A 2/2 Penthouse Short Sale at 37% Off the 2008 Price: 1720 S. Michigan in the South Loop
We’ve chattered about 1720 S. Michigan in the South Loop many times over the past several years.
But this 2-bedroom penthouse on the 33rd floor just came on the market as a short sale.
It is listed about 37% under the 2008 purchase price.
There are no pictures with the unit so we can’t see the 16-foot high ceilings or the 205 square foot terrace. (Why aren’t there pics???)
It has a west facing view.
The kitchen has granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances.
From the floorplan that is provided in the listing, it appears the second bedroom doesn’t have windows.
The listing says the building is 52% rented. It has nearly 500 units.
We’ve been talking about short sales and foreclosures in this building for several years now.
How long will it take the REOs/short sales to cycle through the building?
Is this even much of a deal? Or will buyers simply wait until it is bank owned?
Thomas Tyszka at T. Nicholas Realty has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #3308: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1145 square feet, 1 car parking included
- I couldn’t find a prior sale price in the CCRD. Redfin says it sold in March 2008 for $457,000
- Lis pendens foreclosure filed in April 2012
- Originally listed in the first week of May 2012 at $299,900
- Reduced
- Currently listed as a “short sale” at $289,900
- Assessments of $500 a month (includes heat, a/c, gas, doorman)
- Taxes of $5395
- Central Air
- Washer/Dryer in the unit
- Bedroom #1: 11×13
- Bedroom #2: 10×10
OK. So it has a terrace, and…..??
thread is worthless without pics
If you leave out the “south’ part, clio’s friends could simply tell their acquaintances they have a “Michigan Ave.” in-town.
I think the other units in this building are going to drag down the price on this one. The majority of the building is very small, 1/1s, that are likely going to appeal to a different demographic than this unit. I’ve been in this building and it seems nice overall – there’s even a dog run. I would be concerned buying in this building since the other residents are likely to be young and where there’s young people, there is noise and loud parties.
While better than some of the units in this building, the floorplan is still awful. I’m sure the construction also seems just as cheap.
Everything this developer built is a great example of things that could only sell in a boom.
would have been a nice view of yesterday’s kerfuffle?
Nothing about the floor plan says luxury penthouse. Its tiny and the terrace isn’t that large. The fact the the building is 52% rented means the unit will be hard to finance. This is why buildings should put on rental caps.
Who is it who always makes the comment about “getting CMKed” on here. Well, this person got CMKed.
I believe that is Joe Z, but he means it in a good way
This building is a scary situation with many red flags. Beware.
To begin with, the taxes are outrageous but it’s “new construction” and half-rental (investor owned) so good luck appealing them. Also, the high number of rentals makes it difficult to finance, unless it is FHA approved.
Another bad thing about too many rentals is that the owners of those units view them as “investments” or “cash cows” rather than home, and these investors will likely outweigh you in matters concerning building governance. They won’t want to spend a dime more improving and maintaining the building above what is necessary to keep their units rentable. I remember how visibly deteriorated Marina City became as a condo with a high number of investor owned units, and how many really bad tenants it had. High rents are no deterrent to bad tenants that get past the weak screening of unprofessional small investors.
Also, WAS it FHA approved at one point, like when it was first completed and the units first marketed? If so, expect a lot of strategic defaults among first owners, leaving you in the lurch on assessments and building expenses.
And is this building one of the many South Loop hi rises with serious structural problems and construction flaws?
It’s worth looking at, at this price, but I would look very, very long and close.
Not what I would consider a true 2 bedroom luxury penthouse. More like a top floor 1bd with den average boom condo. Too bad on the location inside the building. Had it been one unit over at least they might be able to sell the unit to the next door neighbor and made it into a great combined corner unit.
What do people do for fun in the sloop after they’re done admiring their new, modern places with unpainted ceilings? There really isn’t much to do around here.
This association is really unique – it has No Rules and No Regulations. I could not believe it, when I was trying to get rules and regs from the manager…….. It has manager, though…. How do they manage it without rules….
And it’s really hard to get a good signal on your cell phone inside rhese units; you usually have to be at the window or out on a balcony to make it work.
This too close for comfort to Chicago’s ‘south side’. As a suburban dweller, I find the city dangerous and dirty. This is in the ‘numbered streets’ section of the city which, as a general rule, means I have no business there. Thank you.
Agreed. Too close to the south side. Plus I thought we covered this already – nothing to do in the South Loop! Oh wait, you can try to walk across what is basically a 6 lane highway hope you don’t get killed just so you can go to Target…a Target with poor customer service. Better off in the burbs.
I rented here a for a while a couple years back, some terrible misinformation up in here….
“This association is really unique – it has No Rules and No Regulations.”
That’s wrong, there are rules and regulation, however there used to be a manager that wasn’t very good about enforcing them and was replaced eventually.
“To begin with, the taxes are outrageous but it’s “new construction” and half-rental (investor owned) so good luck appealing them.”
Taxes are in line with the rest of the sloop high rises. Also they appealed every year and had a successful appeal a couple years ago.
“And is this building one of the many South Loop hi rises with serious structural problems and construction flaws?”
Not that I’m aware of
“Nothing about the floor plan says luxury penthouse.”
It’s not advertised as “luxury”, only penthouse which is appropriate due to the different floor plans.
Yup, because its not like you have Chinatown, Soldiers Field, Reggie’s Rock Club, the Ping Tom park, easier access to the lakefront than at almost any part of the north lakefront etc. etc. What to do indeed? Maybe go to the dirty el and take a train to lincoln park where you really want to be? Plenty of people are doing just fine in the south loop.
Wow josh, sarcasm.
is the ping tom park a big deal? seems like an ok playground but not really something to inspire buyers for this place. it’s a half mile away. i like the house on top of the bridge though
Sorry HD, just saw it in the context of the one that followed yours, and figured it might reflect a pervasive attidude rather than a misunderstood sarcastic comment. Apologies.
“is the ping tom park a big deal? seems like an ok playground but not really something to inspire buyers for this place. it’s a half mile away.”
Yeah, what’s the proportion of residents in this building who would have been to ping tom even once in the last twelve months? 5 percent or less? Maybe, maybe a couple people for the dragon boat races or an amazing race fan or something.
How about the recent article about 11 orgs putting together bid packages for the Michael Reese site?!! They all extoll its virtues due to it’s location, blah, blah, and more blah…..I’ll never truly understand Chicago RE developers. Actually, if you read this they’re lining up to get hired ($$) to “plan” the site: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-03-10/business/ct-biz-0310-michael-reese-20120310_1_real-estate-firm-architecture-firm-urban-design-firm
“the Michael Reese site”
Dunbar and the trailer lot are big negatives; new marina, south shore stop and LSD+55 access are pluses.
“This association is really unique – it has No Rules and No Regulations. ”
That’s one of the worst things you’d ever want to hear about an association.
A person would have to be crazy, or get an entire block of units very, very cheaply, at least 40% of the listed price, to make the risk worthwhile. There’s nothing BUT risk here.
Vera – You aren’t right about there being no rules.
http://www.1720smichigan.com/files/rules.pdf
Even “luxury” “penthouse” units get bedrooms without windows? Just how high end must one go to get windows in all the bedrooms… there was a time when that was as basic as a door to enter the room. Speaking of which, that awful 2nd bedroom doesn’t even really have a wall on which to put a bed, between the hallway door, bathroom door and whole wall of closets. Unless you want to sleep 6″ form the fridge slamming and the sink running…