A 2-Bedroom In Our Favorite Church Is Still Available: 1658 W. Superior in West Town
We’ve chattered about various units, including foreclosures, in this converted church at 1658 W. Superior in West Town over the years.
This conversion kept many of the church’s original features, including the glorious stained glass windows, the bow trusses and the exposed brick.
This 2-bedroom duplex has been on the market since June 2010.
It has a 30-foot cathedral ceiling in the living area and one of the large stained glass windows.
The unit also has exposed steel bow trusses and exposed brick walls.
The kitchen has granite counter tops, maple cabinets and stainless steel appliances.
The master bedroom is lofted and on the second level.
The unit has central air, washer/dryer in the unit and not just 1 but 2 car parking which is included.
It has been reduced $80,000 over the last 16 months.
What will it take to finally sell this property?
Nicholas Colagiovanni at Baird & Warner has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #8: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1600 square feet, 2 car parking included
- Sold in May 2000 for $295,000
- Sold in June 2004 for $334,000
- Originally listed in June 2010 for $449,000
- Reduced several times
- Currently listed for $369,000
- Assessments of $450 a month
- Taxes of $3131
- Central Air
- Washer/Dryer in the unit
- Bedroom #1: 19×16 (lofted second floor)
- Bedroom #2: 12×12 (main level)
Alas, such a wonderful space and yet such sad finishes!
Looks like nothing has been updated. Somewhere between the 2000 and 2004 prices should do it.
Cool place, but I don’t like that there are two doors in the kitchen. I imagine one is the front door. I generally like an open concept, but this really feels like you’re walking directly into the kitchen.
I would still greatly prefer this unit to the one on Bryn Mawr featured today.
wouldnt make you uncomfortable that it used to be a church?
The square bathroom against the curvature of the ceiling looks terrible as does the duct in the living room. This place need a good 100K to make it live up to its potential and then it will be just lovely.
“wouldnt make you uncomfortable that it used to be a church?”
A church is no different than any other building to me. It just happens to have more interesting finishes.
mm, that was directed at jenny who in the past has mentioned being creeped out by crosses.
Drove by this a while back and the street seems sketchy here. Boarded-up houses and crappy-looking buildings close by.
I love the space, though, with arches and stained glass and brick walls.
I can still appreciate that churches are often beautiful. If people have religious art for beauty’s sake, it doesn’t bother me. What creeps me out are people who keep religious art around because they are religious. For instance, I find the Pieta mesmerizing, but a gaudy image of Jesus, not so much….
Sorry CH. I thought it was a general question : )
“street seems sketchy here. Boarded-up houses and crappy-looking buildings close by.”
But are there any Chinese travel agencies, restaurants catering to Spanish speakers, or a Subway anywhere nearby?
Speaking of creepy, is that a ghost in the 3rd floor window in the turret?
“But are there any Chinese travel agencies, restaurants catering to Spanish speakers, or a Subway anywhere nearby?”
There is a scary pie shop nearby, proximity to which would almost surely lower your life expectancy by more than violent crime lowers life expectancy of nearby residents most anywhere in the city. (For reasons that I don’t fully understand even now, I ended up driving past ashland/irving pk intersection three separate times on Sunday. Can say I prob wouldn’t live there for free; would live there ahead of archer or 35th/ashland, though there is good pie thereabouts.)
http://www.realestaterama.com/2011/10/06/mortgage-interest-deduction-a-middle-class-pillar-ID012148.html
“According to the 2007 Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances,
the median net worth of a home owner is $234,600, compared to $5,100
for renters.”
Bottom line: renters = poorz. Even if it IS smarter to rent than buy right now.
Amy, the owner of this property probably thought he had $234,000 of equity in his condo when they surveyed him in 2007.
If only there were a more recent FRB survey with updated data on the gruesome collapse of personal wealth between 2007 & 2009, with decline in home value constituting the largest dollar value.
http://www.federalreserve.gov/econresdata/scf/scf_2009p.htm
This building is what got me addicted to cribchatter in the first place! I actually went and looked at the unit that was on here a few years ago as a bank owned place, 1400sqft with 2 turrets and a huge beautiful stained glass window in the living room. Alas we couldn’t make it work at the price they wanted, It was really worth maybe 250-275k since it needed a lot of work but some crazy person bought it for 360k or something…. anyway, it was a lot better than this unit although its finished so maybe it will sell around the ask price to someone who wants a unique space without an easy commute to the loop
“wouldnt make you uncomfortable that it used to be a church?”
Better to live in a church than an old funeral home – now would creep me out.
For a time my favorite show on HGTV was Rezoned. The show featured commercial buildings that were switched to residential dwellings. After many episodes she explained very clearly that we would not ever live in a rezoned church! Shame because there is a great Church building on Touhy Ave. in Park Ridge that would make an interesting conversion to residential condos. Unfortunately it would never happen in this real estate market, during this era, or at that location.
Done in one! Miumiu said it best.
“According to the 2007 Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances,
the median net worth of a home owner is $234,600, compared to $5,100
for renters.”
So much for investing all that “left-over” money from renting…
This is a cool space, but I do think the finished it all wrong. I love the stained glass window, but dislike that it is cut off by ugly doors below and as miu said, why oh why would they ever run a duct right across it and why ruin the curved ceiling with the bathroom walls? So much potential wasted…
“wouldnt make you uncomfortable that it used to be a church?”
not at all, but a shul/mosque? that’s another story completely, never.
I think the owner should spend a few hundred dollars and replace the hollywood lights in the bathrooms.
Yeah, a lot of us own religious art because we’re religious. Like a lot of us own American flags because we’re Americans. Duh…
BTW Sabrina, did you ever do a story about the condo conversion in the old convent on Barry Street just off LSD in Lincoln Park? Now for some Catholic school alumni, that could be scary indeed!
PJay, when did the Hollywood lights become outdated?
Is this a 70s or 80 or 90s style?
pjay.. What if it was a church then a mosque… Would that be ok? If it is, we can turn the Hagia Sophia into condos.
Oh man, could be so cool but the inside is horrid. I’d gut the place and start over, not for this price though. Too bad, it could be amazing.
Unit 4 in the same building is on the market for 319K:
http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/1658-W-Superior-St-60622/unit-4/home/12790870
I love this neighborhood and the sublime pleasure of strolling down Damen and then down Chicago Avenue with a cone from Black Dog Gelato.
Apparently everyone else loves the area too. Prices might have come down a little since the bubble, but not in any meaningful way, and there are no bargains around that I have seen.
oh cool I found the one I looked at (#10)
http://tours.vht.com/Viewer/PhotoGallery.aspx?ListingID=1085400&Style=KSI
way cooler but not for the price they wanted! wound up selling at 335k! I was thinking like 260k as it needed a lot of work!
Hollywood lights in bathrooms were still acceptable in the early 90’s. I’m thinking by 2000 they were definitely on the way out, although I don’t really follow this sort of thing, which is a shame.
and; off-topic sort of;
I’m getting ready to renovate the smaller bathroom at home, and I have no idea what’s trendy vs. what will be considered “classic” enough that it won’t hurt resale value in the next 5-10 years if I decide to sell…
Anybody have some good bathroom websites to start looking at?
apartment therapy is a decent site, they have good ideas for condos
Personally if I had longer term resale in mind for a smaller bathroom I’d stick with basic classics, rather than going for the newer, fancier stuff like vessel sinks, body jets etc.
“Personally if I had longer term resale in mind for a smaller bathroom I’d stick with basic classics”
Ditto on finishes. If there’s a decision to make on how to spend an additional $X, I’d spend it on updating the layout/pipes, rather than fixtures/tile. Whoever buys it in 10 years will either be fine with slightly more basic stuff or want to rip out whatever you put in, anyway.
If I wanted church, I would have bought 1657 n. rockwell. Sold not long ago for just over 400k. For the whole church! 5000+ square feet. Huge yard, etc.
Spooky yes – there are ghosts staring out the windows of the turret. But they leave after Halloween. 🙂
Seriously though, I am the crazy person Sonies refers to who purchased the bank owned unit in 2009. Crazy?! I think not. It’s an awesome space in a great building. Never for one second did I think I overpaid. I had no trouble securing the loan at a time when appraisals were/are under particular scrutiny. I looked at probably 40 condos (most lofts) before I made my offer on this. By far the best space and lowest price. It was an amazing deal, which I am thankful for everyday that we get to spend in that space.
My unit did need some work, but nothing alarming. I’ve been making improvements as time and money allows. But for the most part everything was perfectly functional when I moved in. However, it was in need of a some TLC – major cleaning, new lighting, painting, etc.; and a bathroom redo. The kitchen works fine and will have to wait until later.
You don’t buy a space in a building like this for the finishes. All of that can be addressed if you must. I think people miss the point of the beauty of a building like this when they focus on the kitchen cabinet grade.
I’ve seen many of the units and they are unique great spaces, including the two for sale. I imagine at their current pricing both will go fast, but maybe I’m biased.