A Vintage 1-Bedroom with a Secret Terrace: 1255 N. State Parkway in the Gold Coast
This 1-bedroom in The Churchill at 1255 N. State Parkway in the Gold Coast came on the market in September 2020.
The Churchill was built in 1924 and has 64 units. It’s a doorman building.
This unit has some of its vintage features including hardwood floors throughout and crown molding.
The kitchen has white cabinets, Carrara marble counter tops and stainless steel appliances.
The listing says it has a fully updated marble bathroom with heated floors.
The bedroom has a custom cedar walk-in-closet which the listing says an in-unit washer/dryer COULD be added.
It doesn’t have central air but has window a/c units.
There’s no parking with the building but it’s available in the neighborhood.
But this unit also has a feature that is somewhat rare with vintage units: outdoor space.
Not only does it have a 12×4 balcony, but it has a 12×8 secret terrace that is fenced for privacy.
The property has come on the market at $324,900 for 1000 square feet.
In this pandemic year, does outdoor space seal the deal?
Jennifer Owen at @Properties has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #2J: 1 bedroom, 1 bath, 1000 square feet
- Sold in April 1988 for $99,000
- Sold in January 1995 for $91,500
- Sold in October 1998 for $174,000
- Sold in February 2001 for $240,000
- Sold in October 2007 for $330,500
- Sold in April 2013 for $240,000
- Sold in December 2016 for $311,000
- Originally listed in September 2020 for $324,900
- Currently still listed for $324,900
- Assessments of $1226 a month (includes heat, a/c, gas, electric)
- Taxes of $4956
- No central air- window units
- No in-unit washer/dryer but listing indicates it can be added
- No parking
- Bedroom: 16×12
- Living room: 21×14
- Dining room: 8×8
- Kitchen: 11×8
- Foyer: 10×6
- Balcony: 12×4
- Terrace: 12×8
Considering charm and finishes, this a deal.
1200 in HOA fees. No way! this is no deal. hard pass.
Very charming. Not necessarily a permanent place to live but a good in-town for someone who appreciates vintage. Lack of parking could be an issue.
Whoever does buy it will hopefully respect the vintage charm by removing the horrible TV from its prominent spot on the LR wall.
It really is too bad the HOA assessments are so high in this building. Every time a new unit lists here, I always find myself double-checking to see if I’m misreading something. Even for an older building, these HOA fees are on par with the tax-inclusive assessments of a co-op.
“removing the horrible TV from its prominent spot on the LR wall”
I like a LR without a TV as much as anyone, but if you also don’t want it in your bedroom, where do you have it here? Are you suggesting no tv?
Looking at the HOA as an “in perpetuity” expense at a 7% cap rate you can think of this as a 1-bed with no parking or laundry (but two outdoor spaces!) for $525K ballpark. . . so I am with MZ on this one. This is not a deal — it is a nice unit but by no means a bargain. . . . and folks seem to not live here for very long. Looking for it’s 7th owner in 32 years? On average folks live here for 4.5 years? I don’t understand why you wouldn’t just rent. I really don’t see condos appreciating in the near term in Chicago given the abundance of supply and how nice all the new rentals are. At $325K after paying commissions, folks are literally losing money on this not accounting for anything they might have put into it. It is a head scratcher. Why not hang on to it and rent it out (unless this association doesn’t allow that?) — The reason is because you probably cannot rent this for more than $2500/mo, so you would literally also be paying for the headache of having a tenant.
For most Including me this would be a hard pass
There is a small subset of buyers that this is a decent deal
Will they have difficulty getting into a tub – possibly
Will they have a small designer dog they dress up – probably
Will they have be blaring Yanni’s greatest hits – definitely
Anon,
Not suggesting no TV, maybe just not such a prominent one. Maybe one you can hide in a cabinet that has sliding doors.
The HOA has to be steep, to support a doorman in a 64-unit building. If one is there 24/7, that means three shifts plus a relief shift, in addition to the building’s maintenance staff. Plus, older mid-rise and high-rise buildings usually have higher maintenance and utility expenses than newer ones, to begin with.
The service a building like this offers, is nice if you can afford it, but it definitely means extra costs.
“If one is there 24/7, that means three shifts plus a relief shift”
If one is there 24/7, it means *4* shifts, plus a relief shift. 24×7 = 168 hours a week, and I suspect the building frowns on paying 40+ hours of overtime every week.
You’re right, anon. All in all, doormen are an amenity that makes for a huge payroll for a relatively small building. I lived in a similar high rise- 20s vintage with 60 large units when I was young, and remember buying 11 boxes of candy for the building’s staff at Christmas. I now appreciate what a gift I was getting in the low rent we were charged, even for that distant time.