Lincoln Park Week: 3 Fireplaces and Parking in Old Town: 1814 N. Lincoln Park West

This 3-bedroom at 1814 N. Lincoln Park West in the Old Town neighborhood of Lincoln Park came on the market in June 2022.

Built in 1890, this building has 4 units and rear parking spaces along with extra storage.

We’ve chattered about this building several times over the years as various units have come on the market because they are bigger than what they appear when you just look at the building.

The listing says it has had a “meticulous and significant” renovation but still has its vintage features like crown moldings, door and window moldings and ceiling medallions.

It’s a rare condo that has 3 fireplaces, one in the living room, one in the dining room and one in the family room, which appear to be gas starters.

The kitchen has white cabinets, a white farmhouse sink, what looks like stone counter tops, stainless steel appliances and an island with seating for 2.

There’s a family room off the kitchen and an office/den next to the living room that overlooks the street.

The primary bedroom is en suite with a walk-in-closet and the bathroom has a walk-in-shower.

The unit has the features buyers look for including space pak cooling, washer/dryer in the unit and a rare, for Old Town, 1-car outdoor parking space behind the building.

The listing says the building has new windows and the roof gets checked annually.

It’s located in the heart of Old Town, near all the shops and restaurants, as well as the activities of East Lincoln Park including the zoo.

It hasn’t changed hands in 17 years.

Listed at $890,000, compared to new construction in the neighborhood with similar square footage, is this a deal?

Janelle Emalfarb-Gordon at @Properties Christie’s has the listing. See the pictures and floor plan here.

Unit #2: 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2000 square feet

  • Sold in February 1999 for $462,500
  • Sold in July 2005 for $617,000
  • Sold in December 2005 for $620,000
  • Currently listed at $890,000
  • Assessments of $350 a month (includes heat)
  • Taxes of $14,307
  • Space pak cooling
  • Washer/dryer in the unit
  • 1 outdoor parking space included
  • Storage included
  • 3 gas starting fireplaces
  • Bedroom #1: 19×13
  • Bedroom #2: 13×11
  • Bedroom #3: 10×9
  • Living room: 20×14
  • Kitchen: 14×13
  • Dining room: 14×17
  • Family room: 11×13
  • Laundry: 4×6
  • Office: 8×7 (? font is very small on the floor plan.)

 

20 Responses to “Lincoln Park Week: 3 Fireplaces and Parking in Old Town: 1814 N. Lincoln Park West”

  1. Not 2000sf and calling this a 3br is a stretch

    Nice place, even with the painted wood trim.

    Absolutely brutal ROI

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  2. Nice place! Do not like the yellow/cream/butter.

    Radiant heat under the tile? If not, that cannot be very nice in the winter.

    Do the rooms without rads (primary bed, 3d bed, both baths) stay warm in the winter??

    “brutal ROI”

    December 2005 for $620,000 + CPI = $920k Ignoring the cost of the reno.

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  3. “Ignoring the cost of the reno” – Yeah that

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  4. ““Ignoring the cost of the reno” – Yeah that”

    Well, I think it’s not unreasonable to look at a 15 year old reno as a consumption choice–the owner was able to fully enjoy it.

    That a place can be dramatically improved, and still come in below inflation over a 17 year hold is…not great.

    Yes, the fact that a decent amount of it is taste-specific is priced in, and part of why it’s listed under 9.

    BUT: #3 was fashionably neutral, is a bit smaller, has outdoor space this one lacks, and got $785k (pre-recession sale of $553 in July-04 + CPI = $795k):

    https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/1814-N-Lincoln-Park-W-60614/unit-3/home/13344115

    Think that LPW is just a little less *relatively* desirable than it was 15-20 years ago.

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  5. “Well, I think it’s not unreasonable to look at a 15 year old reno as a consumption choice–the owner was able to fully enjoy it”

    You think the reno is that old? If it is, Kudos to either the owners for taking excellent care of it or the photographer for hiding the sins

    “That a place can be dramatically improved, and still come in below inflation over a 17 year hold is…not great.

    Yes, the fact that a decent amount of it is taste-specific is priced in, and part of why it’s listed under 9.”

    Agree on the first. on the second, possibly.

    Kind of interesting that the Realator spent more time on the “bones” – New window & boiler, etc Vs rattling off the appliance brands

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  6. “You think the reno is that old?”

    Listing claims a 2007 reno. Kitchen appears to have been refreshed since then.

    Obv the listing also has the newer HVAC noted, but that’s ‘maintenance’ to me.

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  7. Beautiful unit in a lovely building in an excellent location.

    However, I’d want a very good inspector to assess the building’s upkeep and condition, with a full record of what’s been done and what needs to be done. I’d also check the reserves. Buildings this old can mean lots of unexpected costs.

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  8. “Not 2000sf and calling this a 3br is a stretch”

    It has three rooms with closets. Those are three bedrooms.

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  9. ah yes the 7’x9′ “bedroom” with laundry, lol

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  10. “ah yes the 7’x9? “bedroom” with laundry, lol”

    There’s a bed in there. They didn’t call the den/office a bedroom but might have been able to since it appears to have a closet. But they chose not to.

    Somehow generations of people lived with this bedroom but you, sonies, don’t believe it’s legitimately one.

    Sigh.

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  11. that’s more of a fainting couch than a bed lol

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  12. apologies, its more of a recamier than a bed

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  13. Living in a condo in a small building for over 10 years is somewhat rare. And this is 17 years. Wow.

    I love all the space in these units even though it’s vintage. It’s pretty rare to have a dedicated family room space in a small vintage building.

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  14. “generations of people lived with this bedroom”

    Home many of them had to put up 3x median HHI as a downpayment, and pay 100% of HHI annually to live there?

    That’s the relevant question, right? Not “can it be a bedroom for someone” but “is it a viable bedroom at this price”.

    That is certainly one of the smallest bedrooms I have seen in a property over $500k in Chicago.

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  15. “It has three rooms with closets. Those are three bedrooms.”

    Its a f’n closet with a laundry room

    Its going to be easy to figure out which kid is liked least in the family.

    You really like arguing for sake of arguing

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  16. “Home many of them had to put up 3x median HHI as a downpayment, and pay 100% of HHI annually to live there?”

    Was this built for a rich person, a middle class person or the working class?

    Condos didn’t exist so this was apartments.

    Someone was living here during the Great Depression anon(tfo). Someone lived here in the 1960s/70s when this neighborhood was down on its luck.

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  17. “Was this built for a rich person, a middle class person or the working class?”

    Middle class, to the extent we can try and apply those terms to the period when it was built.

    “Somehow generations of people lived with this bedroom but you, sonies, don’t believe it’s legitimately one.”

    Many, many generations of people probably lived where the building now sits, and did so in ways that we couldn’t relate to today.

    I live in a 1400 sq ft house with one good sized bedroom, one okay sized bedroom, and one bedroom that a lot of people on here would consider too small for fulltime (i.e., not guest) use. The people we bought from (middle to UMC) raised four kids in our tiny house though. Times change. Nobody is going to buy the subject property with the intent of having anything other than a crib in that third bed, if that.

    Love the dining room.

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  18. “Someone was living here during the Great Depression anon(tfo).”

    WTF makes you think that this is the original layout of this apartment??

    It clearly is not, and we don’t know what that room configuration was in 2004, nevermind 1934.

    “Middle class, to the extent we can try and apply those terms”

    So, I looked at who was living here in 1928 in the Polk Directory, and three of the tenants had too common of names to branch off of, but one of them had a more unusual name, and the name pops up again as Mary Shedd’s butler in the 1940 census, but also as a pharmacist in Lake Forest.

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  19. “BUT: #3 was fashionably neutral, is a bit smaller, has outdoor space this one lacks, and got $785k”

    I viewed Unit #3 last year when it was on the market. Not only is the back porch large and fantastic, that unit is high enough so that it clears the building to the south of it, affording a great skyline view from all the windows along that length. This is a rarity among the preponderance of railroad tunnel walk-up buildings in Lincoln Park – most of them having all the windows other than the rooms in front and back facing brick walls.
    These two features, imho, give unit #3 a huge amount of added value over Unit #2, and even if the square footage is a bit less, should translate to a much higher price.
    The reason I never made a offer on #3 is that I was turned off by the common areas of the building. It is just a tiny entry and staircase leading up to the units. But it was not updated and had a generally cruddy seedy feel. The railings and posts of the staircase had that ubiquitous 20 coats of paint slapped on it that is the hallmark of old decrepit buildings. Having dealt with many HOAs in my lifetime, I know how difficult it is to persuade owners, especially in building with few owners, to spend money on common elements. I never understood this. Owners who dump huge amounts of money renovating inside their units don’t want to spend even a few hundred on beautifying common spaces – the first thing that guests would encounter when entering their home! I have resorted to just using my own money to improve the common areas when there was insufficient support in the HOA or a gridlock that seemed insurmountable. In a building like this, it is the worst because what incentive would the owner on the first floor have of being willing to foot the high bill for the laborious stripping and refinishing of the intricately carved railings and posts all the way up to the top of the building when no one who visits him would see most of it? But, to me, having my guests enter what looks like tenement housing before reaching my front door was not something I found acceptable. Therefore, despite the fact that I loved everything else about Unit #3, I decided to pass.

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  20. Contingent.

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