Live on a Private Lane in Old Town: A 4-Bedroom Townhouse at 233 W. Concord Lane
This 4-bedroom townhouse in the Concord Lane Townhouses at 233 W. Concord Lane in Old Town came on the market in July 2020.
Built in 1979, the Concord Lane Townhouses has 20 townhouses with attached one-car garages along a private brick street protected by a security gate.
This townhouse has 10 foot ceilings on the main level with a living room, kitchen and dining room.
The living room has a wood burning fireplace.
The kitchen has wood cabinets, luxury stainless steel appliances and what looks like a white tile backsplash.
There’s an eating area with a table next to the kitchen as well as a small balcony where you can keep a grill.
The second level has a family room, an office nook and the primary bedroom suite which has a walk-in shower and double vanity.
The other three bedrooms are all on the third floor.
The listing says all the bathrooms were recently updated and a third full bath was added.
The lower level has a recreation room and the laundry room.
There’s no yard but there is a rooftop deck with planters and a pergola.
It has central air and a one-car attached garage.
The listing says it has “unparalleled security, safety and serenity in a gated community” in the heart of Old Town.
Gated communities and private lanes were popular in Old Town and the Gold Cast in the 1970s when crime was high.
Some of them, like this one, remain.
Are they going to make a come back?
Scott Green and Janet Owen at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices have the listing. See the pictures here.
233 W. Concord Lane: 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, no square footage listed, townhouse
- Sold in August 1988 for $392,500
- Sold in July 2003 for $725,000
- Sold in July 2006 for $1,140,000
- Sold in August 2012 for $1,060,000
- Sold in April 2016 for $1,152,500
- Originally listed in July 2020 for $1,150,000
- Still listed at $1,150,000
- Assessments of $542 a month (includes security, exterior maintenance, lawn care, scavenger, snow removal)
- Taxes of $19,942
- Central Air
- One car attached garage
- Wood burning fireplace
- Bedroom #1: 14×12 (second floor)
- Bedroom #2: 18×11 (third floor)
- Bedroom #3: 11×11 (third floor)
- Bedroom #4: 14×10 (third floor)
- Living/dining room: 21×20 (main floor)
- Kitchen: 20×11 (main floor)
- Family room: 20×17 (second floor)
- Recreation room: 16×15 (lower level)
- Laundry room: 19×17 (lower level)
- Balcony: 7×3 (main floor)
- Rooftop deck: 34×19
Losing money after 4 years definitely signals a HAWT Market ™
TH looks nice and probably worth the ask IMO. This is going to be interesting to see where it closes as the kitchen isn’t on trend.
Does the lattice add $50k to the cost of a Pergola?
A rooftop deck is lovely. A rooftop deck 100 feet away from Utopian Tailgate seems miserable.
“A rooftop deck 100 feet away from Utopian Tailgate seems miserable.”
TBF, this one appears to back up to the parking deck.
You can see the intake (?) for the RTU that’s on the NW corner of the Piper’s Alley complex in pic 27.
A floor plan would have been helpful. Seems nice enough but for me personally, I would buy a SFH…..obviously rare at this price point in this immediate area, but that’s what I would do. From a security perspective and being able to leave home and travel without worrying much, this is really nice.
Agree with Matt the Coffeeman….the roof-deck has probably been lovely this summer but yowza I would not want to be within hearing Utopian Tailgate distance LOL.
The basement office room / dorm fridge situation makes me sad but that space has potential to be a little less sad.
Other than the 1988 buyer, I am floored at what people will spend on a home to only live there for 3 years. Given how high transaction costs are, the current owner and prior two owners are clearly not viewing this as an investment.
“I am floored at what people will spend on a home to only live there for 3 years.”
Current owners redid (at least 2 of) the bathrooms, too.
I stumbled upon Concord Lane a few months ago while going to Fleet Feet in Old Town. I instantly liked it and I thought it had a ton of curb appeal and a great location in the middle of the city. Based on the photos, these townhouses must be 2,500 sqft or larger. Not surprised that it is listed inside of the 2016 sale price. The Chicago metro is one of the few large cities in the U.S. where there has been little or no appreciation over the last 5 – 10 years, driven partially low job creation and low household formation and exasperated by unsustainably high property taxes. The elimination of the SALT deduction in 2017 was just yet another blow. I can’t tell you how many people I know who have sold their homes/townhouses/condos in the city and burbs at losses in the Chicago metro. For comparison, LA and SoCal has been on fire (literally and figuratively) for years.
Super interesting place. Seems like a deal. But maybe this is exhibit A of the problems city sellers are going to run into as the upper-middle/upper class flee to the suburbs in greater numbers.
Don’t forget the mortgage interest limits too…. If they have a vacation home with a mortgage they’ve surely hit it.
The mortgage interest deduction is way more equitable however than the SALT limit.
Considering commissions, taxes and other costs born by the seller, they will spend over $80K to get rid of this property. They also renovated at least two baths – – lets say they sank $30K minimum into each of those…..they also locked up a huge down-payment. Losing bigly. They would have been much better off renting something. This likely costs $6K a month to “own” it, not accounting for the time value of the huge down-payment you lock up in an illiquid asset…
Personally I do not have any friends or colleagues who are “fleeing” to the suburbs but I know several people who are actively trying to sell condos / townhomes in the City in order to purchase single family homes in the City. Believe it or not COVID hasn’t reduced the number of people who prefer a walkable neighborhood and very few suburbs meet that criteria.
Very nice, mostly. It seems like an ideal place to raise a family in the city, provided you have a lot of money.
“driven partially low job creation and low household formation and exasperated by unsustainably high property taxes.”
We haven’t had “partially low job creation.” Are you serious? Ha. This is laughable. At least in the Loop/downtown. The people who would be complaining about job creation aren’t in the market to buy on Concord Lane.
But it’s true that all of California has seen its bubble re-expand again. But the fundamentals are different there. If you bought in 2010 in West Loop you are up bigly. Same in Logan Square, Avondale, Jefferson Park, Ukrainian Village, Bronzeville, Hyde Park, Woodlawn.
Heck, maybe it’s just LP, downtown, Lakeview that hasn’t seen the appreciation because those areas were bubble epicenters?