Distinguishing Yourself From the Pack: 950 W. Monroe in the West Loop
950 W. Monroe in the West Loop was built in 2005 as part of a wave of massive building in the West Loop that has added hundreds of new condo units to the area.
If you’re now selling, how do you stand out from the pack?
This 1-bedroom unit has a unique wall of built-ins that are not commonly seen in 2005-era construction (in 1-bedroom condos, that is.)
It is also listed for $5100 under its 2005 purchase price.
In addition to the built-ins, the unit has 12 foot ceilings, a 12×6 balcony and a kitchen with 42-inch cherry cabinets and granite counters.
Scott Sasse at Quest Realty Group has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #612: 1 bedroom, 1 bath, no square footage listed
- Sold in September 2005 for $295,000
- Currently listed for $259,900 (plus $30,000 for parking)
- Assessments of $329 a month
- Taxes of $2815
- Central Air
- W/D in the unit
- Bedroom: 12×11
- Living room: 21×17
- Kitchen: 9×9
12×11 makes this a Jr. 1 bedroom not a full 1br. And in the west loop? Are you serious? Non-distressed 1br’s are that price in River North.
Seller is an idiot.
The seller is mentally anchored to his cost basis on the unit. He is emotionally vested–all these years he believed he got a good deal when he paid 300k for a 1/1. And no potential buyer is going to convince him otherwise unless he absolutely has to sell.
This guy is stuck.
Can someone explain why the book cabinets are being referred to as “built-ins”?? I hear this all the time. It looks like those cabinets are screwed onto the side of the walls, much like the kitchen cabinets. Are the kitchen cabinets referred to as “built-ins”?? No. “Built-ins” are actually built INto the wall, so the front of the book cabinet is flush with the wall, giving the appearance of being IN the wall – as in built-INto the wall.
I’d be interested to know what size TV is about hte fireplace in the “built in”. Pretty sure my 50″ won’t fit.
Decent unit but for that price I’d be looking in RN or Printer’s Row
I don’t believe a glorified shelving unit is enough to make a unit stand out from others. Especially one that is painted wood rather than stained, and protrudes out from the wall (I agree with ChiTown on this last bit). Two months ago when I was on the hunt I saw a West Loop 2/2 with this “feature” and I found it constraining- it wasn’t attractive and it wasn’t big enough to hold my television. I would have preferred the square footage instead.
of the four units that have closed in the building in the last six months, three were short sales. ouch. the relatively good news for the seller is the other unit is directly above and sold for $285k last week. looks like they have a fighting chance of getting somewhere close to list based on that.
i fail to see how a 12×11 master bedroom makes it a ‘junior one bedroom’. a, who are you to make the rules?
a on May 4th, 2009 at 10:19 am
12×11 makes this a Jr. 1 bedroom not a full 1br. And in the west loop? Are you serious? Non-distressed 1br’s are that price in River North.
Seller is an idiot.
because 12×11 is fucking tiny and I would barely be able to lay down and stretch in that thing.
Chicago building code allows it to be called a bedroom. Buyers can draw their own conclusion.
ChiTown on May 4th, 2009 at 10:41 am
Can someone explain why the book cabinets are being referred to as “built-ins”??
Looks like they are built in – look carefully on the right side and you can see the ductwork protruding out from the wall. Maybe not exactly flush but in all fairness that’s a decent bit of custom millwork (never cheap)
You must be huge
fair enough. have you thought about sleeping at an angle?
a- you must be huge. the photo of the bedroom shows a queen (i assume) and a dresser and it doesn’t look *that* cramped. this isn’t one of those 8.5X11 2nd bedrooms i see in Wicker Park…
While 12×11 isn’t huge, it isn’t McCrapbox tiny either. Most new developments 1BRs are smaller than 12×11. I’m thinking a lot of 12x10s and 11x10s. Those dimensions are McCrapbox territory for me but this barely escapes it.
8.5×11? LOL! Thats a nice walk in closet. I would laugh at any seller pitching an 8.5×11 room as another bedroom.
Sorry, Ze Carioca, that ain’t no “built-in”. That’s an ‘attached’ bookcase, whether duct work protrudes or not.
Pet peeve in listing: ’42"’- obviously the agent means 42 inch but due some HTML formatting the ” end up being displayed as ". Do these agents not proofread the listing. Where the 5% commission going. If I offer 6%, can I get some proofreading??
7-eleven in the building: great for late night snack and attracting late night bums. It does say full amenity building….
Looks like this place has a great view of the gentrifying area known as “around the UC”.
Are hospital ambulance sirens bad in this area? I’d think they would be fairly annoying.
I think the “built-ins” are nice looking… if it were an upgrade to a vinyl sided cookie-cutter home in the burbs. They don’t match the exposed duct, cement ceiling “pseudo-loft” vibe of the place. Wrong upgrade for the wrong place…
I don’t understand why people buy condos that are clearly not their style.
Chi.. looks like built-ins to me… As I said.. regardless of semantics of whether their is a closed wall above them or not (which would make them built-in w/o question) .. get a quote on the millwork.. not cheap.
I personally don’t see anything wrong with the location. In fact, I would probably choose it over River North myself. There is a great park going in about a block away http://media.www.chicagoflame.com/media/storage/paper519/news/2008/03/31/News/Adams.Street.Park.Aims.To.Bring.Community.Together-3290726.shtml
fantastic restaurants on Randolph St. as well as Greek town…plenty of art galleries and boutique shopping.
As for the unit, I don’t agree that it “distinguishes itself” and I wouldn’t want my only bedroom to be a buried bedroom with borrowed light, but 12×11 is an okay size. It also has an actual dining area, so one wouldn’t have to solely entertain at a kitchen island. The bookshelves belong in the cookie-cutter 3-flat, in my opinion.
At the price though, I think it will get some interest for sure.
Ze – expensive millwork does not make a built-in. THIS is a built-in:
http://fineremodel.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/08/white-cabinet.jpg
Do you call multiple condos that make up a full floor a ‘penthouse’, too??
Sonies, not so much with the hospital sirens last I recall when I was familiar with the neighborhood in the ’90s. The 911 center is at Loomis & Madison, the Police Academy is at Throop and Jackson, Whitney Young is just west of the Police Academy, the 012th district police station used to be at on Monroe and Racine?? I think, and the hospitals are basically further west than any of the things I’m mentioning.
There are a few UIC facilities north of the Eisenhower in the area, some bars that can be pretty rowdy on Halsted, one or two nice parks in the area, and a lot of newish construction and/or conversions all the way up to Ashland.
You have a few decent Italian places to the south, including one or two fairly-well hidden “secret” places with good eats (restaurants) or vibes (family groceries).
Chicago’s largest homeless shelter used to be REALLY close to this address, I think on Green street, but its moved away since.
All in all, I’m not sure how noisy or quiet the neighborhood has gotten since around 2000, but I suspect its probably a little more friendly and quiet now than in 2000.
hi.. those are ugly built ins, but YES those are built ins also…. The book shelves here are flush so in my mind-built ins…
As for your question. “Do you call multiple condos that make up a full floor a ‘penthouse’, too??”
pent·house (p?nt’hous’)
n.
1.
1. An apartment or dwelling situated on the roof of a building.
2. A residence on the top floor of a building.
So that would technically be YES!
hi.. those are ugly built ins, but YES those are built ins also…. The book shelves here are flush so in my mind-built ins…
As for your question. “Do you call multiple condos that make up a full floor a ‘penthouse’, too??”
pent·house
n.
1. An apartment or dwelling situated on the roof of a building.
2. A residence on the top floor of a building.
So that would technically be YES!
Are those REALLY 12′ ceilings? Don’t look it to me, or is the furniture all just really tall and gigantic?
Ze – my question was do you call MULTIPLE condos on a full floor a PH. You provided a correct answer to what a PH was, but my question did not correspond to the definition. Thanks for playing!
ChiTown:
If:
(a) Ze provided a correct answer, and
(b) Part of the answer was “A residence on the top floor of a building.”
Then, how is it not possible to have several residences on the top floor of a building?
There are more properties in big trouble in river north area. Plus, cheap river north condos at the 290K range are normally small and old.
Also, I don’t understand why people think 11*12 bedroom is small. What do you do in a bedroom? Just sleep! Why do you need a large empty room?
As for the conversation about the “small” bedroom:
12×11 is really quite common in newer construction. Even in “luxury” buildings- it’s pretty routine to see the second bedroom at 11×10 or 12×10.
In fact, some two bedrooms in One Museum Park in the South Loop, have the following square footage:
Bedroom #1: 15×13
Bedroom #2: 11×11
“What do you do in a bedroom? Just sleep!”
Uhh…maybe you. Speak for yourself. Damn, I feel sorry for you.
This is mediocre looking building, with competition from numerous other 1-beds in better locations.
“Ze – my question was do you call MULTIPLE condos on a full floor a PH. You provided a correct answer to what a PH was, but my question did not correspond to the definition. Thanks for playing!”
ChiTown… Which part of YES did you not understand. I try to use the true definitions for things and not my own opinions. The word penthouse has a rather rich etymology that you would be unnecessarily corrupting by changing the definition to your suiting.
Once again. YES!!! I accept calling MULTIPLE condos on a full floor a PH, particularly when a building can have 10’s of thousands of feet of floor space to be shared.
But Ze, is the upper unit of a two-flat a “penthouse”? Is a master suite on the 3d floor of a 3-level townhouse a “penthouse suite”? The absurdities *are* almost endless.
Anon.. It’s like Lake/Park views that you have to stick your head out a bathroom window to see… Technically yes, but then decide on your own the value from there.
Ze–
I’m just messing around. It’s like the abuse of “luxury”. Every damn thing built in the past 10 years has “luxury” or “luxurious” something. Re-defining words down until their meaning is lost.
This is one of the nicer and better maintained buildings in the W Loop. I have been in it a number of times, this past weekend being the latest. I have seen two different layouts and both make great use of the space. As far as it being ‘small’, I don’t think so. To echo Sabrina’s response, there are many buildings that feature bedrooms smaller than 12×10, so this is pretty normal for a loft.
I know in NY, if the room goes under 10 x 10, it is called a multi purpose room used for an office or computer room. What is strange to me is that here in Chicago, a number of bedrooms (esp in lofts) do not have at least one window. In order for a room to be considered a bedroom in NY apartments, it has to have a window.
Regarding the ‘built in’ cabinet in the LR, it IS indeed a built in. While you did provide a nice example ChiTown, this cabinet has to be considered a built in which is defined as a cabinet that is secured to a wall and cannot be removed without removing screws, nails or other methods of attachment to said wall. Just looking at the picture, you can see it utilizes the set back on the wall as the frame of the unit. If you claim it cannot be considered a built in if it is not flush with the wall, then your example as well could not be called a built in because it has moulding that extends away from the wall. As far as painting vs staining, I too would want it painted to avoid ‘wood overkill’.
Regarding the noise factor, this area is VERY quiet and peaceful at all times of the day. There may be a slight sound IF the two lines happen to pull up at the same time, but otherwise it is a nice place to live. I did comment on another thread that living in the W Loop seems like living in a suburb because of the tranquility and the friendliness of the residents. Out of all the areas in the city that I could call home, I am very happy to be here. Close enough to the craziness of the city, but far enough away for some peace and quiet. I just could not imagine living in RN or LP just for that reason…I’d go crazy (crazier) if I had to tolerate all that noise and congestion of LP.
As far as bums hanging around here, that statement is just untrue. I don’t know if it is because of the CPD training HQ located nearby, the precinct station (at Monroe and Racine) or the fact that there is a constant police cruiser presence but ‘that element’ just does not exist here.
And yes, there can be more than one unit on a penthouse level. Funny, I viewed an apartment on the third floor of a building and the agent referred to it as one of THE penthouses…RE agents say anything to attempt to make you feel that you are exclusive and superior to the rest of the buyers out there. Funny….
This site should be called crib bash. Everyone just writes really snarky comments about properties that aren’t thousands of dollars under 2003 pricing. There is basically no value to the commentary here other than, oh they don’t like this one either.
Are you one of those sitcom writers the television networks recruited from Harvard?
“kvm on May 5th, 2009 at 7:28 pm
This site should be called crib bash. Everyone just writes really snarky comments about properties that aren’t thousands of dollars under 2003 pricing. There is basically no value to the commentary here other than, oh they don’t like this one either.”
“This site should be called crib bash. Everyone just writes really snarky comments about properties that aren’t thousands of dollars under 2003 pricing. There is basically no value to the commentary here other than, oh they don’t like this one either.”
Well, not everyone kvm, only those who have never experienced homeownership themselves and will probably NEVER fall into that category. I usually just scroll by many posts here…those in which posters try to argue about the current economic situation and it is broken down to a point where it just no longer makes any sense and those where nothing but negativity and name calling of the owners are the only things mentioned. In between you can get some valuable information about the property being featured…read between the lines in a way.
Sure, that’s it. Only negative losers would say that it made more sense to rent than to buy a condo for top dollar at the peak of the largest real estate bubble in the history of the world. kvm and westlooopelo must be stuck in a time warp to 2006. If real estate has been such a good investment all this time, why have there been so many foreclosures over the last couple of years? Why did the millions of bad real estate loans almost destroy the world economy as we know it?
I’d much rather be a bitter renter than to be a debtslave imprisoned in an underwater condo.
Pete, not all properties are being sold at top dollar today, we all know that, but yes property is still changing hands. I have had to seriously adjust the method I go about renovating properties that I sell (or it seems for the next few years rent), but I am still buying and getting some great deals. And yes, I will have no problem passing along these great deals onto home buyers. What I do does not attract investors looking to only flip, but rather families, first time buyers who plan on staying put for years.
In past years before the bubble burst, I would usually spare no expense in outfitting them with only the best materials along with some true craftsman touches. Now with the “world economy” as it is, I am looking to do only basic finishes (still using quality materials) and doing what I need to do to utilize every inch of space under the roof.
True while you say there are a large number of foreclosures, who do you think is responsible for that happening? IMO, it falls into the lap of those who bought blindly with only the intention of making money (clearly not knowing what they were doing) rather than seeking a place to live.
But not to go into that back and forth again, just let me say I have not had a time in my career where I have been able to pick up so many great properties for the budget I had allocated for such purchases.
And no, I do not invest with the purpose of renovating ANY condo units. I pick up only SFH or duplexes which are selling more consistently than multi unit building condos.
I am not saying anything bad about renters, if that is the choice you make for yourself, or are all you can afford at this time. But don’t go slamming those of us who can still play this game and do so with a positive outlook about the future.
I am in this position because I remember clearly what my grandfather and father have believed for years….. “Remember, we all need to have a roof over our heads and food to eat”…this still holds true. The RE world is still alive, sure it may be limping along but it is still there. And of course restaurants and grocery stores are still in business.
Sorry I am not going to be doom and gloom about the current mess as I am confident that over time it will recover and hopefully everyone has learned a few things after it is all over. The days of making a quick dollar by ripping off the general public are way over.