Get a 2-Bedroom Duplex With Views for $995,000 at 161 E. Chicago in Streeterville

This 2-bedroom duplex in the Olympia Centre at 161 E. Chicago in Streeterville came on the market in October 2022.

Built in 1985, Olympia Centre has 292 units and an attached rental parking garage. It has a marble and granite exterior.

It’s a full amenity building with an on-site engineer, door staff, and concierge which also has a cardio room, a separate weight room, and an indoor pool.

The listing says this unit has had a “full gut renovation” which features high end designer finishes with a 2-story wall of glass that faces Northeast and provides lake and city views, including of the John Hancock.

It has 5″ red oak wood floors throughout, custom built-ins underneath the staircase and a wine cooler.

There’s a bedroom on each floor and each has an en suite marble bath with a walk-in-closet.

The unit also has a lofted family room that overlooks the first floor.

The kitchen has modern appliances with stainless steel appliances and white quartz countertops.

The unit has the features buyers look for including central air and washer/dryer in the unit. There’s rental parking in the building. It also has a large storage room on the same floor.

This building is on the Mag Mile and near restaurants, shops, buses, the subway and parks.

The listing says it is “tenant occupied until Jan 31, 2022” but that the owner and tenant can be “flexible.”

It has been listed at $995,000, which is $255,000 under the 2016 sales price of $1.25 million.

Is this a deal?

Erin Mandel and Sarah Africk at @properties Christie’s have the listing. See the pictures and floor plan here.

Unit #2401: 2 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, duplex, 2023 square feet

  • Sold in July 1989 for $385,000
  • Sold in May 1998 for $415,000
  • Sold in December 2005 for $665,000
  • Sold in October 2015 for $725,000
  • Sold in August 2016 for $1.25 million
  • Currently listed for $995,000
  • Assessments of $2101 a month (includes heat, gas, doorman, cable, exercise room, exterior maintenance, scavenger, snow removal, Internet)
  • Taxes of $22,168
  • Central Air
  • Washer/dryer in the unit
  • Bedroom #1: 20×15 (second floor)
  • Bedroom #2: 17×15 (main floor)
  • Living/dining room: 26×20 (main floor)
  • Kitchen: 10×9 (main floor)
  • Family room: 20×10 (second floor)

 

18 Responses to “Get a 2-Bedroom Duplex With Views for $995,000 at 161 E. Chicago in Streeterville”

  1. Chicago really is a great value. Imagine what this place would cost in midtown Manhattan. This unit is really nice for 1M, imo.

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  2. seems very small in the pics for 1911 sqft since about a quarter of the upstairs is open space

    good value… lol yeah 4k a month for taxes and assessments even if you paid cash… I would imagine you could rent something similar for 4k a month and not have to have a million dollar down payment

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  3. “1911 sqft since about a quarter of the upstairs is open space”

    1911sf seems about right (based on floorplan) if you use BOMA-type measurement, and could the ‘open to below’ as part of the SF.

    Dunno how they get to 2023 unless the measurements on the floorplan are misleading.

    “This unit is really nice for 1M, imo.”

    It is. There are 14 other units for sale right now, with several of them needing the sort of reno this one got.

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  4. “good value… lol yeah 4k a month for taxes and assessments even if you paid cash…”

    The assessments alone on a place like this in NYC would be over 5k/mo

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  5. This would be $450k in Topeka

    Finishes are nice. Layout is horrible.

    “Dunno how they get to 2023 unless the measurements on the floorplan are misleading”

    Storage area?

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  6. Not sure if the structure/windows would allow for it, but more sq footage should have been devoted to the living area rather than the main floor bedroom.

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  7. Price seems fair for a duplex in good condition in this building, but I’d want to be much higher up. I didn’t even realize there were residential units this low in the building.

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  8. “Storage area?”

    That makes sense, and is not unreasonable. ~100 sf storage room, on the same floor, is a useful amenity.

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  9. “This would be $450k in Topeka”

    And?

    NYC to Chicago is a fair comparison.

    Topeka to Chicago is not.

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  10. No way, would rather rent in that new building with the Whole Foods and Lifetime fitness.

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  11. “I would imagine you could rent something similar for 4k a month and not have to have a million dollar down payment”

    Excuse me?

    Clearly you left a long time ago sonies. Chicago Class A apartment rents back to new all-time highs.

    One Chicago, the new luxury tower a few blocks away, has 2 bedrooms plus dens with 1741 sq feet with similar finishes to this unit for $8443-$8943 a month.

    https://liveonechicago.com/floor-plans?bed%5B%5D=2+Bed+%2B+Den

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  12. “No way, would rather rent in that new building with the Whole Foods and Lifetime fitness.”

    Yes. You could do so for $8400-$8900 a month. Might make more sense if you aren’t going to live there 10 years though.

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  13. “Price seems fair for a duplex in good condition in this building, but I’d want to be much higher up.”

    Price and assessments will go up the higher up you are in the building.

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  14. Ya $1MM for a 2 bed with a $2K HOA… nope.

    Even the views are weak. Prefer mine much more on a lower floor…

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  15. “One Chicago, the new luxury tower a few blocks away, has 2 bedrooms plus dens with 1741 sq feet with similar finishes to this unit for $8443-$8943 a month. ”

    ok but according to redfin with 20% down this place is $9646 a month

    would much rather live in that pimped out brand new tower for that kind of coin that’s for sure

    I mean I wouldn’t live in either since that’s a preposterous amount to spend on housing… but yeah…

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  16. One question, for anyone that knows the building. It looks like the upstairs is 7 or 8 feet “shallower” from the windows compared to the downstairs (no, not referring to the open part!) Are the hallways located differently on the alternate floor?

    I like it a lot, and the “lower” floor still affords a very dramatic view, particularly looking out from the upper floor area.

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  17. “ NYC to Chicago is a fair comparison.”

    It’s really not

    I couldn’t live there, but NYC is way above Chicago

    Chicago is closer to say Minneapolis than it is to NYC

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  18. “Are the hallways located differently on the alternate floor?”

    I had to check my recollection–24 is the first floor of condos, and the building curves in above 23 to about…35? You can see it in all the pix that include windows, if you know it is there and not a camera artifact. So a small part of it is that.

    It’s also the case that the amenities floor is 24, and largely double height, so there likely isn’t a residential hall on the upper level.

    Also, as best as I can tell, there are only 2 24XX units–this one and one that hasn’t traded since 1998. Then the 25th floor units are A-H like everything up to the top few floors.

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