More Developer Price Cuts: Reductions of 30% to 40% at the Parkside of Old Town
We’ve chattered about the Parkside of Old Town before. It is the big development on the near north side with 800 condos and townhomes.
Both are being reduced by anywhere from 30% to 40%.
Here are the prices:
- 1-bedroom condos were $259,000 – now starting from $175,000
- 2-bedroom condos were $379,900 – now starting from $240,000
- 3-bedroom condos now starting from $320,000
- 2- and 3 bedroom townhouses from $330,000 (the larger townhouses were in the $700,000s previously and are now starting at $432,000)
The press release says the homes include parking.
For an example, the following is a 2/2 in the mid-rise Hudson building at 437 W. Division.
Unit #418: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1083 square feet
- Currently listed for $264,000
- Assessments of $335 a month
- Taxes of $5206
- Central Air
- Washer/Dryer in the unit
- Bedroom #1: 12×10
- Bedroom #2: 10×12
The development is FHA approved.
“Our new pricing puts us at or below the market for new construction on the Near North Side, and puts Parkside of Old Town within reach for a much wider pool of homebuyers,” said Peter Holsten, president of Chicago-based Holsten Real Estate.
@Properties is the sales agent for the development.
Big price cuts on Parkside of Old Town condominiums and townhouses [Press Release, June 24, 2010]
Parkside of Old Town [website]
Hello…mixed income housing. And to think I actually considered this place pre-construction. Boy, that would have been a bloodbath.
The next new CPH project!
Sad to see this is what it has become. Give it 5 years and the whole area will be back to what it was 20 years ago.
While I am all about affordable housing, the quality of this project is horrible. We went through early in the game just to see what it was all about…paper thin walls, way too many units and a bad overall layout of the two buildings.
Think of how this will affect comps for the area…you think it is bad now…YIKES!
I don’t think it will affect comps that much for the surrounding area. Given the size of this development – it covers multiple city blocks – I think any pricing will be isolated to the development itself.
It really does look horrible doesn’t it. Purple? Who choose purple? And other parts of the facade looks like cardboard.
Agree chi…at the time we went through, the oh so proud agent said this was the future of the Chicago housing market.
It really does look and feel cheap inside and out….becausae it is.
Stay away stay far away.
@chicow,
I’ve never been at this sales center. Is it disclosed upfront and readily available that this is a mixed income dvelopement & building?
I feel that not everyone would know and that the agents would do there best to not mention it.
Pretty much the definition of McCondos
It’s stretching the definition of Old Town to call this Old Town. Even the Web site refers to it as bordering Old Town.
Tom,
If I was selling these units I would be afraid to volunteer that it is mixed income housing. There are all kinds of fair housing laws that you can get in trouble with if you’re not careful. However, if someone asked I think an agent would be obligated to disclose it. It’s a gray area.
FWIW, there are certain standards that the lower income folks have to meet to get into these places.
“Give it 5 years and the whole area will be back to what it was 20 years ago.”
haha. Unless you’re quasi-serious, in which case–lay off the wake’n’bake man.
This crap isn’t going anywhere other than downhill, but 20 years ago C-G was still scary-scary. Max downside (unless Chicago in general falls of the cliff) is present day Uptown which ain’t nice but also isn’t as bad as C-G in the late-80s. Especially b/c it will be basically surrounded by better areas.
From the website:
“Affordably Great Space at Parkside Of Old Town
Old Town. New Prices. Four words that will appeal to homebuyers at Parkside of Old Town, a mixed-use development on Chicago’s Near North Side, where Holsten Development and @properties have lowered prices on Old Town condominiums by up to 30 percent and reduced prices on Chicago townhomes by up to 40 percent.”
“FWIW, there are certain standards that the lower income folks have to meet to get into these places.”
Isn’t there some sort of “home lottery”?
I could swear I saw that recently
but uh, this area isn’t THAT bad… I mean yeah its got its share of crazies and cabrini folk, but these are practically Uptown prices and its a great location
@Tom (tfo)
“I’ve never been at this sales center. Is it disclosed upfront and readily available that this is a mixed income dvelopement & building?
I feel that not everyone would know and that the agents would do there best to not mention it.”
I was there during pre-construction when the sales center was literally a trailer. Its been so long that I don’t recall. I do remember my agent telling me to stay far far away and that I didn’t need to buy into mixed-income housing. As much as I hate to fork out fees to my agent, in hindsight I have avoided some pretty bad places because of him / her (such as Parc Orleans at the South West Corner of North Ave and N. Orleans)
Sigh. I have posted before about this and everyone jumps in and says I must be a agent or the developer, but I am going to try again. I am not an agent or the developer. I am just a person who, with my family, has lived in one of the condo buildings at Parkside for two years now. It is not cheap construction. The walls and floors are not paper thin, in fact, I have rarely ever heard a peep from my neighbors and have been impressed by how sound proof they are. Yes, it is mixed income, but so far, at least in the condo building, that is working just fine.
These price cuts totally suck for me, but I think it is a great deal for those looking now. The location is great. My husband and I have really enjoyed being so close to work, downtown, Lincoln Park, etc. I do not think this area is going anywhere but up. Have you not seen the development in the area?
Anyway, carry on. Please feel free to continue bashing yet another property you don’t actually know anything about.
I don’t see the problem with mixed income housing, I actually see the possibility of good things coming from it. As Gary said, people have to meet certain criteria to be eligible for the housing. I believe that not having a criminal record is one of them, but I’m not 100% on that.
I know a woman who lives at 900 N Kingsbury and a while back she mentioned that there had never been any problems and that it was a non issue.
I would highly suggest mixed income over all lower income any day. Case in point, Uptown.
And any property that is built on what was Cabrini Green land has to be mixed income, I believe.
Are the ‘chatters’ really stating that a low 400K town home isn’t a good deal?
So, buyers will pioneer out to the middle of nowhere hoping the area turns around, but not stay between River North, Old Town and Lincoln Park which are already established neighborhoods. Seems to me that once the last of those ugly Cabrini high rises are torn down that Parkside will be a pretty decent spot.
What is it about Chicago that compels everyone to paint one wall in the room a dark and bland color while the other 3 walls stay light. It is just the tackiest thing. And i see it on almost every other home picture.
We all complain about it, but really I count only a couple of Cabrini high rises left. The wrecking ball is taking them down one by one. This area is light years better than it was in the 80’s. Is it close though to its APEX? I’m thinking it might not get much better than this. Then again if the blockbuster on the corner turns into a cupcake shop then we know we have truly hit the APEX
dan, no not all cc’s are saying that; 400K sounds pretty good for a townhouse that close to downtown; but as for the area as a whole this section will be the lowest/least desirable for the factors already stated so one should do due diligence its not a surefire as buying in old town proper. the hickory and maple(better one) are excellent floor plans for families; the roof top decks are awesome, esp if they come with unobstructed views of the skyline.
The area is way better than it was 10 years ago and continues to improve every day. It’s also a pretty convenient location.
“What is it about Chicago that compels everyone to paint one wall in the room a dark and bland color while the other 3 walls stay light. It is just the tackiest thing. And i see it on almost every other home picture.”
Its called and Accent wall, and I think its popular because painting sucks (I know this, I painted my whole bathroom last weekend) and just painting one wall is awesome
I have also commented here in Parkside related posts…
I know very little of the construction quality of the Condo buildings, but i have been pretty pleased with construction and sound proofing of my townhouse. I actually think that this price reduction is overdue, and i think it is likely that he was waiting to have the FHA approval nailed down to move prices. There is no questions that this neighborhood gets a discount when compared to the established parts of old town, likely a significant reduction.
My place is a little further west on elm, over by Jenner and the only thing i would have done different was to buy one of the townhouses on elm, on the park. They have nothing obstructing their view and the one i was in the other day had a full skyline view even from their first floor window. I will be interested to see the price differences between the eastern townhouses and the ones by me, accross from the school and church. The eastern ones were much more expensive pre-construction, so i would imagine that will continue to be the case.
They’ve been trying to bring down those Cabrini homes for 10 years. In fact, I think Seward park is now 10 years old (jeez I’m getting old), and when they put that in people were saying this was the next hot spot. So don’t hold your breath for Cabrini to be completely gone any time soon. But it’s not just the Cabrini homes. There is public housing due north on Sedgwick. The area due south is also rough. There’s nothing there except a few night clubs and a bunch of restaurants for cabbies. Development to the east will be dead because of Seward Park, the train track, and the ugly 1970’s apartment complex to the east of the train. To the west you have the river and boat storage / light industrial. The only possible development I see coming to this area in the next 10 years is a big box store. I’ve lived in Old Town for a long time and I can’t think of many places that have less potential than this particular development.
Also, the neighborhood continues to improve, they are a month or so into the demolition of the old Byrd school, which will be replaced by a catholic school. Eviction notices have been given (and recently repealed, although they say it is the 30 day notice that is being exteneded, not totally repealed) in another white tower that will be down soon. It also appears that the plan to refurbish the row houses may no longer happen. Progress on those had been stopped a while back (some of the construction workers were talking about the potential huge costs to rehab due to the amounts of mold they were encountering) and now there are finally public comments being made about how the CHA is reconsidering their idea to leave the rowhouses standing (see: http://skylinenewspaper.com/News/06-23-2010/Cabrini_row_houses_to_go?).
So long as it is a mixed income area, parkside will always trade at a discount to the established parts of old town. However, i think that as the area continues to turn that discount will decrease.
Ok, maybe I was too harsh.
There may be potential at this location. But I think the timeline is much much longer than the optimists believe. As proven by my previous point that Seward park went in 10 years ago.
I also do think there is a real threat that this area becomes the next big box land. There are large tracts of land (old Cabrini, river), it’s close to the expressway, it’s close to Elston. I know some people like living near a Costco, but I think it kills a neighborhood.
If the upside is 10 years away I think you can throw darts at a map of Chicago and have just a good a chance of finding a better upside. Or you could bet on Uptown, which, on a 10 year timeline, I would take over this location. Especially considering the big box threat.
Previous posting
http://cribchatter.com/?p=3160
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I believe there are rental apartments available? Looks like rentals.
http://www.trulia.com/rental-community/9000002032/Larrabee-Place-at-Parkside-of-Old-Town-465-W-Division-St-Chicago-IL-60610/
@ Resident of PS:
I rarely post negative comments on any particular development or unit. A few of the methods I employ to evaluate any property are:
1) I and a few members of my team have toured the places and have made notes of the details/quality. If I put this much effort into it, I am pretty sure of the end result
2) I have a good understanding of the quality of materials/craftsmanship, in this case it was easy to reach my conclusion
3) Have had my observations verified by more than a few people…agents, ppl living there, surrounding residents, etc.
The Parkside development was ‘judged’ using the above and a few more methods. My comments are further bolstered by the enormity of the price chops and the website stating that *grants* are available for lower income buyers. 3.5% down when the whole lesson learned from the burst was to never go down this path again? What happened to a minimum of 20% down?
I also ‘study’ floorplans. To see nothing but straight walls with no character derived from niches, framing or other architectural accents is sort of like seeing the interior of a mobile home.
Look at the pic above, right inside the front door. You see how thin that divider wall is? That is a sure sign of the paperthin quality of the walls. Chinese drywall comes to mind.
You bought at the original inflated price and have lost around 30+% of your investment. With this latest round of chops, I would expect even greater lossess in the future.
Sorry to be so blunt, but I gotta call em as I see em.
Alanon:
I dont disagree with your timeline, i think that there are still years of progress to be made. However, i think you are missing a few things.
1) What happens up clybourn between north and division, with the planned shpping district (including the new apple store) i think that we will see both retail and commercial work its way down clybourn.
2) The area south on Orleans has ample opportunity to improve given the way it is partitioned off. I think that the continued existance of the two remaining cabrini-reds is what is currenlty holding this area back (well, that and the economy!)
3) The are where the cabrini whites are is already slated for mixed use (and mixed income) redevelopment, so i dont think you will see the big boxes there.
I think that you will eventualy see ‘normal’ city building all the way to halstead, and then after halsted i agree with you, that could be prime big box and industrial areas.
“Ok, maybe I was too harsh.”
In my first comment maybe I too could say the same thing.
I do somewhat like this area, but there are too many negatives (mentioned above) that lead me to believe there is not much hope for any further improvement in this area. I might be wrong (I hope I am) but I have seen this type of thing too many times in my past to really believe it is on a lasting upswing.
While I remain bearish on this development lately I am seeing good deals nearby like a 2/1.5 with parking for 160k. It gets better with each demo’d tower and as Gary said there are restrictions on who can live in mixed housing unlike public housing. If the rowhomes go too I see potential for big appreciation on that 160k prop.
“What is it about Chicago that compels everyone to paint one wall in the room a dark and bland color while the other 3 walls stay light. It is just the tackiest thing. And i see it on almost every other home picture”
When done correctly, the accent wall pheno does work, but it takes some serious consideration to pull off correctly…and this type of thought usually doesn’t go into model units.
I dream of cabrini…errr, genie, I dream of genie.
You bring up something that keeps popping into my head when I see all of these massive price chops Bob.
Exactly what will happen 10 years down the road…will places like this development regain their original asking or will it just stay stagnant? I know asking is merely what one thinks their property is worth with no real proof of what it is worth, but still I question the whole process.
I know I shouldn’t compare the two cities, but instead of price chops here in NY, we are seeing prices being increased to pre burst times. Investors are buying high dollar units and placing them right back on market with pretty high increases…and surprisingly, they are turning over, sometimes with bidding wars ensuing. I just hope Chicago will follow suit and will regain some footing lost over the past year. I am just glad I decided not to chop and retained my places as rentals. How long I can do this remains to be seen though.
This topic is a hot one here in the city and no one knows how it will end up 5 or 10 years down the road. 🙁 or :)???
I just want to second what alanon said. When I moved here 9 years ago they were wrecking Cabrini Green. While changes might be coming I would assume it would be just as slow as that project has been.
WL:
My thoughts on your 10 year prices are (although i try to plan for the worst)that i do not expect that i will recover my original purchase price in 10 years. Based on where things are now, even if we start to see 3% appreciation a year 10 years will not be enough to recoup losses.
I fully expect to be here longer than that, my daughters school is great, my wife and i love our home and made this purchase fully expecting that this is where we will be at least until my daughter graduates from high school.
i figure in 10 years things will be very different around here, for the better, but who knows really… I mean it takes a village right?
Not commenting on this particular property, but I’m definitely bullish on the area. But two things would keep my from purchasing around here:
1) Who knows how long it’ll take for this area to truly transform. I thought it would have happened by now, given original cabrini teardown estimates and I was wrong. Then, when cabrini is gone, how long until the area becomes a truly integrated, walkable neighborhood with all the associated amenities? (I’m not talking about walking to Old Town proper, here, I mean amenities in this particular hood.) There is a tremendous amount of uncertainty in terms of how this neighborhood will shape up in the next couple decades.
2) I’m not willing to live in a transitional neighborhood. I know plenty of people who would accept the above flaws and uncertainties and would be willing to make a bet on the neighborhood and live there until it improved. I’m not one of those people. To those that are: good for you. Really. They city needs more like you.
To those that think this area is not that bad…you need to wake the heck up. I can speak from firsthand experience every single day that this area is horrendous. Yes, the high rises are all but gone but the row houses on Oak street are staying and being rehabbed. The Marshall Field Garden homes on Sedgwick are a nightmare. I can’t even post what goes on at Seward Park all hours of the day. Good luck if you live here or are thinking of it. Just ask some of the residents that actually did buy here, most, if not all of them regret it. Wake up and stop living in a world filled with butterflys and bluejays. This area stinks and I can’t agree more, give it 20 years…it’s going to be very similar to how it was 10 years ago!
Yeah being an Urban Pioneer really doesn’t appeal to me. Yes, sign me up for 10+ years of living in a sketchy-to-marginal area in the interest of saving/making a few bucks. Life’s too short, no thanks.
The problem with mixed income housing is the middle class people get sick of the lower class residents and move out. The middle class residents are inevitably replaced by more lower income residents until the entire development is low income housing.
Isn’t that how these good intentioned things a-l-w-a-y-s work out?
Even if this experiment works I don’t see where the appreciation for this development will come from. In ten years, every single office job in this city that pays 40 – 70k is going to be in India/China/SA. Who will being buying these places?
@Gary
“If I was selling these units I would be afraid to volunteer that it is mixed income housing. There are all kinds of fair housing laws that you can get in trouble with if you’re not careful.”
This isn’t a “gray” area. You’re allowed to discuss income requirements. Per Fair Hosuing Law, it’s only illegal to discuss or advertise based on the following classes race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or handicap. You can discuss income requirements all you want. How do you think they populate these places with lower income people if they can’t even disclose that information?
“In ten years, every single office job in this city that pays 40 – 70k is going to be in India/China/SA.”
That’s a bit of an exaggeration but it sure seems like a lot of jobs are disappearing.
Regardless, there is a deflationary whiff in the air. Today I had a couple in my office who were getting ready for retirement. They were about to take social security, collect the pension, etc. They’re income was going to drop by about 20%. They have no savings. So they’re walking away from the mortgage, filing bankruptcy, getting rid of the cable television for the cheaper dish network and plan to rent.
Replay this scenario over and over again millions of times throughout the entire US as boomers retire. Yes, there are some rich boomers who are sitting on a lot of cash but in general studies have shown that boomers are severely unprepared for retirement with not much savings. Good bye new cars, no bigger homes, when you start getting rid of cable for a cheaper dish network you know things are bad out there.
Yet in our social circles and in our neighborhoods people seem to be doing well, very well, many are buying new cars and in my neighborhood homes are hot, a couple of million dollar homes have sold in the last few months. However as soon as you step outside of your comfort zone its like there’s an ongoing war on the middle class happening. The upper-middle and upper classes who deny this is happening is just whistling past the graveyard if they say “all my friends are making $100k or more a year.” but for everyone of your friends making $100k there are 12 or 15 other households, yes households, in other areas of the city who make less than $50k and just due to sheer numbers they’re going to have a large effect on the economy.
I parked on hudson the other night to play some hoops at seward. lots of residents hanging out on porches of the row homes that overlook the park. seemed like family folk. the park is nice, you can sit on your front steps and watch the softball games. but dominicks is the only thing worth walking too west of wells. there used to be a fried chicken place on clyborn but that appears to be gone. kind of isolated over there, but still very close to downtown. it has a weird feel. wonder what the crime is like.
Things aren’t so rosy with the mixed income housing. There was a huge article in the Trib a few years ago about the other development across from this one where there were clashes between the residents. The bigger issues seem to be acceptable behaviors of the two groups how late to play music, where you can work on a car, etc. People obviously get along the majority of the time, but I think it is bit unrealistic to deny that there are goign to be significant culture differences between income groups.
Concentrating poverty is never a good thing, so mixed income housing can have its benefits, but I wouldn’t assume all income levels get along.
“when you start getting rid of cable for a cheaper dish network you know things are bad out there.”
Why? If the cheaper service provides all the channels they watch for less money, why pay more? Is cable more prestigious or something? Is it cooler?
I’m just not sold that this area is going to substantially improve anytime in the near future. I drive through this area quite a bit, and it still seems utterly desolate. There is nothing south of Division and west of Orleans, and other than the Dominick’s strip mall and a few small counter restaurants there is nothing on North Clybourn until you hit North Avenue. It will take years and years for development from North Avenue to works its way down to Division, if it ever does. The best thing you’ve got in this location is a few block walk over to the south end of Wells street in Old Town; so, essentially if you live here and want walkable neighborhood options, your option is to walk east.
It also – like Cabrini Green before it – feels cut off from the rest of the community due to its size. I think it was a bad idea to create such a huge development. It didn’t work when they built the projects, why would it work for mixed income? Add me to the list of those who don’t want to be an Urban Pioneer. I can’t fathom paying anywhere near market price to live in mixed income housing, much less in an area that could very easily go up or down. I’ve heard nothing but negative things from people I know who rented (with the “try before you buy” mindset) in mixed income housing (one very close by in North Town Village). Without exception, they all ran for the hills the moment their lease expired. The vast majority of the people are fine; but the few can easily ruin it for the many.
Pinching pennies is deflationary and it means that goods providers are competing on one thing: price. That’s a race to the bottom and isn’t generally good for the economy. It means more wal marts and less targets. it means more aldi’s and less whole foods and jewel, etc. People are pinching pennies not because they’re frugal, it’s because they’re on a fixed income and don’t have any discretionary income to spend.
“#anon (tfo) on June 25th, 2010 at 11:51 am
“when you start getting rid of cable for a cheaper dish network you know things are bad out there.”
Why? If the cheaper service provides all the channels they watch for less money, why pay more? Is cable more prestigious or something? Is it cooler?”
“Pinching pennies is deflationary and it means that goods providers are competing on one thing: price. That’s a race to the bottom and isn’t generally good for the economy.”
So, I blame you and Bob for being frugal. It’s your fault if we go in to a deflationary spiral.
“Yeah being an Urban Pioneer really doesn’t appeal to me. Yes, sign me up for 10+ years of living in a sketchy-to-marginal area in the interest of saving/making a few bucks. Life’s too short, no thanks.
Barry coming from an “urban pioneer” who never expected his hood to turn (and it didnt) after about year 5 is when it starts weighing down on you and once a kid is here it get even suckier. The groove by himself could live anywhere (and had) but the groove as a family is a different animal.
lol
“So, I blame you and Bob for being frugal. It’s your fault if we go in to a deflationary spiral.”
“This isn’t a “gray” area. You’re allowed to discuss income requirements.”
Ned,
We are allowed to discuss it. It’s just that it’s a very delicate conversation and listing agents will not bring it up unless the buyer or their agent ask pointed questions or if the buyer is looking to take advantage of the special pricing available to someone with lower income. The problem is that the fair housing laws have the industry very frightened. I have a one page handout of about 200 “equal housing words” divided into “do not use” words, “caution” words, and OK words. Many of the caution words have nothing to do with things specifically listed in the fair housing law. For example we’re not supposed to say “starter home” and “gated community” is a caution word. Go figure. The list is too long to remember so you just use your best judgment and do this funny dance.
Hah! Just saw Sabrina’s next post. Starter home…
This place will never take off to began with…once consumers get a whiff of mixed housing they will leave!!! This is a desirable location, jut the mixed housing part of it makes people uneasy….I am not arguing rights or wrong, it’s just a matter of fact!!!
“1) What happens up clybourn between north and division, with the planned shpping district (including the new apple store) i think that we will see both retail and commercial work its way down clybourn.”
The Apple store has been 2 years in the making. And, I cannot recall the last time an electronics store anchored a community. It takes banks and grocery stores.
So let’s analyze that one shall we? Roundy’s pulled out as anchor tenant in the parcel south of North and east of Halsted, so the old YMCA parcel is just sitting, and will continue to sit, for a very long time. Seems like a waste to have torn down the YMCA, until you understand they got $10M for the site and have ploughed that into better facilities elsewhere in the city. Regardless, that “commercial” area will never be — just like the CHA experiment.
While I do enjoy watching 28yo blonde yuppie women jogging past remnants of the “reds” and the “whites”, developments like these are going to form yet another failed chapter in the Chicago real estate book.
Hell, I think Garrison has a better chance of selling his 700k duplex that doesn’t have parking. That’s close to the new Apple store so it certainly won’t last.
JMM “It takes banks and grocery stores.”
You mean like the huge grocery store at Division/Clybourn and the banks at North/Clybourn?
Thanks for the shout out on my 1866 N.Halsted listing. Withdrawn for now, will be listed in future with a rooftop deck added. We turned down a decent offer too.
MGG
As they say, the first offer is always the best offer.
All I was pointing out was that there was a reason Roundy’s wanted to move in, and now there is a reason they don’t. The new whole foods probably doesn’t help, unfortunately, because the yuppie buyer was the apparent target.
Don’t get all defensive now but really — a new roofdeck, and still no parking? Are you sure you didn’t mean helipad?
I overheard someone say that when European or California wine reps show up to exhibit/pour their wines at the new Whole Foods, they’re like “what the hell is this place?!!!”, esp. the Europeans. I think it’s a riot people drink at the bar there.
I think the biggest problem with this development is that it looks low income. The purple is horrible and who wants to live in town homes next to busy steets. Division is busy and Larabee is getting busier…too much noise.
Mixed income is not a problem as long as the percentage of mixed income residents is low. 900 N. Kingsbury has some mixed income units but those units make up only 6% of the building. There are about 200 units but only a handful of CHA/mixed income units. The middle class/upper class vibe rules and there have not been problems with CHA residents. CHA had picks them (they are fully employed or retirees). I think mixed income works there because the building has units that range from 250,000 to millions. Its diverse, not mostly mixed/low income and the building looks cool. Not the purple/rainbow crap that makes up Parkside.
I’ve read with interest the conversation regarding Parkside. My agent hasn’t seen anything there but is worried about resale. My boss says, no way mixed income.
I’d like to hear from people who live there now.
I realize when I want to sell (5+ years) that it all depends on the success of the development. My buyers will be limited to people like me who think the location is great, the property is great (ok I don’t love purple or blue bricks either), and the social idea is pretty reasonable. I’m saying 90% of people are scared by what they read on sites like this. I wouldn’t feel like an urban pioneer across the street from Dominicks and Starbucks, and within a block or two of what people consider “safe.”
But a 2200+ sq ft at this location with a two car garage at 1200 north — under 500k — not a good deal? Really?
My thoughts as a townhouse resident are this…
My only regret is that i bought at the top of the market and am now living in a home worth much less than i bought it for- although i dont plan on going anywhere anytime soon.
I have no issue with the saftey of the neighborhood (nor does my wife), although we were pretty careful about how we traveled at night even when we lived in LP. I feel that i can walk east to the train, well, etc. without any issue and never feel any level of discomfort in the shopping center accross the street. I dont really walk south or west towards trouble as there is no reason to walk there. When i use the brown line i walk to the chicago stop, and not the sedgwick stop, so i have little reason to walk up to that trouble area either.
There have been three times that i have seen/heard of where there is trouble in the park with kids from different areas getting into fights or running after each other. Police were quick to respond and they didnt seem to really escalate. I had similiar issues when i was living by Oz park.
I have had no problems with my CHA neighbors, although since i am in the townhomes all of the CHA folks are larger familys with either primary school aged children or, their kids are grown up. So i have no insight into if there are other issues people have experienced with CHA folks with teenage kids and teenage kid problems. If there are, i have not heard. The ones on either side, and behind the alley, of me are pleasant, grateful, polite and friendly, although it is possible that my experience is not indicative of what everyone else has experienced.
I am not totally comfortable with my wife walking home alone at night after dark, although i wasnt comfortable with that in lincoln park either.
I love my physical space, love that i have a garage and spend a ton of time on my roof deck. I just wish that i had bought a place on the park that has, and will continue to have, clear views of the entire skyline.
Jenner, the elementary school on elm is a pretty poor preforming school and i am not willing to send my daughter there. I am hesitant to believe that even as the market rate folks begin having more children and they become school aged that the school will get that much better any time soon. Although I am ok with the high school options.
I am, in all, please with my home, neighborhood, proximity to red & brown line, old town and work in the loop and lifestyle this home allows me. I am not pleased (of course) that i spent a ton more than it is worth at the moment.
It seems like they’ve slashed their prices once again .. I must say, the reviews or what people have said about these places on this site are not very re-assuring … i guess there may be some truth to this .. My wife and I actually saw one of these listings on a realtor website and were considering going to look at them .. after reading up on the property and the mixed housing, we quickly changed our minds … thanks for looking out ..