A 2/2 Loft Listed at 10% Below Sold Comps in Streeterville at 240 E. Illinois
This 2-bedroom loft at Fairbanks at Cityfront Plaza at 240 E. Illinois in Streeterville originally came on the market in June 2019.
Built in 2008, Fairbanks at Cityfront Plaza has 281 units, including some in the “loft” portion of the building which is the base of the building.
It has an attached parking garage.
It’s a full service building with doormen, an outdoor pool, fitness room, dog run, yoga room, clubhouse and theater room.
This unit is a southeast corner unit with a split floor plan where both bedrooms have windows and full walls.
It has concrete ceilings and exposed ductwork.
There’s a balcony accessed off of both the living/dining room and the primary bedroom.
The kitchen has modern wood cabinets, a breakfast bar, what appear to be stone counter tops and backsplash, and stainless steel appliances including a gas stove with hood.
The primary bedroom has an en suite bathroom with dual vanities, a walk-in shower and soaking tub.
This loft has the features buyers look for including washer/dryer in the unit, central air and parking is $50,000 extra.
Originally listed in June 2019 at $675,000 it has been reduced numerous times and is now at $449,900.
Even if you include the $50,000 for parking, it’s now listed $175,600 below the 2007 purchase price of $675,500.
The listing says it’s “listed 10% below comparables sold.”
Is this loft a deal?
Michael Michalak at Re/Max 10 has the listing. See the pictures and floor plan here.
Unit #607: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1494 square feet
- Sold in June 2007 for $675,500 (CCRD doesn’t show the parking selling with it so it’s unclear if that was included in the original sales price or not)
- Originally listed in June 2019 at $675,000
- Reduced
- Was listed in June 2020 at $549,000
- Reduced
- Currently listed at $449,900 (plus $50,000 for parking)
- Assessments of $1239 a month (includes heat, a/c, gas, doorman, cable, Internet, clubhouse, exercise room, pool, exterior maintenance, lawn care, scavenger.)
- Taxes of $10,654
- Central Air
- Washer/dryer in the unit
- Bedroom #1: 13×12
- Bedroom #2: 14×11
- Living/dining room combo: 20×20
- Kitchen: 14×9
- Office: 4×6
- Laundry room: 4×4
Yikes, someone paid over $675K for this in 2007?!
$450K with a $1,200 HOA & $10K in taxes… still a bit rough, but will likely sell.
That’s a lot of ugly exposed ductwork. The most pleasant rooms in the place are the bathrooms where you can’t see it.
I seriously think that the ‘base’ of this project was designed to entirely be a parking garage. For some reason, late in the planning/construction process they decided to develop the southern part of the garage into condo units. That’s why it feels like you are in a garage – because you actually are…
I remember looking at these “lofts” in 2008–2009 when they were for sale by the developer and thinking to myself, “Who would walk into these and think, OMG, I have to live here!”.
The entire concept is so ill conceived. Even uglier than I remember.
Does anyone know if this is good building in general? I’m looking to move to this area. (Currently in high-rise near Erie & Kingsbury)
I wouldn’t consider low floor cave unit like this, but how are the units higher up and is this building well run?
Is this the building that had to be evacuated a few months ago because there was a meth lab in one of the units?
Maybe not a meth lab:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9406077/MIT-graduate-dead-Chicago-materials-three-different-explosive-devices.html
“I seriously think that the ‘base’ of this project was designed to entirely be a parking garage. For some reason, late in the planning/construction process they decided to develop the southern part of the garage into condo units.”
iirc, the podium got built by the original developer […checking…]
yes: 3 towers in Streeterville taking over from the hulk; Trib, April 22, 2005:
“The concrete hulk stood empty and unfinished for more than two years, a stark reminder of the perils of real estate development.
“Just a block east of the Magnificent Mile, the eyesore was supposed to be a parking garage for Grand Pier Center, a $375 million, mixed-use project. But financial problems stalled construction of the project in June 2001.
“Now, another developer is picking up the pieces and has revealed plans to jump-start the project and build three residential towers with approximately 1,000 units at the Streeterville site, bounded by Grand Avenue, Columbus Drive and Illinois and St. Clair Streets.”
Grand Pier Center was to be two towers, one a hotel, one condos, and retail and a Century movieplex in the podium:
See GRAND PIER PROJECT SET TO RISE, Trib, Nov 19, 1999:
“The Chin project, called Grand Pier Center, will include [a 16-screen movie theater operated by San Rafael, Calif.-based Century Theaters,] a Dominick’s grocery store as well as a Hollywood Video, Kinko’s, World Savings Bank, Radio Shack and other restaurant and entertainment outlets.”
Blast from the Past, eh?
Sorry for the naive question;
Could someone explain to me unfinished cement ceilings?
ew this is one of the converted parking garage units and the low ceilings are terrible yuck
“Could someone explain to me unfinished cement ceilings?”
Concrete has been used for decades with varying success as an interior material. Brutalist, modernist, post modernist, whatever – it can be used beautifully. Japanese modern aesthetics seem particularly well suited.
However, when it comes to developers – they simply spotted a nifty way to omit construction costs and call it design. You mean I don’t even have to finish out the unit? Voila! Soft loft. Chic unfinished surfaces and some cheap ductwork and … tres bien!
https://www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/unexpected-ways-to-decorate-with-concrete
The windows that don’t go all the way to the floor would drive me crazy.
Thank you ChicagoDogecoin. I can aesthetically get behind the cement ceiling with warm exposed brick. But this “soft loft” with full wall drywall and low ceiling height just doesn’t vibe with me.
Leave it to Helmet-head. When I saw that he’d commented, I was trying to figure out what would be his anti-semitic, racist or homophobic assessment of a concrete ceilinged, dark, dreary “loft”. Once again, no surprises from Helmet.
My original comment did not make it though. I must have answered the math problem wrong.
Thanks to those that mention about this originally being part of a parking garage. It explains so many problems with this building.
The assessments are high. Probably because the building does not have expensive 3/4 bedroom units to subsidize what should be a cheap unit like this. Two blocks east, 505 N Mcclurg Ct, has lower assessments with similar amenities.
Pretty darn “meh” for $3800/mo
Seems like a decent value, though it’s not my kind of unit or location. I find this part of town rather soulless. So many bland new buildings and streets that are too wide, encouraging high speed traffic.
Ugly, bland, and sterile. It’s really sad when the only half-attractive room in the house is the bathroom.
The concrete ceilings were a big fad in the 00s. I’ve always been amused, and a little disgusted, by the way architects and developers have been able to palm off features designed to cut costs, as the latest,smartest design trends……. and the trendoids pay big premiums for them.
you get to live in a parking garage AND the building features its very own meth lab!
Plus, you get to stare over the wall at the much nicer amenities at the Optima RENTAL building next door.
The building has THREE associations: one for the parking garage/lofts, one for the main building, and one for the actual parking garage. My condo single condo board is far more than enough for my liking. I couldn’t deal with THREE of them. Effing HOAs.