50% Reduction on Luxury New Construction Lincoln Park Home: 738 W. Belden
This 4-bedroom luxury new construction single family home at 738 W. Belden in Lincoln Park has been on the market since September 2008.
In that time period, it has been reduced a little over 50% to $1.75 million from $3.69 million.
The listing says it is a “super deal” and that it has been appraised at $2.5 million.
It also says “Don’t be shy about an offer!”
The house has 10 foot ceilings throughout, walnut and limestone floors and Italian marble fireplace mantels.
It has custom paneling and moldings as well as an elevator.
The kitchen has white cabinets, granite counter tops and upscale appliances such as a SubZero refrigerator.
Three of the 4 bedrooms are on the third level with the fourth on the main floor.
There is also a 30×15 library and a 3-car garage on a 25×121 lot.
Is this a deal?
Kathleen Tannyhill at Baird and Warner has the listing. See the pictures here.
738 W. Belden: 4 bedrooms, 4.5 baths, 5000 square feet, 3 car garage
- Sold in January 2005 for $1.05 million (prior property)
- Originally listed in September 2008 for $3.69 million
- Reduced numerous times
- Lis pendens foreclosure filed in July 2010
- Reduced to $1.75 million in September 2010
- Currently still listed “as-is” at $1.75 million
- Taxes of $18,912
- Central Air
- Elevator
- Wine cooler
- Bedroom #1: 12×18 (third floor)
- Bedroom #2: 15×19 (third floor)
- Bedroom #3: 13×14 (third floor)
- Bedroom #4: 13×12 (main floor)
- Library: 30×15 (main floor)
re the family room – Now that’s what I’m talkin about! How to make that a private study, as I can’t imagine a family making any casual use of such a severe space. Wonder what the library looks like. I love it.
Beautiful place, but those diagonal floors look cheap and gimmicky IMO. A place like this needs beautiful inlaid, craftsman like floors not some diagonal pergo lookin crap that any chump could install.
Is it just the photo or is there a cheap white range in the Kitchen???
PS
The entire place looks cheap to me. I would buy it for under 900K
Also this location sucks… your back outdoor space backs up against the children’s hospital parking garage, and your choice of neighborhood drinking establishments on Lincoln ave, is quite college aged
Yeah the range is a clunker, but compared to what SFHs go for west of here near Jansen/Greenview, 1.75 doesn’t seem outlandish to me… Am I crazy?
What happens to the childrens hospital once that new development goes in?
This is definitely a great buy at this price – I bet it will be sold/under contract before April.
Really surprised to see a rental quality white stove in 1.75M home.. At this price I would expect at least a 48″ or 60″ Viking/Wolf..
The view of the parking garage is a bummer, but wow is that ever a nice deck. I’d use that fireplace 12 months a year.
It’s a bit far west for me, but for someone looking in the $1.25 – $1.5 range, it looks like a great deal.
Are you guys serious about the range?!! You do realize that builder or whoever likely took it away when they realized the bank was taking away the property. Of course the new owner will put a different range in. Come on guys – you have to be joking about this – right?
1. That’s a gut, not real new construction, isn’t it?
2. That $2.5mm is an as-completed appraisal, no? Check out the curb repeal with the exposed block porch!
3. My favorite part is not the $300 range in the kitchen, but the wrong-sized blind in the bathroom.
4. Nice privacy on the gator deck.
Really that much to be have a view of the hospital parking lot. Thanks but no thanks.
Anon,
Where does the term “gator deck” come from?
clio –
Yeah, I see that now… You can tell that there is space for a larger stove… At firt it looked like it was built in … just the angle of the picture..
When will these one timer, wannabe developers learn that overly customizing a house is bad for sales, and it’s catastrophic if you get caught in a market like this.
I don’t have much respect for people who do not have respect for the value of the home they build.
This is not a business you should get in, if you can’t even make it in an obvious location like this.
Doesn’t this lead to a catch-22? If they don’t customize, then people will comment that the place “looks cheap”.
“When will these one timer, wannabe developers learn that overly customizing a house is bad for sales, and it’s catastrophic if you get caught in a market like this.”
As Sabrina notes, this listing has been around for a while and has been at $1.75 million since September 2010, so if it were a “great buy” someone already would have bought it. Given some of the finishings and the fact that it’s being sold “AS IS” according to Redfin, one has to wonder how much work is left to do, how expensive it will be, and if there are any nasty surprises. Also, I wonder when the 2.5 million appraisal was done …
yes, great place, but man the back deck would be deal killer for me if i were in the market to spend close to $2MM on a place in LP.
“this place is awesome…let’s go check out the back deck…{sees view of parking garage]…
alrighty then, on to the next spot.”
$1.75MM to look out your back door at a parking garage?
this isn’t new york. such sacrifice need not be made.
not under contract by April. jmho.
The cinder block stoop is a cheap touch.
Dan,
There is definitely an art to being a custom developer. There are few in the city, e.g. Environs is one of the good ones out there that I know of for instance; there are certainly few more, and I can assure you that you won’t find any of their property at a %50 discount.
Take for instance a buyer who have more modernistic inclinations, a buyer who wants to live in LP where unfortunately it’s rare to come by a modern structure. So you have to look at houses like these, which is a house that would be a great candidate for that type of built. It is a beautiful brick building, not overly ornate, etc.
With these type of selections, you are slicing off a pretty significant portion of your target market which already has shrunk significantly due to the economy.
Perhaps they put the cheapo range in so it counts as a finished kitchen, thereby making it possible to get a mortgage? I’m not hip to the distinction on what counts as having a kitchen and what doesn’t.
Anon – yet more props on your eye for detail with the blind placement in the bathroom.
$1.75MM gets you more than this place in the same neighborhood, at least from a quick scan. I’d guestimate ~$1.2
re: parking garage.
That can EASILY be fixed with privacy lattice/fencing for less than 5k. If you can’t see beyond this, then you probably will never get a “great deal”.
clio, the parking garage is 6 stories tall and towers over your entire gator deck area
Speaking only for me, there are certain things that a privacy lattice could never properly cover up.
“clio, the parking garage is 6 stories tall and towers over your entire gator deck area”
P-E-R-G-O-L-A
“Anon,
Where does the term “gator deck” come from?”
From here. A deck for watching the alley-gators (rats, cats, dudes pissing, whatever) walk by.
“Perhaps they put the cheapo range in so it counts as a finished kitchen, thereby making it possible to get a mortgage?”
Probably as much to make it livable, as it is obviously occupied rather than staged, but yeah w/o any stove, it’s not “ready for occupancy”. Can barely see, so its a guess, but it looks like cheap black dishwasher, too.
“Speaking only for me, there are certain things that a privacy lattice could never properly cover up.”
Certain things, at a given price. I could deal with the deck thing were this place cheap enough. $1.75mm is *not* cheap enough to deal with the looming garage, even with am extremely nice lattice screen.
Are there really nicer places in this area for less than 1.75 million? I haven’t seen any…. remember – this is a newly renovated place. If everything was done well, that is worth quite a bit.
“Are there really nicer places in this area for less than 1.75 million?”
yes clio, about 5 of them
“That can EASILY be fixed with privacy lattice/fencing for less than 5k. If you can’t see beyond this, then you probably will never get a “great deal”.”
i think we have different definitions of “great deal”…and that doesn’t really bother me.
meantime, I will just have to risk living life without knowing the pleasure of getting a great deal on a view of a parking garage.
or, a view of a pergola that i put up so i could play make-believe and not act like I really paid nearly $2MM for a view of a parking garage.
“Are there really nicer places in this area for less than 1.75 million?”
Depends what you mean by “nicer”. The current on-the-market competition all have other trade-offs, so it depends what you value. the proximity to the parking garage bugs me, so this would need to be cheaper to work for me.
Children’s is moving, so who knows what will even be on that stretch of Lincoln by 2013-2015? I highly doubt that parking garage will stay unless DePaul wants it, so all of the ballyhoo over it backing up to this place is a bit much.
pretty sure a parking garage like that will stay for a long, long time. that thing is a cash cow
“I highly doubt that parking garage will stay unless DePaul wants it”
That garage ain’t going anywhere. For, as Sonies notes, it’s a cash cow that will only become *more* valuable when Children’s moves.
well just think of it this way – your guests will have a place to park when they come over.
Whomever buys this place, will get exactly what they deserve… a pile of euro -crap, and the knowledge that they live in the embarrassment of the area. I walked by this place almost daily with the dog while it was under construction, and all I can say is that it’s 100% Home Depot fine living. Typical eastern European bricklayer/plumber/roofer one day, builder of ‘fine’ homes the next. I think builder had a thing for Medieval Times (and frankly, who doesn’t), as all of the embellishments have a heavy D&D look… zero in on the front door ‘the wizard isn’t home!’ Some low-rent-I’ve-never-heard-of-them aluminum company did the windows, and the amount of caulk they used was insane (a sure sign they don’t fit to the openings).
There’s no way he could have gotten away with this on the east side of Lincoln (Mid-North historical district), or even around the corner on Burling, as Vi Daley would have slapped a stop work order on the front door for the cinder block stoop alone. Had this been a nice renovation, it would have sold by now; there’s a reason why homes like this sit on the market folks, always a reason… be warned.
Nothing “high end” about this place. Looks ordinary and many elements rather cheap. It would take about 100K to make it nice at a minimum. I think it will sell for about 1.3 max. The location is not nice but may get better once CMH moves downtown.
If you were doing a 48 inch range would you do a wolf or Viking? Does is matter?
If you were doing a 48 inch range would you do a wolf or Viking? Does it matter?
“That can EASILY be fixed with privacy lattice/fencing for less than 5k”
hahahaahaha i can do it for $500 bucks and that includes the wood and stain.
yea, it’s crap.
Clio, yes, good deal from around 1 million. Not 1.75
“Had this been a nice renovation, it would have sold by now; there’s a reason why homes like this sit on the market folks, always a reason… be warned.”
Agree, I don’t know about the construction quality, but what I see is pretty tasteless generic wannabe old money crap. That library makes me nauseous…
‘If you were doing a 48 inch range would you do a wolf or Viking? Does it matter?’
Wolf. Viking started after the stainless stove thing was well under way, and kinda copied what was already there. The gauge of stainless isn’t as thick, and no sales person at ABT who sells both, would choose Viking over Wolf… or so I’m told.
Jay. Thanks. We are heading to abt tonight to check them out. Just curious what all the experts thought.
Jay, I absolutely agree with everything you said!
However, it always amuses me to see how people are snob about their micro location in LP. There is certainly more desirable pockets, but if you look at the major and rich cities in the Western world, when you say “high end neighborhood” well, there is a consistancy of architecture that goes along with it. And LP must be really an exception to that rule as there is consistently crap even on the fanciest blocks, e.g. there are plenty of studio appartments in ELP today.
I am more inclined to judge anything in LP mainly on a per house basis, rather than the micro location, e.g. there is a house designed by Tado Ando on Wrightwood, close to Fullerton, a location many of the old school LPers may snob, but who cares. It is a spectacular house.
So, to the people who are snob about their micro location in LP, I have to say to stop, because it’s nothing but a self fulfilling prophecy.
On the north side, the closest nhood that comes close to that consistency, I mention, besides the unfortunate crap they built in the 50’s through 70’s is the Parkways in East Gold Coast-Dearborn, State and Astor and needless to say ELSD.
Interesting – Spinoza I think you really need to check out a few other ‘hoods in Chicago. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at the consistency of architecture of some others.
“Wrightwood, close to Fullerton, a location many of the old school LPers may snob, but who cares” I think even new school LPers might take issue with that location, that is, if they could find it.
“Interesting – Spinoza I think you really need to check out a few other ‘hoods in Chicago. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at the consistency of architecture of some others”
it may seem like it, but spinoza the city does not end at western ave.
I’m surprised so many people think this is a nonstarter. What if you paid in the 1.25-1.5 range? (Maybe a delusional price cut? Not sure, the seller is begging for an offer)
I can’t tell how cheap the finishes are with this place, but I certainly think it is a superior home and location to say this CONDO that I walked through last year. http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/1445-W-Belden-Ave-60614/unit-3L/home/13353069
Certainly a 500k premium is reasonable comparing the two homes, right?
All of the complaints, with the exception of the parking garage, are cosmetic are they not?
Again, I am used to *really* old townhouses on the east coast at this price point, and am drawn to the old brick exterior w/ subtle top floor decorum – it looks “real” and like it has good bones to me. I would prefer to finish/tweak a building like this than a brand new home from Environs at 2-3x the price.
Again if the craftsmanship is as bad as Jay says, that means a lot, but I would sure be curious to see how other homes of this size at this price point in this location are priced (or could be reasonably expected to be priced).
“it may seem like it, but spinoza the city does not end at western ave.
”
Groove – everybody knows that the city ends at Halsted!!
Spinoza, since you’re so concerned about the consistency of architecture, you should check out Plainfield or Romeoville – every tract home looks exactly the same for miles and miles…
http://www.redfin.com/IL/Plainfield/24446-Kennedy-Cir-60544/home/23294220
“#Wicker on February 7th, 2011 at 1:34 pm
Interesting – Spinoza I think you really need to check out a few other ‘hoods in Chicago. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at the consistency of architecture of some others.”
“Again if the craftsmanship is as bad as Jay says, that means a lot, but I would sure be curious to see how other homes of this size at this price point in this location are priced (or could be reasonably expected to be priced).”
I agree with you Joe – I have looked and can’t see anything comparable for the same price (given that the mechanicals are new and the renovations aren’t shoddy).
“I’m surprised so many people think this is a nonstarter. What if you paid in the 1.25-1.5 range? (Maybe a delusional price cut? Not sure, the seller is begging for an offer) ”
$1.3 ish, assuming one can appropriately assess and quantify (at a total number less than $200k and less than 4 weeks of work) what deficiencies beyond appliances, shades, etc., exist would strike me as an actual “deal”. The original $3.5 was beyond ludicrous, tho had it been fully completed in ’07, I think $2.5-2.8-ish would have gotten it done.
“If you were doing a 48 inch range would you do a wolf or Viking? Does is matter?”
Personally, btwn those two brands, easy call with Wolf. IMO, Viking is overpriced for the features it offers and is all about name recognition. However, I suggest also looking at Dacor and DCS. Thermador for me is out — simmer clicks on and off. A friend has a combo electric/gas Wolf and really likes it but the electric control panel/timer was not reliable from the start — this is a problem with combo ranges or ones that offer self-cleaning as the higher heat can affect longevity of electrical components. If I’m recalling my research correctly, I think Viking may be the only one offering self-cleaning. It’s pricey and allegedly shortens the lifespan of the range.
I have and LOVE my Dacor Epicure range. Needed all gas so could not do a Wolf range as I wanted sealed burners (the all gas Wolf is open burner), but still felt it was my favorite overall. Has huge integrated grates so you can slide pots and use large pots/pans w/ no loss of stability (grab a large pan from the small appliance area at Abt and test out the different grate configurations and types). Cool griddle accessory fits over two grates, creating awesome huge built-in gridde equivalent that is easy to clean unlike a dedicated built-in, plus doesn’t take up space if you’re not using it. Porcelainized top so easy to clean (this is what knocked DCS out). Nice range of high and low temps, very responsive, excellent super low simmer. Unusually large oven capacity, very nice convection. If you have the griddle, you will have replacement knobs for two burners that have a mark that shows you what temp is safe for non-stick so you know exactly how hot you can go when using non-stick. You should also consider what kind of heating system and temps the broiler offers and look at what kind of dissassembly you will be doing for cleaning. Griddles are notoriously challenging to clean and the burner assemblies can also be quite variable. Finally, high heat close to stainless = a date with Barkeeper’s Friend so the location of any stainless is worth a close look unless seeing a tan film doesn’t bother you.
http://www.egullet.org has excellent reviews and info on ranges and hoods. I purchased from Abt and found they were not particularly knowledgeable about the differences btwn the pro-style ranges. So you may want to go in with an idea of what’s important to you if you are planning on taking advantage of the features this kind of range offers.
HD,
I don’t mean consistency, in the sense of them houses being identical! But, if one talks about a high end nhood, there is a lot of let down in LP from that stand point that you won’t find in other rich world cities.
I didn’t suggest either that you can’t find good architecture outside the near north side.
Oops, 30″ Wolf all gas is open burner. Not sure about larger ones.
HD,
I hope you were being really sarcastic with that link. That is one ugly house.
You could of showed me the Goldberg House outside the city that someone was talking about the other day though.
Interesting – Spinoza I think you really need to check out a few other ‘hoods in Chicago. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at the consistency of architecture of some others”
I don’t mean consistency, in the homogeneous suburban sense. I meant “good” houses.
Of course I’m kidding, ha haha
You are correct Jay. Does no one have a problem w the cinderblock front porch or am I looking at that wrong?
“Again, I am used to *really* old townhouses on the east coast at this price point, and am drawn to the old brick exterior w/ subtle top floor decorum – it looks “real” and like it has good bones to me. I would prefer to finish/tweak a building like this than a brand new home from Environs at 2-3x the price.”
Fair point Joe, but tearing down can be potentially more costly than building up with a project like this. Tearing down means, a lot of potential damage you may cause while doing so.
So, you almost wish that they just left the damn place raw, and so the buyers could finish themselves. I almost want to say it would of been worth the money just then…
This is also one of the examples where the line between the right price and the aesthetics is diluted. It’s very hard to say how much of it is a result of the ugly choices and supposed lousy construction quality in certain places of the house, and how much of it is due to the wrong pricing strategy.
“Wrightwood, close to Fullerton, a location many of the old school LPers may snob, but who cares” I think even new school LPers might take issue with that location, that is, if they could find it.
What do you mean by “if they could find it?” Are you suggesting that this crossing does not exist?
“Does no one have a problem w the cinderblock front porch or am I looking at that wrong?”
Yours was at least the 3d time it was noted, so you’re looking at the comments wrong, if nothing else.
“What do you mean by ‘if they could find it?’ Are you suggesting that this crossing does not exist?”
Yes.
“What do you mean by “if they could find it?” Are you suggesting that this crossing does not exist?”
Yes, that’s what was suggested. Fullerton and Wrightwood are parallel streets.
I meant Wd & Clark! Silly me! Sorry about that.
You are correct anon (tfo). Damn bifocals.
“Wd & Clark!”
East of Clark is fine LP, by any non-ridiculous standard. West of Clark might get some argument (if one is being a pain), at least wrt on Wrightwood itself, which is not the greatest street b/t Clark and Orchard.
snoooooze.
Anon. read what I said above. I wasn’t asking your opinion about the location.
While you are right that ELP is East of Clark if one wanted to be snob about it, actually let me rectify that, for people who are native to that area, it is not east or West, but it is the (real)LP, period. However, today, the landscaped has changed a lot. There are plenty of studio appartment buildings in what you call ELP which makes all these distinctions quasi-irrelevant. You have very expensive housing all the way down to the Clybourn corridor…
“read what I said above”
Okay, let’s look at it again:
“a location many of the old school LPers may snob, but who cares.”
I was just chiming in that, if it’s east of Clark, even old skool LPers can’t snob it w/o being ridiculous, and b/t Clark and Halsted the problem is mostly the preponderance of apartments.
“While you are right that ELP is East of Clark … There are plenty of studio appartment buildings in what you call ELP”
I don’t call anything ELP.
anon: What about your Electric Lubrication Pump, or an Entry-Level Position, perhaps an English Language Program? Maybe an Equipment Loan Program, or an Extended Learning Program?
These are all ELPs. I love the interweb.
“Welcome back my friends, to the show that never ends,
so glad you could attend, come inside, come inside.”
-ELP
““Welcome back my friends, to the show that never ends,
so glad you could attend, come inside, come inside.””
In certain corners of the internets, posting such things results in death threats.
“What about your Electric Lubrication Pump, or an Entry-Level Position, perhaps an English Language Program? Maybe an Equipment Loan Program, or an Extended Learning Program?”
Oh, well *that* stuff, of course. Just not any neighborhood in Chicago.
@Jay
Agree on the gauge of the steel. We had a Wolf, though, and the various grooves and joints were a nightmare to keep clean. I much prefer the Dacor we have now (which has a few more BTUs, too), though the grates are definitely inferior to both Viking or Wolf. Our neighbor’s Thermador makes me drool.
There is nothing about this place that looks beautiful to me, neither exterior not the interior specially at this price point.
@ Spinoza
‘However, it always amuses me to see how people are snob about their micro location in LP. There is certainly more desirable pockets, but if you look at the major and rich cities in the Western world, when you say “high end neighborhood” well, there is a consistancy of architecture that goes along with it. And LP must be really an exception to that rule as there is consistently crap even on the fanciest blocks, e.g. there are plenty of studio appartments in ELP today.’
LP is just fine with it’s ‘consistency of architecture’ of mostly well maintained modest 19th century middle class housing that still holds onto it’s original simple esthetics: wooden double hung windows, double doors, wooden stoops, common Chicago brick, simple iron rails, etc. In fact, there’s a marker at the corner of Sedgwick & Grant designating most of LP as a historical district because of those very attributes. I can’t think of one similar neighborhood (NY’s West Village, London’s Chelsea.. where I once lived), that doesn’t have it’s finer blocks or studio apartments buildings with lots of students/elder/new to the city graduates. That’s the urban mix, LP’rs really like it that way. Who wants to live like Lake Forest… all the same, yawn.
The problem arises when you call areas that aren’t LP…. LP, and this house is in LP. If agents had their way, everything that wasn’t the Gold Coast, would be LP. There is *no* ELP, that’s a recent made up term. There is *no* west LP, that’s another recent made up term. Check out the city of Chicago’s neighborhood map, the official one, not the one by Rubloff or Ginos Pizza, and when the city officially calls Wrightwood & Jansen for example LP, so will I. Call me independent, but i don’t go to Ravens and ask for a vente’ stout, nor ask if they can supersize my dinner at Tru.
This house is amazing… not a single element of this home acts in concert with another. Its like furnishing an apartment using Ikea’s damaged goods bin and expecting a sense of cohesion.
I hope they got burned bad enough to keep them from trying again.
Studio apartment buildings in upscale Lincoln Park – oh, the horror! News flash: on some of those very tony “parkways” in the Gold Coast you have some rather mundane small-space rental buildings as well, whose origins go back some 90+ years.
According to what I’ve been told, these “efficiency” units were homes to the servants of the GC mansions whose owners did not want to provide attic/basement “quarters” for their riff-raff employees.
I suspect something similar may have been the case in “old” Lincoln Park as well.
Nowadays of course those “servants quarters” are homes to college students and artsy types who want the “urban boho” lifestyle on the one hand, plus the conveniences of the “Establishment” culture on the other.
“Check out the city of Chicago’s neighborhood map, the official one”
The one where the Lake View neighborhood extends all the way to the river from Leavitt up to Addison? Yeah, that’s really definitive. Nothing to criticize there.
linky:
http://www.cityofchicago.org/content/dam/city/depts/doit/general/GIS/Chicago_Maps/Citywide_Maps/City_Neighborhoods_poster.pdf
ChiTownGal,
The original term for “urban boho” is “bobo”-stands for bourgeois-bohemian 🙂
Jay,
I don’t disagree with many of the things you said, however, all I am saying is that, if anything, it is a more nostalgic take on the borders of the neighborhood.
Be it for marketing purposes or else, there is a consensus among buyers and sellers both residential and commercial that anything that fits within the borders of 60614 is LP. If you go to LP Chamber of Commerce, you will see that it is the case there as well, per their official map.
I should of probably used another term, instead of consistency, i.e. what I meant was not in the sense of conformity but more in the sense of well the price of the land-which is nothing but humble or middle class, does not necessarily match the estate-
It’s just an observation. Nothing more. The old Astor street is an example of a large concentration of single families and beautiful vintage buildings, where when one walks through gets that feeling of high end. But even there, they destroyed it by building ultra ugly buildings 20-30 years ago.
H.
Since you seem to be the expert on appliances, have you heard of the brand Gorenje? They make carbon fiber appliances. I’ve only seen the pics. They look beautiful.
I am not a huge fan of exposed stainless steel unless you have a matching industrial type of space that goes with it…
I don’t know what to tell you Spinoza, if you think City of Chicago and the residents of LP find their borders to be nostalgic, then there you go. People believe in a lot of post-nostalgic things: like their online degree for university of Phoenix is on scholastic par with a traditional degree from Northwestern, or that eating fat-free ice cream won’t cause you to gain weight, or that $1mm mortgage on a $50k a year salary is a good thing and it means you’re rich. There was a ‘consensus among buyers and sellers’ over the last decade that said 2/2 mcboxes in the west loop should sell for say $750k, and that houses increase in value 18% a year. Yep, the masses are always right.
Jay you are comparing apples and oranges. Again, I don’t dispute you on what was/is still for you and for people who live there, once considered LP.
What I wrote was not my opinion, but rather a fact and has nothing to do with the subprime mgage market or how much a property in the WLoop should sell for…And call it a marketing scheme, and you may be right but as I have told you, Lincoln Park Chamber of Commerce itself is on the deal, and markets the entire 60614 as LP.
So, I think it is fair to say, it is quite irrelevant whether we agree with it or not.
And one more fact, while the price per sq.ft is still higher in the East, if you look at the average listing price East of Halsted vs. West of Halsted, you will see that the west is higher, due to the preponderance of appartments in the East, and the surge of large SF’s and TH’s in the West…
You’re absolutely correct: what was once considered LP by it’s long time residents such as myself is no longer, due to the motive-for-profit-LPCC, agents, move-up buyers at Jansen & Fullerton, suburban bloggers, etc. I get it, and totally agree. However, I can assure you that the people that actually live in the real LP… could give a fuck; they know their position. Kinda like the guy at the TSA who annoyingly wants to look inside your bag just one more time… and all you can think as you look at his perma-pressed uniform with his shopping mall badge is ‘wow… I bet you thought you were something with your ’84 Camaro back in high school’, as you run to catch your flight to St. Barths for the season.
With that, our next step is to get a room.