A 2-Bedroom in a 1917 Boutique Building: 257 E. Delaware in the Gold Coast
This 2-bedroom in 257 E. Delaware in the Gold Coast/Streeterville (the listing can’t figure out which one either!) came on the market in May 2018.
This building was constructed in 1917 and has 16 units.
It doesn’t appear to have a doorman as there is keyed elevator access.
The unit has some of its vintage features, including hardwood floors throughout, French doors, leaded glass windows, high ceilings and crown moldings.
There are unique arched windows in the living room.
The kitchen has white cabinets, some black appliances and dark granite counter tops.
The listing says there are 3 renovated “spa baths.”
It has zoned a/c, washer/dryer in the unit but there is no parking. The listing says it will pay for 1-car heated garage parking for a year.
This unit has a rare 4 exposures.
What’s the market for vintage in this neighborhood?
Brooke Daitchman at Dream Town has the listing. See the pictures and floor plan here.
Unit #10A: 2 bedrooms, 3 baths, 2100 square feet
- Sold in February 1996 for $135,000
- Sold in June 1999 for $510,000
- Sold in October 2003 for $590,000
- Sold in March 2015 for $590,000
- Originally listed in May 2018 for $649,900
- Currently still listed for $649,900
- Assessments of $1,775 a month (includes heat, gas, cable, exterior maintenance, lawn care, scavenger, snow removal)
- Taxes of $10,388
- Zoned air conditioning
- Washer/dryer in the unit
- No parking but listing says 1-year heated garage parking is included
- Bedroom #1: 15×17
- Bedroom #2: 13×15
- Office: 7×7
- Gallery: 8×10
Nice place and great location, really high price considering the HOA + taxes. Has a nice genteel NYC vintage type of feel, but not practical except perhaps as an empty nest place. I’d rather have a high rise at 900 LSD for 2/3 the price and half the dues with views. Curious how a place like this sells.
wtf makes those bathrooms “spa baths”
realtors, stop using it.
Definately would consider this Streeterville. In my opinion anything east of Michigan Ave is considered Streeterville. Gold Coast is bounded South by Walton St, North by North Ave, East by Michigan Ave/Lake Shore Drive and West by Clark St.
With that said, the unit is nice, price is nice. But the HOA ($1,800) + ($900/mo taxes) those are killer…..you are looking at $2,700/mo in recurring charges….the same cost to rent a 2 bedroom in the area. So I don’t really see how it makes sense to purchase in older buildings like this with high assessments?
Love this one too. Assessments are huge though.
Assessments are gonna keep the price of this below 600k. There is just so much risk on purchasing a unit that has no viable way to appreciate in price with out of control assessments.
2BR in the neighborhood go for much more than $2200. This is a very nice place and this pocket of streeterville, from Chestnut to E LSD is surprisingly quiet and low key.
Agree with Mike. Nice place but would rather have views and lower HOA. Of course, this HOA isn’t too bad considering the location and other HOAs in the area.
No doorman probably keeps HOA low, but I like having a doorman. One of those trade-offs.
Floor plan is interesting. This place was obviously chopped out of an original larger one. The space called “dining room” was probably originally a pantry. The second BR was probably a maid’s room.
Time for a developer to come in and gut this pig. There are no options left when your HOA and taxes are over $2500 a month, and you dont even have a doorman. They will only continue to go up. Could you imagine how much it must cost every year to keep that old boiler from the 1920s going a little longer and when it finally has to go, how much all that asbestos is goign to cost to remove? These old buildings are over in Chicago and can only be completely gutted and turned into apartments, unlike NYC where theres little room to build new, Chicago can build for decades and not exhaust all it’s parking lots and tear downs forever dooming these structures.
Maybe this flows better when you are actually in this place but it seems like there’s a ton of “wasted” space. The master bedroom is huge but then has a comparably small closet. The dining room wouldn’t be good for a group of more than 6. And a lot of the square footage is used in hallways.
I would also hate having the washer and dryer in the second bedroom. The pantry would have been a much better spot for it.
Looking again at floor plan, not sure I’d want to live here but it would make a fantastic hotel suite. We once stayed in a 2-bedroom hotel suite in Barcelona that was similarly laid out, though without the kitchen. That was amazing.
Marko, in a similar old building the boiler was replaced the asbestos removal for entire mechanical space was only $10k. I was surprised at how little it cost. New boilers themselves aren’t that expensive either.
“The master bedroom is huge but then has a comparably small closet.”
The closet is a super easy change, tho, with the dressing room/mini-office available for an easy addition.
What’s with the 7 different kinds of door knobs, mostly crappy Menard’s specials?
down to 599,900. Unlikely to close above either the ’15 or ’03 price. But still possible, I spose.
Vintage is difficult especially in a market that is changing.
Contingent with list at $599,900.