3-Bedroom East Lincoln Park Duplex in The Portals for $649,500: 425 W. Grant Place
This 3-bedroom in The Portals at 425 W. Grant Place in East Lincoln Park came on the market in January 2024.
The Portals, at 425 W. Grant Place, was built in 1972 and has 50 units and assigned outdoor parking. I believe all the units are 3-bedroom duplexes.
It has a bike room and an on-site manager/engineer as well as extra storage.
The listing says this unit has the “best layout.”
It is a first and second floor unit with a huge private walled brick patio.
It has real hardwood floors throughout.
The living room, dining room and kitchen, along with a half bath and a stackable washer/dryer are on the main floor.
The kitchen is a Kupperbush custom kitchen with white cabinets and stone counter tops along with built-in appliances.
There’s a fireplace in the living room.
The second floor has the three bedrooms and two full baths, with the primary bedroom being en suite.
The listing says all three bathrooms have been “redone.”
This unit has the features buyers look for including one assigned outdoor parking space, central air and the washer/dryer in the unit.
Dogs and cats are welcome.
This complex is near the Francis Parker School, the Lincoln Park Zoo, Lincoln Park, the Conservatory and the shops and restaurants of East Lincoln Park and Old Town.
Listed at $649,500, this duplex was under contract within one day of being listed, but it has come back on the market. It may already be under contract again by the time this is posted.
Is this duplex an affordable townhouse alternative in this neighborhood?
Janelle Emalfarb-Gordon at @properties Christie’s has the listing. See the pictures and floor plan here.
Unit #A: 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, no square footage listed, duplex up
- Sold in April 1992 for $195,000
- Sold in February 1994 for $218,000
- Sold in July 2002 for $418,000
- Sold in June 2008 for $509,500
- Sold in August 2013 for $512,000
- Listed in January 2024 for $649,000
- Under contract within a day
- Came back on the market listed again at $649,500
- Assessments of $502 a month (includes cable, exterior maintenance, lawn care, scavenger, snow removal)
- Taxes of $10,141
- Central Air
- Washer/dryer in the unit
- Assigned outdoor parking space
- Fireplace
- Bedroom #1: 17×13 (second floor)
- Bedroom #2: 14×10 (second floor)
- Bedroom #3: 13×9 (second floor)
- Living room: 20×13 (main floor)
- Dining room: 13×13 (main floor)
- Kitchen: 13×10 (main floor)
- Laundry: 5×5 (main floor)
- Patio (main floor)
Not yet continget, but TEMPORARILY NO SHOWINGS.
From the 2013 listing:
“Superb renovations and best layout in the award winning Portals development. Top of the line, high end finishes. Kuppersbush custom kitchen w/granite tops and built-in appliances. Sparkling hardwood floors throughout. All bathrooms redone to the nines.”
New copy:
“Best layout in the award winning Portals development. Top of the line, high end finishes. Kuppersbush custom kitchen and built-in appliances. Real Hardwood floors throughout. All bathrooms redone.”
translates to:
Renovations are a little dated.
Hardwood floors need to be refinished.
Bathrooms are due for a facelift.
Sold in July 2002 for $418,000 + CPI = $712k
Sold in June 2008 for $509,500 + CPI = $714k
Sold in August 2013 for $512,000 + CPI = $671k
For the built in fridge–the horizontal handle on the bootm seems really inconvenient to me but…thoughts?
Maybe other offers on it so they don’t want to do more showings.
“Renovations are a little dated.”
This brings up the question: when are renovations still renovations? If they were done 5 years ago, does that count? What if it was 10 years ago? If it was over 10 years ago, does it not qualify anymore?
Some finishes will instantly date a property (cherry floors, brown/black speckled granite counter tops). Hard to argue those renovations are relevant in 2024. But other may still be.
Depends also on the extent of the reno–if the electric/plumbing is all updated sometime after 2000, that still “counts” for something.
And it depends on how of the moment the reno was.
This one is shading toward “dated”, but is still a huge improvement over the original finishes.
We considered units here, both on the ground and the upper level (ground has decent sized actual outdoor space, upper has privacy). I feel like they were in the $400s back then (circa 2010)? They do have a lot going for them. I wonder if anyone has ever combined units here?
This unit could have used a little more decluttering, but I dig the boomerang.
“I feel like they were in the $400s back then (circa 2010)?”
You are right anonny. I have cribbed on many of these over the years, especially during the bust. There were some in the $400s that were short sales and whatnot during the housing bust years.
Aren’t these about 1600 square feet?
“I feel like they were in the $400s back then (circa 2010)?”
In the $300s, even:
https://cribchatter.com/get-a-3-bedroom-a-block-from-lincoln-park-for-under-360k-419-w-grant/
“If you are a prospective buyer in that market segment (i.e., you really want your one or two kids to attend Lincoln elem and you really want to be within a couple blocks of the park/zoo), and your budget is between $325k and $375k, then this Grant development – however institutional and uninspired it may be as a work of architecture – is going to be nearly impossible to beat. This place meets all of my Unicorn Criteria, with the exception of the parking situation (which, given the “extra storage” that this unit has, might somewhat compensate for the lack of a garage). The lack of a garage, and the somewhat odd deck layout (i.e., they appear to be semi-common with at least one other unit, off the master), was what took the previously listed Grant unit off our radar.”
–nonny, circa Feb 2011.
It closed quickly for $355k:
https://cribchatter.com/3-bedroom-duplex-at-419-w-grant-listed-under-360k-in-east-lincoln-park-sells/
HD (remember him?) called the complex bottom at $299k, nominal. I’m not slogging through to see if it ever got that low for any units, by the featured 419-C resold twice since Apr-2011:
Aug-20 $457.5 (-CPI = $395 in ’11)
Jun-21 $526 (-CPI = $435k in ’11)
Seems like we’ve discussed this complex a lot over the years. Great location, and if you can put up with the 70’s look and feel it’s often affordable for families who just “have” to live in LP. You’d certainly get more for your money elsewhere.
Oh man, early ’11, feels like 50 years ago. We had just been in our place in ELP for a few months at that point. It’s striking to me how important of a Unicorn Criterion garage parking was for us in Chicago; the same feeling continued when we moved to Denver a decade ago (and built a garage on an alley). When we started looking at places in Boulder, I found it crazy how common it was for people to just park outside. We have snowy winters, blazing summer sun, and a rare but real chance of damaging hail (and a fair amount of car break ins and cat converter thefts), so it’s a little strange that so many SFH dwellers here have convinced themselves that not parking in a garage is something they can live with. I even know a few people who have an actual two-car garage, but either only park one car in there, or don’t park in there at all. Then again, I’m typing this at a desk that’s next to a treadmill/weight bench/row of bikes/e-scooters/standup paddle boards, and honestly if we had a two instead of a one-car garage, there’s a decent chance that we’d not park in here. (I will say though that having a powder room is a Unicorn Criterion that I still to this day miss having.)
Ok. so not to get too personal but I am curious
I did find the link to anon ny unicorn criteria
https://cribchatter.com/meeting-anonys-unicorn-criteria-in-east-lincoln-park-2657-n-burling/
but in doing so I saw a reference to new vs old unicorn criteria. so what I wanted to know is is the one I referenced the new or old one?
and then…what was HD’s unicorn criteria before he decamped to NW and got all Clint Eastwood get off my lawn?
“what was HD’s unicorn criteria”
Below 1972 price in nominal dollars, would pass an inspection for subsidized housing.
Closed in March @ $645k.
Thanks for the update anon(tfo). Hard to believe the new price point in The Portals is in the $600s. But it is. Wow.