Get a 3-Bedroom East Lincoln Park Townhouse for Under $630,000: 515 W. Belden
This 3-bedroom townhouse at 515 W. Belden in East Lincoln Park just came on the market.
Built in 1968, this complex of townhouses has 18 units and exterior parking spaces.
This townhouse is a street facing end-unit, which is next door to the unit with the for sale signs in the picture from 2012 above (which is Unit #14).
The main floor has hardwood floors throughout along with the living/dining rooms and the kitchen.
There’s a gas fireplace with built-in bookcases in the living room.
The kitchen has white cabinets, granite counter tops, a subway tile backsplash, stainless steel appliances including 2 ovens and a bar area with seating.
The townhouse has a spiral staircase.
Two bedrooms and a full bath are on the second floor, including the primary bedroom.
The second bedroom has a skylight.
The third bedroom is in the lower level, apparently located in a large walk-in-closet which the listing says could be a third bedroom.
There is carpeting in the lower level along with a family room, the laundry room and a second full bathroom.
It has outdoor space on the main level, with a large street-facing private fenced in patio.
This townhouse has central air and an exterior parking spot is included.
These are fee simple townhouses. The HOA appears to only cover scavenger fees.
Listed at $629,900, is this a deal for its location near Lincoln Park and the shops and restaurants on Lincoln Avenue and on Clark?
Daniel Pape and Catherine Tahmassebi at Compass have the listing. See the pictures and floor plan here.
Or you can see it in person at the Open House this weekend on Saturday, May 8 from 11 am to 1 pm.
Unit #13: 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, no square footage listed, townhouse
- Sold in April 1998 for $255,000
- Sold in January 2001 for $345,000
- Sold in June 2008 for $416,000
- Currently listed at $629,900 (includes one car exterior parking)
- Assessments of $40 a month (includes scavenger)
- Fee simple ownership
- Taxes of $9754
- Central Air
- Gas fireplace
- Bedroom #1: 17×12 (second floor)
- Bedroom #2: 12×11 (second floor)
- Bedroom #3: 12×9 (lower level)
- Living room/dining room combo: 22×15 (main level)
- Kitchen: 15×10 (main level)
- Family room: 19×15 (lower level)
- Laundry room: 10×9 (lower level)
- Patio: 16×13 (main level)
This will sell by the end of the weekend and over asking (it already has 65 favorites on Redfin in 24 hours). There is a lot that is appealing to me – in Lincoln Park Elementary district, updated, fee simple, parking.
The only slightly redeeming thing here is they were able to get a shuffleboard table in the basement
Is there no gate off the “backyard”? Hope the kid(s) next door are reasonable
Having a TV on the main floor makes zero sense and looks like shit
Funny no picks of the bath off the kitchen. Looks like you have to attack form a 90deg angle if you pee standing up
I see zero value here. Its just a bunch of terrible compromises.
There’s probably enough lipstick on this pig to get a Karen or Sabrina to bite.
The spiral staircase would be tough to get past in an otherwise nicely updated space.
Not too appealing for families in a post COVID era. More suitable for DINKs.
I think there is a complex similar to this over on Armitage across from the fire station.
You old school skateboarders will know which fire station I am talking about. Boy I twisted many ankles there.
Nice unit, somewhat decent price. hard with townhomes to get good natural light. Probably the only thing holding it back during the showing.
” More suitable for DINKs”
Agreed. The DINK’s that don’t want to live in a Condo with neighbors above them and sharing a hallway but don’t have the money to afford a SFH in Lincoln Park.
The lighting would be a big issue for me. Finishes aren’t bad. The backyard looks like a minimum security prison yard however with the brick fence.
Always thought these were pretty appealing relative to the location and price range.
Layout is good until the kids need separate rooms.
Speaking of kids, and speaking from experience, if the sellers are reading this, it would be wise to cover those RH dining chair seats (or at least the ones the kids and their friends will sit on). Or buy a few backups now and stick them in storage until the kids are beyond their most savage years. Also don’t let them run near that table. Gently bumped my own leg against that corner and pretty much got a hematoma. I think it’s the destiny of a large portion of youngish UMC families to make regrettable furniture choices.
So, this place was designed and built with spiral staircases? On purpose? This wasn’t an adaptive reuse of an existing building and the spiral staircases were the only way to get multi-level units to work?
Yep, we are clearly in a bubble. This confirms it. Plunk this unit down in Niles and its 160k.
“don’t have the money to afford a SFH in Lincoln Park”
Or simply don’t want that much space–there are plenty of folks who don’t want to deal with 5000 sf of house.
Speaking of–this one is about 1700 gross.
Thinking to myself – Sabrina didn’t really take the most flattering photo of this place…
(looks at the listing)
oh god that was a much better photo than the pro did, LOL
This place is max 1500sqft probably including the walls and its oh so ugly with a terrible layout… agree with Nyet, if not for the location this would be a shitty college student rental or something
“Plunk this unit down in Niles and its 160k.”
Closest thing I could find re size, updating, close to Niles:
https://www.redfin.com/IL/Morton-Grove/8604-Grove-St-60053/home/52636420
$349
No one wants to live in Niles. I wouldn’t live in Niles for free.
I think this place looks nice, but the spiral staircases wouldn’t work for my dogs. They wouldn’t work for visiting grandparents or young kids either.
I also wish this place and most other small places didn’t have a fireplace. If the only place to put a TV is over a fireplace, then the house is too small for the fireplace. I want to get my fireplace removed. It serves no purpose and I could use the storage space. It hurts my neck to stare up at a TV. I have gotten a few quotes to have it removed, but it’s a week long project at a minimum and involves, refinishing the floors, a plumber to cap off the gas line, dry wallers to fix the dry wall, an electrician to add an outlet, and painters.
Could the architect in 1968 have realized how ugly these were? Would he have been willing to buy one? Probably lived somewhere more stylish.
All the lights and white paint still make this place look just as gloomy as Sabrina’s picture.
Is parking around the block? Do you have remove snow from your space? Walk around the block in the cold and rain? Carry heavy things around the block? I know many people in Chicago park their cars outside, but I do not think I would have a car if I had to park outside and around the block.
Maybe tear down and build three floor townhouses! Integral garage, no fireplace, more windows, and roof deck? Square footage is fine
Just scanned a few recent listings / sales in this complex and various real estate site value estimators are all generally in consensus with a value in the upper fives. Young folks don’t think of all the issues with raising a family here so I say this sells, relatively soon, in the upper fives (or right at $600K) so a you professional couple who don’t yet have kids or to an older couple who don’t have young kids and aren’t yet experiencing the side effects of age. A few other units in this complex have normal stair wells – – one clearly the result of a gut rehab. The lack of light would drive me nuts. This appears to be the only unit attempting to claim a windowless basement area as a bedroom. I would turn that into my workout room (and add a huge fan LOL), the rest of the basement would be the TV area and some work from home space. Then if someone is up working or watching TV they likely won’t be disturbins someone trying to sleep two floors up. No TV over the fireplace in the living area, some better landscaping on the patio, and the second actual bed would be a combo office / guest room and this is perfect for a childless couple. Other rehabbed units put in better stair wells and skylights! This place could use a huge skylight over a revamped stairwell. That said, exterior is hideous (I feel the interior is OK and actually has a bit of potential) and I don’t need to live in this area since I don’t have kids, so it doesn’t have much appeal to me at this price point and I am one of the two target demographic buyers for this. If I had bought this in the low to mid fours I would gut it and stay put. Based on what has been done to some other units in this complex, there is a lot to work with here. I would also get one of those toilet / sink combos or a much different sink for the half bath…if that floor plan is remotely accurate that set up as is doesn’t work – – can be fixed but fixing it needs to come out of the asking price here.
Unbeatable location though.
“Closest thing I could find re size, updating, close to Niles:”
and I’d definitely pay the 280k premium to live in LP.
I’m not saying anybody wants to live in Niles vs LP. I’m just saying that this unit reminds me of some dumpy unit in Niles that costs far less. 160K was a bit of an exaggeration. However, this unit looks rather craptastic for 630K. That amount of money gets you a pretty stellar unit in the East Village. Personally, I’d rather live in a much nicer place than have the lake and park nearby.
Marco – – me too. If my only choices were this or Niles, I would choose this in a heartbeat. That Niles listing is ugly in a different way and super cheapo construction. I actually find this complex more interesting. I will take Brutalism over faux colonial any day of the week.
“This will sell by the end of the weekend and over asking (it already has 65 favorites on Redfin in 24 hours).”
Yep. Agree with you Kate.
They will have the open house on Saturday for all prospectives and take the final and best offers by the end of the day on Sunday.
The Chatterati is behind the curve at how hot this housing market is.
I am with Thee Cat on this one its a bit overpriced but the location is prime. and if any unit needs some stairwell skylights it is this place.
Ya’ll hating on Niles, I guess it’s because nobody really spent time in that town. It has in my opinion the best run and efficient park district system in the Chicago land area. The nice areas are filled with really great families.
And i will continually say this, Morton Grove/Niles is by far the most diverse middle class towns you will find in the midwest. Filled with quality folks from all backgrounds.
Yes LP is great, but during lockdown 1.0, 2.0, 2.5, 5.0 I would rather spend those lockdowns in Niles than LP. Pre-Rona yeah I would take LP.
I like Morton Grove and am considering it as a possibility if I decide to move. It’s pretty and they have the lovely horse stables. Niles is just depressing and it leans far too conservative for me to feel comfortable there.
Grove77 is 100% correct, Morton Grove (my hometown)/Niles, and I’d even put Skokie in that mix, are easily the most diverse middle class towns in the midwest. Safe, decent schools, everyone gets along, the cops are very no-nonsense and the residents support the police.
As for Niles, the park district is great, it has a lot light industry, retail, open space. It’s a good suburb. On the downside, it had a tremendous number of COVID deaths as it ravaged through nursing homes and long care facilities but hopefully that’s nearly over.
Niles has all the strip mall retail with many of the same stores as West Lincoln Park, but a heck of a lot more free parking!
It aint’ cheap either: https://www.redfin.com/IL/Niles/8855-Elmore-St-60714/home/13676367
Grandma’s unrenovated 1961 split level on a 50×125 lot is $409,000. It’s been viewed, and I’m not joking, 2700 times on RedFinn in less than 36 hours.
The market is HOT HOT HOT as residents flee for them concrete boxes in the air for something with even the smallest amount of grass.
Nyet is confusing Niles for it’s neighbor Skokie. Skokie is renown for the brutal 1960’s townhomes.
https://www.redfin.com/IL/Skokie/4917-Carol-St-60077/unit-D/home/13612917
They’re not exactly $160k any more, but if you were lucky in 2012, you could pick up a foreclosure for something in the low $100’s.
“I like Morton Grove and am considering it as a possibility if I decide to move. It’s pretty and they have the lovely horse stables. Niles is just depressing and it leans far too conservative for me to feel comfortable there.”
Niles and Morton Grove aren’t great places for urban minded single people but for someone who has moved past the going out all the time phase, and just wants a small garden and a yard and close to zero crime, both are certainly fantastic places to live.
https://www.areavibes.com/morton+grove-il/demographics/
HD,
Yeah Skokie too, like you mentioned strong middle class and diverse. It’s schools system (elementary) and park system are lessor than Niles and MG. Taxes in all 3 are fair for what you get too.
Not everyone’s cup of tea, and like any town has a good area and a bad area.
btw, marked as contingent *yesterday*, so Kate is half right already.