Are All Penthouses Created Equal? 701 S. Wells
Wells Street Tower, at 701 S. Wells, in Printers Row was the first new building to be built in that part of the South Loop in over a decade when it closed in 2002.
For awhile, it was the only new construction in the neighborhood. The building was not marketed as luxury but that doesn’t mean there aren’t penthouses in the building.
One of those penthouses, Unit #3400, is on the market now. Here’s the listing:
EXTRAORDINARY PENTHOUSE W/PANORAMIC CITY & LAKE VIEWS & 100 FT TERRACE. EXQUISITE DETAILS THROUGH THE HOME INCL: BRAZILIAN CHERRY HDWD & LIMESTONE FLOORING.
POGGENPOHL CABS FULLY INTEGRATED, SS APPLIANCES, THICK GRANITE ISLAND, MBTH W/HEATED MARBLE FLOORS/WALLS, FP, RAIN FOREST SHOWER, WHIRLPOOL TUB. LOW-VOLTAGE SYSTEM W/INFRARED CONTROLS, 2 PROJECTION TV’S & HOME NETWORK. A SPECTACULAR AND GRACIO…
Does the building matter when buying a penthouse?
This penthouse unit is, by far, the most expensive unit currently for sale in the building. There is a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath unit, Unit #2406, with 1600 square feet listed for $575,000.
Debra Dobbs at Koenig & Strey has the listing. See more pictures and a virtual tour here.
Unit #3400: 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 2 car garage, 3900 square feet
- Sold in December 2003 for $850,000
- Currently listed for $2.25 million
- Assessments of $1,590 a month
- Taxes of $11,704
The building is luxury, for Printer’s Row, but this still seems high to me. The penthouse is half a floor, so 3 units combined from the floor below (one 3BR and two 2BRs). Those units on a high floor might total $1.25M if the market is good. The finishes are really nice, but many of the high floor units have nearly as nice finishes, the real difference is having no one above you, having the huge balcony and having the private roof deck. $1M seems like a little too much premium for that. I’d guess this would move fast at $1.5M or 1.75M. I’ll be very curious to see what happens.
There certainly isn’t a nicer building in the neighborhood* (yet). The two developers of the building each own one of the penthouses. They both tried to get on the board a couple months ago and failed after a contentious campaign. Odd that one of them ran when he was planning on moving out…
*I’m talking Printer’s Row, not all South Loop.
hehehe, I’ll leave the mocking of the price to those who follow as I can’t judge if $1+MM of improvements were made in the unit.
All I have to say is that there will be no bottom in real estate (at least in Chicago) as long as we keep seeing listings like #3400.
YMMV.
Being on the top floor doesn’t mean much if anything, but being a true penthouse, the only unit on the top floor, with outdoor terrace(s), adds a good amount of value.
These sellers are delusional, however. Should be boring to watch as it sits for years at this price. I doesn’t look like it gets north views of the city, which would be the cool ones in this building. So the views are nice but not spectacular.
that last picture makes the bathtub look like a water fountain
Here is my impression of half of the people on this site:
Waaaahhhhhhh Its soooo overpriced, the bottom is no where near, its gonna be a blood bath, the sellers are ca-razy!
All this translates to: I’m jealous of the people that can afford these nice, expensive properties, and I’m stuck at my shit ass job and can barely pay my rent, let alone afford a decent 400k condo.
Anyone notice that the shower gives great views, both of the city and of….. not a lot of privacy.
“Anyone notice that the shower gives great views, both of the city and of….. not a lot of privacy.”
I would pay an extra $50k to shower with a view. 🙂
With most of Vetro’s penthouses still for sale (even at least 1 top floor genuine penthouse) selling for significantly less this seller is in la-la land.
Why spend 2.3MM on this penthouse unit when you can get one next door with north facing views for 1/3 of the price?
Sabrina,
Why didn’t you publish my comment that I left about your posters always whining and crying about everything being overpriced and what not? I’v3e decided this blog is lame. Its moderated to strictly and you basically have the same 4-5 jack asses fag-slap fighting each other in every post. Peace.
That unit looks really nice and if comparable units recently sold that high in that area, then the high price is worth it. Personally, I don’t like the neighborhood. Everything’s old, roads are crap, and too many dingy alleys for people to hide in. I’ve walked that neighborhood hundreds of times and I still don’t know why many people here seem to prefer it over other parts of the “South Loop”. The best area south of the Loop that I think are the best places to live are south of Roosevelt and east of Wabash. Everything’s new, shiny, roads are paved, quiet, there’s grass, trees, and breathing room.
“Bob on September 5th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
With most of Vetro’s penthouses still for sale (even at least 1 top floor genuine penthouse) selling for significantly less this seller is in la-la land.
Why spend 2.3MM on this penthouse unit when you can get one next door with north facing views for 1/3 of the price?”
Another brilliant Cribhater comp analysis!!!
The Vetro “penthouses” are half the size and are straight up ghetto compared to this unit.