A 2-Bedroom Short Sale Appears in 600 N. Lake Shore Drive in Streeterville
This 2-bedroom in the newer constructed high rise at 600 N. Lake Shore Drive in Streeterville has been on the market since September 2010.
In that time it has been reduced $200,000.
It is now listed as a “short sale” at $141,000 under the 2008 purchase price.
The unit does not have lake views, but instead faces south.
It is one of the larger 2-bedroom floorplans at 1691 square feet.
The listing says it had $50,000 worth of upgrades.
The kitchen has stainless steel appliances, maple cabinets and granite counter tops.
There are custom window treatments.
It has central air and the rare side-by-side washer/dryer in the unit but it does not come with deeded parking. The listing says “garage rental options.”
This is the cheapest larger 2/2.5 currently on the market in the building(s).
Is this a deal?
Nancy Yockel at Koenig & Strey Real Living has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #2308: 2 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 1691 square feet
- Sold in August 2008 for $766,000
- Originally listed in September 2010 for $825,000
- Reduced numerous times
- Currently listed as a “short sale” for $625,000
- Assessments of $630 a month (includes heat, a/c, gas, doorman, cable)
- Taxes of $12489
- Central Air
- Side by side washer/dryer in the unit
- No parking with the unit- “garage rental options”
- Bedroom #1: 16×13
- Bedroom #2: 12×13
Totally off topic… I attended Lollapalooza this weekend. I noticed at night that there were very few lights on at The Park Monroe, The Legacy, and One Museum Place. It looked like 1 out of 15 units had their lights on.
Meanwhile the rental building at 1130 S. Michigan looked like about 1/2 the units had their lights on.
I know that this is a pretty poor indicator of owner occupancy (people may have been on vacation or even at Lollapalooza themselves), but it sure looked like the buildings were vacant.
“Is this a deal?”
Yes, this is a nice 2/2, somewhat good location, etcetera, but I have a hard time characterizing it as a deal. At the end of the day, it’s still a 2/2, that is significantly more expensive than many SFHs you could buy on the Northwest side or in most suburbs.
I’m also skeptical that there is a large pool of people who want to actually own — rather than rent — 2/2s. Chances are that most people interested in 2/2 realize they’re not going to live there for long. During the boom when the prices for property kept increasing, buying a 2/2 made sense because of the appreciation. Now that the future prices of such properties likely will depreciate, or are at best uncertain, why would the people living there short term want to buy one rather than rent? This would suggest that most 2/2’s are going to go to investors who will not buy unless the prices allow for profit from renting out the units. I don’t know what the rent on the place in the OP is, but I doubt that $625k is sufficiently low to make the numbers work.
“I noticed at night that there were very few lights on at The Park Monroe”
that one should have never been built. that was greed at its best right there.
“The Legacy”
that one just finished building and i cant remember when the lower floors were able to move in? anybody help with that one?
“One Museum Place”
my last pass at night was shocked to see more lights on at the west building.
I can’t get past the lack of views. If I’m in a high rise, I want nice views.
OMP east is over 90% sold albeit many were flippers so I am not surprised that it looks empty. OP West is just empty. I cannot believe it has not gone rental yet. I mean how do they afford the up keep of a place with less than 30% units sold?
Legacy last we checked was less than 50% sold. I like it quite a lot except for the electric heating which I bet will cost a lot. Some of the 2BRs + dens on the east are so nice and spacious and the den can easily function as a 3rd BR. The building has a great design IMHO, many of the units have 3 exposures.
I agree with Groove about PM, it sucks. Most second bedrooms have no window and the layout is forced at best. It has very nice kitchens though.
Given the cost of electric heating I can’t for the life of me figure out why developers build them that way.
speaking of empty buildings, here’s a prime example
Gary,
Because they didn’t intend to own the units that long…who cares about the costs if your not footing the bill and consumers are not savvy. Do what is cheapest and easiest…unfortunately, it did not turn out well for developers who are taking years to sell out the inventory..
I’ve read that the Legacy is 80% sold.
I know Gary. I wonder if it was easier construction wise or something. I think they get their cooling from some other location too. I don’t recall the details but there was something to that effect. The whole utility situation in Legacy was worrisome to me.
BTW, the north facing units in OMP west are to die for. They were listed at a million, but the developer was selling for 800K. If they were to become 600K in an auction, I believe the building had a decent chance of actually selling them at the time we looked (a year ago). Now with the current state of the economy, I am not so sure.
@ Vlajos, it was I think at some point, but people backed off. Actually the realtor lady though nice was pissing me off not giving exact numbers, but I finally got it out of her and I am sure it was around 50% if not less.
Also she had some sheet in her hand of units with special pricing (units that were returned to the developer) and was making it sound like a supper deal. My husband thought it was funny for such an empty building. He said he’ll bet there will be another sheet in her hands for at least a few years if the developer won’t get real.
I have the most respect for the guys who sold Columbian, while it is a pretty sub par building in comparison but slashing the prices, they have done a good job selling it.
Does anyone else get the feeing this is a super old building in a new building’s clothes? If I saw these interior pics and was told it was an 80’s condo recently rehabbed I would believe it.
The design/architecture is uninspiring and the layout, ( especially the kitchen ) bores me. That said, this isn’t an awful deal for the neighborhood and new construction.
“Given the cost of electric heating I can’t for the life of me figure out why developers build them that way.”
IMO, The Legacy is practically the only new building that doesn’t have a crap hvac situation. AC is pumped in centrally without the use of fan coil units in the condos themselves, which are fugly and always oddly positioned with little to no duct work and not that effective unless you turn up the fan to blow out your eardrums. I’d gladly pay an extra $50 a month in the winter to heat with electric. These modern highrises hold temperatures very well, and if you have any exposure other than north you’ll get plenty heat from the sun through your floor to ceiling windows.
Also the circulated building air is heated up anyways, so the local electric is more of a supplement anyways.
“I have the most respect for the guys who sold Columbian”
That head salesman over there is damn good. Too bad his talent is wasted on such a crap building.
Really low assessments for this size unit. I wonder if the building has fully funded reserves yet?
“I’d gladly pay an extra $50 a month in the winter to heat with electric.”
My sense is that the difference can be several hundred dollars per month but it depends upon the building. I’ve seen $900+ electric heating bills for January for a unit under 2000 sq ft.
This seems priced well, but not a deal by any means.
The $50,000 in upgrades doesn’t necessarily mean much. Developers almost always overcharge for upgrades and it’s very easy to add that amount in upgrades without it being really noticeable. Want the developer not to put in a planned wall, $1,000…. want zoned heating $5,000… want a junction box put in, $1,000… want a soaking tub (not even with jets) in the secondary bath, $2,000. Lots of these things aren’t that noticeable, so those $50,000 worth of upgrades aren’t really noticeable.
“Given the cost of electric heating I can’t for the life of me figure out why developers build them that way.”
Typically electric baseboard heat is used as a supplmental source in corner units. I would say that any condo constructed in the last 4 years has a 4 pipe fan coil system, vertical in cheaper construction and horizontal in higher end developments.
The reason for using electric baseboard is quite simple, its the cheapest solution. The developer could care less that what it cost to use over time.
People are going to complain no matter what type of heating/cooling is used. My friend’s condo is heated with radiant floors and he complains he has to use space heaters in the winter… my dad grew up with radiators and complains about forced air heaters… I hate radiators and like forced air heat. It seems like no one is pleased when it comes to heating/cooling.
“My friend’s condo is heated with radiant floors and he complains he has to use space heaters in the winter…”
That’s some some weak junk, might be something wrong with it or just plain botched install.
What happened to the ‘Back to the city’ movement? Weren’t these buildings supposed to be all filled with young professionals by now?
Reality is only a ‘sliver of land’ is desired for transplants, since anywhere else is ‘scary’, ‘seedy’ and “where is that?, I thought Chicago was only along the Lake north from the downtown?” {non-natives don’t say Loop]
My impression is that in most of the newer high rises with floor to ceiling windows electric baseboard heat is most efficient (when located at the window wall). Ideally, you want to heat the air where it is coldest and that is near the window wall. For those other places that have a typical 4 pipe system, the fan coil is usually located in an odd place not efficiently warming the air near the windows.
Belgravia, the developer and a client of ours, still has a few units left in this price range.
You can take a walk through one of the larger units with Buzz Ruttenberg and Stephanie Maloney, in this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CI10QD4m6_4
Search 600 Lake Shore YoChicago at YouTube and you’ll find several dozen videos from the development.
Legacy is 50% sold to date. I don’t think the demographics of the occupants at the legacy are at lollapollooza.
Perhaps they – along with visiting kids/grandkids – spent the weekend in Lolla’s special “VIP” accommodations, away from all the riffraff!