Listing for $399,900 in the South Loop: 1305 S. Michigan
What’s selling? Units under $400,000.
What’s not? Units over $400,000.
Therefore, to sell, price under $400,000.
That’s what a bunch of owners are doing at 1305 S. Michigan, the Museum Park Lofts, in the South Loop.
The building was built in 2006 but because of all the construction surrounding it, it doesn’t seem to have any really great views. Mostly, they seem to be of Michigan Avenue or other buildings.
Currently, there are eight 2/2s on the market.
- One unit is listed over $400,000: at $419,000 plus parking
- Seven units are listed under $400,000: the cheapest at $349,000 plus parking
Unit #1605: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1206 square feet
- Sold in May 2006 for $357,000
- Was listed at $409,000
- Just reduced to $399,900 plus parking
- Assessments of $408 a month
- Deborah Thomas at Coldwell Banker has the listing
Unit #1103: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, plus den, 1318 square feet
- Sold in April 2006 for $366,000
- Currently listed for $399,000 plus parking
- Assessments of $338 a month
- Rubloff has the listing
Blah Blah Blah, more of the same
I think Unit 1103 (picnic bench) and “pretty” blue vase just went under contract. It will be interesting to see if they ended up throwing in the $30K-additional asking-priced-parking in for free.
I personally think the place looks stark, but the leather club chairs facing the master bed closet is a unique. My guess is the chairs are there because the sellers are really indecisive and need to sit down and look at their wardrobe before getting dressed each and every day. Or maybe there’s a really cool built in “puppet theatre” in the closet to look at. I think I’ve just piqued my own curiosity!
Oh, and a couple more stacked file cabinets in ascending order in the office would make a great At&t wireless “bars” commercial.
Those ceilings look ugly to me.
Bob: That concrete look is the latest thing. I wonder how it will hold up over time though.
Time to put in that drop ceiling that the builder convinced you was the new hot look….. Next time I will develop something I’ll simply leave the drywall without tape and mud and see if I can charge more for not doing it!!! Silly.
Should have said:
Time to put in that drop ceiling since the builder had convinced you the unfinished ceilings in new construction was the new hot look….
God, I’m sick of the “loft” look!
Does anybody really like looking at furnace ducts? I mean, it’s one thing to convert a high-ceilinged old industrial space to imaginative new uses, which is the whole impetus for the loft thing, but to build a place to look raw and unfinished deliberately is ludicrous, especially in a modern high rise apt. building with low ceilings.
Building a new apt. as a “loft” is just an excuse for the builder to “cheap out” by not enclosing ducts and not finishing off the walls properly. What a RAW deal for the buyer!
Laura: I agree with your sentiments. I don’t see how this look will still be attractive in 10 years time. I don’t even see how it’s attractive now!
The concrete look is hard to live with for the long haul. It’s not exactly warm and fuzzy.
In some of the model units in these buildings, I’ve noticed that the interior designer is putting textured wallpaper on the walls in order to “soften” up the concrete look (and it works.) Unfortunately, most buyers keep the walls white (as in the units above) and it adds to the cold feel.
I also think that shortly we will return to a more vintage look in some of the buildings. You are already seeing that in kitchen cabinetry. The sleek, modern dark wood cabinets are going away and will be replaced by the white vintage looking ones (as are in the units in the 334 Menomonee conversion.)
Those cabinets are also one of the choices for buyers in 10 E. Delaware and the Ritz on Michigan Avenue. Both of their models use the white kitchen.
What’s selling? Units under $400,000.
What’s not? Units over $400,000.
Therefore, to sell, price under $400,000.
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But but but… *MY* unit is better than his!
Yeah exposed ductwork reminds me of a Jimmy John’s or Chipotle whenever I see it. Great places to eat but I wouldn’t pay 400k to live in either.
I remember, way back there in the 80s when I first arrived here, telling a rental agent that I didn’t want to see anything that had exposed brick walls, track lights, or walls with open tops. The look was overdone even then.
Up here in Rogers Park, a number of absolutely lovely old courtyard buildings have been destroyed forever by DEhabbers converting them into “loft” condominiums. The building is gutted in order to fit more, and smaller, apts into the footprints of large, gracious old apts. The courtyard at 1507 N Birchwood, which was in good condition and stuffed with incredible millwork that would cost many thousands of $$$ to install these days, was ripped out completely and is now a Horror Show of early 80s Loft Gestunk- brick walls and can lights and rough-hewn wood windowsills that have splinters everywhere. You’d never know now what a beautiful place that bldg.was prior to “redevelopment”.
I could see doing this with a building that had become an utter slum, but to do it to a lovely,intact, well-cared-for antique building seems criminal. To do it in a spanking-new highrise is laughable. I’d price a complete rebuild into any offer I made.
I don’t agree with the building not having great views, its 21 stories high, I live in this building on the top floor and have a breathtaking view of the lake; I can see Navy Pier, Soldiers Field all the way to Indiana. I don’t have concrete ceilings and my unit is totally upgraded and therefore there is no way I would ever sell it below 400K, I mean you can’t expect to make a huge profit when you move in to a cookie cutter unit and not make any customized upgrades, all the condos in the south loop and all over look the same inside, to make money make changes, it’s as simple as that!
Can someone anawer this question for me, why do condo owners think they can sell their place for over $300K when you can easily rent a similar unit for under $2K ? From a cash flow point of view, i.e. investment, the price to rent ratio is so out of line its silly !!
It appears that a game of ‘hot potato’ is being played here and someone is likely to get burned.