125+ Days on the Market in Aqua: A 1-Bedroom at 225 N. Columbus in Lakeshore East
This 1-bedroom on the 64th floor of Aqua at 225 N. Columbus in Lakeshore East came on the market in May 2015.
It is a south facing unit with 687 square feet.
The kitchen has luxury cabinets by Snaidero, stainless steel appliances and quartz counter tops.
The unit has floor to ceiling windows, central air and in-unit washer/dryer.
Parking is available in the building. I don’t know if that’s to buy or to rent.
There are 264 units in the condo portion of this famous building.
It has every amenity you could want including 2 indoor pools, 1 outdoor pool, a fitness center, a pilates studio, a private movie theater, a hot tub, and even cabanas.
Originally listed for $470,000, it has been reduced $27,500 to $442,500.
Is Aqua still a hot building or is some of the glitz fading?
Nancy Furth at Magellan Realty has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #6409: 1 bedroom, 1 bath, 687 square feet
- Sold in July 2013 for $335,000
- Originally listed in May 2015 for $470,000
- Reduced several times
- Currently listed at $442,500
- Assessments of $351 a month (includes a/c, water, gas, cable/internet, doorman, pools, fitness center, snow removal, scavenger)
- Taxes of $5577
- Central Air
- Washer/Dryer in the unit
- Parking is available
- Bedroom: 14×9
- Living room: 12×11
- Kitchen: 8×8
I have heard bad things about this building.
the quality of the construction
dealing with hotel patrons
the insane balcony spiders
only a matter of time before a big special assessment hits if corners were cut on construction right?
My friend lived in one of the apartments in this building. I’m not sure how the apartments differ from the condos, but his apartment had popcorn ceilings. I was floored. Why would they put popcorn ceilings in a new building? The ceilings also seemed very low to me. Again, maybe the apartments are significantly different from the condos. This particular unit looks to have the same lay out as my friend’s apartment though.
The building itself seemed nice. I liked that you basically didn’t ever have to leave your home because everything you could want is onsite. (If I wanted to live in a building with everything on site though, I would live in 680 N. LSD).
One of the issues with this building is that financing has been limited. Very few lenders will lend in it due to the hotel/apartment/condo setup. There are some portfolio options but those typically come with higher rates and larger down payments.
I think the south facing units, unless on the very top floors, are not very desirable as the bc/bs blocks most of the views.
sonies is right on. I toured this place maybe 5 years ago. There is a reason this place is sitting for so long. You’ve got to be nuts to buy anywhere near this price.
At least they are not as delusional as the seller for this listing which just came on the market today:
https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/225-N-Columbus-Dr-60601/unit-5903/home/52638123
“At least they are not as delusional as the seller for this listing”
They’re asking 5.4% more on a psf basis. The asks are not dramatically different.
It never was “hot” enough to rate $644 a square foot. The finishes and appointments are only slightly above average and the building doesn’t have any amenities a dozen other better buildings in that area don’t have.
If the complaints I hear about the place is true, and the quality of construction is as poor as some say, expect this building to depreciate steeply over the next decade or so, relative to others in the same class. I can remember when Marina City was THE place to live in this city, but 20 years later, it was a badly maintained building with a lot of rentals and a number of extremely disreputable people renting units in it.
Wow, sounds like a bargain. An astute Warren Buffet wanna be investor better jump at this price before it is gone forever and ever.
5903 mentioned in the comment is such a confusing unit. Why did they build the kitchen wall crooked? It’s intentional… I have personally viewed one of those 03 units before and could not quite figure it out. The units I have seen had the low quality builder spec stuff, the cheap stuff you would see in a REO that was refurbed for a quick sale. The rental portion of the building is even way worse, probably the worst in Lake Shore East.
I just cannot figure out why this building has a premium at all. I understand premiums if the building is on a marquee street like Michigan Ave or Lake Shore Drive but Columbus? :/
It win an architectural award, which I guess give it a “cachet” to cover a multitude of mediocrity. 4
I actually have a 2 bedroom in this building and I love it. We bought when the market was low, and took two years to finally find a place that we liked and was worth it. So we got a better deal but still it was pricey and a pain to get the loan. Since the building has hotel and condo etc and it was a second property it was harder to get a loan. But living in many different areas in Chicago by far this has been my favorite place. The condos do not have popcorn ceilings at all thank god. The only complaints about construction have been the windows breaking, which the association pays for, so it does not come out of pocket. The balconies are well built and are nothing like marina towers balconies (the materials that were used then), where they ended up having a huge assessment due to construction and materials used. Mostly you are paying for the view, the unit we have is north west corner, which has incredible views of the lake and city. Yes the appliances were not high end, your talking about kitchen aid fridges and stoves, and had to change some things. But we will definitely get a profit out of it at the end. Also renting out the condo unit in the building for the two bedrooms you can get up to $6,000 a month. Yes and people will pay for it. Also the condos in the building that are an actual 1 bedroom or more are a hot commodity in the building. A lot of people want to buy into this building. We already had people asking to sell the two bedroom units because they really never go on sale, and some reason people really love this building and want to buy. Yes the assessments and taxes are a bitch but you get what you pay for. I guess it is all about preferences. But i love it here
Like lola I own here and love it here.
Dealing with hotel patrons — never a problem. In fact, Radisson Blu lends an element of interest and excitement. It’s fun to see wedding receptions and other elegant functions but even day to day guests add a certain cool element.
Like lola said – the appliances used by the developer aren’t great but will do fine until I’m ready to upgrade as I’ve already done with the dishwasher.
Spiders – yes. They are awful. Friends who live in other buildings in LSE report the same problem.
All of that are far outweighed by the views and the location. Like lola I have a northwest corner and — day and night — it is jaw-droppingly gorgeous.
I walk almost everywhere and can be at Grant Park events, AIC lectures, CSO concerts, Goodman plays, Mariano’s, the Daley Plaza farmer’s market within a very short time. And if the weather is foul there’s one of my TOP reasons for buying in Aqua – the Pedway. IF only the city had built a pedway system throughout Chicago. It’s just too short. But still wonderful. I can “walk” to O’Hare without going outside if my flights are at certain times of day since the Blue Line station is in the Pedway.
This is a great place to live.
lola, selling your book there, eh?
Wow I had always wanted to live in Aqua, but from what I am hearing, I’m glad I moved into the Legacy instead.
“Laura Louzader on September 15th, 2015 at 4:34 pm
It never was “hot” enough to rate $644 a square foot. The finishes and appointments are only slightly above average and the building doesn’t have any amenities a dozen other better buildings in that area don’t have. ”
Please name the 12 other better buildings in the area that have
an indoor pool two outdoor pools, basketball court, sauna/steam room, multiple hot tubs, outdoor garden, gazebos, billiards/game room, media room, running track, fire pits, and room service.
Assessments in the building are very low too. Maybe because costs are defrayed by the hotel/apt sections of the building. 51 cents/sqft for this unit.
It seems that Marina Towers is brought up often in the discussions on Aqua.
I have lived in Marina Towers since 2001. The issues regarding the balconies were resolved in the mid 1990’s and were the result of deferred maintenance and not a construction or materials issue. Let’s see how Aqua’s balconies hold up over the next 50 years.
“But we will definitely get a profit out of it at the end.”
Really? “definitely”
You’re 100% sure?
Like I’ve been saying. The housing bubble is SO obvious, it’s almost laughable.
“Like I’ve been saying. The housing bubble is SO obvious, it’s almost laughable.”
Yeah? We’re giving out million dollar adjustable mortgages to janitors again? We are selling them as credit default swaps? Is that why demand for rentals is so high?
Is that why it was seemingly impossible for me to get the loan on my place with 20% down? Is that why even Bernanke couldn’t refinance his loan because the chair of the federal reserve couldn’t jump through all the hoops?
Cause uh. I’d be impressed if despite all the above, there was a housing bubble. But whatever.
“Is that why even Bernanke couldn’t refinance his loan because the chair of the federal reserve couldn’t jump through all the hoops?”
Bernanke couldn’t get a mortgage because he was living beyond his means and I’d suggest that his personal finances were probably a mess. The guy is one of those intellectual types that gets so focused on solving the great depression with helicopter drops that he can’t be bothered to pay the minimum payment on his credit cards every 30 days; and they 30+’s start to build up. I see that frequently. On the other end of the spectrum, sports stars are the worst with this kind of stuff. I have a very good source that tell me professional sports players often make millions per year but have credit scores in the 500’s, and sometimes worse. Sometimes they hire a family member or friend to take care of the bill payment and the bills only get a paid as often as the person making the payments feel is necessary.
HD, Bernanke couldn’t get a loan because he went from being an employee to self-employed. Generally, you need a two year history of being self-employed. So regardless of the fact he might command $200k a speech after he quit the Fed, he didn’t have the history required to be able to use that as income for qualifying.
Athletes and entertainers do have horrible credit.
“Cause uh. I’d be impressed if despite all the above, there was a housing bubble. But whatever.”
A bubble is caused by speculation, liquidity and easy credit. We currently have all three. I’m sorry you personally cannot get a loan with less than 20% down but there is a nice little program called FHA and plenty of people are buying with 3% down.
The builders are, once again, supplying credit to buyers when they buy a new property. Don’t worry that you only make $70,000. You can afford a $400,000 house. The data all shows that mortgages are actually NOT hard to get right now and that credit isn’t tight.
Additionally, the cash buyer is completely outside of the norm. It’s been as high as 30% in this cycle, when 5% is the norm. It’s back down to around 20% now but it’s still far above what has historically been seen.
No one is batting an eye that the average bungalow is, once again, over $300,000 in Portage Park. Because, you know, that’s totally and completely normal.
The Fed is supplying the fire for the bubble yet again. There doesn’t need to be janitors buying million dollar homes when there are plenty of people only able to buy a property because the Fed has artificially kept mortgage rates near their all time low. The Fed is supplying the liquidity again and seems perfectly happy to do so.