Does a Townhouse on the 12th Floor Make Sense? 55 E. Erie in River North
This 3-bedroom townhouse at 55 E. Erie in River North was on the market for a few months in 2015 and then recently came back on in January 2016.
No, your eyes are not deceiving you.
It is a townhouse on the 12th floor of this building (as seen in the right on the picture above.)
It’s 4 stories and has its own private entrance, just like most townhouses at ground level.
The townhouse has both stairs and an interior elevator to each level.
The first floor is the living/dining/kitchen.
The master suite takes up the entire second floor with the other two bedrooms on the third floor.
The fourth floor has an indoor and outdoor kitchen along with a 1,000 square foot private rooftop deck which is landscaped and has a pergola.
The listing says the property has been “completely gutted.”
It has a custom kitchen with white cabinets and dark stone countertops with Subzero, Wolf and Miele appliances.
There’s also a wood paneled den with coffered ceiling.
2 parking spaces are included in the building’s garage and you get the benefit of the doorman and other high rise amenities.
Is this a nice compromise for someone who wants the levels of a single family home but with the security of a high rise?
Margaret Baczkowski at Jameson Sotheby’s has the listing. See the pictures here.
55 E. Erie SH-2: 3 bedrooms, 4 baths, 2 half baths, 4325 square feet
- Sold in September 2005 for $2 million (per Zillow)
- Originally listed in April 2015 for $3.195 million
- Withdrawn in November 2015
- Re-listed in January 2016 for $2.999 million
- Currently still listed at $2.999 million (includes 2-car parking in the building’s garage)
- Assessments of $2460 a month (includes heat, gas, doorman, cable, Internet, exterior maintenance, scavenger, exercise room)
- Taxes of $39,592
- Central Air
- Washer/Dryer on the second floor
- Elevator (am assuming homeowner pays for maintenance of this)
- Bedroom #1: 15×19 (second floor)
- Bedroom #2: 15×15 (third floor)
- Bedroom #3: 24×16 (third floor)
Great place I like it. Square footage seems possibly overstated though, and thise assessments are positively brutal.
great place for a family!
Also, is that botticello an original in the bathroom? One would think that the humidity from the hot showers would damage the oil paint and canvas.
Assessments are redic…They likely need to bifurcate the HOA. We have townhomes as part of my high-rise development and the assessments are in line with the unit’s “footprint” and not the overall SF of the unit.
This is an interesting concept. It’s not what I would pick given the high assessments though.
“Square footage seems possibly overstated”
Might be, but not by too much. The footprint of each TH is about 29×48, and the 4th floor is about 500 sf of interior. Call it 27′ x 47.5′ on the 1st three floors, 475 on the 4th and your there.
That doesn’t deduct anything for the stairs or the elevator or interior walls, but it seems to be a reality-based number.
damn this place is really frickin nice
can. not. afford.
why are the assessments aligned like they are a condo though… yuck, and those taxes…. dayum
Really like the finishes in this place, though 4 level of living isn’t super practical.
The assessments don’t seem out of whack based on some of the recent POS, especially if it covers your private elevator
It is elegantly finished and nicely decorated but to me it has the worst parts of condo living combined with the worst aspects of a townhouse. Townhouses are typically easy in/out street and sidewalk access with your own garage – no going through the lobby or common garage into an elevator to 12 then walking down to your unit. It also has the smaller footprint of a town home without the spacious feel of a comparably priced single floor condo. To me 4-1000 sq/ft floors (with loss to stairs and elevator) is a completely different feel than a 4000 sq ft single floor condo. Finally, it has the assessments of a higher end condo, but to be fair, you do get use of the building’s amenities.
I wonder if the elevator in the townhouse itself is maintained with the assessments or if that falls on to the owner to maintain.
I like the idea, but I’m not sure I like the execution. How does one enter the townhouse? It looks like you would take an elevator to the 12th floor, then go outside (?) again to get in. That seems weird.
The finishes (cabinets, built-ins, countertops, stairway railings) are little ornate and fussy for my taste. (But then again, I’m not in the market for a $3M property!)
I remember when these were first marketed andI liked the idea and you also get full use of all the condo amenities. I’d like to know who is responsible for the exterior of the townhouse? I know the listing says exterior maintenance but what about a new roof….If all of that is covered, the assessments are too bad considering it includes most utilities and a door man.
@sonies – the taxes are actually low, it’s assessed at $2.3M, so if it’s actually worth closer to $3M, the taxes should be closer to 50k
The outside of the townhomes looks like public housing imho. Granted you can’t see the from the street, but I’d be depressed looking at the facade of those places.
This building has the best location in River North. Not on Mich Ave. but close. West side of Michigan far preferable to streeterville.
“Also, is that botticello an original in the bathroom?”
Sure! Put it right by the shitter. The orig is 7′ x 10′ and in the Uffizi Gallery.
OHGOD, SABRINA, just when I thought I was out, you pull me back in. I don’t use the term ridic lightly and this is it. I think it’s a just about a bargain at the price. I guess compare it to 429 E North Water, but this one is much better. Please tell me someone has the old pics.
So much to say about this one, I could write all night. I don’t think that there is anything like this is terms of size, finish, privacy, amenities, location really in the City Center, that is not a boring condo. I get that there are some condo lovers up around here, but not everyone swings the exact same way and that is fine. I get the lofts in old buildings and the low rises and the duplex condos and the 57th floor is great, yadda yadda. But this is an actual private building built on top of another building. Very New York and there it would be $30 million in a good neighborhood.
Comps for this: quasi-similar places along the river in Streeterville, maybe actual houses in the Gold Coast, that Stratosphere restaurant ripoff on top of the Four Seasons, but this location is way better and it’s obviously not a good comparison to any house without security, luxury amenities, doorman, etc.
So, if you want the only one that I can find that is an actual building on top of another building – and I want to believe that this is it – I think $3M is a bargain. If this isn’t the only one I’ll buy these all day at this price. With all my millions. I am sorry that you dirty unwashed condo and suburban rats think that this a fine raw cheese that they don’t want on their Big Mac and chicken nuggets instead of good Murican Cheddar. Seriously though, someone is gonna buy this for about $2.8M, mostly cash, closing before summer is over.
“So, if you want the only one that I can find that is an actual building on top of another building – and I want to believe that this is it – I think $3M is a bargain. If this isn’t the only one I’ll buy these all day at this price.”
There are 3 more right next to this one.
“This building has the best location in River North.”
tourist central, no thanks
These units need a semi-private elevator that services just these 4 units. It would also access a specific area where these unit owners park. The area should be gate controlled and segregated. Perhaps even with a garage door that locks them off from the rest of the units and residences. There would be ample storage in that area.
That adds huge exclusivity and makes these unit owners feel “special” allowing them to command a huge premium for the square footage.
Roofs and windows on the townhomes should be treated in the same manner as other unit owners. But the interior elevators within the units are specific and not covered under the general assessments.
Cool spaces. Too formal for me but I like the idea. Also I’d have tried to design them as 2000+ sq foot first floors stacked with a second floor bedrooms and terrace. Way more user friendly for this target market.
I get dizzy just looking at it. And yeah, if you had to go outside once on the 12th floor to enter it, I’d be a basket case. Beautiful interior though. I’m actually shocked.
I just get the feeling that it would blow away in a high wind. The movie Twister comes to mind.
Blow way in a high wind…..that’s funny!
“There are 3 more right next to this one.”
Is this like Fee Simple? If I buy both can I join the lots and use all that space, too? What is the procedure for combining 2 skytownhomes?
I used to live in one of those vertical 4 floor town homes. I hated it. I didn’t have an elevator, but running up and down the stairs when I forgot something was annoying.