Crib Chatter

This 4-level loft in 2222 N. Racine in Lincoln Park came on the market in August 2019.

This building was constructed in 1911 and consists of 16 multi-level lofts and an attached parking garage. Not all of the units have parking.

This 4-level loft functions more like a townhouse or row home, than a condo.

It has authentic loft features including several levels of exposed brick and timber along with exposed ductwork.

The main level has a 2-story living room, the dining room and kitchen along with a half-bath which also has the washer/dryer in it.

The listing says the loft has a “commercial kitchen” with wood cabinets, what looks like stone counter tops and a luxury stainless steel stove.

There’s one bedroom on the second floor, one on the third and the master suite is on the fourth level.

The master suite has an en suite bath and the private rooftop deck is also accessed from the master bedroom.

The listing says the bathrooms have been updated with marble.

It has central air and attached garage parking is included.

Originally listed in August 2019 for $679,000, it has reduced $30,000 to $649,000.

That’s $10,000 under the 2017 purchase price of $659,000.

Will the reduced price finally get the sale done?

Tom McCarey at @Properties has the listing. See the pictures and floor plan here.

Unit #13: 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, no square footage listed, 4-levels, loft

• Sold in 1987 (no price in the CCRD)
• Sold in May 1992 for $274,000
• Sold in February 1994 for $305,000
• Sold in June 1998 for $380,000
• Sold in May 2002 for $485,000
• Sold in May 2011 for $565,000
• Sold in December 2017 for $659,000
• Originally listed in August 2019 for $679,000
• Reduced
• Currently listed at $649,000 (includes attached garage parking)
• Assessments of $297 a month (includes exterior maintenance, lawn care, scavenger, snow removal)
• Taxes of $7052
• Central Air
• Washer/dryer in the unit
• Bedroom #1: 16×14 (fourth floor)
• Bedroom #2: 18×13 (third floor)
• Bedroom #3: 15×9 (second floor)
• Kitchen: 14×8 (main floor)
• Living room: 18×14 (main floor)
• Dining room: 14×12 (main floor)
• Laundry room: 3×3 (in the half bath on the main floor)
• Rooftop deck: 15×15 (fourth floor)

This 2-bedroom in SoNo at 860 W. Blackhawk in the Clybourn Corridor of Lincoln Park came on the market in July 2019.

SoNo was built in 2009 just as the financial crisis hit. It has 198 units and a parking garage. It’s a doorman building.

If you recall, originally, the units were drastically reduced in order to sell them during the recession.

A second building was constructed nearby and it was rentals.

The listing for this unit says it has unobstructed south, east and west skyline and city views.

There are walnut hardwood floors throughout.

The listing says there is designer lighting, window shades and custom closets.

The kitchen has modern dark cabinets, granite counter tops, stainless steel appliances and an under mount sink. There’s also an island.

The unit has a split floor plan.

The master suite has a spa-like marble bath. The second bedroom has a custom murphy bed.

The unit has an large covered terrace, central air, washer/dryer in the unit and parking is included.

Originally listed for $685,000 in July 2019, it has been reduced to $629,000 which is under both the 2017 and 2014 prices.

Is this a deal?

Akos Straub at Berkshire Hathaway Homeservices has the listing. See the pictures and floor plan here.

Unit #2002: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1438 square feet

• Sold in February 2010 for $478,000
• Sold in September 2014 for $634,000
• Sold in July 2017 for $665,000
• Originally listed in July 2019 for $685,000
• Reduced
• Currently listed at $629,000 (includes parking)
• Assessments of $814 a month (includes heat, a/c, gas, doorman, cable, exercise room, exterior maintenance, lawn care, scavenger, snow removal, Internet)
• Taxes of $12,056
• Central Air
• Washer/dryer in the unit
• Bedroom #1: 21×12
• Bedroom #2: 14×12
• Living room: 24×14
• Kitchen: 24×9
• Foyer: 15×5
• Balcony: 12×10

This 2-bedroom in The Eddystone at 421 W. Melrose in East Lakeview came on the market in July 2019.

Built in 1928, The Eddystone has 77 units and a doorman and exercise room. There’s no parking with the building.

The Eddystone was originally going to be part of a big cooperative apartment development for 2,000 people. According to the book Chicago Apartments by Neil Harris.

Its central tower was to have been 420 feet high and the project was to have a restaurant, private dining rooms, a handball court, a swimming pool and a 250 car garage.

But as you can tell on the date the building was completed, the Great Depression interfered with the plans and all they built was the current building and no parking garage was ever built.

The building actually failed in the 1930s and lost its co-op status as it became rental apartments. It was ultimately converted into condos.

The listing says this 2-bedroom has seen a “top to bottom” rehab by its architect owners.

Vintage details have been restored including the crown and baseboard moldings and the herringbone hardwood floors.

This unit has other vintage features including high ceilings, a foyer, a gallery and a separate dining room.

The kitchen has also been “completely redone” and has white cabinets with stainless steel appliances, a breakfast bar, Cambria quartz countertops and cork flooring.

Both baths have been redone and are marble.

The unit also has new windows, central air and washer/dryer in the unit.

The listing says there are lake views from the master bedroom.

It’s in the Nettlehorst school district.

Listed for $499,000 in July, it was under contract last summer, but has come back on again at $499,000.

Is this rehab with everything new, but with its vintage features, the best of both worlds?

Suzanne Gignilliat at @Properties has the listing. See the pictures here.

Unit #8C: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1800 square feet

• Sold in November 2004 for $342,500
• Bank owned in May 2010
• Sold in May 2011 for $215,500
• Sold in July 2015 for $330,000
• Originally listed in July 2019 for $499,000
• Under contract
• Back on the market
• Currently listed at $499,000
• Assessments of $1389 a month (includes heat, gas, doorman, cable, exercise room, exterior maintenance, lawn care, scavenger, snow removal, Internet)
• Taxes of $5700
• Central Air
• Washer/dryer in the unit
• No parking
• Bedroom #1: 12×25
• Bedroom #2: 12×22
• Living room: 14×27
• Dining room: 12×18
• Kitchen: 10×13
• Foyer: 8×4
• Gallery: 9×10

This 4-bedroom first floor duplex at 65 E. Goethe in the Gold Coast came on the market in May 2019.

65 E. Goethe was built in 2001 and has just 18 units and a parking garage.

It was built as a luxury building and has a doorman.

This unit is unique in that it is a maisonnette.

From the Free Dictionary:

This 3-bedroom row house at 855 N. Dearborn in the Gold Coast just came on the market.

It’s the row house on the far right in the picture above.

If you remember, we chattered about a 3-bedroom triplex in one of these row houses in May 2019.

We concluded that this wasn’t a former mansion, even though the 2019 listing said it was.

Instead, it appears to be 3 row homes built in 1928.

You can see our 2019 chatter here.

The current listing calls this a “Hale Row House.” Anyone know what that means? Google has nothing.

It is on a 20×60 lot.

This row house is bank owned.

There are 20 foot ceilings on the main floor along with a fireplace and wood floors.

The kitchen has been torn out, as well as some of the walls so there is exposed brick, although there appears to be a bunch of luxury stainless steel appliances sitting there.

This is the first time in a bank owned property that the cabinets are missing but the appliances are there. Usually it’s the other way around.

There are 3 fireplaces in all.

One bedroom is on the second floor, two are on the third floor.

There’s also a rooftop deck.

The lower level has a finished basement that the listing says is a “true in-law apartment.” It appears to have a partial kitchen.

If you recall, the 2019 property was just the top floors of the row house. There was a separate lower level apartment.

It has central air but there doesn’t appear to be any parking.

Listed at $1.05 million, the listing says there is “tons of upside for equity growth.”

Is this a deal for those who want to rehab?

Ryan Smith at Re/Max Properties has the listing. See the pictures here.

855 N. Dearborn: 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, no square footage listed, row house

• Sold in June 1995 for $252,500
• Sold in November 1996 for $710,000
• Sold in June 2001 for $1.25 million
• Lis pendens foreclosure filed in November 2015
• Bank owned in September 2019
• Currently listed at $1.05 million
• Taxes of $24,207
• Central Air
• 3 fireplaces
• Roof top deck
• Bedroom #1: 11×17 (second floor)
• Bedroom #2: 17×11 (third floor)
• Bedroom #3: 12×16 (third floor)
• Living room: 15×25 (main floor)
• Dining room: 13×15 (main floor)
• Kitchen: 11×14 (main floor)
• Second kitchen: 12×16 (lower level)
• Family room: 14×18 (lower level)

This 2-bedroom vintage unit at 210 E. Pearson in Streeterville came on the market in March 2018.

Built in 1928, the building has 62 units but no parking or other amenities. It does have a doorman.

This unit has tree top views and an iron French balcony that faces Pearson.

There are hardwood floors throughout and bookshelves in the separate dining room.

The kitchen has white cabinets and appliances.

There’s central air, but no washer/dryer in the unit. However, the building now does allow in-unit washer/dryer if you want to install it.

Listed at $370,000 in March 2018, it has recently been reduced to just $300,000.

The listing also says the following:

SELLER IS OFFERING TO PAY A MONTHLY ASSESSMENT FOR ONE YEAR (1366 X 12 = $16,392) AT CLOSING AND SELLER WILL PAY ONE YEAR 2020 RE TAXES AT CLOSING ($7500).

This building is directly across from the MCA and Seneca Park, steps from Michigan Avenue and near Northwestern Medical Center.

Will paying the assessments for a year finally close this deal?

Terry Petit at Baird & Warner has the listing. See the pictures here.

Unit #2A: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1400 square feet

• I couldn’t find the previous sales price but it was prior to 1994
• Originally listed in March 2018 for $370,000
• Reduced several times
• Currently listed at $300,000
• Offer to pay assessments for a year and one year taxes
• Assessments of $1366 a month (includes heat, gas, doorman, cable, Internet, exterior maintenance, lawn care, scavenger, snow removal)
• Taxes of $7390
• Central Air
• No washer/dryer in the unit (coin laundry in the building)
• No parking
• Decorative fireplace
• Bedroom #1: 15×11
• Bedroom #2: 10×9
• Living room: 18×15
• Dining room: 15×12
• Kitchen: 19×12

This 7-bedroom Queen Anne Victorian at 1904 W. Patterson in North Center has been on and off the market since April 2015.

We last chattered about it in May 2018 when the sales price had been cut nearly 50%.

Many of you liked the property and were surprised that it hadn’t sold after the price cuts. Icarus even said he would buy it after he won the lottery.

See our chatter here.

But it’s now 20 months later and the house is still available.

If you recall, it was built in 1891 on a bigger than standard 62.5 x 125 corner fenced in lot.

It has a large wrap around porch, a 3-car garage, a sport court and a brick and bluestone patio.

At 8,000 square feet, it has 7 bedrooms and the preferred layout buyers like, with the bedrooms on both the second and third floors.

There are no bedrooms in the basement.

There’s a lower level exercise room and sauna as well as a game room.

It also has an interesting feature in the top floor turreted room which was detailed in the prior listing but is no longer mentioned: an “office/smoking room with ventilation system.”

The house has an eat-in kitchen with white cabinets, stainless steel appliances and stone counter tops.

It has central air and 3 fireplaces as well as extensive wood work and moldings.

There’s a second level deck.

Originally listed in April 2015 for $3,999,999, it has been reduced numerous times and is now listed about 50% less at $1,899,000.

In 2018, the listing had it listed as being in Lakeview. But it’s clearly in the North Center neighborhood.

Is the neighborhood the problem?

What will it take to finally sell this property?

Jeff Lowe at Compass now has the listing. You can see the pictures here.

1904 W. Patterson: 7 bedrooms, 7.5 baths, 8000 square feet, 3 car garage

• Sold in November 1998 for $650,000
• Originally listed in April 2015 for $3,999,999
• Reduced
• Was listed in August 2016 at $2.55 million
• Reduced
• Was listed in May 2018 at $1.990 million
• Reduced
• Currently listed at $1.899 million
• Taxes are now $46,765 (they were $48,377 in May 2018 and $27,835 in August 2016)
• Central Air
• 3 fireplaces
• Bedroom #1: 20×16 (second floor)
• Bedroom #2: 21×16 (second floor)
• Bedroom #3: 14×13 (second floor)
• Bedroom #4: 12×12 (second floor)
• Bedroom #5: 17×16 (third floor)
• Bedroom #6: 13×12 (third floor)
• Bedroom #7: 11×10 (third floor)
• Turreted office/smoking room: 13×13 (third floor)
• Exercise room: 18×16 (lower level)

This 3-bedroom in the Astor Villa at 1430 N. Astor in the Gold Coast came on the market in August 2019.

The Astor Villa was built in 1972 and has 49 units and assigned parking. It has a doorman and exercise room.

We chattered about the sister unit to this one, #4C, back in September 2019. Both #4C and #5C were renovated with modern finishes.

Unit #4C sold in November 2019 for $600,000 but #5C remains on the market.

See our chatter here.

The listing says it has been “fully renovated with no detail missed” including hardwood floors.

The kitchen is “gourmet” and has Kitchen Aid appliances including double wall oven, separate cook top, custom cabinets, quartz counter tops and back splash.

The bathrooms are marble.

It has a 5o-foot long balcony facing Astor.

The unit has side-by-side washer/dryer, wall air conditioning units and assigned parking in the building, which the listing says is included.

The listing no longer talks about the special assessments for the roof deck, lobby, mezzanine and hallway renovations so those may have been completed by the building. Reserves are still $650,000.

Listed at $699,000, it has been reduced $99,100 to $599,900.

This unit is listed as a 3-bedroom, but appears to really be a 2-bedroom as the listing says the walls were removed for one of the bedrooms to create a more open floor plan.

If you’re a buyer looking for all the 3-bedroom units, this condo won’t suffice. For those looking for 2-bedrooms, this unit would never come across your search because it is listed as a 3-bedroom.

Could confusion over the bedrooms be hurting a sale of this condo?

Robert Picciariello at Prello Realty still has the listing. See the pictures here.

Unit #5C: 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 1600 square feet

• Sold in April 1986 for $204,000
• Sold both #4C and #5C in January 2019 for $452,500
• Originally listed in August 2019 for $699,000
• Reduced
• Currently listed at $599,900 (assigned parking included)
• Assessments of $1828 a month (includes doorman, cable, exercise room, exterior maintenance, lawn care, scavenger, snow removal)
• Taxes of $7490
• No central air. Wall air conditioning units.
• Side-by-side washer/dryer in the unit
• Bedroom #1: 17×12
• Bedroom #2: 14×11
• Bedroom #3: 14×10
• Living room: 22×15
• Dining room: 12×10
• Kitchen: 13×9
• Walk-in-closet: 13×9

This 2-bedroom penthouse at 1919 W. Crystal in Wicker Park just came on the market.

The building was constructed in 2009 and has 9 units and garage parking.

This unit is duplex up with the living/dining room and kitchen, along with one bedroom on the main floor, and the second bedroom and den on the second floor.

There are hardwood floors throughout.

There are 20-foot ceilings in the living room, with a lofted den overlooking the living room.

It has a floating staircase.

The kitchen has modern finishes including dark Arclinea cabinets, with Subzero and Miele appliances and quartz counter tops.

The bathrooms are limestone and marble with Hansgrohe, Duravit and Toto fixtures.

On the third floor is a private rooftop deck.

The unit has the features that buyers look for including central air, washer/dryer in the unit and garage parking is included.

This building is in a prime Wicker Park location, just steps from the restaurants of Division Street as well as those at North and Damen.

Listed at $715,000, in the first re-sale of this unit since it was bought new in 2010, will this sell quickly?

Vikas Wadhwa at Urban Living Properties has the listing. See the pictures and floor plan here.

Unit #201: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1725 square feet, duplex up

• Sold in October 2010 for $480,000 (per Redfin as CCRD doesn’t list a sales price)
• Currently listed at $715,000 (includes 1 car garage parking)
• Assessments of $328 a month (includes exterior maintenance, scavenger, snow removal)
• Taxes of $11,653
• Central Air
• Washer/dryer in the unit
• Rooftop deck
• Bedroom #1: 14×13 (second floor)
• Bedroom #2: 11×10 (main floor)
• Living/dining room: 18×21 (main floor)
• Kitchen: 14×10 (main floor)
• Den: 10×18 (second floor)

This 3-bedroom in the Lincoln Park Villas at 1920 N. Clark in East Lincoln Park came on the market in January 2020.

The Lincoln Park Villas were built in 1974 and have 45 units and attached leased parking.

There’s no doorman.

This unit has east views of Lincoln Park from the 23×4 balcony and you can walk to the beach, zoo and the farmer’s market within minutes.

The listing says it had a complete gut rehab in 2018.

There are now European white oak floors throughout the main living areas.

The kitchen has white cabinets, stainless steel appliances and an L shaped quartz counter along with an adjacent breakfast bar and wine refrigerator.

There’s a large master bedroom with a walk-in-closet and a “spa-like” master bath with a rain shower big enough for 2.

The bathrooms have marble and quartz countertops.

There are motorized shades in the bedrooms.

This unit has in-unit washer/dryer and central air. Parking is leased in the building but it doesn’t say how much.

In addition to the private balcony that stretches the length of the living/dining room, according to the listing, the building rehabbed its own common rooftop terrace in 2017.

Located on the 18th floor, the rooftop terrace looks like a private hotel bar.

Listed at $649,000, and all the work already done to the unit, is this a deal for someone looking for a 3-bedroom in this neighborhood?

Michael Quinn at BQS Realty has the listing. See the listing here.

Unit #3C: 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1600 square feet

• Sold prior to the 1990s (I couldn’t find a price)
• Sold in December 2015 for $365,000
• Currently listed at $649,000
• Assessments of $899 a month (includes cable, Internet, scavenger, snow removal, security)
• Taxes of $9224
• Central Air
• Washer/dryer in the unit
• Leased parking in the building (no price listed)
• Bedroom #1: 17×11
• Bedroom #2: 12×10
• Bedroom #3: 10×11
• Living room: 23×18
• Kitchen: 12×17
• Balcony: 23×4