Own a Single Family Home Right on Lake Michigan: 7237 S. South Shore in South Shore
We last chattered about this 4-bedroom single family home at 7237 S. South Shore in the South Shore neighborhood in January 2010 (hm…wonder why it always comes up as a post in the dead of winter?).
See our prior chatter and interior pictures here.
Built on a 50×300 lot, the property has 2 PIN numbers, one of which extends the lot all the way to the edge of the lake making it only 1 of just 2 dozen homes in the city limits that has actual private Lake Michigan access.
It has no garage, but has three parking spaces on the side drive. It also has an unfinished basement.
The kitchen has white appliances.
Since we last chattered about it, it has been reduced $110,000.
This home has been listed since June 2009.
What will it take to finally sell this unique property?
Kim Young at Keller Williams Gold Coast now has the listing. There are no interior pictures with the listing now, but see the listing here (see the oldest Crib Chatter post for interior pictures here).
7237 S. South Shore Drive: 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 2587 square feet, 3 parking spaces
- Sold in 1995 (no sales info available)
- Sold in October 2007 for $1.2 million
- Was listed in June 2009 for $1.5 million
- Was listed in January 2010 for $1.5 million
- Reduced
- Currently listed for $1.39 million
- Taxes of $7113
- Central Air
- Full unfinished basement
- Bedroom #1: 17×13
- Bedroom #2: 10×10
- Bedroom #3: 12×12
- Bedroom #4: 15×12
Wow, nice.
I’d love to have a house right on Lake Michigan (or close enough to have an unobstructed view).
However, for much less money I would get something nicer in Beverly Shores (IN), Grand Beach (MI), or Pleasant Prairie (WI).
“What will it take to finally sell this unique property?”
My guess is a sale prices of less than $800,000, given the $1.2 million peak bubble price and how non-GZ areas in Chicago generally have been hit harder than GZ areas. The seller is looking at a fairly small market for this property; most people who are willing to spend near to or more than $1 million simply are not going to consider living in this area.
Hey Sad,
What’s ur story. I rented there in 1999, and liked the building and location. I assume u own.
“Hey Sad,
What’s ur story. I rented there in 1999, and liked the building and location. I assume u own.”
I was wondering the same thing. I rented there in 2000. I expect that my old apartment now looks straight into the Trump Tower.
“What’s ur story. I rented there in 1999, and liked the building and location. I assume u own.”
Correct on all counts. I rented there since 2000 and then bought at the beginning of 2005 when the conversion happened. I think the quality of the building is fine for a rental, and it has a truly great location (walk to work in the Loop, walk to the beach, walk to Michigan Avenue, Red line is 1.5 blocks away, etc.). But the condos probably were over-priced to start with, and overall the building has seen 40-50% decreases in value. The building should have simply stayed as a rental. And I’m a moron for not recognizing this 5 years ago.
Sad … with the current prices, would u recommend buying now?
Love the beach theme on snow day. What else do we have coming, Lake Point Tower or North Shore?
Where is everyone? People are home from work and don’t want to waste their own time posting on a blog?
“Sad … with the current prices, would u recommend buying now?”
Well, my general view is that it’s probably not a good idea to buy at a building like Plaza 440 generally. With the size of the units, it’s really designed to be a rental building (and do think it is a great place to rent). Most people are probably going to want to trade up to a bigger place and not live at Plaza 440 long. Assessments also are somewhat high. I think the building is a lead candidate for being “re-partmented” if anyone starts trying that in Chicago.
But if you want an in-town, or want to be a landlord, or simply disagree with my views about the purpose of Plaza 440, then I think buying at Plaza 440 at its current prices may make sense, though you’re probably better off waiting until the summer to see how things shake out. The building already has gone through a large number of sales, short sales, and REO sales that have helped reset prices from the bubble, though I’m not sure whether that process is yet finished. I wouldn’t be surprised if prices take another hit as more REOs given up by the specuvestors are put up for sale this Spring and drive the prices down further.
If you do want to buy now, then to get the best current prices, you’re going to be buying either a short sale or REO, so you’ll need some patience. The building’s reserves are strong ($2 million as I recall), we just got new washers & dryers for the common area, and the staff does a very good job on keeping the building clean. There’s a diverse group of people living there (tilted toward students or people in their 20’s) and I have not encountered any bad neighbors (though I’m sure there are some).
Again though, my bottom line opinion is that Plaza 440 is a great place to rent but I would not (and don’t) want to own here.
Sad….. do you know if there are any parking spaces for sale that are really cheap?
“Where is everyone? People are home from work and don’t want to waste their own time posting on a blog?”
Shoveling snow : )
“Sad….. do you know if there are any parking spaces for sale that are really cheap?”
Not that I can see. Checking the listings shows two spaces, one for 33k and the other for 36k. There probably are a number of spaces available to lease.
Thanks Sad……….
“Where is everyone? People are home from work and don’t want to waste their own time posting on a blog?”
Shoveling snow : )”
I thought everyone on this site rents, isn’t shoveling snow the landlords job?????
Wonder if they got hit by the 25 foot waves last night?
Maybe if that keeps up Kelly Slater will pick it up at full pop. If not then 850k should get it done. That would be a trophy for someone at that price. I have to agree that $1.2 might get you waterfront in a resort area. That would be a more natural choice than this location.
@valasko Good point. We know Clio at least owns.
Thanks sad … try to be happy
This is right near the end of the Lake Shore bike path. If I had crazy money to blow on real estate, I would love to pick up this place as a summer residence. You can be in the loop in 45 minutes on a bicycle from here.
Then again, if I had enough money to have a million dollar home as a second residence, I probably wouldn’t have to commute to the loop!
On a related note, has anyone ever seen the residence at the very end of the path at the dead end on 71st? Odd shaped lot around the corner from here adjacent to the Cultural Center? That place looks amazing.
I think most of the replies here are centered toward the GZ living DePaul graduates who’ve never experienced any part of the city South of McCormick Place. While I admit this place does not suit me, there is a whole other demographic of people with money that live South of S. Loop that would appreciate lakefront access. That said in this market I think they are only interested at 900-950k at most.
I went to shovel the building for my tenants yesterday and got there and it was like whats the point, the street had 2.5 ft as did the sidewalks, no one had touched the blocks yet.
I ended up shoveling from the side door all the way to the street… although it was kinda useless cause once you got to the end their was a 2.5ft wall of snow
What a unique property/location
“Wonder if they got hit by the 25 foot waves last night?”
Interestingly, probably not. There were ice sheets forced up to the beach, so that may have prevented the waves, but the 60 mph wind would have been damaging enough.
For half (roughly) you could live in Indiana’s wealthiest community AND have an indoor pool.
http://dhofmann.com/dune_acres/dune_acres.html
No way Dune Acres is Indiana’s wealthiest community — maybe in NWI. Can’t be even close to the places north of Indy.
It is. Those are (like Carmel) way bigger places, Dune Acres is tiny, so it’s easier to be wealthy (not that there aren’t “poorer” people there, they are just middle middle class).