We Love Authentic Lofts: Selling for Under the 2003 Price at 523 S. Plymouth in Printers Row
This 2-bedroom authentic brick and timber loft at 523 S. Plymouth, the Peterson Lofts, in Printers Row just had a large price reduction.
It is now listed about $30,000 under the 2003 purchase price.
The listing says “seller says sell now” so the price has been lowered to an “unheard of level” which includes the garage parking. Additionally, “the entire special assessment will be paid” (which is, according to the listing, $23,000.)
It has all the bells and whistles: deeded parking, central air and a washer/dryer in the unit.
Is this a “deal” for a loft in Printers Row?
Margie Smigel at MetroPro has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #1101: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, no square footage listed
- Sold in September 2003 for $330,000
- Originally listed in January 2009 for $399,000
- Reduced several times
- Currently listed at $299,999 (includes the parking)
- Assessments of $630 a month
- Taxes of $4299
- Special assessment of $23,000 (paid by seller)
- 19-foot ceilings
- Two sided fireplace open to the living room and master bedroom
23K special assessment? DAMN. if this doesn’t make any sane buyer run for the hills, i don’t know what would. Assessments are brutal, too. I wish they would list what they include. why the hell did the RE agent put in a zoomed up photo of the library? dumb as hell in my opinion.
This condo is struggling to find its identity.
So the Case Shiller is out. Back to December 2002 levels. Down 17.7% YOY and down 25.1% from the peak:http://blog.lucidrealty.com/chicago_real_estate_statistics/
I guess you need a space in there before the URL: http://blog.lucidrealty.com/chicago_real_estate_statistics/
What is so appealing about the library for the realtor to feel the need to zoom in on it like that?! The assmts seem pretty average for an older loft building but why the enormous special assmt? Other than that I think it’s a pretty cool unit.
Deal? No.
Smigel? lol nice fake name! Anyways who does this realtor think she is? Some freakin professional photographer? If I saw that crap on my listing I’d fire her ass in about two seconds flat. Why are CB agents so terrible!
some odd photos in that listing.
I’d say it’s priced competitively, rather than “unheard of” pricing (in fact, we had “heard of” such pricing just a few years back). But whether or not it sells at this level is still up in the air, IMO. People are skittish about the south loop/printer’s row because of all the buildings that went up in the boom, and if you look at some of the listings, there’s a lot of desperation out there:
740 S Federal #910 – $239,000 pre-foreclosure
680 S Federal #302 – $289,000 and seller will pay 6 months of assessments
780 S Federal #211 – $189,000, bank owned
I don’t mind the photos/artwork they are trying to sell the place on the views, what would be bad is if the place does not have those views.
“Assessments of $630 a month, Taxes of $4299”
While I agree the going rate for 2/2s in the South Loop will approach and hit 300k in many instances, whats makes this a not so “unheard of deal” is its “unheard of assessments”.
You have a monthly nut of 1k before principal, interest and insurance. Good luck with that.
Not only that Bob, but I wonder what in the heck the $23k was for. Was this building singularly responsible for the bank bailout?
My guess is that there are real capacity problems in the building, so these special assessments (love that phrasing by the way. Makes it sound like it’s a fun surprise!) might not go away anytime soon.
Looking at the birds-eye view + listing photos, it looks like the unit is:
top-floor
faces east and north
big windows face alley & new building at Congress/State
View of library is legit, but thru small windows in LR, as shown in listing.
I like Printer’s Row a lot…even though it’s technically part of “south loop” it has much more of a neighborhood feel.
Is a $23K special that unusual for an older building? At least it indicates they are taking care of the problems. As for future assessments….who knows, but that’s equally true of a newer building especially since so many that were thrown up in the past ten years aren’t holding up very well.
“unheard of assessments”
Really depends on what they include. Assuming it includes heat and A/C, that’s a *big* chunk of it (like, almost half), especially for a top (I think) floor 19′ ceilinged unit.
“these special assessments … might not go away anytime soon.”
But they might, too. This could have been the big hit to get the building ready for the next 30 years. But that is one of the great unknowns (for us) that would need to be nailed down before making an educated offer.
regardless of the real estate meltdown, the value of this condo dropped precipitously when the entire eastern view was blocked by the Library tower that you can now almost reach out and touch from this unit….
This units should be professionally staged becaus the rooms look tiny.
the fireplace and shelving units look like they eat up half the living room. who would angle the bed in the master bedroom like that?
the second bathroom looks “modern” with peg-board walls or something whacky and loft-like. And the glass blocks in the kitchen peninsula was just a bad idea. updated and dated at the same time.
Loosing the view is a total killer. Still, this unit shouldn’t be compared to 600-700 S Federal (bad apartment conversion). On the upside, this is one of the few historic buildings in the area with parking.
Nice Bones + Bad Decor + No View + Parking + Reasonable Price…
Really hard to figure out what buyer that attracts, but I think it would move in this market at $275 (incl parking)