Got Cash? This Lake Shore Drive Vintage Building is for You
Foreclosures in a building can be worrisome. They can bring down prices in the entire building. But there is a solution. In Chicago, you can buy in a Co-Op building that requires the buyers to purchase in all cash.
Yes, cash is still king in certain cases.
And apparently there are some buyers who have it.
1540 N. Lake Shore Drive was built in 1929 and, if you recall, that wasn’t exactly the best time to be building a luxury high rise. The 17 story building originally was made up of two 8 room apartments per floor. Today, there are 28 units in the building.
The building went into receivership during the Depression. In 1947, the residents bought out the building and returned it to its co-op status. Apparently, they learned from that time period because they now require all cash in order to live there.
Two units sold in 2007:
- Unit #11N and Unit #4N: both 3 bedroom, 3.5 bath units
- Each sold for $1.2 million
Unit #3S: 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths
- Currently listed for $2.2 million
- Assessment of $4,377 a month (includes taxes, heat and cable)
There is no parking with the building but washer/dryers are allowed. And you get the tree top views:
Sure, the assessments are steep. But if you’ve got the $2.2 million in cash, what’s $4,300 a month?
Rubloff has the listing.
Isn’t over 50% of the assessment the taxes? $2000 a month isn’t too bad (yeah, yeah, it is still a lot) for heat + cable + doorman + maintenance on a 80-yo building. Heat and cable is probably $300/month.
It looks like they found a sure way to keep the riffraff out.