Live in the Heart of the Gold Coast for Less: 1221 N. Dearborn
This 2-bedroom duplex at 1221 N. Dearborn in the Gold Coast offers a lot of bang for the buck.
It has recently been upgraded and has hardwood floors throughout, marble baths and the all-important in-unit washer/dryer (some units in the building don’t have that option.)
Parking is available and there’s a roof-top indoor pool. However, it doesn’t have central air (only window units.)
The listing says the seller is “motivated”.
It’s been reduced $80,000 since it was listed in May.
It’s also now listed $5,000 below the 2003 purchase price.
Is this a deal in the Gold Coast for the square footage?
Ricardo Jimenez at Rubloff has the listing. See more pictures and a virtual tour here.
See the property website here.
Unit #809N: 2 bedrooms, den, 2.5 baths, duplex, 2000 square feet
- Sold in January 1992 for $145,000
- Sold in March 2001 for $370,000
- Sold in December 2003 for $426,000
- Originally listed in May 2009 for $499,000 plus $35,000 for parking
- Reduced twice
- Currently listed for $419,000 plus $35,000 for parking
- Assessments of $931 a month (includes cable/tv, doorman, pool)
- Taxes of $6188
- No central air
- In-unit washer/dryer
- Bedroom #1: 17×13
- Bedroom #2: 27×14
Assesment is muy mal
they are a lot. but seem about right given the place. all these new highrises with low assessments are going to see an increas. unless they are game changingly innovatie (ie one of them designs a robotic doorman)
This place looks like a pretty good value – great area and you don’t see many duplexes in these high rises. The kitchen and bathroom are especially nice – the bedrooms could use a little bit of a makeover – looks like a guy lived here. Anyone notice the stairs leading up to the baseboard of the bed??? Not sure what that is or why there is a Denny’s booth in the place. Just being nitpicky I guess. Nice place.
isn’t that old town?
i’ve seen some boundaries extend to dearborn
this one does. http://www.condosearchers.com/images/chicago-neighborhoods-map.jpg
Besides the icky beige bathroom, I think this place has a pretty decent price.
I don’t think that map is very accurate. Old Town all the way down to Chicago Ave and stopping at North Ave? Even St. Michaels Church is north of North Ave. and that is the unofficial heart of Old Town, isn’t it?
Given that its 2000 sq. feet, the price isn’t that bad.
A lot of 1400 – 1600 sq. feet places will be be in the 375k and above in 3/4/6/8 flats.
The assessments are high, but its an older building and I don’t know how you are
going to get around that, unless you are living in a newer highrise in the River North or Streeterville.
There aren’t many major new buildings in Old Town. If any, they are smaller buildings without doorman like this
http://www.bairdwarner.com/07226867
Personally, I wouldn’t pay a $1000 assessment unless I was in a newish highrise, at least in Chicago. now if it was a co-op and stuff gets rolled into taxes….
I live at North and Wells and I can attest to the fact that “Old Town” is a fairly nebulous region. My opinion is that Old Town’s southern boundary is Division. It’s northern boundary is Eugenie St. (where Wells ends and turns into LP). It’s eastern boundary is Wells (though you could perhaps make the argument for La Salle). And it’s western boundary is tough to pinpoint. I want to say Sedgwick, but that eliminates a beautiful portion of Old Town Triangle as well as St. Michaels Church) north of North Ave. Perhaps Mohawk is the western boundary.
So that’s my long-winded attempt to say that there’s no reason Dearborn should be considered Old Town. Just my opinion!
“I don’t think that map is very accurate. Old Town all the way down to Chicago Ave and stopping at North Ave? Even St. Michaels Church is north of North Ave. and that is the unofficial heart of Old Town, isn’t it?”
It depends what you consider old old traditional Old Town and new Old Town.
Traditional Old Town triangle is bordered by Clark, North and Armitage and the west part is debatable.
Still traditional was Old Town to be North of Division. West of Clark, South of Armitage and West part is debatable.
Now newer old town extends down to Chicago Ave given the monstrosity of the mixed income development south of the Dominicks. Or you can call it former Cabrini area. Or you can call it whatever is/was west of Sandburg Village and surrounding area.
Wow Serpico,
That is the tightest I’ve heard anyone define old town, nothing north of Eugenie or west of sedgwick? that makes it about 3 block neighborhood.
wikipedia defines it as:
Old Town includes the Old Town Triangle Historic District. The Old Town Triangle is bounded on the west by the path formerly taken by Ogden Avenue, East by Clark Street and South by North Avenue.
What is it with this part of town and redonkulous assessments? Are ALL the buildings in Gold Coast built structurally deficient or is it just that none of the HOAs know how to budget?
Seriously $944 in assessments is crazy. I’d rather live a few miles north or south and avoid the insane assessments that seem to be all over the GC.
Err..$931 in assessments. So your monthly assessments and taxes come to $1,447. Thats before the mortgage and insurance.
Because all the people that live in the GC want a doorman? I dunno, but its a matter of preference. Doormen suck and I would never live in a building that had one, unless maybe I became disabled or something.
I think you’ll find everyone’s definition of Old Town is subjective. It’s a beautiful neighborhood with a distinct feel and atmosphere. So my definition includes boundaries which have that feel and atmosphere.
I would also consider “Old Town and “Old Town Triangle” to be different, though. Old Town Triangle was one of the only neighborhoods left standing after the Chicago fire, which is why the streets are narrower, the buildings older and completely separate from the grid system. If we’re talking about the Triangle, then I would say Menomonee is northern boundary.
I consider Armitage to be to be Lincoln Park. And even if Wikipedia is saying Clark is the eastern boundary, that would make Dearborn too far east.
Anyway, like I said, all just my opinion.
But Sonies look at that building. It looks like there are a LOT of units in that building. Is this doorman making 300k/year or what?
Seriously with that many units the increased HOA cost of a doorman should not be that much. Sounds like the HOA doesn’t know how to budget in this building (and in GC more generally).
Oh, and I wouldn’t consider Chicago Ave to be part of the “new” Old Town. That whole area is Near North Side/River North. Chicago Ave is too crappy looking to be part of it. It’s out. 😉
Once you get down below the 77 official neighborhoods in this city the definitions of the smaller areas is all over the board. For instance, the Tribune maps show Streeterville extending south of the river. I guess no one is in charge of these definitions 🙂
Gary you are quite right. In fact I’ve seen a lot of realtors make the ‘mistake’ of calling the Cabrini Green neighborhood Old Town as well.
Joe Zekas was pretty good at these questions before you hooligans ran him off.
“Oh, and I wouldn’t consider Chicago Ave to be part of the “new” Old Town. That whole area is Near North Side/River North. Chicago Ave is too crappy looking to be part of it. It’s out. ”
Hey River North stops at Chicago Ave… don’t lump those awful projects and townhomes in with my hood! 😛
“In fact I’ve seen a lot of realtors make the ‘mistake’ of calling the Cabrini Green neighborhood Old Town as well.”
It’s not a mistake. What would you tell your realtor if they told you they wanted to show you a charming 2/2 with granite counter tops in the heart of Cabrini Green? LOL
the building is in the Gold Coast. It’s on Dearborn, a 1/2 block north of Division. So unless Butch McGuires recently became a hang out for the Cabrini youth, this is Gold Coast. I actually rent a 2/2 in this building. This guy though, combined 2 units and that is why the assessments are 2x what they normally would be. It’s a nice building, but has a ton of lofts and this unit is prob 1.5x-2x more expensive than any other in the building. The elevators in teh building are broken at least once a week (no joke) and I assume much of the monthly assessments go to that. There is also a pool on my floor which I’m sure costs money to maintain.
I heard a pretty hilarious comment today that some here will appreciate…
“The condo market will bounce due to all the empty nesters wanting a smaller place to live”
Love the 6-foot ceilings.
Sonies,
Here’s another one I heard yesterday from a realtor selling his own house – a total dump. It had been on the market for 157 days and he recently raised the price from $380K to $450K because “the house next door just went on the market for $520K and after all this is a competitive world…the slump in real estate is now over because everyone realizes that prices have come down”
I swear I’m not making this up.
serpico said:
“I would also consider “Old Town and “Old Town Triangle” to be different, though. Old Town Triangle was one of the only neighborhoods left standing after the Chicago fire, which is why the streets are narrower, the buildings older and completely separate from the grid system. If we’re talking about the Triangle, then I would say Menomonee is northern boundary.”
The section that is now Old Town was burned down in the Fire, however it was one of the earlier neighborhoods to be rebuilt. There are one or two houses that were fire rescue stations, however, the other buildings date from 1880 or later.
There are pictures of the former St. Michael’s after the fire and there was only one wall standing. However, many of the streets survived, and the new neighborhood was built along those streets.
The Triangle Historic District, according to the Old Town Triangle Association, is North, Clark, and Ogden. Ogden ran at an angle from southwest to northeast, and intersected with Clark just south of Armitage. There is an argument made that the section between Division and North was the “original” Old Town, but that designation seems to be driven more by realtors.
My sister used to live in the 1221 N. Dearborn building, and it’s a great building. Over the years, many of the places have been renovated, as has this one. Great location – it’s amazing how quiet Dearborn is when just around the corner the Rush Street bars are quite loud.
1221 N. Dearborn was considered Gold Coast when my sister lived there.
Keep in mind that buildings like this have more than one doorman, an on-site maintenance staff, and an on-site manager. So, the assessments are paying the salaries of many people, not just one lone doorman.
1221 Dearborn is an all duplex building that used to be a hotel. The one bedroom units are too small for a duplex (700-750 sf) and feel like 2 small hotel rooms stacked on top of each other. The 2 bedroom units are really just a bit better – still too small to duplex (~1200 sf). They feel boxy and choice is to either have 7.5-8 foot ceilings throughout OR have a 2 story living room and give up a few hundred square feet upstairs. This unit is unique because it’s a large combined unit that wouldn’t feel cramped. However, it still has low ceilings.
I haven’t seen any red flags to the building and these older buildings do have more maintainence issues, increasing the assessments. Honestly, even in newer construction, 2000 sf would still be a similar assessment. In fact, 1221 has fairly low assessments for a building of it’s age, with a pool. I ran a search on the MLS and the only buildings that have a lower assessment (in an older highrise w/doorman) are 1212 N Lake Shore (awesome building, did a $2M rooftop makeover a few years ago w/o special assessment) and 111 E Chestnut (the Elysian). Both are regarded as highly efficient buildings in terms of assessment dollars to work. Both buildings have significantly higher price points.
The big issue I would have recommending this place to a buyer is that you are the biggest unit in the building. Historically, it’s hard to resell units that are larger than everything else in the building.
See my “The ultimate list of Chicago neighborhoods” At Google Knol. The boundaries of some neighborhoods are subject to debate, but in general you won’t find a more reliable guide to the boundaries of j100s of neighborhoods.
http://knol.google.com/k/joseph-zekas/the-ultimate-list-of-chicago/1e100mi26el22/9#
Apologies for the typos.
My buddy lives in a duplex in this building with his fiance. The “standard” layout allows for an incredibly narrow “living room/living space” with a cramped kitchen and a ladder/stairwell up to the bedroom which you have to walk through to have access to the only bathroom. While this unit combines two units for more square footage, it doesn’t solve the issue of the ceiling height, elevators, etc. This building is made for tiny persons and it’s ugly inside… very ugly. Great doorman though!
I owned a condo is this building and I would never let any friend of mine buy a place there. If you like loud you won’t like this place. The area is super loud with drunks till 5AM, you will also find them on the front stairs in the AM, leaving their trash, vomit and food containers. If this unit faces east towards the alley you’ll have the sounds of the garbage trucks dropping dumpsters to the ground. The bums are there at 5:30AM breaking bottles they are taking from the dumpster. Also the bars on State Parkway now have these VIP entrances in the alley now which means 20-40 drunks yelling and screaming till 5AM. The units on the inside walls have so many flaws from the two different builders it’s bizzare. 6 inch clearance between units and no sound deading insa in them. So more loud between units. You can hear conversations, phones ringing, plumbing sounds etc. If you want to buy it for rental purposes fine then. You can’t go wrong. The building is filled with renters who treat the place like it’s a dorm. The elevators are broken at least once a month for 1-5 days on avg. Oh and their description of the washing machine in the unit? WRONG, condo assoc. does not allow them or garbage disposals. Sounds like a place you want to live?