A Modern Fan? This Gut Renovated Large 1-Bedroom Has Been Reduced: 340 W. Diversey
We last chattered about this large 1-bedroom (former a 2-bedroom) at 340 W. Diversey in Lakeview in December 2009.
See our prior chatter and pictures here.
It was withdrawn from the market shortly after our chatter but returned in 2010 with a $10,000 reduction.
This is no ordinary “renovation”.
The kitchen has only modern updates with Scavolini cabinets, and Bosch, Liebherr and Grohe finishes.
The two bathrooms have also been updated.
While the unit has central air, remember, it doesn’t have a washer/dryer in the unit (it’s not allowed by the building.)
Parking is available, but it’s only rental in the building.
Vik Wadhwa at Modern Chicago Homes still has the listing. (It is agent owned.) See more pictures here.
Unit #2018: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, no square footage listed
- Sold in August 1993 for $167,250
- Sold in July 2005 for $260,000
- Was listed in December 2009 for $379,900
- Reduced
- Currently listed for $369,900
- Assessments of $734 a month (includes heat, a/c, cable, doorman, pool)
- Taxes of $3547
- Central Air
- No in-unit washer/dryer
- Rental parking
- Bedroom: 14×11
- Living/dining: 20×34
- Kitchen: 12×10
Is this a combined unit? Oh, I see, they opened up the second bedroom. If it was a combined unit, you could have used the kitchen plumbing for a washing machine (I think I’ve seen the by-laws for this building which says you can do this). Not to nitpick (but I will), this isn’t really central air either, but individual blower units with cooling from a central chiller (same for the heat). I suspect that the fan would be on the unit’s meter. It’s very nice, but it still needs to come down more than 10k though.
Very nicely presented…but then again it’s the agent’s unit. Wish they showed the square footage. Assessments are a killer.
“2 BEDROOM CONVERTED TO HUGE OPEN SPACE WITH LOFT FEEL (EASY TO CONVERT BACK)”. That sounds like the owner basically turned a 2 bedroom condo into a giant studio. How well will that go over with the appraiser if they don’t convert the unit back to the original floor plan?
“That sounds like the owner basically turned a 2 bedroom condo into a giant studio.”
There’s still one bedroom. It will cause an appraisal problem for a stupid/lazy appraiser who comps only to one bedrooms in east-of-sheridan towers, and gives a + for SF.
Interesting site that this unit is listed on. It’s one of only 4 actual listings on the site… everything else has “CONTACT US FOR MORE INFORMATION” on other buildings… many of which aren’t built yet… curious…
I’ve been in this building, and the views are excellent (at least they were in the unit I visited). Assessments are high, but do include heat… of course it’s hard NOT to have sky high assessments if you’re looking for a building with elevators, doormen, etc., etc.
Handsome renovation but I am not at all fond of walking right into the kitchen from the unit’s front door.
Was this the Mel Gibson bldg. from the movie “What Woman Want”?
I’m not all that fond of spending extra $$$ for bottled water, or a kitchen without an island
lol@assessments, rental parking, no w/d and facing the wrong direction.
For all of those complaining about the assessments, what SHOULD they be to maintain the building in a good state of repair? I seriously wanna know.
The assessments are pretty well in line for a unit this size,for what’s included in them- heat, doorman, common area maintenance and utilities.
This is a popular building in a great location, and the unit itself is in great condition. Should sell at or not too far below the offer price.
I agree with you, Laura, but I want to know what the people who think they are too high believe that they should be.
Sheridan B,
A valid question without an easy answer. You have to look at the budget to see where the money is going. If it’s going towards building reserves then I’m less concerned. If it’s a vintage building with lots of facade maintenance costs I’m very concerned. In general, high rises with doormen and pools are very expensive. It depends on what value you place on those amenities. Many people don’t value them. On the other hand, if you live in a 3 flat that is self-managed then your assessments can be $150. To me that is at the other extreme – a good value. Personal preference.
Another way to look at it is how do the assessments compare to the carrying costs of the unit. I would use 5% to represent the cost of the mortgage and opportunity cost of the down payment. In that case this unit has a $1541/month carrying cost and at that level the assessment is almost 50% of the cost of carrying the unit. Think of it this way. If you found a unit that had a $100 lower monthly assessment you could essentially spend $40K more on it.
As if that explanation didn’t bore you enough I’ve got several posts on assessments: http://blog.lucidrealty.com/category/assessments/
I agree with previous posting that this unit is facing the wrong direction. If this were a south facing unit with a view of the entire city skyline, it would be a much more attractive prospect.
Where is the fridge?
“Where is the fridge?”
Must be hidden behind the panels in the center of the photo.
A $1k monthly nut before P&I&I. Fantastic.
Yeah, no, this place wont sell. Not at that price. Sorry but buyers are going to look at that compared to a brand new building for the same price and guess where they’ll go?
As a general note, the reasons that buildings of this vintage (circa 1960s) tend to have rental valet parking rather than deeded self-park are:
(1) having attended parking allows you to cram many more cars in – self-park garages have different building codes than attended parking, i.e. self-parking requires more space in aisles and larger parking stalls, and of course with attended parking you can park up the aisles as well. I think my building’s garage has only about 200 actual parking stalls but the garage capacity is 300 because the garage is attended.
(2) the increased capacity is desirable because in the 1960s, the zoning codes for off-street parking were more lax, particularly for smaller apartments like studios, which required 0 parking spaces. My building has about 550 units (but much fewer spaces, obviously).
(3) the increased parking capacity makes the monthly parking much, much cheaper for residents as opposed to doing assigned self-park – even taking into account paying an attendant to be there 24/7.
Compare a building like this at $145/month (typical for attended parking) to buying your own spot for $30+k and paying an assessment on that too.