Live the Mid-Century Modern Dream in Streeterville: A 3-Bedroom at 900 N. Lake Shore Drive
This 3-bedroom in 900 N. Lake Shore Drive in Streeterville came on the market in May 2022.
Built in 1956, 900 N. Lake Shore Drive is one of the two Mies van der Rohe high rises on the lake front. It has 371 units.
The building has door staff and leased garage parking on site.
This 3-bedroom unit is a combination of two units. The listing says it is the “finest renovation of any residence” with no detail overlooked or expense spared.
The listing says it has seen over $500,000 in extensive redesign to combine the two units.
The renovation was done by the design team at Boffi Chicago.
The kitchen is separate from the living/dining room and has white custom Boffi cabinetry, paneling and trim along with Miele, Gaggenau and Subzero appliances, quartzite counter tops and smart lighting, along with some open shelves.
The living and dining room has floor to ceiling windows that overlook the Lake.
According to the listing, the primary suite was once a studio apartment and the suite opens to the living room space with a full height pivoting wall. The suite also has a custom dressing room and bathroom with walk-in-shower.
The unit has custom sound/HVAC and in-unit washer/dryer. Parking is leased in the building.
Originally listed in May 2022 for $1.025 million, it has been reduced to $949,000.
For mid-century modern lovers, is this a dream unit?
Brad Lippitz and Anne Killarney at Compass have the listing. See the pictures here. It says there is a floor plan but the picture is missing.
Unit #1109-11: 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 1779 square feet
- Sold in June 1989 for $147,000
- Sold in February 2022 for $355,000
- Sold in March 2014 for $800,000
- Originally listed in May 2022 for $1.025 million
- Reduced
- Currently listed at $949,000
- Assessments of $1253 a month (includes heat, a/c, doorman, cable, exterior maintenance, lawn care, scavenger, snow removal)
- Taxes of $9737
- Central Air
- Washer/dryer in the unit
- Leased parking
- Bedroom #1: 21×16
- Bedroom #2: 18×10
- Bedroom #3: 12×11
- Living/dining room: 21×20
- Kitchen: 13×8
- Walk-in-closet: 11×7
- Foyer: 9×5
Nice place. I like the floors.
Wonder what the LSD noise is like.
A lot of buyers (this isn’t meant to be a pre-war charmer) would prefer an island/open kitchen.
I know it’s meant for MvdR fans, but it’s a limited highrise buyer pool that doesn’t want at least some ammenities at the building. Even if no pool or fitness room, is there even an outdoor common area to grill and sit outside for 15 minutes? (Again, it’s not Manhattan.)
Other sellers who want to showcase their closet game should take note of this listing.
two tax parcels here:
AV of $145,670 + $350,750 = $496,420
Absurd!!
Mar-14 + CPI = $1.008, + $500k in work = $1.5m. Ouch. Or, much of that $500k was spent before the Mar-14 sale, in which case–who cares? That work was all priced in already.
$355k in Feb-02 was for just the ’09 unit; ’11 unit was bought in Feb-04 for $208k. $563k in Feb-04 + CPI = $900k + $500k work = still ouch.
2014 pix are here: https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/900-Lake-Shore-Dr-60611/unit-1109/home/14120401
Current owner has added way more than $150k in value to the unit since then. Building itself losing value…
as shown by this one that closed in August:
https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/900-N-Lake-Shore-Dr-60611/home/39575952
2460 sf for $1.05.
Those sellers bought the three units in ’95, ’99 & ’03, and had $590k into the original units (590 at time of ’03 buy + CPI = $955k).
900/910 is a labor of love of Mies.
The decorating is on point. Love the place but I guess it also depends on the rest of the building and type of units that are common. I wouldn’t want an over improved unit in a lower end building.
“is there even an outdoor common area”
Association amenities: Sundeck
That’s the one story podium facing the lake.
this place is pretty awesome…but a lot of that has to do with the furniture, art and great photography.
I love this place, especially the Japanese soaking tub. The windows are awesome too. The lack of outdoor space would be difficult, but just having the view of the lake might be enough for me to feel at peace.
“this place is pretty awesome…but a lot of that has to do with the furniture, art and great photography”
I thought the exact same thing as well. It sounds sexy to say “Boffi” designed but I can’t actually say the design is that great or even some of finishes are that desirable. It is staged amazingly well, which helps trick the eye.
I am sure this is probably the most expensive unit in the building. 8′ ceilings are claustrophobic to me, so it’s a quick no.
like it all but the mirrored bathroom/powder room, doesn’t seem practical at all
“Association amenities: Sundeck. That’s the one story podium facing the lake.”
Ah ha.
Haven’t seen a post on the MvdR at Fullerton and Lakeview for a while.
Another stunning place. I like the closed kitchen. Allows you to have guests without having to clean your kitchen.
“especially the Japanese soaking tub.” Which shows that? I think 48 is a sink. No tub, gym, or outdoor take me out (well and price) as a buyer. There is room for a treadmill, but I don’t think neighbors would appreciate it.
this place is pretty awesome…but a lot of that has to do with the furniture, art and great photography
Agree and many of the listing pictures are only of the decor, not the features of the unit itself. Unless this is being sold furnished, those pics are irrelevant.
(examples pix 8, 10, 17, 37, and 45)
“especially the Japanese soaking tub.” Which shows that? I think 48 is a sink.”
I think you’re right. The faucet style looks more like what would be used with a tub, but it has to be a sink. I was flicking through too quickly.
I still like this place though.
“I like the closed kitchen. Allows you to have guests without having to clean your kitchen.”
Me too. I’m so glad they didn’t open it up and put in an island. It makes the space feel so different. I don’t know why anyone wants to stare at some cabinets and a refrigerator all day.
“Me too. I’m so glad they didn’t open it up and put in an island. It makes the space feel so different. I don’t know why anyone wants to stare at some cabinets and a refrigerator all day.”
I know, I get it, and I too for years was anti-open kitchen, to an almost Good Dan degree, but I guess I’ve just found myself in too many homes (other peoples’ homes) where they have a kitchen that’s in its own separate room, with people tending to gather in the kitchen like sardines, with hardly anyone out in the adjacent living or dining areas. Is it because there’s a big island and other horizontal surfaces at waist-level or higher, or a sink, or the fridge, or the hosts are busy in there doing stuff and why should they be toiling away alone, or people show up with stuff that’s best directed to a kitchen counter, or whatever. Yes, it’s nice to have a big separate dining room, and nice to have a civilized living room without a tv, but it really seems like 21st century family life, and social life when it’s just another family or two over, is better served by the open kitchen concept. Don’t get me wrong: Given that I don’t have one, and don’t have an island, I do appreciate the sentiment of having separate dining, living and kitchen rooms. But the biggest room on our main/living floor level is the dining area (having flipped our dining and living spaces a couple years ago), which accommodates an 8 ft table and 8-10 chairs, with plenty of room to walk around it, but without fail, if we’re entertaining indoors (we try to limit gatherings to outdoors, where we have lots of space), even if we’ve placed apps and whatnot out on the dining table, there will be about 6-8 adults (i.e., basically all of the adults) standing around in our kitchen (which has about 6 x 7 ft of floor area).
My condo had a big open kitchen/living room and it worked well OK before covid when I worked in an office and was never home. It was nice on the occasions when I did have guests. People could spread out with some at the island, some in the dining area, and some in the living area. I think an open kitchen is great for parties.
I have a galley kitchen in my house and really like it for day-to-day living. When I do have parties, I notice that the kitchen isn’t really comfortable for guests to linger though. Having delineated rooms has been good for my mental health and that’s more important than having a kitchen that is good for entertaining. I’ve seen houses similar to mine where they opened the kitchen and it looks nice and I think it would work better for parties. They usually put a dining peninsula in place of the wall though and I don’t like the look of bar height chairs in a formal living room. You also lose so many cabinets in the process.
I like that in the condo featured today, the living room/dining area doesn’t have a TV. I specifically looked for a house where the living area was separate from the den/family room. I love the cozy looking den in the condo. It’s perfect. I marked this condo as a favorite before it was featured here because I’m super curious how quickly it will sell.
Russ put it well: A high-priced, lovely unit in a low-end building with limited amenities. I’ve heard Mies didn’t design his buildings for practical living. He was all about how it looked, not how it lived. Not sure that’s true with 900, but I’ve heard it about 860-880.
“Me too. I’m so glad they didn’t open it up and put in an island. It makes the space feel so different. I don’t know why anyone wants to stare at some cabinets and a refrigerator all day.”
So you’re not on trend?
Great remodel- modern but very respectful of the original design intent
My $0.02 – this MCM refresh will be the trend in 3-5 years
I really like my U-galley kitchen. It allows about three more cabinets and I do not have see that I don’t always keep it perfectly clean. I can’t open it to the living/dining area because it shares walls with stairs, my neighbor, and guest bathroom. It’s better that space is a kitchen rather than switch locations with the second bedroom and have no bedroom windows. On the negative side, it is a one person kitchen. It works for me everyday and how I entertain, but I can see how it would be a detraction for others.
“My $0.02 – this MCM refresh will be the trend in 3-5 years”. I don’t know how I feel about this. I love MCM, but don’t know if I want to see it everywhere. Powder-coated stainless cabinets would be cool to see in high-end kitchens.