“3000 Sq. Ft. of Luxury” in the Fulton Market District: 1118 W. Fulton
This top floor 3-bedroom unit at 1118 W. Fulton in heart of the Fulton Market District in the West Loop has been on the market since April 2011.
Now listed as a short sale, it has been reduced $169,000 in that time.
The 3000 square foot unit has a second floor loft and 3 outdoor spaces including a private rooftop deck.
The listing describes the kitchen as “gourmet” with European style cabinets, a 60′ range and Subzero appliances.
It also has central air, a massive 17×13 laundry room and 1 car garage parking.
Is this a deal for a large unit in a neighborhood that was once marketed by loft developers the “meatpacking district of Chicago”?
Josie Arena-Wissinger at Century 21 Pro-Team has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #503: 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 3000 square feet
- Sold in May 1999 for $530,000
- Lis pendens foreclosure filed in May 2010
- Originally listed in April 2011 for $854,900
- Reduced
- Currently listed as a “short sale” at $685,900 (includes parking)
- Assessments of $813 a month
- Taxes of $12131
- Central Air
- Washer/Dryer in the unit
- Bedroom #1: 28×18
- Bedroom #2: 15×13
- Bedroom #3: 13×9
- Laundry room: 17×13
- Loft: 20×15 (second level)
Love the paint in that bathroom.
“It’s like I’m taking a dump in the Mediterranean!”
Ugh, I hate it when lofts like this are ruined – too much drywall, weird layouts and ugly finishes and paint.
I didn’t try to figure out what is owed, but I would guess that this is going back to near the ’99 price if it goes before the bank gets it. It’s tough to pay $1800/month in assessments and taxes on a property like this.
Very unlofty feel to this place due to the shorter ceilings.
Taxes + assessments + required rehab = no chance at this price.
The realtor needs a tape measure. That’s a 48″ range, not a 60″.
Hideous.
I can’t even believe that bathroom. And there’s a picnic table on the roof. Total Shart Sale.
lol @ shart sale
new to me. added to repertoire.
never cease to be amazed that a place like this gets listed without being painted. like throwing money right out the door.
also the column right in the middle of the kitchen is a nice touch.
price is getting close though. if the square footage is legit then i can’t see it going for much less than $625K..and that would seem like a steal to me.
My gawd–all this needs is a “surge into the red zone” cavern (http://cribchatter.com/?p=11360) and a ghost trike and this would take the Crib Chatter Trifecta.
“TftInChi on September 9th, 2011 at 1:08 pm
Love the paint in that bathroom.
“It’s like I’m taking a dump in the Mediterranean!””
This has to be the post of the week.
I know we’re not supposed to comment on decor but man, what a few gallons of beige paint could do for this place. If I was the realtor I’d do it myself.
Green Line El Tracks a block away. Delivery trucks start at 4am right outside your windows here – and in the summer they run the refrigerator generators all nights, in the winter the diesel trucks idle overnight.
You will not have a restful nights sleep within 5 blocks of this location.
Oh, and damn, that’s a lot of drywall.
I remember when developers started building residential units in Fulton Market. Businesses were putting up huge signs telling prospective buyers that truck traffic starts at 3 AM.
The green line gets going pretty fast through this stretch, too. Nice and noisy.
I was expecting so much more from the description.
Best CC thread ever! I LoL’d twice already with the “total shart sale” and the “It’s like I’m taking a dump in the Mediterranean!”
I’m not at all surprised a unit decorated and painted as such would end up a short sale. You can spot them a mile away. I love the nearly 18 month foreclosure thing going on. Especially since it’s empty. Just give it back to the bank already, sell it and clear the market for goodness sakes.
I currently live just one block west of this listing and although I agree the unit is in need of serious renovation, I do not agree with the other posts about the noise. After living in my current unit for well over a year, I have never been woken up by the EL, Refrigerators or Trucks and I think most of my fellow owners would feel the same way.
Yes it can be tricky to park in this area in the morning, because of the trucks, a block or two North or South you can find a spot. If you leave your windows open at night then yes, you will hear noise early in the morning as you would in any neighborhood in the city.
Fulton Market area is growing with new restaurants – Next, Aviary, Publican, ING, etc. With Randolph street a few blocks away, your in walking distance to restaurant row.
While I am not a fan of this unit, I don’t think its right to discredit the neighborhood without actually living in it.
I was excited to see this place when I cliked the link but then felt sick after seeing what the clowns beforehand did to this place… good grief!
this is a great posting.
After the 1930’s crash it took until the 1950’s for things to start to heat up. we’ve got plenty of time to buy!
“MacPhail on September 9th, 2011 at 2:35 pm
This area will be the Tribeca of Chicago in the next boom cycle, and the businesses will all be cleared out at that point. LGBT will have another 10% of the urban population under its spell and the trend is your friend. Buy early! Randolph Street will turn retail and command Bucktown/Damen type retail $50 psf NNN rents”
“Green Line El Tracks a block away.”
At least they are finally getting a nearby station. Sucks a little less if you get to at least use it. Less sucking is good, too, with all that diesel exhaust around.
“You will not have a restful nights sleep within 5 blocks of this location”
Where do you get that stuff MJ? I’d stick to making comments on your own hood.
Your comments are not true as I live three blocks away and sleep with my windows open every chance I get. There are no diesel or refridge trucks running all night on my blocks. Fulton is a different story with early AM truck activity however that exact block is not too bad. Walk my dog there every morning so I am very in tune with this exact place. Across the street to the south there is a antiques shop. East has an egg guy but they are not very active. One to two blocks east are much noisier.
I’d say that the real issue is the garbage transfer building located one block NE of this building. That puts up a stink on warm summer days.
Anonemoose makes a good point about the trains but there is a new stop at Morgan opening next year. That is already making the trains slow down. I actually prefer them to go by really fast as there is less annoyance factor and no braking noise.
“The green line gets going pretty fast through this stretch, too. Nice and noisy”
Ald. Burnett has threatened to rezone Fulton Market to manufacturing/industrial if the fights between the meat markets and restaurants start up again. That would finish off any more residential going in the area.
Randolph has some really great places to eat that are on fire. Target is coming in at Jackson and Abereen. New el stop at Morgan. Rumour of a Trader Joes/Whole foods but nothing signed yet.
The west loop is not for everyone and I’ll admit that it is a bit more urban than some will like. Here are some really good pro’s for the list. Skinner school, new Sangamon park, excellent walking proximity to the loop, safety, fantastic dining and entertainment options, still free and good availability for parking, very good public transportation options, and excellent driving access to the expressways by car. I am sure that there will be haters but in my opinion I still think that for the values in the area it is hard to beat!
“Ald. Burnett has threatened to rezone Fulton Market to manufacturing/industrial if the fights between the meat markets and restaurants start up again. That would finish off any more residential going in the area”
Not exactly true as he just approved a deal at Aberdeen and Fulton for a mainly commercial mixed use development. At the end of the day once the huge Fulton Market building goes under contract, and it will soon, all those smaller meat based operations will pack up quickly. The city is trying to get them to move to a new area with modern buildings and much improved facitilites. The only thing keeping them is the mostly empty Fulton Market Cold Storage building.
That owner has been trying to sell the building for years and walked away from multiple deals that were worth WAY WAY more than he could get in today’s market. The developers that wanted it back then are all too scared now. It will make an excellent hotel, mixed use development, and retail space someday. Those incredible views will be very well received by the market. When it finally happens the market in the immediate area will quickly rise in value.
Where do you get that stuff MJ? I’d stick to making comments on your own hood.
jp3chicago – I just moved from Washington/Racine in May. I’m very familiar with the neighborhood. I enjoed living there for a lot of the reasons you stated, not to mention great, and at least for a while, free street parking.
Washington and Racine is what – 4-5 blocks from the Green Line ? Just saying – with the windows open we had to literally raise the volume on the tv everytime a train ran through. Yeah, a new station mid-way will slow the trains down a bit.
And before everyone tells me to move to the suburbs if i want quiet – that comes up a lot here – I want to live in the city, and get that the El, and delivery trucks, and buses at stop lights are 24 hour city noises. Some places are quieter than others, and this condo is not in one of them.
We moved there in 2005 or so, and were hoping that all of that development was going to happen – it never did.
As of September 2nd, Burnett tabled the move to re-zone to manufacturing. It’s in Crain’s if you don’t believe me. Just because he’s approved the mixed use development doesn’t mean he can’t reserve the right to change his mind. Burnett is an excellent alderman. He’s looked after his long-term constituents while accommodating the new ones and he’s been fair. Just don’t piss him off.
What keeps the Fulton Market vendors where they are is access to the highway as well as being a central location for deliveries to their accounts in the city. If it made sense for them to move elsewhere, they would have done so already.
And what I’ll never understand is people’s willingness to piss away the city’s resources a la the vendors in the Fulton Market. This idea that every area that serves a purpose must be redeveloped into overpriced residential and entertainment, when there’s already plenty in the city, is beyond me. There are so many viable businesses that located to that area because it’s a good area to operate out of.
At least the Kinzie Corridor is protected from residential development.
I’d say that many great things happened since 2005! Girl and the Goat, Market, West End, Next, CRBG, & Haymarket are a few places that come to mind. Retail is just ok but Madison Ave. seems to have a few new openings. The new Jewel was a big improvement over that Dominicks at Skybridge. How about the new park, Skinner School, West Loop gym, and an el stop about to open. Four coffee shops have been added in the last few years. Threadless even found the area for a headquarters. Target is on the way. More and more development is coming to the area!
Just think what will happen in the next 5 years. I’m clearly a WL optimist but I can feel the energy. Just this morning I found out that a new City WIne bar is opening at 1200 Randolph.
Owners can’t wait to move. Fulton Market is an inefficient and horrible design for it’s current use. Come down at 5am and watch the daily fights and struggles of truck drivers, fork lift operators, and loading dock workers trying to do the dance of loading trucks.
Many who are not tied to that cold storage meat facility already left. Some others consolidated. In the end the place is terribly outdated and overly congested for it’s daily grind. Daley tried to get them to relocate to an area off I55. In time it will happen.
God I hate penthouse units on loft buildings. They routinely lack complementary exterior design (like this eyesore) and the interiors miss the boat entirely on what loft living… especially penthouse loft living should be about. In the end this unit is interchangeable with any run of the mill early 90s duplex up crapshack.
Love the area, hate hate hate the unit.
Looks like the entire top floor was added about 100 years after the building was built. I personally HATE the look added floors. They almost always ruin the look of the building.
“God I hate penthouse units on loft buildings. They routinely lack complementary exterior design (like this eyesore) and the interiors miss the boat entirely on what loft living… especially penthouse loft living should be about.”
Could not agree more. Sold my penthouse loft unit for a unit a few doors down with a large terrace. I have more space and its authentic — old columns, ceiling, brick and casement windows…not the new faux concrete, patio door, crap. I finally live a real loft.
Forget the paint! Has anyone looked under the hood on this deal? NOT just a short sale – 3 pin codes, two mortgages on different pin codes, one foreclosed, one not. Two banks, the seller and the buyer – four sets of lawyers! Two “normal” short sales across the street went for less than $200/sq ft – too expensive and a freakish mess. Who would touch this???
Since Jp3 appears to be the “expert” here, i would like to set the record straight.
We, the owners of FMCS, know very well that our building is out dated. We are the ones that have to operate it day in an day out. Have a little more experience at that than Jp3.
The obstacle for any new residential has always been Ald. Burrnett and his side kick Roger Romenelli who heads the Randolph Merchants Association. Why would Burrnett ever oppose residential? After all the City would generate much more from residential taxes than from it’s current use. Look at the demographics of Burrnett’s ward. Now look at the voting power that would move into our building and any other converted property. Now do you understand why he opposes residential? He runs unopposed every time. It would be professional suicide for him if he was ever to approve rezoning to residential.
Lets move to 2011. Jp3 seems to have all the answers again. However mis-leading. Son, you gave to do more homework. The only option for this building is mixed use. Burrnnet just recently opposed making it into a boutique hotel. I guess he is opposed to creating 100-200 more jobs in his ward.
The Fulton Market should have been relocated many years ago. We presented a plan to the City and the merchants 6 years ago to move 4 miles west off of Lake Street. There is a 30 acre site that could have housed all the merchants and the warehouse. That would have generated great PR for the City and the Market. Only problem was Burrnett and his insistence not to rezone the area and dealing with the City of Chicago.
So here we are in a down economy. Things could have and should have been done a long long time ago. But for reasons far beyond our control, they were not.
FMCS owner. Thanks for the clarity that you brought to the subject. I have been entertained by many stories from some friends that attempted to be the next owners of your building. They have a slightly different viewpoint. Like any situation people see things from different perspectives. They often see hear and explain things the way they want the message communicated. Glad to hear that you have been able to relocate your successful business in a new more user friendly location. I’m also glad to hear that there are talks about a potential use for your magnificent building.
http://www.suntimes.com/business/13020502-420/fulton-market-cold-storage-may-be-next-business-hub.html
It is clear that you raise some valid points and have true first hand knowledge to the subject. On many fronts I stand corrected. In response to the political suicide comment I struggle with that point. While one can suspect that a change in demographics could make the vote tougher for Burnett I think that residents would find him to be an excellent representative. I’ve worked with him on both business and personal (residential) issues and found him to be quite competent. He did once refer to me as a “dirty old man” when he met my wife which I found a bit unusual and unprofessional however I let the comment slide.
I’m sure that you are aware that he did give tentative blessing to a boutique hotel being developed a few blocks south of your building. Although you would argue that it is not in the market district I suspect that he may have realized that the times may have changed and perhaps be more open to the subject moving forward. That would sure be an excellent use for part of the structure and would not overload the neighborhood.
Hopefully the other users of the area will find a new spot as you had previously suggested that is better suited for loading and unloading trucks. The current location is good however the physical design of that area is just simply not state of the art.
BTW the real reason I was looking this listing up is that the property is now finally under contract…. from a list price of $575K. Quite a drop from the original price point.