Live in a 2-Bedroom Loft By the River: 900 N. Kingsbury in River North
It’s been awhile since we chattered about Domain, the loft building at 900 N. Kingsbury in River North.
This west facing 2-bedroom recently had a price reduction.
It has been on the market since March 2011 and is now listed about $90,000 under the 2002 purchase price (including the parking space, which the listing says must be sold with the unit.)
It is NOT a short sale.
The loft has concrete ceilings and exposed brick. It faces west and has a large 22-foot covered terrace.
The kitchen has granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances.
The property has all the features you’d expect from this era of construction including central air and washer/dryer in the unit.
Is this a deal?
I actually discovered that I don’t have any good pictures of this building.
Here is one of the office part of the building on Kingsbury and Chicago.
Here is one of 845 N. Kingsbury. You can see the building to the left.
Clearly- I need to get some decent pictures of this massive building. But you get the idea.
Tod Pratt at Koenig & Strey Real Living has the listing. See the (much better) pictures here.
Unit #812: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, no square footage listed
- Sold in July 2002 for $400,000 (included one parking spot)
- Originally listed in March 2011 for $360,000
- Reduced numerous times
- Currently listed for $289,900 (plus $20,000 extra for parking)
- Assessments of $668 a month (includes heat, a/c, gas, doorman, cable)
- Taxes of $4417
- Central Air
- Washer/Dryer in the unit
- Bedroom #1: 21×11
- Bedroom #2: 11×10
I have a friend who rented in this building. Depressing area, depressing units, depressing view, half-assed loft style, almost no light. I’m not at all surprised the price has fallen as much as it has. This should be 100% rental.
On the plus side, the building has large buses that will shuttle you to work in the loop. Free public transit! Of course the buses jam up already crowded loop streets, but that is a problem for other people, not the residents.
Yikes.
This building makes me feel sad.
I’ve been in this exact floor plan and the living area is kind of tight imho; particularly if you have normal sized furnishings. The unit I saw had a toddler and you would have thought it was an episode of Hoarders it felt so cluttered between the furniture and baby knick knacks. Definitely not a move for someone even remotely thinking of having a kid and even kind of small for two adults who want elbow room imho.
yuk
Not really a deal as I’d be willing to bet taxes & assessments have increased more than a monthly amount of financing 90k. Welcome to the world of 2012 where all expenses matter.
who would buy this junk?
perfect for warehouse aficianados
I think it looks like it could be a cool space in concept, but the curved walls I would think make it very hard to place furniture. For instance, the master bedroom looks to become very narrow right where you would have to place the bed. In the living room, if you put the couch on the flat brick wall, your TV is on a curve wall.
Also that second bedroom looks like a cave with the only natural light coming in from the gap at the top of the wall to the kitchen. Not ideal at all!
I rented here from 2007-08 until the owner’s relative moved in. The photo is not of the building. Its of 600 West Chicago, which is a commercial building, where Groupon is now housed. The residential building is next door and on a one-way, quiet street that dead ends into a park/townhouses. It looks attached to 600 West from the outside, but its a separate building that is walled off from the commercial building. There is an interior courtyard. The units vary widely in here–from 1 bedroom developer standard (bad views, depressing finishes) to 5000 square foot units with large terraces. If you look on blockshopper, you will see that prices range from 200s to millions. The building once had a loft walk and there were some pretty incredible (totally renovated/built out) spaces with unobstructed views of the whole Michigan Avenue, Trump, and Loop skyline. Real NYC style luxury lofts. The developer’s family also owns a loft here, so I image that one is a far cry from the one Sabrina posed. Since this was a conversion, some units are bad floor plans, bad light and bad views (the river view…like this unit is not as nice and this side of the building generally sells at much cheaper prices) and the developer made them small and priced them right. These are probably most of the rentals/in towns. The assessment includes all utilities, cable, and amenities (doorman, gym, party room, deck, on site management, dry cleaner) etc… It was well run when I lived there. I liked the amenities which often don’t exist in loft buildings and the fact that its quiet there. I lived in a West Loop loft but could not stand the delivery trucks waking me up every morning at 6-7 am….its still a meat market/food distribution neighborhood that is noisy.
The neighborhood could use some improvement. Compared to other loft buildings in the South Loop and West Loop its closer to Michigan Ave, restaurants and shopping, and the lake. However, the immediate blocks need to be developed with amenities. Now, there is only David Barton Gym, Allyu spa, a nail shop, Japoinais, and the new BLT restaurant in the Montgomery. I think this neighborhood will get better when the recession ends. The last remaining Section 8 housing project is closing down. CHA just announced that the Cabrini row homes are going to be closed and NOT redeveloped as Section 8 housing. Some people are being moved out now. This should improve the neighborhood.
In short, this unit is not very nice and like all, ordinary units…is going to suffer disproportionately in the downturn.
This building is where a developer tried to stuff as many units as possible in the building without consideration of their true utility as a home. Great as a rental unit, but not the kind of place I’d want to buy. The penthouse unit in this development was off the chain though. One of my favorites. I believe Sabrina featured it a couple of years ago.
Just the fact they had to curve the bedroom wall shows you how tight the space actually is in the unit. The curve isn’t design aestethic but the only way to fit a real bed in the bedroom. Calling it river views is a bit of a stretch too. It really is more of a view of the Tribune truck parking lot across the river. The sellers were asking damn near $400k for the unit I saw earlier and the listing agent even admitted the seller’s were delusional.
It does seem like a well run building though. The units are just very small and mediocre.
A lot of high-end rental buildings are now designed in this manner: very small one-person/two-person units, intended for a transient white-collar single or divorced clientele, with party room and nice gym/pool recreational elements, concierge assistance, garage w/carwash service, in-building dry cleaner/laundry service, concession shop, etc. The apartment serves as an oversized closet and downtime pod for the occupant, but most living and social interaction occurs outside unit. Market is directed at hardcharging business types looking for convenience, not nesters. These buildings aren’t well-positioned to attract condo buyers now in current slow market.
This building even has bus service, but it functions as a human filing cabinet. I suggest realtors bring some worklights with them when they go to photograph their listings; this unit’s photos are far too dark to attract attention from prospective buyers.
I almost vomited on myself
Russ, some of the penthouse units are the bomb — the ones that are east facing (view of skyline) with terraces. These have high ceilings (12-16 foot) and huge oversized casement windows with tons of light. Many are upgraded with chef kitchens (wolfe, viking, mile, subzero) and custom media/shades etc…) and are unlike the standard 1 and 2 bedrooms in the building. Its really hit or miss here b/c, as Russ notes, the developer tried to squeeze in units. Some are terrible (small, dark and standard finishes) and some are absolutely amazing…some of the best lofts in the city. Those, however, don’t turn over very often. I think there was one on the market recently but the owner chose the worst finishes ever…red stained floors, yellow and green walls, standard cabinets etc…. so this one isn’t as nice as many in the building.
Does this unit really have 2 bathrooms with shower stalls and NO BATHTUB?
It may seem quaint, but there are still people left in this world who like a good, hot soak up to the neck in the wintertime after a hard day of work and a long walk home in the cold.
Elsewise, the place has all the grace, charm, and warmth of a factory dorm in some low-wage country. Or, maybe, it’s too much like sleeping at the office. Or something.
Laura, if you look closely the tub is inside the shower in the master bathroom.
I’ve commented on this phenomena before….very weird! Who wants a tub inside a shower? A huge shower is great (and fun) one filled with a tub is a disappointment!
I see it now….. yes, I hate this. Would rather have a large tub in the same spot.
People keep claiming that the Section 8 folks are being moved out of Cabrini Green. This is 100% false information. By law, CHA cannot empty the area of Section 8 housing. They can redevelop, but they absolutely have to replace the existing housing in the immediate neighborhood.
So, yes, Cabrini Green will continue to be redeveloped, but no, the poor aren’t leaving the neighborhood.
Not true. See the link. CHA plans to redevelop the site into something other than Section 8 housing. Sounds like they can just sell that land.
http://wethepeoplemedia.org/homepage/cabrini-rowhouses’-fate-in-jeopardy/
Osito, so the poor are still at Robert Taylor?
Some of the Cabrini rowhomes have already been rehabbed, I think ~120 units or so, and AFAIK there are no plans to demolish those. But 120 units is an awfully small number vs. even the remaining 300 and perhaps they even need to meet mixed income guidelines to live there, like Parkside of Old Town.
Looks like all of the non-rehabbed rowhomes will be vacant by Feb 2, 2012. 146 rehabbed units remain. Not a large number.
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2011/09/02/cha-to-clear-out-most-cabrini-green-row-houses/
No not a large number at all. Just one short 3 block dead end street sandwiched between the back of the buildings on Larrabee and Chicago avenue. This is actually less Section 8 housing than old town (marshall field homes) and Lincoln Park.