Is the Near West Side the Next Hot Neighborhood? A 2-Bedroom Loft at 420 S. Clinton
This 2-bedroom corner loft in the Gotham Lofts at 420 S. Clinton on the Near West Side recently came on the market.
The Gotham Lofts is an old GE brick factory that was converted into condos during the loft conversion craze of the late 1990s and early 2000s.
The building has 188 units and both indoor and outdoor parking.
While it has an exercise room, it doesn’t really have other amenities and it doesn’t have a doorman.
This loft is one of the bigger lofts in the building at 1900 square feet.
It’s a rare layout which has 3 exposures with windows on three sides of the unit.
Both bedrooms have windows. Even the master bedroom closet has window.
This loft sold in 2017 and has been “interior designer renovated.”
It has exposed brick walls and timber ceilings with hardwoods throughout. The living/dining area has the original hardwoods, stained dark, and the bedrooms, which had carpet, now also have the dark hardwood floors.
There’s a linear gas fireplace and 3 chandeliers.
It has a new contemporary kitchen with a Calcatta Quartz waterfall island, a double oven, a wine fridge and stainless steel appliances.
The master bedroom has a 32 square foot shower and a modern vanity.
It has a separate laundry room, with rare side-by-side laundry.
The loft also has two balconies, one in the master bedroom and one in the living room.
It has the other features buyers look for including central air and indoor heated garage parking.
This neighborhood is about to see a lot of new development as the Old Post Office is currently (finally) being renovated and Amtrak is expecting to renovate and add to Union Station.
It’s within easy walking distance of Greektown and a quick Uber to Randolph Street and Fulton Market.
Buyers want “new”.
Is it time to get into this neighborhood before it takes off?
Alexandra Englehardt Walsch at @Properties has the listing. See the pictures and floorplan here.
Unit #518: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1900 square feet
- Sold in August 1999 for $314,500
- Sold in November 2017 for $435,000
- Currently listed for $688,000 (indoor heated garage parking included)
- Assessments of $812 a month (includes exercise room, security system, exterior maintenance, lawn care, scavenger, snow removal)
- Taxes of $9018
- Central Air
- Washer/dryer in the unit
- Fireplace
- Bedroom #1: 20×15
- Bedroom #2: 13×13
- Laundry room: 8×5
- Walk-in-closet: 9×8
Near West Side is the community area, which includes the West Loop, Little Italy, and University Village among other neighborhoods. If you are looking for a neighborhood name it would be West Loop Gate, though no such name existed in the late 1800s.
Not a fan of this area because it is so dead. I’d be looking for more evidence that it is going to come alive before I’d be interested in it, though south of Congress is seeing some new development now.
In the 90s I use to walk to this Blue Line station and there was nothing around here except parking lots. South of that overpass was (is) the Greyhound terminal and you had some sketchy looking though mostly harmless looking people wandering around.
I’m glad this area is improving and revitalizing. I think this price point is insane for a 2/2 Loft, even if it has a lot of bells and whistles and decent outdoor space.
This is crazy pricing for a place in this neighborhood with those assessments, your main wall is literally on the Eisenhower, I can’t imagine that outdoor space would be used for anything other than grilling with propane and propane accessories.
Other than that the place is nice and spacious and not your typical 2/2 but there is some serious external obsolescence going on here.
I would Imagine living here would be like living in downtown St. Louis where you’re surrounded by commercial office space and by the time 7pm rolls around its totally dead there, nobody around but the wierdos
This loft is well done. I think this area is fine and offers a bit more peace and quiet, while still being walking distance to plenty. That said, this building backing up to 290 would be a deal breaker for me and probably not great for re-sale when you inevitably outgrow the 2 bedrooms.
I used to live in a 1br loft in this building. The building has gated uncovered parking. Unit to unit sound insulation was really good; I never heard any of my neighbors and also blasted music a lot with no complaints. Sonies is right in that once 7pm rolls around, the immediate surrounding area is dead. More development was happening when I moved out, so there should be more things to do in the area than when I lived there. If you work in the loop, it’s a very easy commute.
Overall, the building/units are pretty good. The immediate neighborhood will most likely be dead in the evenings.
“nobody around but the wierdos”
Wait–it’s different before 7?
Not a fan of this residential enclave. Expressway on two sides. Commercial office buildings on the other two sides. Plus train yards nearby.
Anyone know the walk score? I didn’t see it in the listing. The walk score doesn’t capture the ambiance anyway. It’s not pleasant to walk under the expressway.
” by the time 7pm rolls around its totally dead there, nobody around but the wierdos”
so you’re saying you’re otherwise committed before 7pm?
So many better options for this monthly nut. It’s a nothing location.
Ahhh! The before pictures
https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/420-S-Clinton-St-60607/unit-518/home/113422479/mred-09663932
Not a loft fan, but if I were this one has some attributes. The location is great and the interior has some character. Nice view from that one balcony, too. Nice to have indoor parking, as well.
I do think if you need to “Uber” it from 420 S. Clinton to Randolph Street, you should consider getting into better shape.
“It’s a nothing location.”
Not for long. That Post Office renovation is going to be fantastic. Walgreens is already taking space there. Could get Amazon as well. They’re going to rehab the River front there. Lots of restaurants and such will be moving in.
“I used to live in a 1br loft in this building. The building has gated uncovered parking.”
Thanks Old Tenant. But in addition to that gated parking lot (which can be seen in the pictures from the balcony) there’s actually an underground garage that a few of the units have spaces in.
$435k last year was a fair price, approaching $700k a year later, not so much. And the neighborhood will change, as they all do, in 10 years it will be NoEi.
What’s really cool about this building is the series of tunnels that are underneath it, connecting it with its sister building 417 S. Jefferson, and the ones on the other side of the expressway. This used to be the old western electric headquarters, before the Eisenhower split it in half. I know 417 S. Jefferson very well, I sold a unit in there over 10 years ago, to an old boyfriend.
There used to be nothing in this neighborhood 10 years ago, now, every time you turn around, there is a new building, business, or restaurant. It’s a relative steal compares to the rest of the west loop, and it’s closer to the jobs in the loop. With the development of the Old Post Office and Union Station, it’s going to be right in the middle of tons of jobs.
“in 10 years it will be NoEi”
Nah, I think it’s going to be South Bucktown.
“Nice view from that one balcony, too.”
Huh? Nice view because it’s the only one that does not face a brick wall? I have always found it interesting that lofts (or loft wanna-be’s) are not expected to have any views. If this were a unit in a regular high-rise, every other comment on this post would be trashing the horrible views. Is it because lofts have so much “character” inside, that it is supposed to distract you from looking out onto brick walls from every window? Is it the high ceilings and (usually) large square footage that makes it allowable for a loft to have no views? Is it that the location of factory buildings that comprise a majority of lofts preclude having decent open views, so accepting the horrible view/lack of light comes part and parcel of buying a loft?
For whatever reason, this demonstrates the human tendency of valuing something primarily because you are EXPECTED to value it, not because it is of intrinsic value. A couple living in a 700 sf 1 bd condo in mid-Manhattan will feel lucky in the spaciousness, while someone living in the same space in Chicago will complain about lack of space. They will literally FEEL cramped, compared to the New Yorkers who will FEEL luxurious. Above basic subsistent levels, people feel fortunate or unfortunate depending on what others right around them have, or what their society deems is worthy, not on an absolute scale of material worth.
Probably has something to do with most lofts not having views because they are usually converted warehouses and such which aren’t all that tall?
I always want some sort of view… I couldn’t imagine having my windows facing a brick wall that would be awful
The loft view is nice — you get the skyline, which is far better than if it faced any other way. That the other views (to the extent shown, and I imagine they’d show better views if there were any) are horrible, doesn’t change that.
The reason highrises get criticized more for bad views is that (at least for many people, like me) the value of a high rise is largely the view, and that’s one reason you might put up with higher assessments and price for what the unit itself is vs. what you could get elsewhere. This is especially the case if the unit is on a high floor. Moreover, if someone bought a 5th-floor unit in a high rise, I’d question why bother (I’m sure they might have their reasons, but it’s something I would not do). On the other hand, I used to own a 4th floor unit in Southport, and what counted as good views (from the roofdeck only) was by comparison with what I’d get from comparable places in the neighborhood — no one expects a 4th floor unit in Southport to have high-rise-like views. Same with this building — that it has decent enough views from the balcony is an unexpected perk more than a basic expectation.
So I don’t think it’s loft vs. other kinds of units, but 5th floor vs. high rise.
There are other expected tradeoffs with lofts, and one is window space, and often any kind of green outdoor space.
Anyway, I used to work not far from this building, just north a few blocks (I’m back in the middle of the Loop now), and it was crazy dead right around where I worked and south of it, I hated it on the weekends or at night. Glad that the area to the south is getting more development. If I were a fan of lofts, this is a pretty nice loft, but even developed I can’t imagine wanting to live right there.
I second what someone said here about expecting a high rise unit to have a good view and not being so view-oriented in a loft. If I’m buying in a high rise, why live there at all if the view sucks? One of the main purposes of buying a high-rise unit is to be above it all and have a nice vista. We lived at 2626 N. Lakeview back about 20 years ago and had beautiful lake and west/northwest city views from the 24th floor. I still miss that.
Actually, some folks might WANT to live in an area that’s close to downtown but “dead” at night. Especially if they have a baby or toddler sleeping in that second bedroom.
Speaking of which…where’s the nearest day-care center? Based on some recent visits to the South Loop, that seems to be the newest “amenity trend” in both hirise and loft buildings.
To me “dead” as a descriptor is different from quiet. Dead as in basically deserted post-rush hour or on most weekends. You certainly didn’t see people with strollers walking about. I’m sure that’s changed some (there’s stuff open on Saturday now, like French Market, and more residential), but not neighborhoody in feel at all partly due to structural aspects of the area.
That said, I of course always assume that people are different in what they want in a neighborhood, and that I wouldn’t like a neighborhood has no bearing on whether others would.