Million Dollar Homes in University Village: 1446 S. Emerald
I don’t remember who it was who commented about $600,000 to $700,000 townhouses in University Village, the area just west of the Dan Ryan Expressway near UIC and Little Italy.
It’s not just expensive townhomes sprouting in that neighborhood.
You can buy million dollar homes within a stones throw of the expressway such as this 5-bedroom home at 1446 S. Emerald.
Emerald is a new cul-de-sac street just east of Halsted and west of the Dan Ryan- around 14th (in case you can’t find it on any of your older maps. Heck- I had trouble finding it on the real estate websites’ maps. Several of them mapped it completely wrong.)
Here’s the listing:
CUSTOM HOME DESIGNED BY JOHN ROBERT WILTGEN. ELEGANT DETAILS ABOUND IN THIS EXQUISITE HOME INCLUDING STEAM SHOWER HEATED FLOORS IN THE MASTER BATH, DESIGNER CLOSET ORGANIZERS ELEGANT CROWN MOLDING AND STUNNING TILE DETAILS.
THIS HOME HAS A ENGLISH BASEMENT WITH A SUITE FOR A NANNY AND A LOVELY BASEMENT FAMILY ROOM. THE FINE CUSTOM FURNITURE AND ACCESSORIES ARE INCLUDED WITH THIS HOME
Amy Settich at New West Realty, Inc. has the listing. You can also see more pictures here.
1446 S. Emerald: 5 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, 3 car garage, 4,299 square feet
- Originally listed in December 2007 for $1.7 million
- Currently listed for $1.7 million
- Taxes are “new”
- It is not on the Dan Ryan side of Emerald but from your front door you’ll be looking at the highway.
- Don’t let the picture fool you- the house is already constructed.
1.7 million? What a disaster..
beautiful house. crazy location but I love Original Jim’s. crazy price. crazy developer. crazy lending bank.
see you in the lis pendens filings.
“ENGLISH BASEMENT”
That means that the basement sqft (including mechanical room) is included in the official (and thus taxable) sqft, right? As opposed to a standard more-than-50% below grade basement that isn’t officially living space.
It’s not only been constructed, it’s also been staged!
I never quite understood why developers thought it was a good idea to build $1.7 mil homes in such crappy areas. I looked at the pictures of the home on the Rubloff link, and afterwards I searched Winnetka and Wilmette properties between $1.5 and $2.0. There are some nice places on the north shore in that price range. Why anyone would choose to raise their children at 1446 S. Emerald, a stone’s throw from the highway to the east and the busy railroad tracks immediately to the south is beyond me.
I went to grammer school with a girl named Amy Settich.
I wouldn’t necessarily call this a “crappy area.” A couple wherein one works at UIC and the other downtown have very easy commutes, plus they have some nice walkable retail amenities along Halsted plus all the new big box retail nearby around Roosevelt/Canal. Crime is down significantly since the ABLA homes were torn down, but it could trickle back as the various ‘replacement’ housing gets built.
However, this particular location next to the frickin’ Dan Ryan is indeed crappy, I don’t know who would pay so much to live right next to an expressway. Even an extra block away would make a huge difference in livability and desirability for a luxury home.
Given the proximity to downtown, the land value alone dictates that single-family homes on decent-sized lots will be pretty expensive; in terms of proximity to the Loop, this would be about equivalent to Gold Coast, where 1.7 million for such a free-standing single family home would seem like a decent price. But I can’t help but think everything east of Halsted and west of the expressway should be commercial uses. What a crappy place to live below an elevated expressway. This asking price is indeed absurd for that ambient air quality and constant noise.
This particular location for a $1.7 mil home is crappy. Look at the railroad tracks a stone’s throw to the south. The highway situation speaks for itself. If this were a 2 or 3 bedroom condo – maybe. But this is a 5 bedroom home with nanny’s quarters. This area does not look or feel family friendly, especially for the kind of people who can afford $1.7 mil homes. Which is a very very small contingent portion of our population. maybe the chancellor of UIC could afford it if his SO was a partner at a big law firm.
Apparently many other people also think it’s crappy because it’s still on the market. If it were such a great place and $1.7 mil was a great price then it would have sold.
However, it’s been listed since Dec 2007. 270 days and counting……
I live nearby and have been in some of these monsters. Believe it or not, you can only faintly hear the highway from Emerald. I was actually shocked by this. Must be the way sound waves leave the highway, far above street level.
Also, I think this is the developers model, all jacked up. They sold most of what they built for 1.1 to 1.4 mil. There’s only a few left. 1.1 mil and ‘buy your own fridge’ is much more reasonable to me. It is a truly unique product so close to d/t, but I agree, watch gonna do when your kids turn 5?
It’s viewable on Google earth, including street view. you can’t quite see the freeway from right in front of the house, but that’s just because the houses are right next to each other (lloks like exactly 3′ b/t each house), but the little park at the end of the block gives you a great view of the underside of the freeway.
On the plus side, you have excellent access to the UPS facility and can get to all of the grocery stores etc using 14th and canal (i.e., avoiding the traffic on Roosevelt).
“chancellor of UIC”
I know you were just pulling an example out of the air, but the chancellor’s salary is $375,000 (and she has university-owned housing), so she could “afford” this house if her SO were a partner at a small law firm (or an assoicate at a big law firm).
I wonder what they would take without the furniture.
Pilsen is still a dump. People have talked about it being up-and-coming for years and it never has panned out. Pilsen is covered with railroad tracks and truck stops (along Halsted and Cermak). Gang violence from Harrison Park moves east at night.
Only an idiot would spend more than $250k in that neighborhood.
Take your $1.7 million and move somewhere else.
A $1.36 mil mortgage at 7.7% (the current jumbo rate) is principal and interest of $9,600 a month X 12 months plus taxes and assoc. fee is well over $100k a year. Don’t forget the federal tax withholdings on $375,000 have got to be substantial. So yes she could afford it but it would take a substantial portion of her income. Probably more than 50% of her after tax income and far more than 1/3 of her pre-tax. I’m not a CPA but I think she’s phased out of the homeowners interest deduction with her salary.
Which is why I said her SO would need to be a partner at Bell Boyd & Lloyd.
My meeting went much faster than expected. that was nice.
Anyway, I agree with ss about Pilsen. Again I’m going to post a link to Pilsen’s finest: NSFW
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQVTPuE_qRU
I cracked up the last time you posted that video. It seems that “b*tch *ss” doesn’t even realize that 18th & Oakley is in Heart of Chicago, not Pilsen.
The subject isn’t in Pilsen either. Pilsen is south of the tracks.
“Which is why I said her SO would need to be a partner at Bell Boyd & Lloyd.”
How much do you think partners (I mean a partner with ~10 years as a partner, that is, someone I’d expect to be at about average comp and old enough to be married to someone old enough to be Chancellot) make at BBL?
What I can find easily on thegoogle is that average profits were $625k in 2005. So, you’re saying that to “afford” a $1.7mm house, someone making $375k needs to share the cost with someone who makes enough money to “afford” a $1.7mm house on his salary alone. “Affording” $1.7mm takes about $600k (to be comfortable). $225k is senior associate pay at a big firm; it’s much less than counsel pay at those same firms. It’s a lot of money, but it’s nowhere near partner at BBL money, much less partner money at a really big firm.
Keep in mind, this is one house that you wouldn’t need to spend another $100k+ buying furniture for.
No such thing as “Hear of Chicago” and “University Village” is just marketing label. Roosevelt and Halsted were Pilsen before, and to true Chicagoans, it still is. It has had other less charitable names but “Pilsen” still applies.
Sorry I meant to type “Heart of Chicago” not “Hear.”
$225K is only mid-level associate pay at a big firm. Entry level is about $160K right now. Senior associates get closer to $325-350. Equity partners should pull a million a year.
Even if a very hypothetical power couple COULD afford it, there is the big question of WILL they want to afford it. Generally the mentally challenged factor goes away with people in the upper echelons of wealth in America, aside from lottery winners. Buying this wouldn’t be like a scaled up example of our favorite example of the clueless paralegal making 75k buying a 400k condo. If you earn 375k/year you are probably pretty smart and good at what you do.
I suppose there might be some lotto winner that might be dumb enough to pick this up. Thats what the seller should hope for: winning the lotto or finding a lotto winner buyer..
Anyone who buys over there for that price is a fool
Wow – you really analyze my posts. Maybe even overanalyze 😉 I’m a lawyer for god’s sake not an analyst. I’m paid to talk and pontificate even if some of the details are a little fuzzy. Sort of like a realtor except that my salary doesn’t rely on a commission. In summary what I’m trying to say is:
1) This house is extremely over priced at $1.7 mil;
2) The area is pretty crappy with the tracks and the highway right there;
3) My hypothetical example of the Chancellor of UIC and her SO partner at BBL probably would be able to afford this house;
4) I can *guarantee* the Chancellor of UIC and her partner husband would never ever consider purchasing this house.
that’s all I’m trying to say!
“Roosevelt and Halsted were Pilsen before, and to true Chicagoans, it still is.”
Really? You must pre-date Jew Town and the railroad. I only go back to what my great-grandpa told me.
$160k is the ‘market’ rate but only a handful of firms actually pay it. $125k is pretty much the standard rate for most of the biglaw firms. There about 3,000 lawyers admitted in Illinois every November and only 500 or so have the big law jobs. The attrition rate from those jobs fairly high which is why collectively the firms can hire 500 new associates every year. But that’s neither here nor there and not really on the topic of this pos $1.7 mil house near the highway.
Still, no one has commented on the townhouses in the area directly next to the highway. I mean they are like right next to the highway. You could suck on a tail pipe if you wanted to from your bedroom window.
This blog profiles a lot of sales where flippers and developers overestimated their potential market. I must say though that this blog entry takes the cake for being the developer who most overshot/overestimated his market for a single unit in a given area.
“This blog profiles a lot of sales where flippers and developers overestimated their potential market. I must say though that this blog entry takes the cake for being the developer who most overshot/overestimated his market for a single unit in a given area.”
I still think that the $2.5M loft near Humbolt Park wins that contest:
http://cribchatter.com/?p=3661
The neighbors across the street can look at the highway from their back porch
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=1426+s+emerald,+chicago&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=35.082817,78.75&ie=UTF8&ll=41.866685,-87.644656&spn=0.008054,0.019226&t=h&z=16&layer=c&cbll=41.862636,-87.645625&panoid=RdB3-SkUQjQF9TfkeirPYw&cbp=2,88.36911553093262,,0,-4.159178960979513
“Wow – you really analyze my posts.”
As I said, “I know you were just pulling an example out of the air”. Just like to insert facts into the discussion when it’s possible.
Also, the house isn’t a pos; it’s the location. The house looks pretty nice, even tho $1.7mm is too much. Similar models (w/o all the furniture and probably less a few other options) are for sale for $1.29mm, albeit on the east side of the street, so an even less desireable location. Also, there’s a HO association to the tune of $279/month.
I know this is off-topic, but… maybe your definition of “biglaw” is different than mine. (Conventional definition is 1000+ lawyers worldwide). Name me a single biglaw firm with an office in Chicago that *doesn’t* pay $160K as a starting salary. To the best of my knowledge, they are lockstep, because they students know exactly what all the firms pay, the firms are essentially fungible, and so students would not bother to go to one that paid below what everyone else was paying.
OK. This is my neck of the woods (might have been me that brought up the townhomes) and I agree with most of what is said here except that is not what we consider Pilsen. I was amazed at what they built by the highway. However, you think that’s bad? Check this out a few blocks south of there and to the east of the highway: http://blog.lucidrealty.com/2008/06/02/elegant-underpassrailroad-track-living-in-chicago/
I don’t care what the price is it’s God-awful. I think they’re around $500K.
Thank you – that’s what I’m talking about next to the highway!!!
My point, albeit not very well articulated, was that not all big law firms i.e. (large firms) made the lockstep jump to $160k; the BigLaw firms made the jump to market but not all large firms made that same jump. However, virtually all large firms made the jump from $110 to $125 quite some years back. However, many large firms still pay $125k and some pay $145k. Seyfarth at 750 attorneys still pays $145k. And furthermore, my post above says “big law” as in large, not to be confused with “BigLaw”. I wasn’t trying to address just the Mayer Browns of the world but I was speaking of firms that generally pay the old market rate.
http://www.infirmation.com/shared/search/partners-compare.tcl?city=Chicago&base_per_hour_p=t
But whatever, none of this has any relevance to the issue at hand.
I don’t think the house is all that nice. Sure it’s brick but it’s really just a brutish ugly design. It’s basically a big brick box. Where I come from they call them two-flats except there are two doors inside the vestibule instead of one. Maybe I’m old school but if I’m paying $1.7 mil I want a little more than a glorified tract home. Which is basically what this is. It’s not custom design or anything.
These are the types of properties that will fall dramatically. If I am going to spend 1.7 mil then its going to be in LP. I hate to agree with Steve H.. But the intoxication of realestate is over, now people will start to really analyize what they are spending and in which neighborhoods. There will be effects all over the city. When the trump bulding is complete it will be interesting what the 1bedrooms and studios sell for. I’m sorry but 1 million for a 1bedroom with a living/dining room where you can’t fit a dining room table is rediculous. Sorry for the rambling…
I have friends who own a town home on that park that emerald runs into to the south. it’s a pretty nice home, though they paid a bit for it (625k). the whole roof is a deck with skyline views. the dan ryan there kind of sucks. and the shops and restaurants have a mall/chain flavor. plus the neighborhood might not make it. but their place is cool, fairly big. and the park out front is nice.
Damn Homedelte – Attorneys don’t make much do they? No wonder you can’t afford living in the more desirable neighborhoods…
The last fifteen years has seen alot of these developments spring up within a stone’s throw of the downtown expressways without much thought as to the negative health consequences of living so close to all that pollution.
Between 2003 and 2007, the Dan Ryan and Borman/Kingery Expressways, and the I 80/94/294/394 interchange were completely rebuilt and its capacity more doubled. Prior to this construction the 80/94/294 interchange in Lansing IL and the I 94/57 merge at 95th Street served as vital constriction points to keep alot of auto and truck pollution out of the downtown areas. Now with this work completed, anyone who travels the Ryan has seen that the inbound lanes are congested for close to sixteen hours each day with thousands of cars and truck sitting spewing exhaust adjacent to this property and other similarly located upscale developments for eighteen hours a day.
Before 1990, most of the residential housing that existed so close to the City’s expressways was inhabitated by communities of color and the poor. Thus the historical disproportionate increase in childhood asthma and other health problems in these communities.
Now, with so much upscale development withing spitting distance of perhaps the Country’s busiest expressway, that explains Daley’s recent ambitions to resuscitate the crosstown expressway.
The American Lung Association should have lots of data on significant increases in asthma, heart disease, and cancer related to living close to urban expressways.
g, you are an idiot. I wrote that that area was known by less charitable names. You have to throw in the racist phrase.
You guys are all a little crazy….I am an architect and real estate investor who has lived in the South Loop (23rd and Michigan) sine 1990. I have moved a couple of times since (making a handsome profit as you might guess) and now live at the edge of Pilsen (which, btw, has always been south of the tracks at 16th).
Someone mentioned that the home discussed here would be priced right in the Gold Coast. THAT is indeed crazy; 1.7 mil for a single family in the gold coast? try 10.7 mil and that would be cheap.
Is this overpriced compared to the others on the block even with all of the furniture/upgrades? sure, but all of the comments that don’t seem to appreciate the inherent qualities of living near downtown (i.e. expressways, congestion, etc. etc.) and the inherent aspects of a developing neighborhood (i.e. construction, underdeveloped retail, etc. etc.) are missing the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that the Universtiy Village development and even the Union Row development presents: This almost literally represents the last opportunity to invest in a townhome or single family in a new development within walking distance of the CBD of one of the greatest cities in the world.
My home in Pilsen was a million dollar investment I made a few years ago. Would i get it back now? no, but the opportunity to have a 2600 sf home with a terrace, hot tub, wbf, guaranteed views of downtown, with a short distance to both the CBD and the lakefront would have cost me at least another million minimum in any other location.
The homes adjacent to the tracks at Union Row sold out almost immediately last year…why? well partly due to the fact that they all have adjacent private yards approx. 25′ x 75′, but also because of the guaranteed and spectacular views of downtown and guess what? a real desire among many people to live next to the trains….do all of you think that everyone who lives in the city desires nothing but the so-called LP ideal? ….crazy….
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Steve Heitman on August 25th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
Damn Homedelte – Attorneys don’t make much do they? No wonder you can’t afford living in the more desirable neighborhoods…
Most younger attorneys graduate with massive student loan debt. Current law partners went to school in an era in which a summer job was sufficient to pay tuition. Top law schools, which are the major feeders for the high-paying legal jobs, give out very few scholarships and have a low percentage of students that come from wealthy families (ambitious rich kids seem to prefer investments banking and other finance-related jobs these days). The vast majority of incoming attorneys at the big firms are up to their eyeballs in debt and are not generally willing to buy such an expensive home.
Finally, people seem to be forgetting that this house has 5 bedrooms and is 4200+ square feet. That is complete overkill for the vast majority of potential home buyers. I certainly would not buy anything that large. Who wants to heat, cool, clean, maintain, and pay property taxes on wasted space?
I live in a townhouse in University Village (on the west side of Halsted). I think it’s really nice. The side I’m on is quiet. I have a garage. I can get to my office in River North in 15 minutes by car. My rooftop deck has a nice view of the sky line.
The neighborhood is mostly about convenience to downtown.
That being said, I don’t think these homes are worth anywhere near 1.7 million. I’ve walked down the street where these expensive homes are located and it’s nice and quiet, but being so close to the expressway seems to preclude someone spending almost 2 million.
“ss on August 26th, 2008 at 8:15 am
g, you are an idiot. I wrote that that area was known by less charitable names. You have to throw in the racist phrase.”
ss, Was there really a negative connotation to Jew Town? How about Little Italy? Greektown? Bronzeville?
Regardless, it ain’t Pilsen.
ss,
You’re really humiliating yourself. The area around Maxwell/Halsted was known as “Jew Town” for decades; it was never, ever part of Pilsen, which always has been south of the Burlington Northern tracks.
I don’t agree with G on much, but he’s 100% here.
Agree with Tipster totally.
Only the global/international partners can comfortably live in $1MM+ houses since they pull $!MM+ per annum. Tier 1 law school should cost $70K per year including living expenses. You come out with approximately $200K in debt.
You had the good fortune to land a spot in a big international law firm. They will pay $180 to $240K including bonus but dependent on size of the firm and type of practice. You are chained to your desk if you want to stay on the partner track, and gain 8 pounds a year. First 5 years, your income after taxes will go towards debt retirement. If you are living in the office 24/7 and have massive amount of debt, I do not think you have the luxury to buy such homes and actually enjoy it.
By the time they are partners, they will buy a nice $1MM+ house with a yard in Winnetka/Glencoe so that their kids could run around. Also, if you are a partner, you will have multiple kids, minimum of 3 as a new form of conspicuous consumption. If you decide to have more urban lifestyle without kids, you will live in the city.
Jack:
Congratulations on making huge sums in real estate. However, the game is over now. Anything touted as once in a life time opportunity should be disregarded. Your assumptions are right if the population grows along with incomes at a rapid pace. The economy is sagging and population is not growing either. This real estate was a bubble just like the dot coms. Only the few, strong will survive and will return “normal” profits. Thus the most coveted areas will retain its value.
Who in the right minds will move next to a highway or the tracks? We are not in Tokyo, London or Manhattan! $1.7MM should land you a nice SFH in Bucktown/Wicker Park, where there is a better sense of community with shops, restaurants and overall, a better neighborhood. As you claimed, view of the lake will cost a million more. I say its a million well spent. Secured view of the lake is like buying US sovereign debt. You will not lose much. Your place is buying a then AAA rated (about to be down graded to CCC or below) CDO made up with Alt-A jumbos that are blowing up. You are holding a 144A security on a huge LBO with PIK toggle option that will default sooner or later. You can’t get out because there is no liquidity in the market plus the haircut might be too painful to take.
Its always the people in the industry that has the most optimistic view of its industry. I am guilty of that by being a knife-catcher with financial stocks this time last year, and I have learned my lesson. Getting a hold of reality and cutting losses early is key to survival. I just think that your comments do not make much sense and they are heavily biased.
Worst thing I did this year was buying into financials but the best thing I did was staying out of this downward accelerating housing market.
David:
Very true; Pilsen begins at 16th street. With this new trend of renaming and annexxing neighborhoods it’s hard to keep track; in 20 years the Maxwell/Roosevelt area will only be known as “University Village.”
I saw some comments and questions about the price of $1.7 million for this home and I felt the need to reply. This luxury home was designed by John Robert Wiltgen. His style and vision are unmatched as he designs homes not only in Chicago but also in Hollywood for famous names such as Timothy Hutton, Jane Seymour and more. Every piece of furniture, artwork and accessory is included in the price of this home. In addition the home features many fine custom finishes such as steam shower, crown molding, finished basement with kitchenette and more! At University Village we have built a community now of over 900 condominiums, townhomes and single-family homes. With over 60 new retail shops recently opened within the community University Village is now a hot neighborhood destination in Chicago. I encourage you to visit our model and sales center open Monday – Wednesday 10-6 and weekend 12-5.
Are you counting the highway traffic as part of the community? This neighborhood is empty, incomplete, and noisy. The car/truck fumes will definately make it hot during the summer.
“Jack on August 26th, 2008 at 8:39 am
The homes adjacent to the tracks at Union Row sold out almost immediately last year…why? well partly due to the fact that they all have adjacent private yards approx. 25? x 75?, but also because of the guaranteed and spectacular views of downtown and guess what? a real desire among many people to live next to the trains….do all of you think that everyone who lives in the city desires”
Just an observation I made this weekend and thought CC’ers might randomly be interested. Belgravia reduced the Union Row town homes from $550K-$717K to $364K-$499K. I guess they didn’t actually “immediately” sell out.
LMAO @ Amys post above… especially at the “crown moldings, kitchenette & more!” I wonder what this home is selling for today and if shes still the agent
“LMAO @ Amys post above… especially at the “crown moldings, kitchenette & more!” I wonder what this home is selling for today and if shes still the agent”
$1.675 since April 22. Still with New West Realty, but Amy doesn’t appear to be there any more–looks to be doing Park View marketing for MCL.
http://blog.lucidrealty.com/2008/06/02/elegant-underpassrailroad-track-living-in-chicago/
Gary’s Most Famous Blog Post
“Elegant Union Row Underpass & Railroad Track Living In Chicago
June 2nd, 2008 by Gary Lucido
With the extreme shortage of real estate in Chicago (yeah, right) I guess it should be no surprise that developers are scooping up every available scrap of land for housing developments.
The Union Row development in the 600 block west of 16th. street may signal a new trend in the gentrification of underpasses and railroad tracks. Check out these photos of the spectacular view of The Dan Ryan and the railroad tracks from these townhomes:”
This house sold in July 2010 for $1,225,000.
Right nearby at 1407 S Emerald there’s a SFH for sale with an ask of 1.25MM. It’s 5 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, a 3-car garage and listed as 4,299sf, so probably even the same floorplan.
There are million dollar homes all over the city- selling in places you would not normally assume a million dollar home would sell.