What $1 Million Gets You in Aqua: A 2/2 at 225 N. Columbus in Lakeshore East
This 2-bedroom in Aqua at 225 N. Columbus in Lakeshore East came on the market in February 2017.
It is on the 62nd floor and has lake views from 2 balconies.
There are hardwood floors throughout.
The kitchen has stainless steel appliances.
It has central air, washer/dryer in the unit and parking is available for $60,000.
The listing calls Aqua “The true definition of luxury.”
This unit has been reduced $125,000 to $950,000 since February. If you add on the parking, it’s priced at $1,010,000.
This is the hottest market in a decade but this unit has been on the market for 5 months.
What do they need to do to sell this unit?
Nancy Furth at Magellan Realty has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #6206: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1218 square feet
- Sold in July 2011 for $625,000
- Sold in September 2012 for $730,000
- Originally listed in February 2017 for $1.075 million
- Reduced several times
- Currently listed at $950,000 (plus $60,000 for parking) = $1,010,000
- Assessments of $871 a month (includes heat, a/c, gas, doorman, cable, exercise room, pool, exterior maintenance, scavenger and snow removal)
- Taxes of $12,012
- Central Air
- Washer/dryer in the unit
- Bedroom #1: 14×12
- Bedroom #2: 12×11
I truly do not understand the appeal of this building. The units are so cookie cutter. For example, the bathroom light screams Home Depot special. If you didn’t tell me this was an Aqua apartment, I would assume it was completed in 2000 and was in some nameless concrete tower in the McDonald’s section of River North.
They just need to keep cutting, still way overpriced for what it is and what it last sold for. This market is solid but not entirely irrational.
this place sucks so hard. it looks like your average, run-of-the-mill 2/2 anywhere in the city. hopefully magellan puts some higher quality finishes in all of their newly proposed buildings.
” For example, the bathroom light screams Home Depot special.”
All the light fixtures do.
And the $24.99 closet “system” is a total winner, too, at $780 psf.
“hopefully magellan puts some higher quality finishes in all of their newly proposed buildings.”
Only if their $$ partner insists. Magellan is a value-engineering nightmare.
This unit doesn’t belong in that building.
This is like some buildings that have an ostentatious entrance and lobby, which is supposed to give people the feeling of “the true definition of luxury!”. But the units inside have absolutely no luxury whatsoever. It’s incongruent.
I have a friend who just bought a condo on the northside for $300K. The interior photos of this place are nearly identical to his condo.
At the price they are asking, they are trying to charge essentially $500k for the view as this certainly isn’t a $1 million unit as far as finishes/space is concerned…
I was so excited when a friend of mine moved into this building because I wanted to see what these units were like. I had assumed it would be awesome inside. He was renting an apartment and the finishes were of lower quality than many of the condos I looked at in the $300k range. I don’t know if it was just his unit, but it had low, popcorn ceilings. I was shocked, but not awed by his unit.
“a condo on the northside for $300K. The interior photos of this place are nearly identical”
And one can understand/justify paying 2x or somewhat more for the location + building/amenities + views.
I will say that, at $300k, it’s unlikely that the cabinets/stone in your friends place are as expensive/nice as the ones here, even if they have the same aesthetic. But his unit probably came with better light fixtures.
$825k.
“renting an apartment”
The apartments were definitely built to different specs. But it seems that the non-PH condos and the apartments all got the same appliances–ok, but not $780 psf quality.
This unit offers nothing special other than the views, apparently the balconies are almost useless too due to the massive amount of spiders that infest them for some reason
also, doesn’t this property share amenities with the hotel guests?
NO THANKS TO THAT!
“the massive amount of spiders”
massive amount of massive spiders. Some of the spiders are huuuge.
I can’t believe this unit sold for 730k in 2012!? As the pictures illustrate the finishes/fixtures and overall appearance of this unit do not deserve 780psf, even given the views (which constitute the majority of pictures).
The unit feels and probably is cheap, starchitect or not. The 2.2s, which are a bit larger are only going for 600sqft in the Jahn building down the street on Fairbanks and have much better finishes/panache.
Dunno what these people are thinking…
“This unit offers nothing special other than the views, apparently the balconies are almost useless too due to the massive amount of spiders that infest them for some reason”
I LOVE high rise spiders. There’s a whole spider ecosystem up there. They live and die up there, with their babies floating to nearby buildings.
https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20160519/downtown/why-are-spiders-spinning-webs-on-chicagos-tallest-buildings
“I LOVE high rise spiders. ”
That is wholly unsurprising.
Unit 7306 sold in November for 990K with one parking space. Finishes appear to be a bit nicer than this unit.
And unit 7306 had professional photos.
I am surprised by how unprofessional/bad the listing photos are.
I am also surprised by the finishes…and some have focused on cheap fixtures. Can we talk about the awful sponge-paint job in the bath?
I imagine a balcony on the 62nd floor is useless mainly due to the wind, but I suspect spiders would also make it unpleasant (even if they were friendly spiders).
I have quite a few friends that both own and rent in the aqua building – I think the popcorn ceilings are unique to the rental units.
That being said, I was very surprised at the crappy finishes in the units in both aqua, and at the legacy. When all these buildings were ‘newish’ a few years back, I think there was much more value for the money at trump. I had a friend who bought a 1700 square foot 2 bedroom at trump for a little over a million, and the finishes were FAR better than this unit. That being said, I think prices at trump have since shot up and stayed up.
The puzzling thing is – places in this building routinely sell pretty well. For some reason people are willing to pay for the crappy finishes, as long as they get the ‘name’.
Personally, I don’t think i’d want to live in a condo building associated with the ‘radisson’ hotel brand.
“The puzzling thing is – places in this building routinely sell pretty well. For some reason people are willing to pay for the crappy finishes, as long as they get the ‘name’.”
I would be very curious to know how many of the units are being sold to foreign investors. My one anecdote is that a foreign-born coworker told me that her family was looking buy a place in Chicago and was only looking at River East. They were going to buy without seeing the place in person and rent it out.
Jenny, that’s interesting…I work with a bunch of foreigners on H1Bs and the majority rent in Lakeshore East..maybe word or mouth, sense of community, good enough value, etc? Maybe foreigners fresh off the boat are less inclined (picky) to look around for the best finishes and/or the best value but it raises my eyebrows every time. Also, I don’t know that I would want to live in a hyper complex of condo housing…too communal feeling (this includes the Vista, which I wonder if it’s endangered based on all the recent press about the parent co cutting off all assets to be used for foreign projects?
PS: also, there doesn’t seem to be much sense of community/dynamic there and it’s a bit sequestered from the city strangely enough, being situated in the center of it (reminds me of Roosevelt Island in NY)
I wonder about traffic congestion just to get out of the complex and west of Michigan Ave?
When we bought, my broker took me to Lancaster and Regatta…let’s just say we had very firm and strong impressions and felt the psf was surprisingly high due to the glut of condos there 🙂
I like Lake Shore East. I’m surprised at the lack of community comments. I always see a ton of people out at the dog park and playground. I can’t stomach the prices there though. I could only afford a 1/1 in that neighborhood.
I was referring more to the lack of integration with the downtown area and variety of venues nearby…However, I could see how there is a sense of neighborhood community though (kind of has to be with the # of people living there, right!?)
Astara,
There are definitely many FOB’s on H1’s who rent in lakeshore east – there are a TON in the millennium grand and in that rental building on randolph and michigan , forgetting the name right now.
I think that most of the companies they work for are a quick shot down randolph so it’s an easy commute for them. That, and they have limited knowledge ( or likely interest ) in exploring the city. They’re here to make money and send it back home.
I can see why it’s been on the market for five months. And does anyone really want a balcony on the 62nd floor? Sounds scary.
Closed for 895K