City Lights at Night: A 1-Bedroom at 111 E. Chestnut in the Gold Coast
This 1-bedroom at 111 E. Chestnut in the Gold Coast came on the market in March 2015.
Built in 1972-1973 as apartments, the building has 444 units and was converted into condos in 1994.
This 44th floor unit has west facing views of Chicago and the suburbs beyond.
At 1,000 square feet, it’s almost as large as many 2-bedrooms in the neighborhood.
The listing says it is “renovated” and “highly upgraded.”
The kitchen has custom cabinets and stainless steel appliances.
The bath is stone with a Jacuzzi tub.
Although the building was built in 1973, this unit comes with an in-unit washer/dryer.
It has wall air conditioning units.
Parking is included in the price.
This is a full service building with a pool, a doorman and an exercise room.
Now listed at just $369,000, how can you beat that price for that view?
Pasquale Recchia at @Properties has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #44D: 1 bedroom, 1 bath, 1000 square feet
- Sold in May 1998 for $177,500
- Sold in February 2003 for $260,000
- Originally listed in March 2015 for $400,000
- Reduced several times
- Currently listed at $369,000 (includes parking)
- Assessments of $649 a month (includes cable, internet, doorman, pool, exercise room)
- Taxes are $3811
- Wall unit air conditioning
- Washer/Dryer in the unit
- Bedroom #1: 15×14
commodity unit. Ouch, this is going to get left behind going forward, with its low ceilings, no can lights, wall unit A/C. Still has the mid-2000’s “42 inch maple cabinets, granite countertop” feel to it. This is Clio’s building where he owns a unit or two. Wonder what he thinks.
That AC is an eyesore. Also the kitchen looks just terrible. Why not open it up to the living room?
man that wall unit ac is really bad
Talking about ugly, a few hops along the similar listings took me to this gem:
https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/132-E-Delaware-Pl-60611/unit-5104/home/14120890
What are these people thinking?
Meh. This building is the worst of worlds: too “modern” to be vintage, and too old to have the architecture and features buyers of newer buildings expect.
… like central air. That wall unit is truly terrible.
And, while the sellers were “upgrading” the unit, they could at least have included a built-in induction cooktop and built in oven, instead of a low-end electric free-standing range shoved into a niche.
This is a pretty standard home despot renovation
Looks like an American Invsco property conversion…
About as boring an apartment you can get. With all those “custom” paint jobs couldn’t you add some lighting and trim work? lolololol. The realtor added so much realtor talk into the description you knew it was going to be a boring POS. LOL at all that talk about the bathroom and then look at that “jackuzi” one man tub. paleeeese. This is a rental unit only or get back to 2003 prices chop chop.
“Meh. This building is the worst of worlds: too “modern” to be vintage, and too old to have the architecture and features buyers of newer buildings expect.”
That’s true. But not many buildings, new or old, have these views, especially at this price.
These units usually sell within just a week or two because of the views and the building amenities.
“That AC is an eyesore. Also the kitchen looks just terrible. Why not open it up to the living room?”
Most of the kitchens in the 1-bedrooms in this building are NOT opened to the living room (some do extend them into the dining area, however.) It makes me think that there is some kind of structural wall there.
There are 444 units in this building. At some point someone would have opened it up if they could.
I’m not seeing great view at all. North, South, and East you would get at least some lake view. West you get what – River Forest?
“Ouch, this is going to get left behind going forward, with its low ceilings.”
I think the ceilings are 9 foot which isn’t that low.
And, as I said in the other messages, these usually sell pretty quickly. Prices have ranged from $290k (sold a couple of years ago) to $450,000. Views from the 55th floor, both east and west, are pretty spectacular. East has dead on views of the Hancock and the Lake if you’re up high enough. West has the entire west side of the city, OHare and most western suburbs.
I think they started too high with the price on this one and now are catching up to the market.
This unit is on the 44th floor- facing west.
“I’m not seeing great view at all. North, South, and East you would get at least some lake view. West you get what – River Forest?”
Wow- city lights are the best views. Blows away the lake. Have you ever been in a high rise in Chicago with the west facing view before? It’s spectacular. It’s like when you land in a plane at night at O’Hare and come in over the lake. You can see the grid of the streets. You can see the storms all roll in.
So wonderful. And great light all afternoon long.
I used to have west facing many years ago. I should try and get that again. I forgot how fantastic it is.
Building will never be the same after John Cusak moved out……..
“Building will never be the same after John Cusak moved out……..”
When did he live there? 20 years ago?
He’s lived in River North for a decade.
West facing views are better, I lived in a high rise on the 14th floor and it had better night and day views than the east views of the lake (which is dark at night and frozen in the winter).
This unit is not 1000 sq feet, that’s just a completely made up round number. it’s probably more like 750-800 including hallways and closets. The realtor is playing games here. I’ve lived in 1000 apartments and this is not that.
And yeah, this is a home depot permitless ‘renovation’ that’s about as interesting as a new roof shingle. Every realtor, seller has to push the upper limits on price to discover what the market will bear….
“This unit is not 1000 sq feet, that’s just a completely made up round number. it’s probably more like 750-800 including hallways and closets. The realtor is playing games here. I’ve lived in 1000 apartments and this is not that.”
I don’t think you are correct in that. It’s 23×15 across that living room and has a 10×9 den. In some of the units they have closed off that “den/dining room” and put a bed in there and used it as a second bedroom. People have a dining room table in there. The bedroom is oversized as well. A ton of the 1-bedroom units that are 1000 square feet also have big sectionals AND dining room tables in that main living space. You’re not doing that in 700 or 800 square feet. Not even close.
All the larger one bedrooms in this building are 1000 square feet according to the listings. That’s dozens of units. They’d all have to be lying.
Homedelete:
Here’s one with furniture on a higher east facing floor. Same layout. They all have this same layout.
It’s got several tables/chairs and a sectional. There’s no way this is fitting in an 800 square foot unit (with plenty of room to spare.)
By the way, this one is under contract listed at $459,000.
http://www.bairdwarner.com/property/41605314/111-East-Chestnut-Street-57F-CHICAGO-IL-60611
I own a few units in this building – bought them in 1998-99 when american invesco converted them. They were expensive back then and even more expensive now. I’m shocked at the rent I get for a 2 bedroom (3800). I personally would NEVER live there – it reminds of of a terrible 70s apartment building. In addition, the parking garage is a nightmare (even though spots are 75-100k each)….so ridiculous. The location is what makes the price so high – but wouldn’t anyone rather live two blocks east and still have pretty much the same proximity to all of the same places?
Thanks for chiming in Clio. I didn’t realize this was an early Invsco conversion. They converted over 20,000 units or something across Chicago over the decades. It’s hard to keep track.
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4258978.html
Hey Clio- those rents do seem to be prime. But why aren’t you selling and cashing out? Values appear to be much higher in the building now.
Just curious.
The high rents don’t make it a bad place to be a landlord. Is there a rental cap? I’m assuming there is not.
Cusak moved out probably 10-15 years ago, he owned one of the penthouse units.
Hey Clio- those rents do seem to be prime. But why aren’t you selling and cashing out? Values appear to be much higher in the building now.
Hi Sabrina – My situation may be different than others – my units are paid off and therefore the cash flow is good. There is also a psychological factor of greed involved. For example, one unit purchased for 450k (including parking) went down to 375-400k during the bust but units in the same tier are commanding prices of 600k plus (without parking). Even though it seems extremely expensive, it isn’t for the area. The prices will continue to go up. That being said, I personally don’t see the appeal of that building or those units, but i’m not the majority and the majority is what determines pricing.
“West facing views are better, I lived in a high rise on the 14th floor and it had better night and day views than the east views of the lake (which is dark at night and frozen in the winter).”
I’ll admit that city views are great, but there is something about watching the lake freeze/crack/thaw all winter long that’s pretty magical. Not to mention amazing sunrises.
“Hey Clio- those rents do seem to be prime. But why aren’t you selling and cashing out? Values appear to be much higher in the building now.”
seriously?
1) Income – which is pretty much the #1 key part of any investment
2) why create a taxable event
3) real estate only goes up up up!
4) what are you going to do with the money you make on the deal after taxes and transaction charges, put it in the stock market at all time highs? buy bonds that don’t yield anything?
“but wouldn’t anyone rather live two blocks east and still have pretty much the same proximity to all of the same places?”
No. Living west of Mich Ave is better than east. When you live west of Mich Ave, you have the mental/physical freedom of going west, getting on the Red Line, getting to the Kennedy. Living in Streeterville is a golden prison yard.
“Talking about ugly, a few hops along the similar listings took me to this gem:
https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/132-E-Delaware-Pl-60611/unit-5104/home/14120890
What are these people thinking?”
Starting a Mae West museum?
“seriously?”
He talks scathingly of the building and doesn’t seem happy being a landlord. Why not get out now and buy something you can actually enjoy with the money? Life is too short.
This could be his last chance to actually get out of the building at a decent price. Who knows? Or maybe rents collapse after they build the next 10,000 new apartments (8,000 of which are in the pipeline.) Who knows?
I don’t think anyone foresaw China devaluing the Yuan. The future is uncertain. You might as well be doing something you enjoy.