Luxury Renovation on the Market Nearly 7 Months: 2626 N. Lakeview in Lincoln Park
This 2-bedroom on the 6th floor in 2626 N. Lakeview in Lincoln Park came on the market in May 2018.
The building was constructed in 1969 and has 491 units and an attached parking garage.
The unit is a corner unit with east, south and west views.
The listing calls it a “luxury renovation.”
The kitchen has what looks like white cabinets, calcutta quartz counter tops, and stainless steel appliances.
There are Riobel bath fixtures and designer lighting.
The unit has central air but no in-unit washer/dryer. There is coin laundry in the building.
There’s also leased parking available.
It came on the market in the promising spring market priced at $379,900 but it has been slowly reduced $24,900 to $355,000.
Renovated properties used to sell quickly as buyers wanted “new.”
But are too many renovations, with the same finishes, harming the market with their sameness?
Jackie Grieshamer at 4 Sale Realty has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #608: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1296 square feet
- Sold in January 1989 for $129,000
- Lis pendens foreclosure filed in January 2017
- Originally listed in May 2018 for $379,900
- Reduced several times
- Currently listed at $355,000
- Assessments of $998 a month (includes heat, doorman, cable, Internet, clubhouse, scavenger, exterior maintenance, snow removal)
- Taxes of $5603
- Central Air
- No in-unit washer/dryer but there’s coin laundry in the building
- Rental parking available in the building
- Bedroom #1: 18×12
- Bedroom #2: 13×12
Those HOAs and leased parking make this place a more expensive proposition than most places in this price range. Especially given how old the building is, those HOAs will go nowhere but up. And yes, this place looks like every other place these days, no inspiration in that design at all. The taxes are no bargain either. In sum this is a lot of money month-to-month for coin laundry, low ceilings, me-too decor, no outdoor space and parking not included.
Great location great though.
Agree with Sid. This works for a Pied-a-Terre, but for everyday living the HOA and lack of W/D make this a tough sale
If it has east views, the realtor should maybe take a picture or 2
clearly whoever is marketing this place (unclear if this is a realtor or FSBO) is unethical and incompetent – they stole the front photo from vht, but didn’t understand that you need higher res for the image to not look like crap. If it’s the same person who did the “rehab” than perhaps there are other reasons for this unit not moving, dynamite photos not withstanding.
Yes, it’s boring, but I think the bigger issues are the HOA, coin laundry, old building, and leased parking. Seems like an expensive rental and there are better actual rentals for what the price would be.
Also, the photos make me very suspicious — why not show the bedroom or give a floorplan or show the views? Realtor comment says obscured views and laminate floors. Also they are dark and by no means give a good sense of how the place flows, but just focus on the new things. At best, bad job showing the place.
Is “Jackie Grieshamer at 4 Sale Realty” a euphemism for bank owned?
Sid nailed it
looks contingent to me now though
8-tier floorplan:
http://www.dreamtown.com/images/cco/091e187f-9f8c-44a7-bb0d-6aa123d4d4f8.jpg
Being in the arm that points ssw, and on the 6th floor (ie, not higher than the Marlborough) the east views would be pinched bt the neighbor and the east pointing arm–“partially obscured”. But they are out the end fo the living area.
The south “views” would be of the backside of the Marlborough. The west views from the bedrooms appear to be reasonably unobstructed.
Which is why there are no pix of the “views”.
This is not luxury. It’s nice enough though.
I lived in this building for nearly 10 years in the 90’s and early 00’s, so I know it very well. The 08 units used to be the best ones because of great views, before 2550 was built and blocked them. However, a unit this low never had good views. The windows look mostly right into the building next door, and the east-facing windows don’t provide a lake view at the sixth floor (we lived on 10 for a while and had a nice lake view, but I think you have to be on 8 or above).
Maybe views don’t matter to certain buyers, but I find it depressing when most of my views face another building, and that’s definitely the case with this unit. Which the realtor doesn’t show because why? Are they hiding it? These photos are a joke. I can’t tell if the renovations are any good, either, for that matter.
The building itself is a really pleasant place to live. The assessments are high but you get a lot, including full staff, exercise room, pool, roof deck. But it’s a 50-year old building and that was starting to show even when we moved out in 2002. The windows are the worst aspect. They open out, and every time there’s wind, they slam shut on their own, making loud noises. Speaking of noise, the walls are thin, so you easily hear everything in the hallway and sometimes in the adjoining units. The building creaks like crazy when it’s windy. The AC/Heating system is controlled by the building, not the unit owner. They decide when to turn it from heat to AC in spring and vice versa in fall. Annoying. The building could also use an extra elevator.
Despite all that, I’d consider buying here again, because the prices are reasonable considering location. But the unit would have to have a good view. We lived in 2412 for 5 years and really enjoyed the N/E/W and sliver of south views we had. Basically we had 250 degrees of views, though 2650 was a barrier to the north. I’ve seen some nice 03 units on high floors available lately for $500,000 to $600,000, and that’s what I’d look for. If someone wants a 2 bedroom, both 12 and 08 units look into other buildings, but I’d say the 12s now have better views due to 2550.
Ah, forgot to mention the annoying coin laundry. I think some units have W/D factored in. Rare however. My wife would never buy here again due to laundry and windows. I see her point, but I still miss the place.
Is “Jackie Grieshamer at 4 Sale Realty” a euphemism for bank owned?
Does it say it’s bank owned in the CCRD? No. As it says in the post, there was a lis pendens foreclosure filed in 2017. It can take 5 to 8 years for one of those to go through at the rate we’ve seen over the last 10 years.
I echo Dan#2’s comments… I’ve lived on Lakeview Ave for 10 years (2400 & 2550) and had friends who lived in this building. Something is just different about this stretch of town and I love it. Considering a similar unit (2/2, east, 6th floor) in my building would fetch $1.2M, I think it’s a fair price for what you get.
Sabrina: Should I instead have written “Wow, Jackie Grieshamer’s listings look like they’re bank owned properties, given the photo quality”?
I do love the area, PDubbs. It keeps calling me back even 16 years after I left. I’d love to go back and get a place in a nice vintage high rise like 2440 if the opportunity ever comes.
“I do love the area, PDubbs. It keeps calling me back even 16 years after I left.”
Me too, Dan #2. There’s something about it and I haven’t even lived there.
I feel it’s because it has the big park next to the buildings and Lake Shore Drive is far enough away that you neither hear it, nor smell it (the pollution from all those cars) and if you have an east view you also have the lake and if you have a west view, it’s a great city view (for the most part- depending on the building.)
It seems like the perfect combination.
How’s the transportation from there though? And how is Fullerton? Fullerton always seems like a nightmare in the summer time. I am scared at how bad it will be once the hospital buildings are done and a few thousand more people are there.
I lived near Armitage and Clark and loved it. Thought Diversey and Clark was unpleasant. In between, I dunno. North of Fullerton not that excited, although the 2550 N Lakeview building looks nice.
Fullerton and Diversey both sucked as far as traffic back in the 90’s and early 00’s when we lived there. Getting to the highway was a nightmare. We used to take Wrightwood, which seemed to save some time.
Transportation downtown is simple: CTA stops across the street. Sometimes on nice days I’d ride the el home and just walk from the Diversey or Fullerton stop. About a 15-min walk and quite pleasant. Or sometimes I’d walk home from the Loop if I had time. It only took 45 min to an hour.
I echo Sabrina’s comments about the area. Having the park between the buildings and LSD makes a huge difference. We had east and west views – best of both worlds. I loved July 4 because we could look out west and see fireworks going off all over the horizon as various suburbs had their celebrations.