Avenue East 2-Bedroom Closed: 160 E. Illinois in Streeterville

We chattered about this 2-bedroom in Avenue East at 160 E. Illinois in Streeterville several times, but the most recent in early August when it was reduced below $400,000.

See our August 2009 chatter here.

I asked in August if this price was a deal.

It’s cheaper than many 1-bedrooms in the neighborhood and the building is relatively “new”. The developer has not sold out all of the units, however.

And now that it’s closed?

Unit #1107: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1100 square feet

  • Sold in September 2007 for $542,400
  • Originally listed in March 2009 for $459,900 (plus $35,000 for parking)
  • Reduced
  • Was listed in April 2009 for $445,000 (plus $45,000 for parking)
  • Reduced
  • Was listed in August 2009 at $399,500 (including the parking)
  • Sold in September 2009 for $380,000 (including the parking)
  • Assessments of $574 a month
  • Taxes are “new”
  • Bedroom #1: 18×12
  • Bedroom #2: 12×10
  • Tom Kelley at Prudential Preferred had the listing.

29 Responses to “Avenue East 2-Bedroom Closed: 160 E. Illinois in Streeterville”

  1. I just rented a big, 1,000sf, one bedroom in this building. Overall I am very happy with the building so far. It seems to be well put together and the public spaces are nicely done. The location is fantastic and plenty of in-building parking. After looking at dozens of buildings downtown I thought this was a great value at $2150 including parking, utilities and internet.

    0
    0
  2. negative 16% per year return. wow.

    Was the ’07 sale from the developer? I bet they wish they had just walked away from the deposit.

    0
    0
  3. $150K plus closing costs. Wow, that’s quite a failure. Sounds like a good deal for the new owner.

    0
    0
  4. Parking is 45-55,000 in Streeterville so this relatively new unit for 330,000 seems like quite a deal.

    0
    0
  5. What do these places (or similar) rent for w/o parking?

    I’d say it’s close to a deal, but you need to *know* that you have a minimum 5 year horizon for moving. Would have been an *excellent* purchase for the generous parents of a NW med student.

    0
    0
  6. Sounds like for this area it is an actual steal. That really is a lot less than my one bedroom near by.

    0
    0
  7. It is hard to be the ugly step-sister to the 240 building though, both in flipping or rental.

    0
    0
  8. I would’ve loved to pick this place up for $380K, timing just wasn’t right. I hope we see more of these over the next year.

    Without parking, I think $2500 in rent is realistic… tack on $200 for parking.

    0
    0
  9. If anyone cares, Corus (finally) bit the dust. Why the hell it took so long, I do not know… No word yet on how much it will cost the FDIC fund.

    0
    0
  10. “Corus (finally) bit the dust. Why the hell it took so long[?]”

    They’ve been bascially under administration for a few months and I guess no one was worried about a run on the deposits.

    MB’s picking up the branches, and all the bad loans are going to be sold to a variety of funds.

    0
    0
  11. Really? Hasn’t been announced by the FDIC yet. No bank announcements yet and the Corus website is still normal.

    No doubt Corus will go under soon but it looks like Crain’s might eat its words on that pre-written article published today. Indeed it appears Crain’s jumped the gun:

    http://www.reuters.com/article/governmentFilingsNews/idUSN1135263320090911

    0
    0
  12. “Really? Hasn’t been announced by the FDIC yet. No bank announcements yet and the Corus website is still normal.”

    I don’t expect that this will be the first Friday since June w/o a failure, so perhaps we should just be patient.

    0
    0
  13. “Was the ‘07 sale from the developer? I bet they wish they had just walked away from the deposit.”

    Yes it was originally bought directly from the developer. Sadly, the previous owner never considered walking away. Rather, it was an estate sale after he passed away.

    I actually took a look at this unit when it was listed because it seemed like a bit of a liquidation. I didn’t have enough time to put together a reasonable bid but I did like the floors and some of the finishes. And the parking spot was one of the best in the building.

    I was strongly considering it because two other 07 units in the building closed this summer for 430k and 450k. I figured this had to be under priced but it was under contract pretty fast.

    0
    0
  14. Yup..its now official.

    0
    0
  15. What happens to the condo loans now that Corus is gone ? Walton on the Park, etc….

    0
    0
  16. I’d be surprised if it rented for 2500. Have a friend in streeterville trying to rent a bigger 2 bedroom, with great lake views from every window for 2200 and he’s barely gotten a nibble for a couple months. this building is newer though.

    0
    0
  17. “What happens to the condo loans now that Corus is gone ? Walton on the Park, etc….”

    MB Financial wouldn’t go near this crap so looks like the FDIC is going to eat the losses. I read they’re going to auction them off in a private placement within thirty days. It’d be curious to see what they sell for but I doubt that info will be made public.

    “MB Financial Bank did not acquire Corus’ commercial real estate loans or loans and other real estate owned related to Corus’ construction lending business. These loans have been retained by the FDIC.”

    0
    0
  18. I finally found out why the bankers are being so glacially slow on processing their REOs–not only does it make the local real estate markets look stronger than they are by holding massive shadow inventories of REOs on bank books, but also even if you couldn’t afford a $12MM house but had the opportunity to live there for a time wouldn’t you?

    http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/09/11/crimesider/entry5304144.shtml

    Notice this foreclosure, like hundreds of thousands of others, is NOT made available for sale on the market. The bankers are trying to influence valuations by restricting the supply of foreclosures on the market.

    0
    0
  19. Bob – I read that article about the bank VP living in the house. If the bank officially owns the house, isn’t it their right to hold it off the market or do whatever they think is best with their newly acquired property? Surely they don’t have to slash the price and liquidate. They can keep paying the taxes and maitenance if they think it will payoff in the long run. I’m not sure it’s very good PR though to use it as a party house!

    0
    0
  20. “I’d be surprised if it rented for 2500. Have a friend in streeterville trying to rent a bigger 2 bedroom, with great lake views from every window for 2200 and he’s barely gotten a nibble for a couple months. this building is newer though.”

    Was this building farther east? It’s harder to find renters in the fall too. I rented for a while in the 160 E Illinois building and rents there are pretty steep. There are currently three 07 units in the building renting for $2700 or more (including the parking). One corporate lease is actually for $3250 per moth. Ouch! Rents are even higher nearby at 240 E Illinois.

    0
    0
  21. “What happens to the condo loans now that Corus is gone ? Walton on the Park, etc….”

    Corus’ demise is a BIG story in the condo world. Perhaps I’ll do a post tomorrow so people can give their thoughts over the weekend.

    The reason it took so long, from what I’ve heard, is that the FDIC was desperate to find someone to take the liabilities instead of having to pay for it themselves.

    Corus didn’t have much actual banking (or branches) so that wasn’t the issue.

    0
    0
  22. While the event makes it official don’t forget Corus was forbidden from continuing to lend in July.

    I read somewhere that 44% of their loans are non-performing. This gives me the shivers to think that this institution was allowed to deteriorate to such bad shape before being taken over.

    How many other banks out there with large percentages of non-performing loans have regulators not gotten around to shutting down yet?

    And the FDIC is almost out of money which means one of two things: the FDIC raises the rates it charges banks putting more pressure on bank finances and causing more to go under OR the FDIC runs to the government requesting a taxpayer loan or bailout. Its going to continue to be ugly.

    0
    0
  23. Bob, what if: the FDIC raises the rates it charges banks putting more pressure on bank finances and causing more to go under AND the FDIC runs to the government requesting a taxpayer loan or bailout? It’s ugly out there and it will get uglier.

    0
    0
  24. Looks like the 757 N Orleans developers are cutting prices.

    I have a friend who rents there. Building is so empty its spooky.

    He showed me a piece of paper slid under his door yesterday stating his unit, a 2/2, has been cut “up to” $125,000, and they wanted to give him a chance to buy at the new price before the price cuts were released to the public.

    When he first rented the unit in July the developer was trying to sell it for $499k plus parking. Note didnt say anything about parking, so I’m assuming its still extra.

    Kind Regards.

    0
    0
  25. Sceptic, it may be the bank’s “right” to hold the property off the market, but the only thing that makes it possible for an institution to hold so much Shadow Inventory off the market is the bailout we taxpayers gave them….. and the accounting chicanery they are allowed to indulge in.

    If they had to mark-to-market all this inventory, they’d surely put it on the market for whatever it would fetch, and we’d know the true worth of it. But right now it is mark-to-fantasy. They can say it’s worth whatever they want it to be worth as long as it is hidden from the market.

    0
    0
  26. 757 N Orleans has got to be the single most overpriced building in River North, which says a lot. I’m not surprised its almost empty.

    0
    0
  27. I wouldn’t say that this is a good deal as the unit was on the market for over four months. The price actually reflects the true value of the unit and just goes to show how overpriced units in the area still are.

    The developer is trying to sell #1907 (same tier but 8 floors higher) for $549,900 + $50,000 for parking. The developer recently furnished the unit in order to try and justify a higher price. WHAT A JOKE!

    People/developers everywhere are still failing to realize the true value of their units and until they do, we will still be living in this bubble.

    0
    0
  28. Jon – I agree that the developer asking for $599k is too much. I also agree that property values and rents may continue to go down. Per your comments – the unit was on the market for three months listed at 90 k higher. After the 19 percent price drop, it was under contract within two weeks. I checked the recent sales in that building and found the following:

    Unit 1607, on 6/29/09 for $455,000
    Unit 1507, on 8/21/09 for $425,000 (I’m assuming parking was included in both)

    So given what people are still CURRENTLY willing to pay, $380,000 (including parking) for 1107 has to be a fairly good deal. Assume a conservative rent of $2400 per month (and that is conservative in that building) and you get positive cash flow on a new build in Streeterville. That’s not very common.

    But maybe you’re right, 12 months from now if the area comes off another 10 percent, the buyer may regret it.

    0
    0

Leave a Reply