Crib Chatter

This 3-bedroom top floor loft in 154 W. Hubbard in River North came on the market in February 2018.

Some of you may remember it from our 2015 chatter.

Back then, it was under contract within a week even though it was listed for 22% more than the seller had paid just 22 months earlier.

You can see our chatter here.

If you recall, this building was converted into 18 luxury lofts by Studio Dwell just as the market bust was beginning to hit in 2008.

This loft has many authentic loft features including the original industrial windows, 14-15 foot ceilings, exposed brick and timber ceilings.

The kitchen has custom Italian cabinetry with an oversized island and Viking, Jenn Air, Bosch appliances.

The master bathroom has a steam and rain shower.

There’s also a side-by-side washer/dryer in the separate laundry room.

But the big selling feature is the 1500 square foot private roof top deck with a covered outdoor gourmet kitchen. The deck also has an exterior television.

It has central air and 1-car garage parking is included.

The loft sold in December 2015 for $1.54 million.

It has come back on the market at 10.1% higher, at $1.695 million.

But it has competition. The “sister” penthouse, Unit #603 next door, is also on the market.

That listing says it was remodeled in 2017. But it too has a 1500 square foot rooftop deck with an outdoor kitchen.

It’s listed at $1.750 million. You can see those pictures here.

What’s the demand for not just one, but two, 3-bedroom lofts with rooftop decks in River North?

Kevin Wood at @Properties has the listing. See the pictures here.

Unit #601: 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2284 square feet

• Sold in September 2008 for $1,010,000
• Sold in November 2013 for $1,225,000
• Was listed in September 2015 for $1,495,000
• Sold in December 2015 for $1,540,000 (included parking)
• Originally listed in February 2018 for $1.695 million (includes the parking)
• Currently still listed at $1.695 million
• Assessments are still $470 a month (includes water, snow removal, scavenger and exterior maintenance)
• Taxes are now $23,472 (they were $14804 in September 2015)
• Central Air
• Washer/Dryer in the unit
• 1-car garage parking included
• Bedroom #1: 14×14
• Bedroom #2: 10×14
• Bedroom #3: 14×11

This 1-bedroom in 2020 N. Lincoln Park West in Lincoln Park just came on the market.

The listing says it’s a corner unit with 45 feet of wall to wall windows and a balcony that faces the park.

It has diagonal hardwood floors and 2 new HVAC units.

The kitchen has modern white cabinets, stainless steel appliances and a glass backsplash.

The listing says it has an updated bathroom with glass shower doors.

There’s no washer/dryer in the unit but there’s coin laundry in the building.

There is attached garage parking for $200 a month.

This is a full amenity building with an outdoor pool, a sauna and tennis courts. The HOA also includes heat, central air and the Internet.

But this building is also known for its views.

The listing photos for this unit show the various views which includes the lake, during the air show and at sun rise, Lincoln Park, in both summer and in all its winter white glory, and of the Chicago skyline, with its views of the Hancock and Willis Tower.

If you love views, is this one of the best in the entire city in terms of having parks, water and skyline?

Linda Breedlove at Berkshire Hathaway KoenigRubloff has the listing. See the pictures here.

Unit #11G: 1 bedroom, 1 bath, no square footage listed

• Sold in April 2011 for $326,000 (per Redfin as the CCRD was “down” again)
• Currently listed for $399,900
• Assessments of $827 a month (includes heat, a/c, cable including premium channels, Internet, pool, doorman, tennis courts, gym, yoga, sauna, Jacuzzi, exterior maintenance, lawn care, scavenger and snow removal)
• Taxes of $5572
• Garage parking available for $200 a month
• Central Air
• No washer/dryer in the unit. Coin laundry in the building
• Bedroom: 17×11
• Living room: 24×13
• Kitchen: 10×10

This 3-bedroom triplex loft in the Donohue Lofts at 711 S. Dearborn in Printers Row just came on the market.

The Donohue Lofts were one of the first loft conversions in the Printers Row neighborhood.

It consists of two buildings, one with concrete ceilings and this one, at 711 S. Dearborn, which has timber ceilings and exposed brick walls.

Most of the units have the big industrial windows loft lovers dream about.

This triplex looks to be made up of 3 separate “F” units which face west.

The top floor, which is the third floor, has arched windows and exposed brick walls along with the kitchen, living and dining rooms along with a half bath.

The kitchen has dark cabinets and stainless steel appliances.

There’s also a butler’s pantry in the dining room.

It looks like the main floor has the original hardwood floors throughout.

There are spiral staircases connecting each floor.

The second, or middle floor, has two bedrooms and a shared guest bathroom along with a laundry room.

The first floor, or main floor, has a big master suite with a walk-in closet and a “new” huge bathroom with a copper free standing soaker tub.

The listing says it has zoned A/C, washer/dryer in the unit and parking is available for $35,000 extra.

The building has no parking with it but some buy parking at 801 S. Plymouth. In the 2013 sale, deeded parking was sold with this unit.

Is this the perfect loft for loft lovers?

Janis Northon at @Properties has the listing. See the pictures and floor plan here.

Unit #808: 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 2420 square feet, triplex

• Original owner in 1987
• Sold in June 2013 for $525,000 (included the parking)
• Currently listed for $690,000 (parking is $35,000 extra– at 801 S. Plymouth?)
• Assessments of $1543 a month (includes heat, cable, Internet, exterior maintenance, scavenger, snow removal)
• Taxes of $9190
• Zoned A/C
• Washer/dryer in the unit
• Bedroom #1: 27×15 (first floor)
• Bedroom #2: 15×15 (second floor)
• Bedroom #3: 15×14 (second floor)
• Laundry room: 8×7 (second floor)

This 2-bedroom corner loft in the Capitol Hill Lofts at 625 W. Jackson in the West Loop just came on the market.

The Capitol Hill Lofts have 90 units and a parking garage along with an exercise room.

This is a corner brick and timber loft with a balcony.

Both bedrooms have windows, which is rare in many 2-bedroom lofts.

The kitchen has what looks like maple cabinets, stainless steel appliances and granite counter tops.

It has the other features that buyers look for including central air, washer/dryer in the unit and you can buy a garage parking space for $20,000.

There’s also a fireplace.

But if you take a closer look, it’s basically located in the kitchen island.

Apparently, the developer of this building thought that each of the lofts had to have a fireplace.

Is a fireplace a “must have” feature for you in your home hunt?

Kimberly Becker at @Properties has the listing. See the pictures here.

Unit #611: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1300 square feet

• Sold in September 2000 for $241,000
• Sold in December 2014 for $351,500
• Sold in May 2012 for $295,000
• Sold in April 2013 for $302,500
• Sold in May 2015 for $359,000
• Currently listed for $395,000 (parking is $20,000 extra)
• Assessments of $585 a month (includes cable, exercise room, exterior maintenance, lawn care, scavenger, snow removal)
• Taxes of $6156
• Central Air
• Washer/dryer in the unit
• Fireplace
• Bedroom #1: 13×12
• Bedroom #2: 16×13

Are you a buyer? You have to move quick in this market.

This 3-bedroom in a converted church at 1547 N. Leavitt in Wicker Park just came on the market and within 24 hours it was already contingent.

Normally I don’t cover contingent properties, but we’ve chattered about this church unit twice before, including the last time it was for sale in 2013.

See our 2013 chatter here.

Back in 2013 most you thought it was “cute.”

If you recall, this converted church has 6 units and a garage.

This unit has loft-like features including exposed brick walls, original church windows and a built-in library wall.

The unit is listed as a 3-bedroom but in 2013, and now again in 2018, the listing also says it may really be a 2 bedroom plus den as the third bedroom has French doors.

The kitchen is a custom Christopher Peacock kitchen with white cabinets, a unique walnut checkerboard butcher block island, granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances.

There’s dark hardwood floors throughout and a private back patio.

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

Is it so hot that buyers must leave work and rush out to see a property within hours of it coming on the market?

Janice Smith at @Properties has the listing. See the pictures here.

Unit #2S: 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, no square footage listed

• Sold in August 2003 for $418,500
• Sold in May 2008 for $560,000 (per Redfin)
• Was listed in August 2013 for $569,000
• Sold in October 2013 for $560,000
• Currently listed for $615,000
• Contingent in 24 hours
• Assessments of $240 a month (they were also $240 a month in 2013)
• Taxes are now $10,164 (they were $7216 in 2013)
• Central Air
• Washer/Dryer in the unit
• Heated garage parking included
• Bedroom #1: 15×12
• Bedroom #2: 12×11
• Bedroom #3: 18×11

This 3-bedroom duplex down in 840 W. Wrightwood in Lincoln Park just came on the market.

This building was constructed in 1894. It has 15 units and outdoor parking in the back.

But it was made famous in the 2000 Ben Stiller movie “Meet the Fockers” when its façade appears as the home Ben Stiller’s character and his wife live.

This duplex has 2 bedrooms on the main floor and one on the lower level.

There’s also a family room in the lower level along with a laundry room and bathroom.

The kitchen has stainless steel appliances, granite counter tops and what look like maple cabinets.

It also has an exposed brick wall in the living room along with a brick fireplace located there and a second brick fireplace in the lower level family room.

This unit has the other features buyers look for including central air and washer/dryer in the unit.

As I said, the listing says it has parking but I’m not sure if that’s included or not.  In the past, in other units, there was “first come, first served” parking behind the building.

Listed at $534,724, are the days when you could get a duplex down for under $500,000 in the GreenZone now over?

Matt Laricy at Americorp has the listing. See the pictures here.

Or go to the Open Houses this weekend on Saturday, March 3 from 1:30-3:00 or on Sunday, March 4 from 1:30-3:00 pm.

Unit #1: 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, duplex down, no square footage listed

• Sold in April 2004 for $427,000
• Sold in July 2008 for $405,000
• Sold in May 2014 for $481,500
• Currently listed for $534,724
• Assessments of $306 a month (includes exterior maintenance, lawn care and scavenger)
• Taxes of $7478
• Central Air
• Washer/dryer in the unit
• Says parking is included
• 2 fireplaces
• Bedroom #1: 14×14 (main level)
• Bedroom #2: 12×14 (main level)
• Bedroom #3: 11×9 (lower level)
• Family room: 16×18 (lower level)
• Laundry room: 5×8 (lower level)

This 2-bedroom townhouse in the Landmark Village at 2825 N. Wolcott in Lakeview recently came on the market.

Landmark Village is a gated townhouse community with 198 townhouses with attached garages.

This townhouse has three floors.

It has a 1-car garage and a family room on the main floor.

The living room, dining room and kitchen is on the second floor. There’s a wood burning fireplace with a marble surround sound in the living room.

The kitchen has white cabinets and what looks like white and stainless steel appliances.

The two bedrooms are on the top floor.

There are hardwood floors throughout.

The listing says there are “newer” windows, roof and doors.

It also says the mechanicals are 2 years old.

The townhouses in Landmark Village usually sell pretty quickly.

Is this townhouse a deal compared to even the basic 2/2 condos in this same neighborhood?

Philip Schwartz at @Properties has the listing. See the pictures here.

Unit #F: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, no square footage listed, townhouse, 1-car garage

• Sold in January 2000 for $278,000 (per Redfin- as the CCRD was down)
• Sold in September 2000 for $300,000
• Sold in October 2002 for $318,000
• Sold in August 2005 for $373,000
• Currently listed for $420,000
• Assessments of $442 a month (includes exterior maintenance, scavenger, snow removal)
• Taxes of $5553
• Central Air
• Bedroom #1: 13×12 (third floor)
• Bedroom 32: 12×10 (third floor)
• Living room: 14×14 (second floor)
• Family room: 13×12 (main floor)

This 2-bedroom townhouse in Carmichael Place at 1038 W. Monroe in the West Loop came on the market in September 2017.

Carmichael Place was built in 1999 and is a gated development of 36 units.

Are these townhouses or duplex condos? I’ve seen them described as both over the years.

This unit is a corner triplex with three outdoor spaces including a shared front porch and two balconies on the second floor.

It has a 1-car attached garage on the first floor along with the second bedroom.

The master bedroom is on the third floor with the living space on the second floor.

The kitchen has 42″ cabinets and stainless steel appliances and is open to the living space.

There are hardwood floors in the living/dining rooms and the listing says “new” carpet in the bedrooms.

The listing also says there is a new Nest and new furnace.

Originally listed for $610,000 in September 2017, it was withdrawn from the market in December 2017 and re-listed in January of this year.

This property has now been reduced $10,100 to $599,900 but it’s now been on the market for over 45 days.

This is one of the hottest neighborhoods in the city.

According to Crain’s, ServiceNow, a prominent tech firm, just announced it chose Chicago for its new engineering center.  It will bring 150 high paying jobs with the possibility of more to come.

Those employees will be temporarily stationed in the Fulton Market until they locate permanent offices.

Even with the tight inventory, is there still a ceiling on prices on some types of properties?

Jacqueline Colando at Redfin has the listing. See the pictures here.

Unit #12: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1637 square feet, townhouse

• Sold in June 1999 for $291,000
• Sold in August 2005 for $414,000
• Originally listed in September 2017 for $610,000
• Reduced
• Withdrawn in December 2017 at $599,900
• Re-listed in January 2018 for $599,900
• Currently still listed at $599,900
• Assessments of $246 a month (includes exterior maintenance, lawn care, scavenger, snow removal)
• Taxes of $8710
• Central Air
• Washer/dryer
• 1-car attached garage
• Bedroom #1: 15×10 (third floor)
• Bedroom #2: 13×8 (lower level)
• Living room: 43×13

Remember all those apartments they’ve been building downtown?

We’ve chattered several times about whether or not they could be absorbed, especially at the record high rents most of the buildings were commanding.

Well, apparently, we were worried for no reason as much of the new inventory that came on the market last year, appears to be leasing.

From the Chicago Tribune:

While only about 3,000 apartment units are expected to be completed this year, developers next year could challenge the record number of downtown apartments — 4,350 units — built in 2017, Integra Realty Resources executives said Tuesday during the firm’s annual apartment and condominium forecast luncheon.

The firm projects that about 4,200 units will be completed in 2019.

The rate of downtown apartment construction is being closely watched amid concerns of an oversupply. Yet even amid the frenzied pace of construction, 2017 also brought a record for absorption: 3,385 units, a 31 percent increase from 2016. Absorption measures the change in the number of leased apartments compared with the previous year.

But what about condo construction?

While that has picked up since the bust, it’s still just a smattering of luxury buildings.

It doesn’t look like developers will change that tune in 2018 or 2019 and build much of anything more “affordable” (i.e. under $1 million).

After condominium development ground to a halt during the last recession, some of the first big condo projects in Chicago are under construction or marketing units for sale. That comes after just 1,800 condos were marketed for sale in the past seven years, said Gail Lissner, an Integra managing director.

One of the big new projects is 1000M, a 74-story tower designed by Helmut Jahn at 1000 S. Michigan Ave. Developers began marketing 323 units for sale in the fourth quarter of 2017.

“We think the market was ripe,” said Jerry Karlik, a principal at New York-based JK Equities, one of the tower’s developers.

“With rental prices hitting $4 per square foot in luxury buildings, we think it’s the right market for a premier condo building,” Karlik said. “It’s an underserved area, and there hasn’t been much built since the last (real estate) cycle.”

Is Chicago’s economy so hot that there could be both a boom in apartments and a boom in condos over the next several years?

Another 7,000 apartments expected in downtown Chicago over the next 2 years [Chicago Tribune, by Ryan Ori, February 20, 2018]

The Illinois Association of Realtors is out with the January home sales data.

It was the largest home sales decline in 3 years.

The city of Chicago saw year-over-year home sales decline 10.2 percent in January 2018 with 1,414 sales, compared to 1,574 in January 2017. The median price of a home in the city of Chicago in January 2018 was $265,000, up 3.9 percent compared to January 2017 when it was $255,000.

Sales Data Since 2006 (thanks to G for the older data):

• January 2006: 2009 sales and median price of $258,000
• January 2007: 1850 sales and median price of $279,900
• January 2008: 1203 sales and median price of $290,000
• January 2009: 918 sales and median price of $205,000
• January 2010: 1237 sales and median price of $195,000
• January 2011: 1034 sales and median price of $150,000
• January 2012: 1123 sales and median price of $149,000
• January 2013: 1521 sales and median price of $157,000
• January 2014: 1383 sales and median price of $200,750
• January 2015: 1348 sales and median price of $220,000
• January 2016: 1398 sales and median price of $227,750
• January 2017: 1574 sales and median price of $255,000
• January 2018: 1414 sales and median price of $265,000

Sales of condos fell more than sales of single family homes yoy:

• 748 condos which was down 15.9%
• 666 single family homes which was down 2.6%

Inventory in the city of Chicago continued to fall, declining another 10.9% to 6952 properties from 7802 in January 2017.

Days on the market also fell 7.3% to 51 from 55 days.

“While prices and month-over-month sales are forecast to increase over the next three months, there is some concern about the continuing inventory challenge,” said Geoffrey J.D. Hewings, director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory (REAL) at the University of Illinois. “However, the pending sales index in January found more homes under contract than a year ago.”

“Based on the present trends in the housing market, we anticipate a competitive spring for buyers,” Rebecca Thomson, president of the Chicago Association of REALTORS® and Vice President of Agent Development at @properties, said. “With decreasing market time, sellers will need to be mindful of pricing strategically. If their home is not moving quickly, a proactive price adjustment may help them protect their overall investment without risking the stigma of a longer-than-average market time. With how quickly inventory is moving, an overpriced listing could get left behind.”

The 30-year fixed mortgage rate averaged 4.03 versus 3.95 in December 2017 and 4.15% a year ago.

Is the lack of inventory the only thing holding back this housing market?

And why aren’t developers addressing the shortfall?

Illinois home prices increase in January; sales lower amid tight inventory [Illinois Association of Realtors, Press Release, February 21, 2018]