Lakeview Vintage Beauty Under Contract Within a Week Closes: 3520 N. Lake Shore Drive
We last chattered about this 2-bedroom vintage unit with views of Lake Michigan at 3520 N. Lake Shore Drive in Lakeview in February 2009. At that time, it had gone under contract within a week of being listed.
See our prior chatter and pictures here.
Unfortunately, none of you took any guesses at the ultimate sales price in our former chatter.
It has now closed for only $9,000 under the original list price.
Brad Lippitz at Brad Lippitz Real Estate had the listing.
Unit #12N: 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, 1350 square feet
- I couldn’t find a prior sales price
- Was listed in February 2009 for $329,000
- Under contract within a week of listing
- Sold for $320,000
- Last “N” unit to sell was Unit #6N in May 2008 for $320,000
- Assessments of $642 a month (includes heat, water, cable)
- No central air. Window units
- No in-unit washer/dryer (but can be added)
- No parking
Wow $237 a sqft for an old place with no AC, no parking, no W/d, no 2nd bathroom and high assessments! Clearly someone got a great deal by listening to their realtor…
It’s the staging that helped the sell.
I’m shocked – one bathroom, no parking, no central air, extremely high assessments…. The interior is pretty, but with the lack of basic ammenities, I am surprised that anyone would pay over $250,000 (being very generous) for this place…
People will still pay top dollar for well-preserved vintage units in well-run buildings in prime neighborhoods. This is definitely such a unit, so its not too surprising that it sold quickly for good money. The assesments are a bit high but presumably include an adequate reserve for keeping on top of the maintenance which is important in these older buildings.
Central A/C can be added. Lack of parking is the big minus here but there are nearby options.
Quick, where’s a picture of the agent?
I think the selling price is pretty decent given the fact that it’s a vintage unit in East lakeview. Most vintage buyers are prepared to pay heavy HOA premiums for a building that lacks modern amenities like attached garages and central AC.
It has the same walls as the bedroom of sarah michelle gellar’s character in Cruel Intentions. I have no idea why this jumped out at me, but a Cruel Intentions fetish is perhaps the only reason I could think of for this price. congrats to that seller…
My guess is this north unit gets some eastern exposure as well… if so, the 12th floor view of the park, harbor & lake is probably excellent. And that could help a buyer/realtor gloss over minor details like parking, ac, only one bathroom, etc., etc., etc.
Well on a positive note, the window units should drone out the sound of lakeshore drive. If this is indeed a east view. If not, man the sellers got lucky!
maybe someone just liked it, and so they bought it. the end.
A clear demonstration of the value of paint, molding, and staging. While, the seller probably limited their market to women with the Tiffany blue color choice, it clearly paid off by reeling in the right buyer at a reasonable price. If the seller followed the conventional wisdom of neutral design to appeal to all buyers, I bet this would still be on the market.
Why does everyone on this site think that vintage apartments aren’t worth anything! I’d rather live in a vintage apartment and walk to my parking spot than live in an equally priced “cookie cutter” condo. These vintage apartments have so much more class than the standard brick and cement block units that are everywhere in this city. Sure there is some street noise on LSD, but it doesn’t compare to being able to hear your neighbors in those poorly constructed three and six unit “new” buildings with no character.
My wife lived in an 11th floor apartment at Cornelia & Lake Shore a block south of this place when we first met. You really don’t hear the traffic that high up unless you have the windows open… and even then it’s like a dull white-noise kind of drone…
Appears to have sold for $259,000 in Jan 04, so this closed a considerable amount above the ’04 price — certainly a rarity in this market. assuming no reno…the power of good staging?
are congratulations in order to seller and agent?
for the record, i think this place is gorgeous
i dont think vintage is crap if it is kept up well. it can be very nice and far more beautiful externally in particular. However, no parking and no a/c are more common with vintage… as is high asm, creaky floors from the neighbor above your head, thinner windows, drafty-ness, radiator heat (which i dont like but we discussed this on another thread…personal pref), slow & small elevators, the sense that there are 10 generations of rats/roaches in the basement, and a higher than average repair rate….also sometimes they are missing w/d… oh and no sprinkler systems for fires. some even have plaster walls which makes it harder to put stuff (curtains, paintings, tvs)
that’s just me… but i grew up in newly built houses in the 80s…so perhaps a developmental psychologist can weigh in… maybe it’s my childhood…and allergies. i swear whenever i go into old places i sneeze for hours. i have no idea what that is.
As someone who lives in and likes a well-kept vintage place, I would nonetheless agree with every point Mess just made. I’d say the reasons people go this route, despite such points (no a/c, no parking or no w/d in particular), are:
1) They look great (if one likes charm/elegance), inside and out.
2) They can (sometimes) be quite large, and rarely have the dreaded “open kitchen/dining/living area.”
3) They constitute the majority of properties along Lincoln Park and LSD (westloopelo’s favorite areas!).
I’d say this shows that a lake view is worth a premium. And that’s something I’d imagine is hard to put a price on – what do folks here in the biz sense in that regard? Are lake views the equivalent of parking, less, more, etc?
Mess,
These old buildings bleed dust. I’m fortunate to not have strong dust allergies but I once lived in a dorm for a couple of years that was built around the turn of the century and you could clearly see whenever the windows were closed and sunlight came in how much particulate matter was floating around there. I suspect it was the materials used around this time period.
I prefer the way nicely done old places look over new homes. However, I simply can’t overlook the lack of parking. If we lived in a safe world, I wouldn’t necessarily mind walking a block to/from my car. Being a woman, there is no way I would feel comfortable parking in an off site lot and then walking to my condo at night.
I’m pretty sure this place sold b/c of the neighborhood and direct lake views, not b/c it’s vintage – more in spite of. Mess is right, the thinner walls and floors of vintage places should be at least as big of a factor as window A/C units and no W/D – at least the latter can be added… yes, some newer developments were done badly and have thin walls, but, on average, this has improved a ton over time.
I have to say vintage also looks pretty cookie cutter to me – compared to my grandparents place – wow, it has crown molding… I suppose it doesn’t have the open floor plan (as though it would be hard to add a wall seperating my kitchen and lr), but I’m guessing it has the vintage tiny bathrooms, bedrooms, and closets.
Uh, I live in a 2bed/2bath, in a building that was built nearly 100 years ago. It doesn’t look quite the same as the other century-old buildings on my street, none of which, including mine, would be described as “cookie cutter.” (Unless, of course, you find cookies to be rather stately, in which case, they might be so described.)
The molding and other details are not the sort that one can buy at Home Depot.
Relative to square footage and bedrooms, the closets are better than in any place I’ve ever lived, including new construction condos and post-war suburban houses (two giant walk-ins, three double-door closets, three floor-to-ceiling linen/supply closets, and a 9′ x 12′ basement storage unit).
The bathrooms aren’t large enough to contain double sinks, but they’re hardly small. The master bedroom fits a king, plus two large dressers and a reclining chair. The second bedroom is nearly as large.
The living room, dining room and kitchen are three separate, distinct rooms – they are not merely separated by post hoc walls.
Plaster is so much nicer than drywall. If you tried to build to the standards of this type of older construction it would cost 2x modern construction.
I actually have a friend whose parents built a custom house and used plaster…and they like it better because it has echoes differently and has a more “warm” feeling (they say)…although I am not really an expert in this, I couldn’t really tell the difference. As long as the drywall isn’t starting to buckle and show where the seams are, I think it serves the same purpose… but i did think it was interesting they insisted on doing their house in plaster…and there are very few people who even do that anymore. I think they had to import special labor (we’re talking insane $$ though).
Oh – I do think OLD plaster is a problem though, because if you are not so precise and careful – you will hang up a painting and be left with a 1×1 foot hole. To Bob’s comment, I wonder if it is the plaster “shedding” that creates the particles in the air? I have no idea really… but just a thought.
Certainly no palace or landmark church, etc… was ever built with drywall… so yeah plaster is nicer… just not the most user-friendly or cost effective. Speaking of this, I’m just glad my drywall isn’t from China (have u read those news reports??)
I think drywall vs plaster is a minor point – partially b/c drywall is plaster pressed between layers of paper, unless you are a fan of the carcinogenic plaster with silica or asbestos that was common – or is the mouse droppings and decades of dust and pollen that has been shown to exist in old plaster?
Over time, they have improved building codes on soundproofing requirements between walls and floors and windows have become more heavy-duty. I’ve lived in a few vintage buildings, and the terrible soundproofing and insulation made it annoying to live in. Another example is the Sexton – there are 2 buildings – people I know who live in the older building complain about noise between units, whereas the newer one has no such issues. If you’re depending on plaster as you primary soundproofing and insulation between units, that’s pretty bad – I have concrete and soundproofing pads.
“stately, in which case, they might be so described” – this place is stately like my grandma’s place… I was talking about this place – I have no idea what your place looks like.
“The molding and other details are not the sort that one can buy at Home Depot. ” – I’ve seen new construction with crown molding that looked just like this, such as some of the simplexes on Mohawk.
“the closets are better than in any place I’ve ever lived” – that’s great, but from my observation, they tend to have less – often without any walk-ins. Given this place has no pics of the master bed, and they don’t mention a walk-in or custom closet, I’m guessing this is no different (I could be wrong).
“Over time, they have improved building codes on soundproofing requirements between walls and floors and windows have become more heavy-duty. I’ve lived in a few vintage buildings, and the terrible soundproofing and insulation made it annoying to live in. Another example is the Sexton – there are 2 buildings – people I know who live in the older building complain about noise between units, whereas the newer one has no such issues. If you’re depending on plaster as you primary soundproofing and insulation between units, that’s pretty bad – I have concrete and soundproofing pads.”
The Sexton? That is a loft building in River North. One part is concrete, the other part is timber. ALL timber lofts are suspect (especially the older ones.) In some of the newer conversions, they have managed some soundproofing. But the only truly soundproof lofts are the concrete ones.
Have you been in ANY of the new construction high rises of the last 5 years? You can hear music and tv noise right next door through the walls. It’s awful.
The 1920s big vintage buildings are nearly soundproof. You can play the piano or have a rock band and no one is hearing anything (due to the plaster and concrete between floors.)
This bid must be a fake. Might be a ploy to entice retards looking at comps.
1920’s high-rises, in my experience, have good vertical and horizontal soundproofing. Many are constructed with concrete between floors, and thick plasters walls help.
1920’s walk-up buildings with frame interior construction (regardless of whether or not there’s brick on the outside) have horrible soundproofing.
Concrete floors can carry noise, so they need to be properly covered or they can be noisy as well. In the old buildngs that included wood floors and subloors as well as plaster ceilings. In newer loft buidligns with minimal finishes i think this could be a problem.
“Have you been in ANY of the new construction high rises of the last 5 years? You can hear music and tv noise right next door through the walls. It’s awful.”
You can say that again… My place (now sold, thank god) was a few years old and i could hear the guy under me turning on his computer & even the WindowsXP noise when he had an error… seriously. And I could hear his TV too but he didn’t watch it that much luckily. I even also hear the people below him when they played music… no joke. 2 floors below! The place was close to 500k btw…just built with “blown in insulation”
I talked to a soundproofing company and they said the stuff gets blown in & all flattens out within 3 months and you basically have no insulation. Also, the cheaper something is built (the more shared building materials, struts, beams, etc…) the more noise you will transfer (the soundproofing people explained all this stuff that fascinated me for an hour – but also made me realize there was no hope for this place. Anyway, concrete is really the only way to go if you want quiet & “blown in insulation” is a cheap way for developers to have realtors lie about how quiet the units are.
I don’t know how vintage buildings are supposed to be soundproofed…all I know is that the one I lived in was not that bad until the day my upstairs neighbor had a party and I thought it was the apocalypse.
“Have you been in ANY of the new construction high rises of the last 5 years? You can hear music and tv noise right next door through the walls. It’s awful.”
I live in a new construction high rise, and there is zero noise from any neighbors – vertically and horizontally. I talked to many other ppl in the building, and the same is true for all of them. Like I said, there is solid concrete between the floors and walls and insulation pads. Also, there are high quality windows and glass doors that complete block out El and street noise.
“The 1920s big vintage buildings are nearly soundproof. You can play the piano or have a rock band and no one is hearing anything (due to the plaster and concrete between floors.)”
I lived in a vintage high rise, and it was true that it wasn’t bad between floors, but I could easily hear my neighbors through the walls. Also, the insulation was so bad, I could literally feel a cold draft around the outlets. Not to mention, the windows completely sucked for blocking out street noise.
The place I bought has foot thick concrete walls and floors and ceilings so the only noise I ever hear comes from the outside hallway door 🙂 Also its nice because it makes a great insulator as well! Even though it looks kinda ugly at least it serves a purpose!
Sound insulation isn’t only predicated on concrete floors and plaster walls. All cracks and joints must also be sealed and the detailing of the walls and floors must also be done correctly to isolate units. New units are not automatically noisy and old units are not automatically quiet, much depends on the design and construction work.
I live in the building. A few notes about this unit:
* It faces East with incredible lake and harbor views
* It’s the top floor of the property (with a service crawl space above which will permit installation of recessed lighting and speakers if the owner wishes)
* Property has strong reserves and quality (Lieberman) on-site management, engineering and maintenance
* Assessments are high compared to new construction, but similar to other similar properties in the neighborhood
* Really, don’t try to tell me that this building is cookie cutter until after you’ve visited the grand lobby with marble floors & mezzanine veranda, the interior courtyards which were just restored, and the new brass entry doors…and the unit has a sun-room overlooking LSD (name one new construction building with that feature)
* Plaster really is better than drywall (shocked nobody mentioned the potential for mold with drywall) with better sound dampening qualities, a richer hand and is much more dent/ding resistant (and you have to drill a hole before putting in a nail)
* Dust isn’t really a problem from the plaster (to the person with the dorm room experience)…if it’s painted then it’s sealed (same with drywall)
* The AC isn’t as much of a need as you might expect, the lake breeze blows directly into the building and it’s very cool during the summer except for a few weeks (when we crank the window AC)
* You won’t hear creaky floors above you, the floors are separated by a generous air space to ensure no sounds travel between levels
* The walls separating units are clay and concrete blocks/tiles…I’ve never heard my neighbor on either side through the wall
* The moldings are original to the building, I had some replaced in my unit and they had to be custom milled–they are a scale and heft that out-classes anything you will find at Home Depot
* Valet parking is available through 3450 LSD and at other locations within 1-2 blocks…but you really don’t need a car in this neighborhood as the LSD/Michigan Ave/Loop buses pick up directly in front of the building
* And don’t forget the location…1/2 block from the LSD underpass to the Park which has the tennis courts, dog beach, aviary, archery range and golf course directly across the street
…damn, I sound like the realtor…but it really is a great property