Looking for an Authentic 1-Bedroom Downtown Loft? 616 W. Fulton in the West Loop
This 1-bedroom loft in the China Club Lofts at 616 W. Fulton in the West Loop recently came on the market.
It has authentic loft features including 16-foot high timber ceilings and exposed brick.
The large windows are south facing with an attached balcony.
The kitchen has maple cabinets, granite counter tops and black appliances.
The loft also has a sizable 10×14 bonus room that could be used as an office.
It has all the other features buyers look for including central air, in-unit washer/dryer and parking.
With the parking included, it is listed at $275,000, or $11,000 under the 2005 purchase price.
Before you all start complaining about the price, we actually chattered about Unit #513, directly below it, exactly one year ago.
Unit #513 sold in April 2011 for $265,000 (including the parking.)
You can see our interesting chatter on that unit here.
There was a long debate about rental parity of the unit. Clio believed a possible buyer would put down the $55,000 downpayment needed to get to rental parity while many, including Homedelete, thought “no way.”
The buyer of #513 appears to have put down a $54,000 downpayment, so Clio appears to have been right (gasp!) that there ARE buyers of one bedrooms with large enough downpayments still out there.
Given the history of Unit #513, even though it’s a year later, is #613 priced to sell fairly quickly?
Chris McComas at @Properties has the listing. See more pictures here.
OR you can see it in person at the Open House: Sunday, January 29 from 12-2 PM.
Unit #613: 1 bedroom, 1.5 baths, 1000 square feet
- Sold in April 1997 for $153,000
- Sold in June 2005 for $286,000
- Currently listed for $250,000 (plus $25,000 for parking) = $275,000
- Assessments of $328 a month (includes Direct tv and Internet)
- Taxes of $4132
- Central Air
- Washer/Dryer in the unit
- Bedroom: 13×11
- Bonus room: 10×14
412 is also listed – same listing agent, basically same price, little bit different layout. http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/616-W-Fulton-St-60661/unit-412/home/14101255
I like the 613 layout better. More open.
This is my building. This listing agent typically prices things to move pretty quickly.
one of the Hollywood lightbulbs is burnt out in the realtor picture.
This place brings back the memories of the dotcom era with black appliances, 42 inch maple cabinets, hollywood lights….does anyone “day-trade” anymore? CMGI and MSTR were great ones.
I think lofts are a cool idea, but most I see in the market aren’t cool in theory. They are basically timber and drywall coffins with 1 sliver of a brick wall, and some cubicle partitions set up in a corner to make a “bedroom”.
blah.
I rented in this building in a unit with a similar floorplan right out of college. It was functional for my purposes.
HOWEVER, the unit walls and floors are about as effective as a fabric curtain when it comes to sound isolation. I could hear the girl’s dog’s nails on the floor above me. I could hear my neighbors to the sides open a can of soda. I would say “Gesundheit” when they sneezed. And I serenaded them regularly with a symphony of coitus. The “bedroom” (which is really just an alcove with no walls whatsoever) is RIGHT next to the front door.
“HOWEVER, the unit walls and floors are about as effective as a fabric curtain when it comes to sound isolation. I could hear the girl’s dog’s nails on the floor above me. I could hear my neighbors to the sides open a can of soda. …”
It’s hard to believe that people are actually willing to BUY a unit in a building with conditions like that. (I believe what you’re saying, I’m just voicing my disbelief). I rented in a converted loft rental building, Cobbler Square, and the lack of sound isolation there was just as bad as you’ve described in this building; it was absolutely ridiculous, just a totally unsatisfactory living situation by any measure.
It was bad enough just renting in a place like that, where I knew I could easily get out when the lease was up, I can’t imagine owning in that kind of low quality place, let alone pay 275k for a one-bed in that kind of place!!
“And I serenaded them regularly with a symphony of coitus”
greatest thing i’ve read on the interwebs all day.
bravo.
Meh.
anyone else see the Romantics play china club in the early 90’s? what about Big Country?
Big Country! LOL, one-hit wonder.
nice… good to see that all the subsequent comments to mine were just as thoughtful…
Anyone know the best way to soundproof timber loft condo walls? I’ve had friends shove insulation into the gap around the edges of the drywall and caulk…which helps a bit…as they don’t tend to seal the wall gaps very well in those types of buildings.
you set the bar high nwz. i see cobbler sqr is still rentals, surprisingly. and rents have doubled since 95, iirc
I’ll be interested to see what happens to Cobbler Square once that nice new building opens up down the street. They are putting the windows in now. It won’t be much longer before occupancy.
:Anyone know the best way to soundproof timber loft condo walls? I’ve had friends shove insulation into the gap around the edges of the drywall and caulk…which helps a bit…as they don’t tend to seal the wall gaps very well in those types of buildings.”
Double drywall with metal resilient channel between the layers. As done in high-end home theater installations. Has to be properly installed to work optimally. Expensive.
“Anyone know the best way to soundproof timber loft condo walls? I’ve had friends shove insulation into the gap around the edges of the drywall and caulk…which helps a bit…as they don’t tend to seal the wall gaps very well in those types of buildings.”
On the subject of Cobbler Square and noise abatement. I know that they recently soundproofed the walls in the units there. A friend of mine rents there and he said that they put up some sort of “wallpaper like” soundproofing material on the wall then painted over it. It did cut down on the noise significantly. I imagine it must be pricey.
As for this loft, not a fan of the long and narrow floorplan with only one wall of windows.
Cobbler Square has been wise to stay as a rental building. It captures the “niche” market of people who want the lofty lifestyle but don’t want to buy; pretty common in that neighborhood. Also, there is a wide variety of sizes and styles of units in there, from one-room efficiencies to two-bed-two-bath “real apartment” spaces. Condo conversion, even in the “hot” years, probably would have been problematic and ended up like the disaster at 1400 LSD.