Forget The Boring White Box, Buy This 2-Bedroom Instead: 549 W. Belden in Lincoln Park
Tired of the boring white box new construction? Then this 2-bedroom at 549 W. Belden in Lincoln Park is for you.
It is a top floor unit in a 20-unit vintage building built in 1892.
The corner unit has tall ceilings in the living/dining area with a spiral staircase leading to a second level loft which has a staircase leading to a private rooftop deck with city views (see the pictures to understand what I mean.)
The living/dining area has parquet floors and stained glass windows. Much of the original woodwork also appears intact including moldings around the windows.
It has a wood burning fireplace.
The kitchen has white cabinets, white appliances and marble counter tops.
The unit has central air and in-unit washer/dryer but there is no parking (it is rental in the neighborhood.)
It also doesn’t appear from the listing that there is an elevator in the building.
It has been reduced $10,000 since May.
Who’s the targeted buyer for this unique property?
Daniel Pape at Hudson Parker Realty has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #4FE: 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, no square footage listed
- Sold in November 1991 for $192,000
- Originally listed in May 2012 for $429,000
- Reduced
- Currently listed at $419,000
- Assessments of $250 a month
- Taxes of $4894
- Central Air
- Washer/Dryer in the unit
- No parking- rental in the neighborhood
- Rooftop deck: 14×10
- Bedroom #1: 10×16
- Bedroom #2: 10×12
- Loft: 12×8 (second floor)
$375k.
The good thing about living here would be that I would prob lose 20 lbs in the first month from having to walk up all those stairs. So you’re saving money since you no longer need a gym membership. However, let’s face it, like most Chicagoans, I’m too fat and lazy for this place to really be an option, lol! Also, only one bathroom? C’MON MAN!!!
Understand this is a vintage unit but the bathroom badly needs updating. Otherwise it is a great-looking unit, doubtful they will get offers that start with a ‘4’ w/o parking. Target buyer would seem to be a single person (although tough to have roomate without a second bath) or couple that doesnt have kids on the radar for a few years. The loft and rooftop access are pretty cool features.
So its really a 1br +den right?
“Who’s the targeted buyer for this unique property?”
A homosexual.
Anyone remember the movie “As Good as it Gets” from 1997? Jack Nicholson’s character had a gay neighbor in the movie, played by Greg Kinnear. That’s the type who will buy this. Someone who never wants to leave the super-GZ bubble or has no reason to.
This place would be cool for a single guy. It does need some updating – kitchen and baths are severly outdated, but it is a unique property. The problem is the vast majority of buyers in this price point would be a professional DINK couple. DINKS are going to want an updated place, parking, and a 2nd bath.
nevermind, just a funky layout
Too much drama and not very practical. 350K
Mid-300’s, give or take.
In Schaumburg, they call 2/1’s with 1980’s kitchens TOWNHOMES and they sell for less than $100,000. In lincoln park they list for $400,000 and are targeted at DINKS. Same crappy chain stores, same traffic and congestion
So THAT’S the secret of real estate:
greystone = townhome
schaumburg = lincoln park
wtf
This seems like a high price for an empty condo with an odd layout that needs a new kitchen and bath without parking. That 12×8 loft seems completely useless from the photos too due to the locations of the stairs.
Good luck to this seller finding a buyer anytime soon unless they lower the price. Otherwise, they better prepare to be renting it out or paying for an empty place for a long time!
“Same crappy chain stores, same traffic and congestion”
I certainly hope the traffic and congestion in Schaumburg isn’t as bad as LP. As for chains, I think the closest ones to the subject property are Starbucks and 7-11, but it’s not exactly the Cly Corridor around there.
it’s not far from the cosi on webster and clark. which is a terrible chain “restaurant”
The finishes in this place make no sense – even if / when they were ever trendy, they made no sense for this unit. If the original renovation had respected the original details of the unit, instead of trying to ignore them, this would be a much more attractive unit.
For a range of reasons, I’ve been going light on my CC activity lately. I’ve also spent a bit more time in various locations around the city, and made a couple trips up to the burbs. I must say, the past few weeks have only strengthened my views as to the paramount importance of location. The nicest areas of this city really are quite nice, and the nicest burbs really are pretty amazing. Not Malibu or Aspen amazing, but plenty splendid in terms of a place to maintain a homebase and raise a family. If I could learn to live with the commute (including the inflexibility of burb-city commuting, particularly if both (parent) spouses need to commute), I think I’d be making a hard case for finding a place up in a lakefront burb. Since that’s unlikely to happen, I imagine I’ll continue to be focused on the areas on or within two blocks or so of Lakeview Ave, LPW and North between LSD and Clark (and maybe the OTT). Now, if only we could find an otherwise Unicorn Criteria compliant 3 bed for under $700k(ish) at some point over the next year (while managing to sell our UC compliant 2 bed for $470k(ish), (almost) all would be right in the world.
I have to admit I’ve re-thought my Unicorn Criteria thanks to this site. It’s amazing how many homes that were once my dream home are now not even on my radar.
Um, what? This mishmash of a place is confusing.
Anony – As they say (actually sing) in my kids favorite TV program:
Keep trying,
keep trying,
don’t give up,
never give up….
Be persistent and the purchase side will happen eventually. Just remember that on your sell side that your unicorn 2 bedroom definitions are not the same as everyone else’s unicorn criteria. That may mean that someone will pay the premium that you expect. Perhaps your sales strike price is on the money! Unfortunately most sellers are still overly ambitious about pricing their properties.
This place sucks… I would be surprised to see it sell for more than $320K.
“I must say, the past few weeks have only strengthened my views as to the paramount importance of location. The nicest areas of this city really are quite nice, and the nicest burbs really are pretty amazing. Not Malibu or Aspen amazing, but plenty splendid in terms of a place to maintain a homebase and raise a family.”
I feel like this is “a moment.”
Anonny,
Nice to hear a compliment for the north lakefront suburbs around here for once. Thanks.
“Nice to hear a compliment for the north lakefront suburbs around here for once. Thanks.”
He said “the nicest” and made it parallel to “the nicest” parts of the city–which we know amounts to 2 full blocks and 8 half blocks. So he wasn’t talking about Highland Park.
[it’s a joke, dan]
“So he wasn’t talking about Highland Park.”
Doesn’t the fanciest chicagoland person that nonny knows live in HP? Maybe he got invited to a (in lieu of spring bonus) summer bbq at the partner’s mansion. To be sure, he wasn’t talking about D#2’s part of HP, but he could have been talking about a specific lakefront mansion in HP.
“he could have been talking about a specific lakefront mansion in HP”
You’re stepping on my joke.
But… he said “the nicest burbs” not “the nicest AREAS of the burbs”. And he’s a lawyer, and very precise about the “nicest areas of the city”, so I take his words to have accurate meaning, and that he was talking about entire towns/villages.
“Doesn’t the fanciest chicagoland person that nonny knows live in HP?”
That would be his wife, not him. He sold-out and bought into her life, not vice-versa, she wears the pants.
meaning: it’s his wife’s people that live in HP, not his connections.
Ah, DZ, I had nearly forgotten about spring bonuses!
And yes, I was referring to entire towns/villages, in this case Wilmette and HP (though I was in desirable areas of both). While I’d personally want to live east of GB Rd (were I to live in the burbs), I do continue to puzzle over why more SFH folks in the $500k(ish) range don’t opt for something just west of GB (from Wilmette up to HP), rather than the various areas occassionally featured on CC.
Gilson Beach was like being away on vacation. A slightly different vibe than North Ave.
Oof.