Love Brick and Timber Lofts? A 3-Bedroom at 1040 W. Adams in the West Loop
This 3-bedroom loft at 1040 W. Adams in the West Loop recently came on the market.
This building has 266 units. It was converted in into lofts in 2006 and takes up nearly an entire city block.
This loft is a southeast corner unit with exposed brick walls and timber ceilings.
It has two balconies.
The kitchen has cherry cabinets, granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances.
The bedrooms have the preferred loft design of enclosed walls with doors, including the third bedroom which the listing says has “a window and a door and is smaller than the other bedrooms.”
The loft has the features that buyers want including central air, washer/dryer in the unit and deeded indoor parking.
This loft is listed for $174,900 more than the 2006 purchase price at $599,900.
Is $600,000 the new price point for 1300 square feet in the hot West Loop?
Mariam Harpur at @Properties has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #301: 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 1300 square feet
- Sold in March 2006 for $425,000
- Currently listed for $599,900 (includes garage parking)
- Assessments of $752 a month (includes doorman, exercise room including yoga room, exterior maintenance, lawn care, scavenger and snow removal)
- Taxes of $4746
- Central Air
- Washer/Dryer in the unit
- Bedroom #1: 12×16
- Bedroom #2: 14×12
- Bedroom #3: 7×10
- Living room: 19×19
There is zero value here whatsoever. There are dozens of places at 600K I’d take over this place. Way too much PSF.
While I agree this seems overpriced, its a lot nicer than the schlock thats been posted lately
The price/SF of this unit is much higher than others in this building. Granted, it’s a 3/2.5 corner unit but the 1200 SF 2/2s in the building have sold for around $400 – 410K. So “Is $600,000 the new price point for 1300 square feet in the hot West Loop?” No.
Crib Chatters I have noticed a lot of brand new luxury apartment rental buildings are going up. I live by Montrose and California. There is one by 2500 W. Addison, 4420 N. Kedzie and one by 3421 W. Montrose. Plus I have seen luxury apartment rental construction in other parts of the city but can not recall the exact addresses.
So Crib Chatters, will these apartment rental owners get the yield they want?
On a side note- this is the end result you get; people engaging in ever more risk taking in search for yield when the central banks keep up their zero interest rate policy and coming soon to a theater near you, negative interest rate policy.
This might be a corner unit, but with one side facing a brick wall, it may as well not be a corner unit.
” I live by Montrose and California.”
is that still chicago? YOu might be closer to long grove than navy pier!
BTW this 3 bedroom loft has “perfect for growing family” written all over it. the two older kids can share a room while baby gets the cozy 7×10 bedroom. The open floor plan living means the kids can run around, throw balls and possibly even ride tricycles around the apartment. Skinner is great too when they’re old enough.
this place would show so much better if it was staged properly. why wouldn’t you open the blinds all the way and show off the large windows and let as much natural light in as possible. 50 shades of beige going on here and really makes this place look boring. from the blinds, huge area rug, and all of the other furnishings it all looks blah, especially for a loft.
that 3rd “bedroom” doesn’t have a closet so technically this is a 2+ den / 2bath
dumbass realtors really piss me off
We sold a 1300sf, 3/2 one block from this place in June of 2015 for $630,000. We bought in 2008 for $475,000. We had an offer on the place the night before it was listed. We rolled with it, and had 3 more offers within 5 days. Most of the 3 bedrooms that I see listed in the WL are going within a week. It’s a great neighborhood when the kids are young. We just got to the point that we needed a house and more room. That and the market was so hot in the neighborhood, we jumped on the opportunity to make some money. So I don’t think that $600,000 is too out there for this place.
The windows are most likely closed for a reason.
Can’t be 100% sure that room does not have a closet but it probably doesn’t. The MLS does not require a room to have a closet in order to count as a bedroom. I think that makes sense since sometimes people remove their closets and they can also be pretty easily added.
The windows are closed because the view probably sucks. This in not a place one buys for the view. It’s not marketed as having a good view.
The requirement for a bedroom to have a close makes no sense. Many homes built before about 1930 had no bedroom closets. People used dressers. And liked them. Hanging clothes in closets was for people with formal wear.
“The windows are closed because the view probably sucks. ”
sure, you can see the neighboring brick building in one of the pictures but the view from the living room corner windows and master look perfectly acceptable for a mid-rise building.
“The MLS does not require a room to have a closet in order to count as a bedroom.”
what does the MLS require?
I mean a 7×10 room could barely fit a twin size bed and a dresser in it if you add a closet its probably what a 7×8 or 7×7 room?
1300 square feet is not enough for three proper bedrooms, and the pictures prove it: BR3 would make a nice spacious closet for one of the other bedrooms. If a jail’s holding cells were this small you’d be seeing protesters outside.
Market times for 3-bed stock in the West Loop is usually measured in hours rather than days or weeks. That it’s been on the market for two weeks shows that something ain’t right.
From the MLS Rule book:
? A bedroom is defined as a private room closed off from other living space, which does not have its only entrance from another bedroom.
? This definition will meet appraiser standards for bedrooms and would exclude tandem rooms.
? A room without a closet is countable as a bedroom.
Notice that there is no minimum size requirement nor is there a window requirement. This is not consistent with the building code rules.
I have a large walk-in closet off of a hall. I might have just discovered another bedroom.
You could actually do that but then all your other bedrooms would become tandem bedrooms and therefore invalid. You would be better off calling that hallway closet a bedroom
“So Crib Chatters, will these apartment rental owners get the yield they want?”
According to Crain’s, there are 9,000 apartments about to come on the market in 2016 and 2017 in the “downtown” area- so that doesn’t include these apartment buildings you are referring to Nimesh.
Wolf Point has been open for occupancy for several months now. It’s the most expensive rental tower in the city (for now). Apparently it is only 30% leased and 10% occupied (not sure why the disparity in the number of people living there- except some businesses might have taken out leases.)
The Kennedys expect to break ground on the second tower to the east in the first quarter of 2017. It will also have another 500 or so apartments at the highest price points in the city.
But no one is worried that there are 20+ apartment towers being built downtown.
From Crains:
Kennedy isn’t worried about a potential glut, at least not around Wolf Point.
“There may be an impact on a short-term basis,” he said at a recent downtown conference sponsored by Marcus & Millichap, the real estate brokerage.
But he said all the development increases the vibrancy of the neighborhood by drawing in more people, making it a “more exciting and attractive destination.” And that, Kennedy said, fuels demand for more apartments.
“It kind of snowballs and feeds on itself,” he said.
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/realestate/20160420/CRED03/160419798/kennedys-hines-interests-plot-second-wolf-point-apartment-tower
Sabrina: that is how economies grow. The glut of supply will keep a lid on rents, but that isn’t really a bad thing. One of Chicago’s biggest draws is its affordability, and people want to live in the part of town with world-class amenities.
“One of Chicago’s biggest draws is its affordability, and people want to live in the part of town with world-class amenities.”
But NONE of these apartments are affordable. Even in the neighborhoods that Nimesh mentioned.
They are building “luxury” apartments where the prices start at $1575 and go up to $3900 at the corner of California and Fullerton. That isn’t the part of town with “world-class amenities.”
Who will be renting these? And why???
There are still a lot of “investors” buying individual condos and trying to rent them out. I’ve noticed a slowing in the areas I’ve been watching. It’s just anecdotal. I don’t have any data showing that the 2/2 condo is sitting on the MLS for 4 months versus 2 months a year ago. But they ARE sitting- at least on the North Side.
At some point, the price point is too high. The millennials just aren’t making enough to pay $2500 a month in Lakeview- even if they split it 50/50. They have a $500 a month student loan payment, for goodness sakes.
The rent at Wolf point is too damn high
same with the Xavier and wtfever place you’re referring to at California & fullerton
I can understand a slight premium for being new but charging 50% or double what you could find for rent in a used apartment is wishing here in Chicago
There is a huge disconnect between “supply and demand” in the Chicago rental market and elsewhere. Luxury units are being built in areas that are hardly luxurious; current rental apartments are being priced way above the average renter’s ability to pay; and there is still a huge need for “affordable housing” (not section 8, just market-rate) by residents who cannot or will not buy a home of their own. Anybody here familiar with all the talk about “income inequality” or “the 99%?”
Can someone explain to me how in the world do they price these apartments? For example at 2900 N. Central Avenue there is a new apartment building and they are charging $1800 per month for a two bedroom apartment plus you pay the heat. Also every year they want to jack up the rent by $100 per month. In that neighborhood a two bedroom should be going from $700 to $1000 tops.
Nimesh, are they filling those apartments? If so then the price is right.
Chicago is still cheap compared to other major cities of comparable size. These new apartments are targeting higher income professionals who want condo grade rentals but don’t want the commitment of buying.
It used to be if you wanted to rent, you were stuck with Depaul undergrad grade walk-ups or a dated high rise with dingy carpet.
Gayle, the marketplace doesn’t allow for a disconnect between supply and demand; it’s the outcome that you’re not liking.
Luxury units are being built in non-luxury locations because people are willing to trade some of the comforts of living in a top-tier neighborhood for a nicer house. It’s like the old project management triangle: location, comfort, price- pick any two.
So how do you keep housing affordable for the lower and middle classes? The only proven method is to build more stock for the upper class. Those who have the means will live wherever they want, and that’s never going to change. If that demand is being satisfied then you keep gentrification at a manageable pace, thus keeping a neighborhood affordable for everyone else.
The down side to this, from the supplier point of view, is that the market can shift faster than they can. Ask any developer who started a condo project in 2007 how that worked out for them and they’ll tell you as much.
“Gayle, the marketplace doesn’t allow for a disconnect between supply and demand;”
The market allows for this all the time. The only place there is no disconnect is theoretical classic economics…but in the real world, there are distortions all the time…
Just read an article today about payday loans – the more payday loan stores in an area, the higher the interest rates and prices …. the fewer the stores, the lower the prices, totally contrary to traditional economic theory.. just read another article today that despite low spot steel prices in China, they’re firing up dormant furnaces, thus flooding the steel market even more.
and think of the real estate market in 2007 – people were building everywhere despite ‘fake’ or ‘fraudulent’ or ‘non-existent’ demand. Easy money packaged into MBS is what fueled demand, not end users looking to rent or buy. Huge disconnect between supply and demand.
HD, areas with a lot of payday loan stores have a lot of demand for the loans. In most cases, these are areas with a lot of poorer residents. In addition, the rates reflect relative risk. The stores aren’t competing on who has the lowest rate, they are competing on who will actually lend the money to deadbeats. Rate is irrelevant to these borrowers. They needed the money yesterday, so rate is the last thing on their mind. On the other hand, an area with not many payday loans has to lower rates to attract customers as there is little demand for the loans.
you’re absolutely right Russ, and in areas with high demand and high supply, prices should in theory fall, when in fact, prices and interest rates are higher in areas with high demand and high supply. but traditional economic theory says that competition should reduce interest rates in high demand areas, and it actually increases them.
And that gets to Gayle’s contention that “rent is too damn high” despite seemingly oversupply and Jon’s retort that the ‘marketplace’ doesn’t allow for a disconnect between supply and demand because….capitalism!
should say “but traditional economic theory says that competition should reduce interest rates in high SUPPLY areas, and it actually increases them.
@Jon, I would change your formula slightly: “good-location, high-safety, low-price…pick any two.”
Most of the rental market seems to follow that model.
The problem with “affordable housing” warriors is that they think they can get all three simultaneously. Reality is that low-price housing is not in good-locations with high-safety.
should say “but traditional economic theory says that competition should reduce interest rates in high SUPPLY areas, and it actually increases them.
I take it you made it to day one of Econ 100 and the dropped the class?
The rates are set by the risk associated with the loan. With less competition the rates would be higher
Chicago has plenty of affordable housing. It just isn’t in areas that social justice warriors want to live.
“The only place there is no disconnect is theoretical classic economics…but in the real world, there are distortions all the time…”
This seems to be a popular narrative these days and it usually serves as a basis for suggesting that the government needs to manage the economy. In reality these distortions are nothing more than additional factors that need to be taken into account – and sometimes irrational behavior is one of those factors. The real estate industry is actually a great example. There have actually been papers written about how low barriers to entry actually keep commissions high because agents get fewer deals so they need to maximize their commissions per deal. But the reality is more complicated than that. Consumers do not embrace lower commissions, though it’s slowly changing over time. Behavioral economics actually provides a great deal of insight into these matters.