Not Everything is Selling in Hours: A 1-Bedroom Penthouse at 340 W. Superior in River North
This 1-bedroom penthouse at 340 W. Superior in River North has a market time on Redfin of 52 days.
Yet, we chattered about it last year, in September 2014.
You can see our chatter here.
At 1016 square feet, it is a “true” penthouse with a 31×12 private terrace that looks west with “sunset and city views.”
The old listing said the apartment was “conceived by renowned designer William Eubanks” and has 10 foot ceilings with crown molding.
The kitchen has light cabinets (white?) with granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances.
The bathrooms are marble.
It has the other features buyers look for including central air, washer/dryer in the unit and garage parking.
In September 2014, it was listed for $475,000 plus $35,000 for the parking.
It has since been reduced to $425,000 plus $30,000 for the parking.
With the market red hot, why is this property getting lost in the shuffle?
Nancy Thomas at Berkshire Hathaway KoenigRubloff still has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #PH5: 1 bedroom, 1.5 baths, 1016 square feet
- Sold in October 2002 for $357,500
- Was listed in September 2014 for $475,000 plus $35,000 for the parking
- Re-listed in April 2014 for $445,000 plus $30,000 for the parking
- Reduced
- Currently listed for $425,000 plus $30,000 for the parking
- Assessments of $861 a month (includes heat, a/c, gas, doorman, cable)
- Taxes of $8151
- Central Air
- Washer/Dryer in the unit
- Bedroom: 13×11
At the end of the day, it’s a nearly $500 psf one bedroom apartment with a big deck. I rented one of those in North Center many years ago for $700 a month.
50 Shades of Brown.
The balcony looks fantastic. I am not a fan of the paint or general look of this place. That could be changed I suppose.
I wonder if the square footage includes the balcony.
I also don’t get why builders bother putting in half baths. Is it really that much more expensive to throw a shower in?
Man they really need to de-clutter the fuck outta this place
Why the night time photos? Makes this place look extremely dark, especially with the dark walls/furnishings.
“Why the night time photos?”
Pic 3 is a daytime–look at the sliver of window.
Based on that, seems they took two sets of pix and chose the better ones. The outdoor space almost certainly photographs better at night, as in the AM it would be shaded and drab and in the PM look at sun-baked as it undoubtedly is.
It’s getting lost in the shuffle because it’s so poorly presented. I wonder who lives here now. Someone with eclectic tastes, it seems. The realtor is doing their client no service by not making the client tone the decor down by about 90%. From these photos, I can’t tell anything about the unit, except that it has a nice balcony with good views. The price seems a bit high, but I suppose that’s what you get for $425,000 in River North these days.
“Based on that, seems they took two sets of pix and chose the better ones. The outdoor space almost certainly photographs better at night, as in the AM it would be shaded and drab and in the PM look at sun-baked as it undoubtedly is.”
agreed on outdoor, but the indoor ones look terrible, though maybe they’d look worse if you could see the decor.
as discussed, this property has the crappiest brick in front (which they apparently put in when they replaced the existing). The agent’s response was apparently to switch to a nighttime front photo. Rest are still daytime.
https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/4448-N-California-Ave-60625/home/13489087
“Someone with eclectic tastes, it seems.”
Are their tastes really eclectic, or just eccentric or worse?
Looks like someone LOVES the Frontgate catalog.
The decor is geared towards an elderly lady. Not sure how many of them would be in the market for something like this.
But the assessments is the killer IMHO.
I like the wing chairs in the living room.
The assessment doesn’t seem too bad since it includes heat/electric plus cable and has a 24/hr doorman. The taxes are brutal though. Is the owner not taking the home owner’s exception?
““Why the night time photos?”
It looks like someone is experimenting with their Instagram filters
“Someone with eclectic tastes, it seems.”
I actually like most of it
I could get a better perspective of the place if the photos weren’t so poorly processed and intentionally dark.
Nice place to visit. Wouldn’t want to live here.
“At the end of the day, it’s a nearly $500 psf one bedroom apartment with a big deck. I rented one of those in North Center many years ago for $700 a month.”
But it’s not in North Center. That’s the difference, right?
Yes DZ, I think eccentric may be a better word than eclectic in this case.
Glad to be back, by the way. I’d stopped coming to the site about two years ago, but it’s good to see all the same old names are still posting here. Is HD still around?
“But it’s not in North Center. That’s the difference, right?”
what’s a few blocks difference? this place is closer to the Cabrini than north center.
Whats wrong with Cabrini?
Nothing is wrong with Cabrini as long as you like to see folks walking around with their pants pulled down to their knees with their cracks showing. But, back to the apartment, if I wanted to spend close to a half million on a one bedroom, I would never choose to live on Chicago and Orleans. You could spend that and get in the John Hancock or anywhere east.
There is no more “Cabrini” unless you mean the beautiful Mother Cabrini Shrine in Lincoln Park. Properties in that ‘hood are quite expensive!
“There is no more “Cabrini””
Ok, so what is the SW corner of Larrabee and Clybourn called?
What are the CHA rowhouses on Chicago called?
SWC of Larrabee & Clybourn is called a vacant site CHA is in process of selling off (except tiny site occupied by the very old church with wall mural).
I believe CHA’s rowhouses north of Chicago Ave west of Hudson are called vacant former CHA rowhouses (are any occupied?) & iirc CHA is in process of getting permission from HUD to demo them & sell the site.
Ok, so let’s call the hood “vacant CHA”. VaCHA!
That has a seriously awesome sound to it!
“this place is closer to the Cabrini than north center.”
Cabrini no longer exists. They are selling townhouses for $800,000 nearby now (and the development sold out.) You’ve lived in the suburbs too long now homedelete.
there’s a sketchy element to that area. I’m headed over there for work on Friday. I’ll take a closer look.
There is a ton of building going on north of Chicago Avenue right now because those are the cheaper remaining lots.
The reason why the lots are cheaper is the developers have to give some of their units to public and/or affordable housing. That is what is going on there. CHA didn’t just sell off their property, strings were definitely attached. If you look at the two grade schools that serve that area, they are 100% African American population. (Manierre at 1400 Hudson and Jenner at 1100 Cleveland). I think people don’t get that when they buy the 800K homes and have kids and find out they have to send their kids to private school. Both schools are underutilized, and CPS should turn one into a language or arts school to get people to go there but until they do, it is what it is.
NextRight, that’s exactly what happened in my area. The public school is unusable because there are still pockets of subsidized housing. I wish the CHA would just move the CHA/subsidized housing residents to neighborhoods that are already bad instead of keeping the residents in the now prime locations.
” I wish the CHA would just move the CHA/subsidized housing residents to neighborhoods that are already bad instead of keeping the residents in the now prime locations.”
For some reason, this makes me think of: remember; condemned; repeat.
“The reason why the lots are cheaper is the developers have to give some of their units to public and/or affordable housing.”
Doesn’t every large development have to do this. I believe the law is that 10% of units have to be set aside for affordable housing or the developers can pay 100k per unit towards an affordable housing fund. A lot of developers are paying the 100k per unit.
“Doesn’t every large development have to do this.”
Rules are very different on the CHA land.
Agreed that rules are very different in CHA LAND. That is federal money so the decisions that go down over there really are made in Washington DC. If you go to that Target or the Jewel (previously DOminicks) the only reason why they got to build there was the agreement to hire the Cabrini residents. The alderman over there, Walter Burnett, a previous Cabrini resident, makes sure of that. Now the rumor is that a white, overcrowded nearby school wants to take over Jenner but they don’t want to absorb the Cabrini kids because of the clash of culture. But if they don’t absorb the kids, it will be a media firestorm “Wealthy whites kick out blacks from school” and the blacks will be on TV being interviewed. “We was fittin to go to Jenner but they kicked us out to Manierre”….
Why not just bribe these families to leave the city/state? Crime levels would go down and the city would be less burdened by people who suck up resources and give nothing back. It seems like it would be cheaper to give these people checks on the condition that they don’t return than have them continue to suck up resources over the course of many years. Then, the city could stop offering subsidized housing and other freebies to dissuade newcomers.
OMG Jenny that’s terrible. You can think that to yourself, but you can’t talk like that in polite company…
It’s easy to criticize when you don’t have gang hits going on in your neighborhood…
What a remarkable degree of inhumanity and prejudice.
I believe if your development is over like 30 or 40-something units you MUST devote 10% to affordable housing or pay I think a 100-250k “fine” aka donation to the affordable housing fund. I think this applies anywhere in Chicago.
Most developers in the Gold Coast and other high falutin areas just pay the fine since they will be able to make up the difference by charging a ton more money per square foot because of the “no affordables” being in the building.
I think the Cabrini plan or at least CHA land going forward is to have all developments be 50% market rate 25% affordable and 25% subsidized. This is a much better mix for everyone than the previously 100% subsidized garbage that was there before.
There should be NO affordable housing in high housing costs areas. That area needs to be built with dense, market rate housing so we can collect a boatload of property taxes to pay for the massive hole in the city’s budget deficit. Allowing CHA residents to hit the ghetto lottery so they can live in a tony area, while the middle class has to live in outer neighborhoods like Ashburn, Galewood, or Hegewisch is insulting.
It’s strikes me as unfair that some people have to pay market rate and some people get the same thing for free or very cheap. What’s the point of working if you can live in a fabulous neighborhood and get free healthcare, food, and a check from the government? There’s plenty of inexpensive housing throughout the city where poor people can live. I don’t understand why they need to get subsidized or free housing in a nice neighborhood.
“Why not just bribe these families to leave the city/state?”
Or just have a “levee” “break” ala New Orleans.
Ah, this is not prejudice, it’s classism. Its the plebs vs patricians, nothing has ever changed. Get the plebs off the palatine hill, or in game of thrones, flea bottom….I at least have a little humanity for the poor, like Jesus did.
“The reason why the lots are cheaper is the developers have to give some of their units to public and/or affordable housing.”
No- it’s cheaper because they are north of Chicago and that isn’t considered a prime area. That has been changing over the past 15 years, however. The housing bust slowed the process but it’s picking up again thanks to the sheer number of apartment buildings that are now being built in the neighborhood (and developments like Basecamp, which is sold out.) A new apartment high rise on Chicago just opened and they have just broken ground for another next to the Culinary Institute.
There is talk of putting an El stop on the brown/purple line between Chicago and Sedgwick at some point (maybe near Division) which would make sense but is a number of years away. If you do that- even more high rises will be built.
The area is ripe for it though. Plenty of land and it’s cheaper than just to the south.
Cabrini is like a donut filling up, they are building quite strong on all the borders, Larabee to the west has many projects being sold/built, Division st has a new tower and another parkside thing, Orleans has at least 3 projects taking off, and Chicago/Chestnut/etc have lots of builds going on. Hell they built a bunch of luxury townhomes smack dab in the middle of it so its only a matter of time before the rest fills up.
“It’s strikes me as unfair that some people have to pay market rate and some people get the same thing for free or very cheap. What’s the point of working if you can live in a fabulous neighborhood and get free healthcare, food, and a check from the government? There’s plenty of inexpensive housing throughout the city where poor people can live. I don’t understand why they need to get subsidized or free housing in a nice neighborhood.”
Yeah, what could be better than waking up in an neighborhood surrounded by people with the kinds of jobs you’ll never have access to (and really, never stood much of a chance of having access to) and who enjoy all the fancy bars and restaurants you’ll never be welcome in, then riding the CTA down to Cook County to wait 6 1/2 hours in some cramped waiting room to see a doctor, and picking up some food for dinner at the local food pantry on the way back home. That doesn’t sound humiliating at all.
“If you sought to advantage one group of Americans and disadvantage another, you could scarcely choose a more graceful method than housing discrimination. Housing determines access to transportation, green spaces, decent schools, decent food, decent jobs, and decent services. Housing affects your chances of being robbed and shot as well as your chances of being stopped and frisked. And housing discrimination is as quiet as it is deadly. It can be pursued through violence and terrorism, but it doesn’t need it. Housing discrimination is hard to detect, hard to prove, and hard to prosecute. Even today most people believe that Chicago is the work of organic sorting, as opposed segregationist social engineering. Housing segregation is the weapon that mortally injures, but does not bruise.” http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/05/This-Town-Needs-A-Better-Class-Of-Racist/361443/
I would argue that people chose that lifestyle when they decided to have kids before they could afford those kids.
The people I feel sorry for are the grandparents who are left raising their grandchildren and are working hard to try to make a home for those grandchildren. I would love to see the stats on poverty among those who waited to have kids until 25 or 30.
“Housing determines access to transportation, green spaces, decent schools, decent food, decent jobs, and decent services.”
“There is talk of putting an El stop on the brown/purple line between Chicago and Sedgwick at some point (maybe near Division)”
Anyone ever wonder why there isn’t already a brown line stop at Division?
CHA housing should be built on vacant land that is right next to a CTA stop on the south and west side. That allows CHA residents ample transportation to and from the loop, which is the job center of this city.
Allowing dense, market rate housing in expensive areas allows the city, county, CPS, CPD, CFD, library, CTA, and pensions to collect as much property tax revenue as possible. This extra revenue can be used to build more CHA housing and provide more services for those in need.
Those that oppose this policy need a basic lesson in property taxes and how city services for the poor are funded.
“Anyone ever wonder why there isn’t already a brown line stop at Division?”
Because they closed it in 1949:
http://www.chicago-l.org/stations/division-orleans.html
“Mike HG on June 19th, 2015 at 2:37 pm
CHA housing should be built on vacant land that is right next to a CTA stop on the south and west side. That allows CHA residents ample transportation to and from the loop, which is the job center of this city.
Allowing dense, market rate housing in expensive areas allows the city, county, CPS, CPD, CFD, library, CTA, and pensions to collect as much property tax revenue as possible. This extra revenue can be used to build more CHA housing and provide more services for those in need.
Those that oppose this policy need a basic lesson in property taxes and how city services for the poor are funded.”
While this might technically be correct, you obviously haven’t paid attention to an overarching city policy during the last 50 years! For the last 50 years the point of CHA housing was to keep CHA residents away from everywhere else, hence miles of high rises a mile or more walking distance from the CTA on the south side or the sacrifice that became Roseland and Pullman.
CHA residents aren’t working much in the loop these days, if they’re working at all. The problem with subsidized housing is that if you get a job and earn too much, they take away your housing subsidy.
I’m not trying to be classist, but it’s a complex problem not just inChicago but nationwide that’s taken decades to evolve and it’s not going to be fixed by putting CHA homes near the Red line.
“miles of high rises a mile or more walking distance from the CTA”
Wot? Most of the row along the Ryan (Ickes and Hilliard close to Cermak; Stateway close to 35th; Taylor to 35th or 47th) were within a mile of the red line.
Which didn’t make them good in any way, but still.
yes there was a stretch or two within walking distance. but the gardens? or the rest of them?
“but the gardens?”
Altgeld? Nary a high rise there. But yes, certainly at the ass-end of nowhere.