Duplex Living But in a High Rise: A 3-Bedroom Penthouse at 230 W. Division in Old Town
This 3-bedroom duplex penthouse in The Venetian high rise at 230 W. Division in Old Town recently came on the market.
It face north and east and appears to have 3 outdoor spaces: a wraparound balcony on the main floor, a balcony off the master bedroom and a rooftop deck accessed privately. (Although, I’m not totally sure the top floor deck is “private.”)
The first floor has the living/dining and one of the bedrooms.
The second floor has the two other bedrooms and a “bonus” room.
In addition to the balcony, the master bedroom also has a walk-in closet and marble bathroom.
The kitchen has cherry cabinets, stainless steel appliances, and granite counter tops.
The unit has the features buyers look for including central air, washer/dryer in the unit and 2-car tandem garage parking for $45,000 extra.
Is this a good townhouse alternative for those who like “levels”?
Christina DelGreco at Coldwell Banker has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #1508: 3 bedrooms, 2 bath, duplex up, no square footage listed
- Sold in July 2004 for $716,000 (included the parking)
- Currently listed for $679,000 (plus $45,000 for parking) = $724,900
- Assessments of $1066 a month (includes doorman, cable, lawn care, scavenger, snow removal)
- Taxes of $7783
- Central Air
- Washer/Dryer in the unit
- Bedroom #1: 15×14 (second floor)
- Bedroom #2: 11×10 (second floor)
- Bedroom #3: 12×11 (main floor)
- Bonus room: 6×3 (second floor)
Needs some updating if you want to get it to “panty dropper” status, as most of the finishes look like the original ones from the developer, which would still be acceptable for me, but probably dissuade some in this potential buying pool. Assessments seem way too high for what you’re getting. Not even heat/AC or internet?
As for the parking, is it a smart investment to be paying up to 30-50k (sometimes more) for a spot when we’re a few years away from having autonomous vehicles? I suppose people will still be owning for quite some time but I could see owning cars becoming a luxury as cities adjust to people being transported via self-driving cars that we can hail at Uber-like efficiency at a cost that makes owning them seem like a poor investment.
Well besides the blah finishes, i really like this place and love its layout. If one would get it for 675k w/parking it would a fair price IMO.
There should be a price discount for the papa johns being attached. Odd street view shows it but i dont remember seeing it month ago when i was ova in da area.
This place is rather nice. Old Town is expensive, so the price seems fair.
“when we’re a few years away from having autonomous vehicles?”
We are at minimum a decade away. Car makers and add features as quick as they like, but how quick do you think the Policy makers will be able to put the new Laws into place?
The hurdle is not the technology it is 80% law makers that will drag their feet and the other 20% is for the public to feel comfortable with “ok google” driving the car for them.
I for one will be an autonomous hold out as long as i can.
fuck autonomous cars, seriously
as for this place in the Papa Johns building… if we’re in a bubble it should be priced way higher
“if we’re in a bubble it should be priced way higher”
You mean, it should be priced higher than 19% below the ’04 price, in real dollars?
At ‘historical’ Chicago RE increase of inflation + 50 bp, this place “should” be worth $950k. And it probably was ‘worth’ $950k at the peak of the ’07 bubble.
It would be difficult to give up a car. I like having my own bubble. I like taking driving trips with friends. If I could own a self-driving car, it would be great.
I estimate that with car payments, insurance, parking costs, and gas, that my car costs me about $600 a month. I wonder how much it would cost to take Uber to/from work every day and then everywhere I want to go on the weekends. I’d still have to rent a car for longer trips though.
“The hurdle is not the technology it is 80% law makers that will drag their feet and the other 20% is for the public to feel comfortable with “ok google” driving the car for them. ”
It doesn’t have to be all one or the other. I suspect if autonomous cars take off, they will start out as runabouts on dedicated expressway lanes only with switching back to manual on the streets.
Think road trip to Springfield from St Louis or visiting your Aunt in Naperville from Chicago.
Very tiny 3rd bedroom. Average size 2nd BR, which has balcony access in it. Is roof-top private? Listing just says private entrance…Curious on lay-out. Wouldn’t be opposed to combining 2nd and 3rd BR if possible, since the ‘bonus den” could act as small office space.
Imo this isn’t in “heart of Old Town” but at its skanky southern border characterized by low-end retailers like two tax preparers’, Sarpino’s & ‘Hashbrowns’, a crappy overpriced greasy spoon (how can any restaurant screw up breakfast?). Construction of 1st of 4 new high rises @ SWC of Division & Wells just started w/demo of Atrium Village low rises (subject is @ NEC). There’ll be years of construction here while 1600 units are added to this intersection. That said I love the future of this sub-market & I love the unit at Groove’s valuation.
I hope they add in the future a damn brown line stop @ divison while they are doing that atrium village rebuild
As someone who lives on the North / Wells part of Old Town, I have to say that the Division / Wells are is honestly becoming the more “hopping” area these days. It has more new condors, bars, plum market, happy camper, etc.
I disagree with the person who described it as “skanky”. Few years behind the times.
Self-driving cars aren’t about owning self-driving cars. It’s about using a car as a service. And not like Uber where they externalize the cost of car ownership on hapless and unsophisticated underemployed drivers. Some day you’ll rent an automated car for an hour at a time, as part of a fleet, all owned by multinationals with algorithms that take to/you from where you want to go.
Using the service in rush hour to get to work will be expensive, but going to church on sunday morning will be cheaper when few are on the road. They’ll charge you an extra $1.00 to sync your iphone with the stereo system, .50 cents to open or close the window, $1.40 to make any change to the route that will save time and so forth, an extra .25 cents to recline the car seat, $1.00 per carry on bag unless you’re grocery shopping, which will be a flat fee of $3.00…
And liability for injurious car accidents will be governed by some international treaties like TPP will be severely; and all claims must first be submitted to some industry funded panel that will evaluate the value of your claim again based upon some algorithm, with the only right of appeal is a written submission to a panel of arbitrators located in India or Romania who determine fault and liability….
“As someone who lives on the North / Wells part of Old Town, I have to say that the Division / Wells are is honestly becoming the more “hopping” area these days”
So what do we think this same unit on the north end of old town would go for?
I also agree with you on it being the place where stuff is pooping up more. Sadly the traffic on either end is horrific but the north end is where most of us outsiders still go to.
“Very tiny 3rd bedroom. Average size 2nd BR”
Luis,
11×10 small? are you from the burbs? 11×10 is master bedroom size in Chicago homes.
For new construction yes 11×10 is small for master bedroom but for a 3rd bedroom is perfect size.
I am confused on peoples priorities? As we see over and over again on the properties posted on CC, that they will have a 15×18 master bedroom but then have no room for a dining table and have to shove some stools up to the kitchen island for dining?
What do people do in the bedroom that will constitute having a dang sofa in there? enough room for a queen size bed and two nightstands is good enough if you have a walk in closet. Fine enough room for a California king.
All i do in my bedroom is sleep and perform my husbandly duties. I would rather have that square footage for LIVING space.
homedelete
…So you’re saying there’s a chance?
Amen, Groove. However, no one has ever claimed that home buyers are rationale. We didn’t even get into all the space wasted with those palatial master baths. I’d take larger living areas with smaller bedrooms any day.
anonny must be too busy to post today – no comments (thankfully) about the micro over the stove.
…”I disagree with the person who described it as “skanky”. Few years behind the times.”
While I agree south end of Wells St. in OT is improving, imo recent history supports my premise (‘Happy Camper’ until recently was “The Refinery” & the very nice ‘Tavern on Wells’ is fka Old Town Burger Saloon.) SoulCycle and Plum Market are nice too but I’d short their stock & that of the Intelligentsia coffee place too.
But skanky exists today – walk down Division Street. HH may love Sammy’s but it totally projects ghetto vibe. As does the stretch east of Wells – Quiznos, then a 15′ wide ‘Food Mart’ featuring “Link Cards Accepted”, then side by side Hewitt Jackson/H & R Block (wtf?), Sarpino’s, Planned Parenthood, Domino’s, a small CHA project with bars on windows, then Public Storage around corner south on Wells. This all screams skanky today at me. And again I love the future prospects for this area.
Surprised this place isn’t priced higher. Nice layout in a hot area at a reasonable price. The rental place above Plum has some of the most expensive rentals in Chicago. I think the new dev across the street will be a net positive once completed – that was an ugly building before. I prefer north OT near the park or OTT but this would be a lot more up there. Happy Camper is absolutely packed every time I drive by it which is several times a week.
“We didn’t even get into all the space wasted with those palatial master baths.”
I will say this though, we put in a deep soaking tub as the new place had the size for it, and i don’t know how i ever lived without one. So i would sacrifice a smidge of sleeping space, and living space to have a good tub.
For all those living the micro-over-the-stove-life, if it’s any consolation, we’re almost certain to be renting a place in the near future that will have a micro over the stove. In fact, assuming we rent the house that we saw yesterday, not only will the micro be over the stove, it will be part of a white appliance package (no, not some fancy Sub Zero package where the stuff blends into glossy white cabinets – we’re talking appliances where the house owner likely Googled “cheapest possible appliance package for a rental”).
anonny – how about a link to your listing. would love to see this amazing kitchen you have.
People tend to view our kitchen favorably, but it’s just an Ikea package. Hardly amazing. The hood helps a lot.
“how about a link to your listing.”
I still want to see a westloopelo house. Anyone have any knowledge/guesses??
“I still want to see a westloopelo house”
Apparently his family did bigger “jobs” in NY. So I would rather see a westloopelo’s family place they did in SOHO.
“but it’s just an Ikea package”
no need to apologize for having Ikea. I don’t know why they get a bad image. I think they are great. They were doing quality soft closing drawers at a the lowest cost for a long time. I havent check but i still think they are still the best price around.
Ikea even for non kitchen furniture and decoration is awesome. you just need to know which are the cheap volume sellers and which are the quality pieces. also as long as you dont go “full ikea” and sprinkle it in it works awesome.
We have ikea stuff scattered throughout our house, and the funny thing is people ask where we got the ikea stuff way more than the expensive pieces we have. Even more than the antique hand me downs i refurbished.
I am so entertained by the 15 year old picture of the exterior of the building – – current tenants at ground level are all different now!
I have always wondered what the heck the person in charge of leasing the space on the ground floor was thinking when they allowed a papa johns’ pizza in there – – seems incongruous with the demographic of this building, but I guess it reflects what they could get for the area when this building was still new. Yes – – some very low end uses of the retail boxes along division between LaSalle and Clybourn, but it is changing.
There is a parking podium between the retail and residential uses in this building which means tenants won’t ever have to deal with the issue that the poor folks in the “Sproing” building are facing. Having the Shred415 in the building here is a major amenity (IMHO) 🙂 I think this unit is priced wrong given how high the assessment is. Agree – -looks like someone’s retired parents live here but then again it also doesn’t look like it has to be updated – – it is just a question of personal taste.