Get a 1-Bedroom Loft for Under $200,000 in Printers Row: 720 S. Dearborn
This 1-bedroom loft in the Franklin Building at 720 S. Dearborn in Printers Row came on the market in January 2020.
Built in 1910, the Franklin Building has 59 lofts. It was converted to loft homes in the 1980s.
There is no doorman nor parking. The building has a bike room and a laundry room.
This unit has some authentic loft features including exposed brick, industrial windows that face east on Dearborn, and concrete beams and columns.
It has 10.5 foot ceilings.
The kitchen has white cabinets and appliances.
There are hardwood floors throughout the living room and bedroom.
There’s central air, washer/dryer in the unit but no parking. There is parking available for lease in the neighborhood.
Originally listed at $230,000 in January 2020, it has been reduced $32,500 to $197,500.
Is this loft a deal for those looking for a pied-a-terre or for first time buyers?
Karmen Spears at POWER Realty Chicagoland has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #305: 1 bedroom, 1 bath, 650 square feet, loft
- Sold in March 1995 for $80,000
- Sold in September 1997 for $105,000
- Sold in August 2017 for $190,000
- Originally listed in January 2020 for $230,000
- Reduced several times
- Currently listed at $197,500
- Assessments of $499 a month (includes heat, air, cable, gas, exterior maintenance, scavenger)
- Taxes of $3536
- Central Air
- Washer/dryer in the unit
- No parking
- Bedroom: 12×11
- Living room: 18×16
- Kitchen: 10×6
Losing money after 3 years? Unpossible as the market is HAWT ™
Looks like they started trying to sell in oct 19
Do the 2 pictures of the common laundry room help sell this place?
Wouldn’t be my preferred location and price is too high for a PaT and your a sadistic shill for suggesting this to a first time home buyer. You’re never going to even break even buying a place like this.
That laundry area is depressing af. The kitchen also looks like a prison. Finally, the messy TV cabling always drives me nuts (get some zip ties and a runner). The charm of the front façade is decent though, as is the in-unit laundry, high ceilings, and central air.
The price is somewhat reasonable, but it would take a unique person (with no car) to sell. Also mind the $500 HOA for basically no amenities.
Residing in a largely unfinished home in the vacated loop area doesn’t seem like a great way to live.
Why’d they build out only a partial wall between the bedroom and living room? There doesn’t appear to be any pipe interference and are huge windows in both spaces.
The big problemm with smaller condo associations is no one taking ownership of issues. I look at the four-unit jobber next door and it is always the same guy taking out the garbage cans and then also dragging them back. Before him it was always the guy that moved out. Two other unit owners literally do nothing. Here, the laundry room is a bit of a mystery. Does no one use it anymore because everyone has in unit laundry? Are only a handful of units using it? Is there a high % of renters in the building? If it were me, I would not include the laundry pictures – – not needed as this unit has a washer / dryer. If I really thought I had to show *something* to justify the assessment, I would personally set a few vinyl tiles in there myself. Yes it would be a crap job, but it would look good for this picture. This one is a head scratch-er.
Lastly – – as previously mentioned….that kitchen. oof. Not only is there no hood vent, but ELECTRIC coil range? This kind of only makes sense as an in-town for someone who doesn’t plan on cooking when they are in town.
“Why’d they build out only a partial wall between the bedroom and living room?”
some people embrace the idea of living in a loft.
This place has in unit laundry so why does the listing show photos of a laundry room that looks like it belongs in a haunted mental institution? Also the HOAs in the this building are among the highest I’ve ever seen for building with zero amenities. Many folks that bought into this building in the last 20 years made a bad long term financial decision.
The Cat:
You are dead correct about small condo associations. I experienced just one, a 9-unit W Ridge building that was, still worse, mostly investor-owned. I was one of only two owner occupants, and the investor-owners were mostly MIA.I didn’t feel like I owned a condo- I felt like I’d bought a decrepit 45 room house stuffed with squatters. I and the other owner-occupant had to draft a third owner to be on the Board so we’d even have a legal association, let alone get a loan for a major capital expenditure, a desperately needed roof replacement. She and I made sure that all the physical maintenance was taken care of, because if it had been left to the others, the place would have ended up condemned.
I will never again consider a building with fewer than 24 units, and that’s on the small side. IMO the “sweet spot” is 40 to 100 units. Much larger than that, and the place becomes very bureaucratic and impersonal, but if it’s fewer than 24 units, you have a difficult time pulling a functional Board together, and you don’t have enough units to support a maintenance staff and external management.
This is just a Giant crack house.
The Realators description of 501 takes shilling to a level that would make even Sabrina blush
301 looks to be built out as nice as one could and its been for sale for > 600 days
There’s some bad JuJu going on here
Target market is a loop professional who (somewhat inexplicably) rides the Rock Island line when coming downtown and a couple dozen times a year would prefer to stay overnight a day or 2. Works best if they can bake it as a business expense, and ‘bill’ the business for comparable hotel rates.
“This place has in unit laundry so why does the listing show photos of a laundry room that looks like it belongs in a haunted mental institution?”
Nyet: most likely because originally there was NOT in-unit laundry in these apartments. Then, along the way, they decided to allow it so some owners added it and others did not.
That means they still need the laundry room.
Some condo buyers like the idea of a laundry room in addition to their own in-unit laundry because the laundry room machines are usually bigger and you can do bed comforters and the like.
“The big problem with smaller condo associations is no one taking ownership of issues.”
This! I could never do it. I look at those 3-unit new builds with horror.
How do they even decide who is shoveling the front walk? It’s always just one owner who get stuck doing everything. And I can’t even imagine trying to actually get something fixed like a roof or a leak somewhere.
Awful.
Anyone who would call this part of the city vacant, now or even during the past year, has no clue.
You called it, Sabrina- 2 and 3 flat condos are the worst. Only people related to each other should buy them. Even friends shouldn’t, if they value their friendship. You don’t even have enough support for a 3rd part financial management company, something I insisted on retaining in my 9-unit place.