A 2/2 in the old Brundage Bank Building in West Lakeview: 3325 N. Lincoln
This 2-bedroom in the Brundage Building Lofts at 3325 N. Lincoln in West Lakeview just came on the market.
Begun in 1928 and finished in 1929, it was originally supposed to be a 9 story building but ended up at just 4 stories.
The pie shaped building originally housed the Brundage Bank which went under during the Great Depression.
It was converted into 10 lofts with parking in the 1990s.
The listing says this 1350 square foot unit has gotten new windows in 2018 which face south and west.
The second bedroom, which has French doors, is currently being used as an office.
There are new grey shaker style cabinets, new stainless steel appliances and quartz counter tops in the kitchen along with a farmhouse sink.
The rooftop deck is shared by the building.
It has central air and deeded garage parking but it doesn’t have in-unit washer/dryer. It is coin laundry in the building.
This building is in the middle of a popular restaurant and supermarket corridor and is just steps away from the Paulina brown line stop.
Another 2/2 in the building with the same type of remodeled kitchen and baths sold in December 2017 after just a month on the market for the asking price of $424,900.
You can see that listing by the same agent here.
This unit is on the end of the pie and has two exposures. It’s listed for $25,000 more, at $450,000.
Will this sell just as quickly as the other unit did in the winter?
Antonio Giamberduca at Baird & Warner has had both listings. See the pictures here.
Unit #304: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1350 square feet
- Sold in May 1995 for $159,500 (doesn’t list a parking space)
- Sold in May 2004 for $350,000 (included 2 parking spaces)
- Sold in March 2013 for $305,000 (included 1 parking space)
- Currently listed for $450,000 (includes 1 garage parking space)
- Assessments of $261 a month (includes exterior maintenance, scavenger and snow removal)
- Taxes of $5636
- Central Air
- No washer/dryer in the unit. It is coin laundry in the building.
- Bedroom #1: 14×13
- Bedroom #2: 18×10
Coin laundry is a bummer but the location makes up for it. This will be under contract within a week.
#303 has fresh, updated bathrooms as well.
#304, they spent the money upgrading the kitchen but left that vanity with some severe wear and tear. should have at least painted it.
Coin laundry, never getting a seat on the El (and hello delays for the next couple of years during flyover construction at Belmont) and having to look at that home depot 12×12 brown tile in the second bath. No thanks.
I have always loved this building though.
Paulina stop, so you’d usually get a seat. I sometimes get one at Southport.
I like the location and the building but coin laundry in a condo would be a killer for me.
coin laundry is beyond just a “bummer”
thats fuckin nasty and I’ll never do it again
“Paulina stop, so you’d usually get a seat. I sometimes get one at Southport.”
Francisco used to be my stop. Unless you are not traveling at a peak time, those trains were packed by the time they pulled out of Western. Slow and packed. The only thing that made living that far out on the brown line bearable was that I was guaranteed a seat being at the third stop.
“coin laundry is beyond just a “bummer”
thats fuckin nasty and I’ll never do it again”
ha! ha! I’m with you sonies. Never, ever again.
Why the hell are you buying then?
What’s the big deal about using a laundromat in a multi-unit building? Lots of much more luxurious vintage buildings along “the Drive” and Sheridan Road don’t have in-unit laundries either. Which is more important – using precious closet space for a laundry that you’ll use maybe once a week at most, or to store your clothes and essentials that you’ll use every day?)))
Cmon Gayle, you need to start cleaning your clothing more. Who uses a machine once a week? Between me and the housemaid, we launder 5 Times a week. Of course, children cause a lot of laundry.
My mom had 3 kids and designated Monday as Wash Day. She spent several hours in the basement laundry room of our house. Tuesday was for ironing while watching daytime TV. Somehow the whole family got along very well with a week’s worth of clothes at the ready.
For me and mine, an abundance of closet space in the living space, plus a common laundry room, work just fine. To each their own.
“My mom had 3 kids and designated Monday as Wash Day. She spent several hours in the basement laundry room of our house. Tuesday was for ironing while watching daytime TV. Somehow the whole family got along very well with a week’s worth of clothes at the ready.”
You probably got along so well because women were used to being treated as maids back then, instead of people with their own hopes, dreams, and careers.
Who wants to spend precious time washing and ironing? I don’t even own an iron. The thought of using a communal washer/dryer grosses me out.
I have a job and also a home life. I schedule one time-slot in my personal schedule for washing clothes, at a time when the laundromat is available for me. Most of my stuff is wash-and-wear so so don’t spend much time ironing. The last thing that I, as a modern Woman, want to do with my spare time is doing a load of laundry every other night whrn there are other, better, things to do. Like I said, to each their own.
“load of laundry every other night”
Well, if you lived alone, then you wouldn’t even need to fold stuff out of the dryer. That and two dishwashers (or a F&P two drawer) could be a big time saver in itself–just pull clean stuff out as needed.
“Well, if you lived alone, then you wouldn’t even need to fold stuff out of the dryer. That and two dishwashers (or a F&P two drawer) could be a big time saver in itself–just pull clean stuff out as needed.”
Heh. I can’t stand unfolded laundry. On the other hand, I don’t have to fold anyone else’s laundry! Two dishwashers would be nice for any family though.
If I had a single-family home, and could afford it, I would have two washers and one or two dryers, so I could do “Hot” and “Cold” laundry loads simultaneously, like at the Laundromat.
I was done with communal laundry when the neighbor across the hall from me inadvertently dropped some of his clothes out of his laundry basket on the floor landing. A dirty thong with a banana hammock.
The hot thing now with houses we’ve been looking at seems to be the upstairs washer/dryer room with folding table/cabinets and sink with another full one in the basement.
I’ve seen some newer family oriented luxury homes with the 2washer 2dryer set up
Appears to be contingent already, even without the in-unit laundry. Looks like it was on the market for less than a week.
Moving to an apartment with no laundry, so that I had to go to the laundromat — something I’d convinced myself would be no big thing — is what ultimately got me to buy, lo those many years ago. Of course, I didn’t have a car, so was walking my laundry a few blocks, mostly up Halsted (if my memory of where this laundry place was is right).
The coin laundry in the building I lived in before that hadn’t been as bad, but meant that you had to have quarters, better hope you didn’t need more loads than expected or get quarters eaten, might have to wait for a washer or dryer, and would leave your load at your own peril. Doing it at my place, even much more frequently, is zero burden, as I don’t have to be anywhere other than my own place, and if something comes up that makes last minute wash or a small load necessary, I can do that easily. For me it’s an option I would demand in anything I bought unless, I guess, it was really truly unique and unmissable in some other way.
But people have different tolerances for things, I’ve been reading back into old CribChatter, and lots of things that bother others don’t bother me at all!
One the double washer/dryer, I saw one place with hook ups for both, although you would have had to buy one set. The benefit of that was sold as washer/dryer upstairs by the bedrooms and also a full sized set with laundry room in the basement.
When you have a washer/dryer upstairs by the bedrooms it gets used a lot. The laundry room in the basement was meant for bigger stuff like towels, sheets, and blankets. That didn’t work out. The upstairs laundry room gets used for everything.
“The upstairs laundry room gets used for everything.”
Bingo! Because who wants to take the laundry downstairs, and then back upstairs!
“two dishwashers (or a F&P two drawer)”
If you’re living alone and reasonably careful (or not too fussy) you can accomplish this in a single (regular) machine.
You all do your own laundry? 😉 Wash and fold for this guy (though they are on shared machines).
“Appears to be contingent already, even without the in-unit laundry. Looks like it was on the market for less than a week.”
Wow. Sizzle.
Even without the laundry (yikes!).
Hey Gary- doesn’t this mean they priced it too low? If a property literally sells within 24-48 hours haven’t you argued that that means they’re leaving money on the table?
I wonder if there was multiple offers for this?
“Lots of much more luxurious vintage buildings along “the Drive” and Sheridan Road don’t have in-unit laundries either.”
1. A lot of them now allow you to put it in (but it can cost up to $10,000)
2. It impacts property values if it doesn’t have it
3. Those 1920s pipes are OLD. Most can’t handle the water pressure which is why it’s hard to put it into some buildings.
I assume the Brundage Bank building doesn’t have it because, frankly, in the early 1990s it just wasn’t a thing for buildings in obscure locations like West Lakeview to have it. It was the era before the “luxury” construction started. So why would a developer go to the trouble of putting it in? It’s expensive and they’d have to figure out where to put it in a pie shaped building.
Seems like mid-400K in the area are going pretty fast.
I found this one more surprising: https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/3545-N-Racine-Ave-60657/unit-2/home/64225783
I’m also interested in what this one will get: https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/5008-N-Lincoln-Ave-60625/unit-3N/home/53712907
I wouldn’t have predicted that was quite the market for that location, but I’ve been wrong before, and I think I tend to underestimate the value of recent construction, since it’s not what I particularly look for.
Oh, am I not supposed to link to redfin?
Without the links:
Seems like mid-400K in the area are going pretty fast.
I found the asking price/quick contingency on 3545 N Racine, #2 more surprising. Seems like a pre-listing deal maybe?
I’m also following 5008 N Lincoln Ave, #3N (and the one below it, listed at $30K less), given the high asking price. I wouldn’t have predicted that was quite the market for that location, but I’ve been wrong before, and I think I tend to underestimate the value of recent construction, since it’s not what I particularly look for.
you can link to redfin all you want, just can’t have more than one link in your post
Thanks!
“Obscure locations like West Lakeview in the 90s.” Holy cluelessness.
Trivia Time: The building was used as the “radio station” scenery for the Dolly Parton flick “Straight Talk.”
All of 3 days on the market.
“Obscure locations like West Lakeview in the 90s.” Holy cluelessness.”
In 1995?
West Lakeview was completely working class. That’s it. Nothing “luxury” or $425,000 about this area (or building) until recently.
Same with Roscoe Village. That was a dump until recently.
“nothing … $425,000 about this area”
Can be said for most of Chicago. $425k used to be a lot of money, until recently.
“Can be said for most of Chicago. $425k used to be a lot of money, until recently.”
That’s my point. Southport/West Lakeview and Roscoe Village were NOT $425,000 neighborhoods 18-20 years ago, let alone 25 years ago.
In 2000, plenty of areas had $400,000 2/2s including Lincoln Park, River North, Streeterville, parts of West Loop (the larger loftminium units). But this neighborhood wasn’t one of them.
That’s why they didn’t put the w/d in the units. Didn’t even do it in the Pencil Factory just a few blocks away which was the first conversion in this area. That’s why it, too, has a community laundry room (although you can now put it in the units if you want.)
And now, it’s pretty much standard for most condos except, apparently, remodeled units in the Brundage Bank building.
I can’t imagine paying $425,000 and getting my stainless steel appliances and STILL having to carry my laundry in my laundry basket to the laundry room. This isn’t New York City (where in-unit laundry is rare.) Noooo….good luck to them.
Sabrina, you are badly mistaken, I lived in this area in the 90s, and again more recently. Actually in RV technically but blocks from here and have regularly been around here for 20+ years. There was ZERO substantive change in those 17 years away, except that from a things to do perspective RV was actually better in the 90s. More quasi-luxury condos built, sure, but the character and inhabitants of the area are quite the same, they’ve just gotten older, lamer and a bit richer in the process. But a supposed transformation from “dump” to not shows, again, you haven’t a clue.
“$425,000 neighborhoods … 25 years ago.”
For a 2/2 condo? Where were these $425k (nominal) neighborhoods for 2/2 condos in 1993?
Article about the pencil factory, from ’88:
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1988-02-13/news/8803300238_1_strikers-plant-ball-point
“We`re talking about loft condos from $125,000 to $170,000 with a pool and indoor parking. That`s an alternative to the $200,000-plus townhouses in De Paul and Lincoln Park and we think that`s a market that nobody has tapped.”
$200k+ *TOWNHOUSES* in Lincoln Park. There were *buildings* with $425k 2/2 condos, but nary a neighborhood.
well, you had a 10% mortgage in 1988 too…
truly clueless (imo) sid v posted “…I lived in this area in the 90s, and again more recently…There was ZERO substantive change in those 17 years away, except that from a things to do perspective RV was actually better in the 90s. More quasi-luxury condos built, sure, but the character and inhabitants of the area are quite the same, they’ve just gotten older, lamer and a bit richer in the process. But a supposed transformation from “dump” to not shows, again, you haven’t a clue.”
sid v doesn’t recall the currency exchange on NWC Roscoe & Damen in 90’s? i guess in sid’s world nothing stamps neighborhoods as having UMC demos like thriving currency exchanges. Currency exchange’s bldg sold for about $300k 20+/- yrs ago and then resold 4 yrs ago for $900k. More apropos a colleague bought/ lived in a dumpy 3 flat just east of Ashland & School for $240k 20 yrs ago & rented cheap apts to students/recent grads until selling it @ $750k as a teardown 3 yrs ago. The new SFH sold @ close to $1.9 mil (abt 3x what early UMC purchasers were paying 20 yrs ago for new & rehabbed SFH’s in West LV & RV iirc.) While anecdotal imo these represent same arc as neighborhood property values. Why did values increase 300% over those 20 +/- yrs? Imo it was because of the area’s transformation from dump to not. Only the truly clueless miss noticing huge transformations. jmo
A currency exchange? You mean by the current Commonwealth bar that went under by around 98? Really, that’s the crux of “dump status” for you? What about the one at Addison and Lincoln that is still there today? Doesn’t that refute your argument? Hint: no it doesn’t because it’s inconsequential then as now.
You are truly a unique brand of moron, SB. Yes prices have gone up, they’ve gone up nearly everywhere…
“Why did values increase 300% over those 20 +/- yrs?”
The first 50% was inflation. Making it ~200% increase in real dollar terms.
For the record, $425 today is the same as ~$245 in ’93.
“$1.9 mil (abt 3x what early UMC purchasers were paying 20 yrs ago for new & rehabbed SFH’s in West LV & RV iirc.”
Those new and rehabbed homes were at least 1/4 smaller than that $1.9m house, and lacking basically all of the “luxe” finishes. So that’s pretty apples and oranges. $1.9 now ~= $1.2m then, and that’s definitely richer than anything being built over there then. Which is, of course, separate evidence of a change in the perception of the hood.
I’ve lived in the neighborhood since the late ’90s, and would take a middle position. It’s changed, but you also could find $400K places (2/2s or 3/2s) and higher, by the early 2000s. I bought a 2/1 (pretty small) in the area in the late ’90s for maybe $160K and sold it for more than $100K over that price in the early ’00s (the day of my first open house), and was told there was a shortage of smaller/affordable places in the area then. (Redfin is estimating the price at #350K now.)
The main way the neighborhood east of Ashland has changed is simply that there used to be a lot more older houses or 2-flats in which older and working class people lived. Those places are increasingly gone (without going on the market first — I used to kick myself for passing up my chance to get house in that area when I went with a condo instead in the early ’00s, as then you could still find a small fixer up, I recall looking at one going for in the $500s).
North Center is what has really changed more dramatically since the late ’90s, from what I recall.
“…You are truly a unique brand of moron, SB. Yes prices have gone up, they’ve gone up nearly everywhere…”
Sid you nailed the true description of me! Sorry to get you so riled that you again can only resort to ad hominem attacks instead of countering a position w/ actual facts. So in your experience virtually every Chgo real estate investment’s increased 300% over last 20 yrs. Wow you’ve been a genius at investing in RE?
Here’s my mmv experience (admittedly anecdata again): In 2000 the same former colleague who profited greatly buying that LV 3 flat pd $250k for 800 sq ft 1 bed 1 ba & parking place in MCM bldg on State Pkwy in GC. He complained when he sold them for $195k 5 yrs ago that on top of paying a $10k special ass’t, he’d sold for less than 80% of what he’d paid 21 yrs earlier in a premier location. Ime (confirmed periodically on CC) that’s not an uncommon outcome in GC. But sid v could’ve pointed him at multiple RE alternative Chgo buy opportunities that would’ve increased 300% over that 20 yrs? Since I don’t believe so my advice is stick to your day job sid v – something like pharmaceutical rep ammiright?
Thanks Stephanie for your even handed post supported with facts- I agree primary change to neighborhood happened as primarily long time working class owners sold entry level places which were redeveloped.
Fwiw sales of a friend’s former home maybe supports your position. In 1995 she sold her 2 story SFH in West LV backing up to El west of Ashland for $170k. It resold in 1999 (likely after rehab) for $300k. It resold in 2009 for $405k and last resold in 2016 for $550k.
Gather ’round youngsters; I’m here to tell you a story! I lived in RV from ’89 to ’93. It was not what it is today, but it wasn’t a dump. It was a) perfectly safe (not a given even in the green zone back then) and b) already known for having a “good” elementary school (Bell). There were a lot of renos of SFHs well underway and condo construction was just beginning.
My recollection is that the pencil factory lofts were rental units until the mid-to late-90s. I had friends that rented there from around ’94-’96.
“I lived in RV from ’89 to ’93. It was not what it is today, but it wasn’t a dump. It was a) perfectly safe (not a given even in the green zone back then) and b) already known for having a “good” elementary school (Bell).”
How is RV consistent w bell neighborhood? I do know an RV family and audubon is just crazy w the umc these days.
SB way to trot out the sorry old cliche of the “ad hominem attack”. If the shoe fits, well I can’t help you there.
Anyway, you keep missing the point, which is that, fundamentally, the neighborhood was not a dump/slum, or even close, 20 years ago, completely and utterly apart from any real estate gains one may have made during that time period, it was not a period of gentrification or metamorphosis in any meaningful way in terms of demographics, things to do or overall quality of life for the area. It went slightly upscale and but it’s very much the same now as then. I lived there during both periods, what are your credentials on the matter? Anecdata on housing prices, which is besides the point anyway?
Talk about something you actually know about, assuming there is such a thing, please.
Sid I don’t give a sh-t what you think – what I actually know about is the value of RE. Specifically I demonstrably know when & at what price is purchasing a RE property likely to turn out to be a good investment.
I’ve solely supported my family by acquiring Chicago area RE for me/my partnerships/my employers for many years. My 1st investment was a flip – bought/sold at same closing a Lakeview 2 flat. 1st p/s bought 6 units in Lakeview/Wrigleyville in early ’80’s likely for less than the cost of the car you drive. Our tenants in 80’s were Appalachian migrants, working class people & Soc Sec or disability recipients. I then focused on buying properties in W Lakeview near Horner Pk. w/similar tenants & neighbors. During 80’s & 90’s I saw tenancy transition to students, artists & musicians and I watched ownership of neighborhood SFH/2 flats changing from working class & urban pioneers to redevelopers & yuppies. Later I did investment RE in places like Logan Sq. & certain ‘burbs.
I’ve known what changes were taking place because successfully supporting my family depended on me understanding it. I’d summarize deals I’ve been doing during past 15+ yrs but I’m afraid it’d sound like gf’n when he’s jes’ postin’ made up sh-t from (I believe) his 2 bed/1 ba Astor Hse apt (not that there’s anything wrong w/living there gf’n – to each their own). I will say I’ve bought (for employers account getting a slice of each salami) in hindsight at the right moments & prices great RE in Wicker Pk, W Lakeview & other places. Today I compete to buy great infill properties in areas like Bucktown & GC. It’s a difficult time to find & buy RE that’ll very likely work out never mind work out as well as past deals have. Everything’s in flux – retail tenancy & future; multifamily supply demand; future of our economy both macro & micro; future interest & cap rates…
Since anonny imo subtly tried economically profiling me in 1450 Dearborn thread by asking if I dropped kids off at Latin – no but 2 graduated from Wash U/St Louis & 2 graduated from Notre Dame despite attending more pedestrian GS/HS’s and most importantly our young adults much like Gary Lucido’s offspring are currently absolutely crushing it in the early stages of their careers & lives. Best wishes for yours to have great outcomes too annony.
So what are your credentials sid?
“I lived in RV from ’89 to ’93. It was not what it is today, but it wasn’t a dump. It was a) perfectly safe (not a given even in the green zone back then) and b) already known for having a “good” elementary school (Bell).”
Yes. It had fallen down on its luck. Not a slum. Kind of dumpy working class. Nothing wrong with it. It started to improve around 1990. Pencil Factory was converted and that started some of the changes in the neighborhood.
No one was spending a million dollars to live there 30 years ago. Nor $500,000. No one was spending $400,000 on a condo even in 1998 (just 20 years ago.) Ditto for West Lakeview where this building is actually located (though just a few blocks from RV.) Ditto for Southport.
It was a working class, okay neighborhood of absolutely NO importance. That’s why the bakery has been there for 75+ years. It made birthday cakes and cookies for working class families. Now it makes them for rich families.
“But a supposed transformation from “dump” to not shows, again, you haven’t a clue.”
Ah, Sid V. We all like to think where we lived when we were 20 was somehow all wonderful and glamorous.
But the reality is, it simply wasn’t. This was a dumpy working class neighborhood for years and years. Lol. Nothing you say can change the reality (or at least the reality according to Roscoe Village Neighbors which also says it was dumpy.)
“Crime became a major concern in the neighborhood, and in 1977 a series of garage fires led to the formation of the Melrose-Oakley Block Club, which set about to improve community safety in its own area. This block club was quite successful; it was blessed with the leadership of a number of prominent people including Stuart Gordon, then at the Organic Theatre, and later producer of “Grease” and a number of movies. The club eventually grew to include all of Roscoe Village, or Riverview, as the area was then commonly called.
By the mid-1970s, both suburban and city residents were beginning to rediscover the solid housing stock and convenient transportation of the Village. The area began to attract “urban pioneers” who bought two-flats here specifically to fix them up, restore them to their former glory, and to live in them. In 1990, the purchase and condominium conversion of the Eversharp Building, better known as the “pencil factory” at 1800 West Roscoe Street, caught the attention of the whole City.
At first the project appeared to be a losing proposition, but the original developers sold out to new owners who soon made it a roaring success. This lit a fire under housing and development in the Village, and property values rose dramatically. Buildings that sold for $20,000 in 1971 were now selling for up to $400,000, and by 2000 a few were listing as high as $800,000.”
“For a 2/2 condo? Where were these $425k (nominal) neighborhoods for 2/2 condos in 1993?”
I said in 2000. There were plenty of $400,000 2/2 condo neighborhoods. I listed them. River North, Streeterville, some parts of the West Loop, Lincoln Park.
This wasn’t one of them. Not until the housing bubble.
Southbound, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Does Commissioner Gordon shine the bat light for you as well? You doth protest to much. Going on and on with your fiction life is really boring. Not sure why you keep trying to sell how great you are all the time, nobody is buying it. Whatevs, mamas boy.
There were definitely $400K 2/2s in Southport Corridor in 2001-02, I looked at some, even though at the time my desire was to not pay that much. Were there in 2000? I suspect so, although I think a lot of what was being built were technically 3/2s, with small third bedrooms. Walking up and down the northern part of Southport south of Irving (from there to just south of the L) there are tons of new construction condo buildings built from ’95 to the 2000s (many in the late ’90s) and they were built for the same sorts of people who populate the neighborhood now. Even my little 2/1, which was in a building with larger more expensive places and built in the mid-90s (’95, I think), was built as a starter place for people (single or couples, no kids) who would shortly thereafter buy something more expensive — everything in that building had washer/dryers and parking and the trendy non super luxury appliances of the day.
I think that Brundage was converted without w/d it must have to do with it being more difficult or expensive to add them or else that the demand/expectation for them changed quite quickly during first part of the ’90s (which could be, that’s a bit before I was paying any attention).
Oh, since this is bringing me down memory lane, one way the neighborhood has changed is that it used to be more diverse (lots of longtime residents) and lots of younger people, and now it seems dominated by people with young children (I’m in Blaine, so I imagine that makes a difference and it may be more pronounced where I am as opposed to the area around Lincoln and Belmont or Diversey, which is where my first place in the area was). But I’ve gone to St Al’s during that whole period and the changes in the parishioners there has reflected the same thing to some extent.
The neighborhood also feels more dense/less quiet now, especially on the L, and that is probably because more people are going to the neighborhoods further along the BrownLine. It used to be more empty at Southport when I was coming home (post rush hour), and now many more people do come to Southport to hang out. That happened quite a while ago, of course.
“Fwiw sales of a friend’s former home maybe supports your position. In 1995 she sold her 2 story SFH in West LV backing up to El west of Ashland for $170k. It resold in 1999 (likely after rehab) for $300k. It resold in 2009 for $405k and last resold in 2016 for $550k.”
I have friends (older than me) who were on Berteau near Ravenswood in the mid to late ’90s, and people (not long time Chicagoans, young professional types), would never know where that was and they always said the neighborhood didn’t have a clear name and would give a few options (Ravenswood, St Bens are what I recall). Maybe they were technically in Uptown, I don’t remember exactly where, and I don’t recall the whole Graceland West thing existing until late in common usage.
Anyway, after having a baby they bought a house abutting the L around ’99 in the $300s (not luxurious or large, basic bedrooms on the second floor, basic cottage style you used to see tons of around here, but the basic rehab had been done), so that’s really consistent.
Oh, whoops, forgot to say that that house was in the area, just off Roscoe. That’s why I brought it up.
SB, nobody gives a flying fuck where your kids went to school, I’m supposed to be impressed you bred a couple of Domers?! BFD. You are so impressed with yourself, but you’re the only one around here as far as I can tell. See, unlike you, my interest in real estate and neighborhoods isn’t purely economic, it’s in the architecture, the people, the things to do, and the quality of life. You know, the things that matter if one actually LIVES in the neighborhood. The things that make city life superior to the burbs. The economics are largely incidental. That seems awfully hard for you to understand.
There’s a certain breed of contemptible person who takes pride in owning rental properties as a way of proving to themselves that they are “better” than others, Not all landlords are like this, but more than a few are-based on the bluster above, I strongly suspect you are one of these figuratively “little” people.
Stephanie posted “…Anyway, after having a baby they bought a house abutting the L around ’99 in the $300s…”
Your details fit description of my friends former home & it’ll be ironic if in a not small world of Chicago RE their first names start w/L & G – that would make them owners for a period time of my friends former home (I’d pointed it out to her when she said she was looking 30 yrs ago as imo an excellent buy opportunity in good safe ‘hood @ under $135k (no sid not in pursuit of making any $ nor ‘big timing’, not involved in her purchase other than pointing)).
Speaking of places backing up to EL & ‘big timing’ posters who ime try to project their worst shortcomings onto others – nah life’s too short to respond to sid/gf’n – good day sirs!
Sabrina, you are changing the conversation re: RV. First it was a “dump until recently” and now you’re going back over 40 years to 1977. How is that recently!? I was only referencing the 90s and onward, which is plenty of time not to be “recent” IMO, even for the oldest of us.
BTW the anecdata you cite makes my point.
“First it was a “dump until recently” and now you’re going back over 40 years to 1977.”
I provided a history of the neighborhood which lays out pretty clearly that I was correct when I said it was working class. Because it was.
I said it was a dump 25 years ago. It was working class in the 1990s. Only just starting to change. Specifically once they converted that former factory. Then there were teardowns etc. etc.
When they converted the Pencil Factory or the Brundage Bank Building, did they put in the washer/dryer? No. And why not? Because this was a working class neighborhood. No need to.
Did you tell your friends: “let’s go out to that hot French restaurant in Roscoe Village” in 1995? (although one is opening shortly- which proves my point.)
Did ANYONE go “out” in Roscoe Village before, say, 2000?
Did lawyers, doctors and Blackhawks players live in Roscoe Village in 1995? Were they clamoring to get into those wood cottages? Were they renting one of those lofts without laundry?
No and No.
Nothing wrong with this. The neighborhood (like Southport and North Center) has changed a lot in the last 25 years. Ditto with other neighborhoods like Lincoln Park and Old Town which both were actually labeled the ghetto at one point (as was River North, in the early 1990s.)
Let’s not re-write history that this was a hot neighborhood 25 years ago and that luxury was everywhere. But it is now.
My point about this area is that when they converted this building there was no need to give it luxury finishes or features. Why would there be? It WASN’T luxury. It was working class.
It was boring West Lakeview. Nothing going on over there 25 years ago.
25 years ago is not “recently” unless you’re like 110 years old. You did not start with 25 years ago, so don’t pretend you did.
The amount of gentrification in the last 25 years is astounding and it seems to be picking up.
Piece from 1991: https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/lincoln-belmont-ashland-gold-mine-or-ghost-town/Content?oid=878501
I think around 1995 is probably when condos intended to appeal to spill-over from Lakeview east of the area really started to be built in earnest, but I think those condos were intended to appeal to the lawyer crowd (among other similar types), so would have had the amenities those people were expected to like, and not been built to appeal to the “working class.” What I don’t know is how important washers and dryers were in, say, 1995, if they weren’t easy to add, vs. by 1998 or 2000, when they were expected, period, unless you were buying something dumpy or something special and vintage. Could have been major change within those years.
Comparison might be the kitchen appliances expected in high end in the area now (Sub Zero and Wolf and all that) vs. even 10 years ago and certainly 15, when I don’t think it was a big deal even when trying to appeal to the same basic types of buyers.
And from 1988 on the plans for the pencil factory: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1988-02-13/news/8803300238_1_strikers-plant-ball-point
Stephanie, I agree regarding standard amenities. I don’t think w/d was necessarily a “must have.” The same with central air. It wasn’t that it was working class or UMC. Buyer expectations were lower in regard to required finishes / amenities.