, including one which is covered.

The views are North and East.

The listing says it is professionally decorated and has venetian plaster but remember, the furnishings won’t be there when you move in.

The kitchen has cherry cabinets, stainless steel appliances and granite counter tops.

The bathrooms are “spa-like.”

It has the other features buyers look for including central air, washer/dryer in the unit and parking is included.

It came on the market at the end of June listed at $485,000 but has now reduced 12.4% to $425,000.

The Parkside development came on the market just as the housing bust was hitting in 2008 and 2009.

5 years later, is the hot condo market lifting values in this development?

Ron Knoll at @Properties has the listing. See the pictures here.

Unit #905: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, no square footage listed

  • Sold in September 2011 for $281,000 (parking included)
  • Originally listed in June 2013 for $485,000 (parking included)
  • Reduced
  • Currently listed at $425,000 (parking included)
  • Assessments of $462 a month (includes heat, a/c, gas)
  • Taxes of $4983
  • Central Air
  • Washer/Dryer in the unit
  • Bedroom #1: 14×12
  • Bedroom #2: 11×11
  • Living room: 21×16
  • Kitchen: 10×10

40 Responses to “Trying to Sell a 2-Bedroom Penthouse in the Parkside of Old Town: 437 W. Division”

  1. I don’t mind the occasional riff raff of the area as you get great views and you are steps away from Old Town and the Gold Coast, plus an easy commute to work. I am more concerned with how quickly this place was thrown up and how cheap the exterior looks when you walk past it. I wonder how many years before hefty special assmts kick in to cover repairs.

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  2. The market is better but I’m not sure what this seller has done to make the place appreciate $140k in a few years. I doubt the market will support that increase without some reason.

    Also, I wouldn’t call this a penthouse. Yes, it is top floor and has high ceilings but generally I think of penthouses as spectacular and spacious. This to me looks fairly standard new construction and the single narrow common room and two meh bedrooms do not scream spacious at all.

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  3. this unit looks like a prison cell.

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  4. “I don’t mind the occasional riff raff of the area as you get great views and you are steps away from Old Town and the Gold Coast,”

    translation: I’ll ignore the poverty and underclass until I get mugged/assaulted/killed.

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  5. This police beat, 1823, had zero homicides last year. The 18th District as a whole only had 5, less than all but three other districts. Crime is down, way down, in this area. Don’t let homedelete fool you.

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  6. This police beat, 1823, had zero homicides in the last year. The 18th District as a whole only had 5, less than all but three other districts. Crime is down, way down, in this area. Don’t let homedelete fool you.

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  7. “Benjamon9 (July 16, 2013, 6:54 am)
    The market is better but I’m not sure what this seller has done to make the place appreciate $140k in a few years.”
    The seller bought in 2011 when everyone else was in the fetal position. He / she took a risk.

    “I doubt the market will support that increase without some reason.”
    1. Rents at all time highs 2. Economy is better than 2011 3. Mortgage rates still well below historic levels 4. Stock market at all time highs 5. The immediate area around this building has seen continued development (flagship WF / new Target / Williams Sonoma / etc)
    Pick as many of the above as you want.

    Now – all that being said nothing about this place feels “penthouse-y” to me. $425k seems on the high side for a mixed income building in the non-prime part of a prime area.

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  8. chi is right. My fiancee lived at the Atrium Village midrise for 3 years, which is just next door to here, and neither she nor I ever felt unsafe in this area at any hour. The riff raff around here tend to more of the homeless variety who pretty much keep to themselves more than the thug/gang variety. One evening we watched a homeless guy bum-bath himself in the fountain at the corner of Orleans/Division from her balcony. Right next to this building is a park with basketball hoops that seem to be full of kids 24/7. There is also a Jazz in the Park series that we would listen to from her balcony. Nothing about it felt gangland, which I’m sure it was only 15-20 years ago.

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  9. Sure….those homeless guys are just fine until one beats you up and knocks out all of your teeth. Then, gets let out of prison after a few months to do it again…

    The goal would be to live away from gangs and the homeless.

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  10. Thank god the furniture is not included

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  11. “5. The immediate area around this building has seen continued development (flagship WF / new Target / Williams Sonoma / etc)”

    The WF was already there and open when they bought 22 months ago, the Target was a done deal, and the addition of another kitchen retailer just adds to congestion. The LaSalle red line entrance, too, was a done deal when they bought. Should have all been baked in the cake.

    Redfin flags the purchase as a multi-property sale bc the parking has separate pins.

    #908 sold in May for $314 psf. This one might be 1350 sf, but it doesn’t look it in the pix.

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  12. jenny – name one city neighborhood that is homeless person free. The ridiculously unlikely scenario you just mentioned could happen in any city neighborhood, and many suburbs too. If you aren’t willing to deal with some homelessness, city life is not for you.

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  13. Wow, if that goes for anywhere near $425….

    Other than the views, it’s small, ordinary and depressing.

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  14. Say what you will about the vibe on Division, but this building is simply the quintessence of exclusivity, and is clearly the sort of place where one should aspire to buy, not rent, as is evidenced by those big, beautiful “Condos for Sale” adornments.

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  15. “anon (tfo) (July 16, 2013, 9:36 am)
    “5. The immediate area around this building has seen continued development (flagship WF / new Target / Williams Sonoma / etc)”
    The WF was already there and open when they bought 22 months ago, the Target was a done deal, and the addition of another kitchen retailer just adds to congestion. The LaSalle red line entrance, too, was a done deal when they bought. Should have all been baked in the cake.”

    So the real estate market is efficient and discounts / incorporates all future developments? Got it. You might want to talk with owners at 360 W Illinois and 333 N Canal about that.

    And there is a big difference between something that is in development and something being actually constructed and open (ex Waterview Tower and the Spire).

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  16. Sauganash has very few homeless people, but it’s far north.

    I live near a homeless shelter and it’s incredibly irritating since they allow various criminals to stay there, including sex offenders. I suppose the homeless are one step up from gang members.

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  17. I’m glad I don’t go through life as cynical and paranoid as you do. It sounds stressful and depressing.

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  18. “The ridiculously unlikely scenario you just mentioned”

    You mean the ridiculously unlikely scenario *that actually happened* in the SLoop? That one was ripped from the headlines (unlike the kids boucing balls while riding bikes in the trees together with numerous flashers).

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  19. gringozecarioca on July 16th, 2013 at 10:29 am

    “unlike the kids boucing balls while riding bikes in the trees together with numerous flashers”

    For someone that has no idea about what you are talking about, that sentence structure could use a bit of work…

    this place, from the one photo, looks like a throwback baseball park.

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  20. Other than the view, and what looks like a largish parking spot this place and entire building is f-ing terrible, look at all that cinder block in the garage, did they build the entire structure out of that crap or what?

    425k for this “penthouse” , I was certainly expecting a living room wider than 16 feet, but it really looks like maybe 13 feet, but maybe its just bad photography

    Area is fine, but I just wouldn’t live in this craptastic building that was thrown up at the peak of the bubble.

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  21. “sentence structure”

    It’s an obvious fragment. And if we had the damn wiki …

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  22. “incorporates all future developments”

    The new WF opened in May of 2009–28 months *before* this place sold. And who cares about W-S?

    Target still not open, so that’s not a change in condition.

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  23. gringozecarioca on July 16th, 2013 at 10:53 am

    “And if we had the damn wiki …”

    …and an android app.

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  24. Ah so Jenny must be crashing at homedelete’s bang pad in uptown

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  25. this area sucks….period.

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  26. “You mean the ridiculously unlikely scenario *that actually happened* in the SLoop?”

    Happening once does not magically make it a likely scenario. I would still qualify the chance of it happening again as ‘ridiculously unlikely’.

    Maybe I’m just not paranoid enough, but there are MAYBE a hand full of time I have ever felt unsafe in the 6+ years I have been living in the city.

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  27. “Ah so Jenny must be crashing at homedelete’s bang pad in uptown”

    Jenny’s too sweet of a girl to be a homewrecker. That’s why she doesn’t know I’m really homedelete and she doesn’t know I’m married.

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  28. haha, well played

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  29. “anon (tfo) (July 16, 2013, 10:51 am)
    “incorporates all future developments”
    The new WF opened in May of 2009–28 months *before* this place sold. And who cares about W-S?
    Target still not open, so that’s not a change in condition.”

    Since you’re going to nitpick. I said “continued development” – not NEW. As to who cares about W-S – well yuppies do. My wife noticed when the WS on Michigan Ave closed and relocated here. Regarding Target – I would say going from a muddy lot with nothing there (the land swap with the city wasn’t even completed until 2012) to a nearly completed Target counts as a change in condition. Are you arguing this are got WORSE since 9/2011? I also didn’t mention the new Plum market and the rental buildings on Wells / Division (the rental building sold at the highest per unit valuation in the history of Chicago) and the additional restaurants / bars that have gone in (new brunch place on SE corner and recent opening of Glunz gastro pub).

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  30. “Maybe I’m just not paranoid enough, but there are MAYBE a hand full of time I have ever felt unsafe in the 6+ years I have been living in the city.”

    1. I don’t think I even have a handful of times feeling genuinely unsafe, in a much longer time than that in the city (yes, I’ve crossed the street to avoid potentially feeling unsafe–I don’t think that counts).
    2. Experience of ‘unsafe’ is different for men and women.
    3. That psycho *will* be out on the street again soon (and periodically thereafter) unless/until he actually kills someone. So, ridiculously unlikely it will happen to *you* (or Jenny), true, but in general, pretty likely to happen.

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  31. “3. That psycho *will* be out on the street again soon (and periodically thereafter) unless/until he actually kills someone. So, ridiculously unlikely it will happen to *you* (or Jenny), true, but in general, pretty likely to happen.”:

    Ask the woman on her way to work at the Western and Division bus stop who was dragged into an alley and assaulted. The perp was buying flavored cigars at the gas station across the street when he saw a single woman at the bus stop and just took advantage of a situation.

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  32. ” I said “continued development””

    And it’s still a crapola justification (not that you said it was *the* reason) for a 50% valuation bump, nevermind the 72% they initially asked for. That’s all.

    Unless this is bigger than it looks (possible), $375-395k seems about right, and reflective of the risk discount for date of purchase. On a comparative rent basis, think that’s stretching it unless you have a long-ish primary residence horizon for it. I like it (a lot) as a rental at what they paid for it, tho.

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  33. The area is fine… but all of the north shore raised yuppies on this blog are easily upset at any possibility of anything going wrong with anything…. ever.

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  34. “but all of the north shore raised yuppies on this blog”

    Who here was raised on the north shore other than He Who Shall Not Be Named? I certainly wasn’t if you’re referencing me.

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  35. I’m proud to be a “west sider”

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  36. This area has a little more hair on it than some of the surrounding areas. A girl was gang raped relatively recently in Seward Park. The owner of one of the convenient stores either on Larrabee or Orleans who made it through the really rough Cabrini days was shot and killed not long ago. The low rise Cabrini Green projects still present some problems (although it seems like about 1/2 the buildings in the project are shuttered at this point and I am sure that will continue). I am pretty certain someone was shot and killed there very recently. But sadly this type of stuff happens all over the city. Most of the recent development around this area (which inexplicably includes new additional housing right along Larrabee – how much is the city/state chipping in for that?) includes some affordable housing component. For those looking to pile on, the Marshal Fields homes are just north on Larrabee and there is also a section 8 multi family building just north of Dominics on the west side of Larrabee that has had crime/drug issues. So it is a little rougher than most of the surrounding areas, but it is not bad and will continue to gentrify with the new Target (it is going up fast) and continued decline of the Cabrini low rises.

    All that being said, I would not buy here because it is a newly built building and is assuredly a POS. It is also in a bit of a wasteland as far as things to do, places to go, eat, drink, etc. The area also just feels “grittier” because you have the el right along Orleans and Division is a very heavy and fast traffic street. There is nothing really redeeming about the Dominics strip center across the street. Public transportation also is not ideal – you have the Division bus and the 37 bus and that’s about it.

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  37. “The owner of one of the convenient stores either on Larrabee or Orleans”

    Orleans and Oak. SW Corner.

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  38. Munchies owner got shot? dayum

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  39. “Munchies owner got shot? dayum”

    Like a year ago [looking]. Ok, 2.5 years ago.

    Here: http://www.chicagonewsreport.com/2010/10/ollie-balsaam-munchies-store-owner-shot.html

    Munchies has been completely closed for a while.

    Really, the thing that gives me paus about this location still is the vehemence (and outcome) regarding the proposed closing of Manierre and combination with Jenner. If it is genuinely so bad, still, that they decided to not combine two severely underenrolled, but pysically close schools into one fairly new building, bc of safety concerns, then there’s something bad that I would prefer not to live on the dividing line of.

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  40. Here (about the schools):

    http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20130424/old-town/school-closing-gang-feud-fuels-new-fears-old-town

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