Tired of Vanilla Condos? Live in an Old Ice Storage Warehouse: 345 N. Canal on the Near West Side
This duplex 2-bedroom in the Fulton House at 345 N. Canal on the Near West Side, and on the Chicago River, came on the market in October 2017.
Fulton House was built in 1903 as an old cold storage warehouse.
It became apartments in the 1970s and was converted into condos in the 1990s. However, it’s also a live-work building where businesses can operate.
The listing for this duplex says it was newly renovated in 2012.
It has unique barrel vaulted ceilings and exposed brick with vintage porthole windows.
The unit is loft-like open concept living with one bedroom on the main floor and the second one on the second level, along with a den.
It has north and west exposures with a balcony with city views.
The kitchen has an island and stainless steel appliances with modern cabinets.
The unit has central air and washer/dryer in the unit. The listing says valet parking is available, but I believe it is in the River Bend building next door.
For buyers looking to live in the hot near west side, is this unit a breathe of fresh air compared to all the newer construction?
Tamara Kasey at Jameson Sotheby’s has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #1402: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2000 square feet
- Sold in November 1990 for $230,000
- Sold in July 1998 for $367,500
- Bank owned in December 2009
- Sold in June 2012 for $180,000
- Originally listed in October 2017 for $725,000
- Currently is still listed for $725,000
- Assessments of $1335 a month (includes doorman, exterior maintenance, scavenger, snow removal, Internet)
- Taxes of $7619
- Central Air
- Washer/dryer in the unit
- Valet parking is available
- Bedroom #1: 22×17 (second floor)
- Bedroom #2: 13×12 (main floor)
- Laundry room: 5×3 (second level)
- Den: 21×11 (second floor)
Nice place but No way this is near 2000sf, Assessments seem really high and the price is reaching for the stars
Hell of a deal for $180k in the 2012 sale.
Cool place. Never expected that it would be that unique and design driven space in this building. They recently did substantial exterior work on this place. Should be good to go for the next buyer.
Downer on parking. I’ve heard river bend is valet only and can be a pita for getting cars out in peak periods. That aside many of the younger kids don’t have/need cars. Maybe one of rheum will be tempted. Uber can always find Canal St!
I know the bar stools are ikea; but the entire kitchen looks ikea too? Isn’t that the ikea oven? And the cabinets look ikea laminate too.
This is nice, but not for $725K. I would love to have a detailed list of renovations or before/after pictures.
Holy cow, and I thought i had done well. nearly 600k profit in 5 years? Spare me.
This place looks much smaller than the reported square feet. And yes, i’d also like to know what the renovations are. I’ll see you at 550k.
Took a long time to thaw this building out and then the conversion/reconstruction wasn’t properly done. I’ve heard a lot of horror stories about this building; via it being haunted with many a special assessment because of moisture issues between the walls along with facade and elevator issues. If I recall there was some pretty bad river stench over here too.
One of my clients bought a one bed here a few years ago and was thrilled the day he sold it to the greater fool. I suspect the building had its reserves depleted quite a bit, hence the current bloated HOA fees. I x-out every unit that pops up in this building. There are way better options in much better buildings. Not worth the headache.
“No way this is near 2000sf”
It says “approx.”
Assuming (perhaps inaccurately) that it is substantially the same as the next door unit here: https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/345-N-Canal-St-60606/unit-1403/home/14101046 , it would seem that the SF issue is because of the enlarged hole in the 2d floor, which reduces the area from ~1950 to something more like 1700.
The neighbor (contingent) was asking $519, and was essentially a blank slate. Is not having to deal with a reno worth $200k?
“pretty bad river stench over here”
Well, we have started sterilizing the treated sewage, which helps a lot, except when there is a CSO (hi Bobbo!) event bc of really heavy rain, or when the Dave Matthews Band is in town.
“the entire kitchen looks ikea too? ”
Yes, I agree it does look like Ikea. Nothing inherently wrong with that, especially when the market essentially dictates a new kitchen every 15 years, at most.
anon (tfo) on December 14th, 2017 at 9:48 am
or when the Dave Matthews Band is in town.
LOL – YES. One of my parent’s friends bought & moved into a townhome in Kinzie Park a week before that happened and we never let him forget about it. To this day we still call the Kinzie St bridge the “Dave Matthews Bridge” in casual conversation; not as a joke even.
It reminds me of the loft in My Two Dads, has a cool, urban, industrial 80s vibe to it which is a good thing.
wierd, I click the link and it says not for sale… and shows the street view pic of all the scaffolding… I would imagine that in 2012 was when they had the massive special assessment to fix the whole freaking building from cracking in two?
Still up on Zillow:
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/345-N-Canal-St-APT-1402-Chicago-IL-60606/101231281_zpid/
ETERNAL SPECIALS ON THIS PLACE.
ITS A JAN TERRI NIGHTMARE OF SORTS LOLZ!!!
GET BACK GOBLIN!!!
HAPPY OLD STYLE DAYS. GO BEARS LOLZ!!!!!!!
“especially when the market essentially dictates a new kitchen every 15 years”
If the ikea kitchen even lasts 15 years with ordinary wear and tear! I have those white chairs and the other day the back cracked off it as I was sitting on it and I fell backwards to the floor. It was 4 years old. I also have some IKEA fixtures in my basement bathroom (b/c of flooding issue, I chose to do keep it cheap) and the faucet lasted four years exactly. A few weeks ago I woke up with a pool of water on my basement bathroom floor. Luckily I kept receipts for tax purposes and I brought it back in and they honored the 10 year warranty.
“If the ikea kitchen even lasts 15 years”
25-year(!!) guarantee on most of the kitchen cabinets.
The faucets and such are close enough in price to Moen/Delta (and even some Grohe) that it’s not the best place to economize.
“The faucets and such are close enough in price to Moen/Delta (and even some Grohe) that it’s not the best place to economize.”
The vanity was ikea and has legs that are a good foot or more off the ground and we wanted a matching faucet. we had to toss the previous brand new vanity after the flood as the particle board just crumbed when it got submerged in 18″ of water. So that’s why these decisions were made.
These photos are hilarious. It seems there is not picture of one of the bedrooms and the picture of the other they were in the process of packing or staging and had not yet made the bed? All of the bedding is in a pile in the corner. Kinda entertainingly inconsistent attention to detail.
“Hell of a deal for $180k in the 2012 sale.”
I was debating the last sale jp3chicago.
Was it really a good deal?
This is a live/work building and a LOT of the units had issues during the bust.
I think it also has had some really huge special assessments. Wasn’t there façade work on it not too many years ago?
But yes, it was bank owned, so it was even lower than what some other units were selling for in the building at that time.
All this crap reminds me of how my grammas house was. Every inch filled with something. If my Gramma had a loft, this would be it. I don’t know why people don’t put away their things when selling.
That building exterior picture is out of date. They just finished painting the building a brick red color. Looks much classier than the faded ugly pink it used to be.
I looked at a couple of 1 bed units in this building in 2009. If I remember right, they were asking $230-250k, but needed some work. I remember the wavy popocorn ceilings being weird in person.
“They recently did substantial exterior work on this place. Should be good to go for the next buyer.”
Yes, the scaffolds have been up there for a long time. They must have had a huge assessment for the exterior brick work. I’d love to hear the number. It was a massive job.
It’s next to the new Gibson’s Italia, the newest restaurant on the scene, where the pasta is extruded through GOLD because bronze is not cool enough sounding anymore! (The artisanal extrusion of pasta through bronze dies creates a rough surface that can better support the sauce, which will “cling” to it. This is also why you want to avoid pasta that has a smooth sheen or lacks a rough surface.) But I guess they’re saving Platinum extrusion for the next go-around of BS marketing ploys.