Crib Chatter

The really authentic loft buildings have some of the largest lofts.

This building at 2222 N. Racine in Lincoln Park was converted in 1984. It’s a small building.  The listing calls Unit #5 a “loft townhouse”.

It has a private attached garage and two patios. The kitchen has Miele and Sub-Zero appliances.

Unit #5: 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 2221 square feet, 1 car garage

• Sold in August 2005 for $825,000
• Currently listed for $919,000
• Assessments of $334 a month
• Coldwell Banker has the listing

Lots of people live near the beach and Lake Michigan, but most overlook busy Lake Shore Drive while doing so.

Not so in Rogers Park.

The listing for 1056 W. North Shore claims it is “50 feet to the sandy Lake Michigan shoreline.”

What would you pay to live near the beach?

Unit #3W: 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2200 square feet, 2 car parking

• Sold in October 2004 for $390,000
• Currently listed for $450,000
• Assessments of $350 a month
• Property has roof rights
• Rob Gow and Chrise Pfauser Shoreline Property Advisors at Coldwell Banker has the listing

As a reader pointed out a week or so ago, a two bedroom short sale has appeared on the market in The Columbian, at 1160 S. Michigan, in the South Loop. This is the new construction high rise at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Roosevelt Road.

Here is the listing for Unit #2502:

SHORT SALE… SELLER IN PRE-FORECLOSURE… ALL OFFERS CONSIDERED… NVR LVD IN 02 TIER OF ‘THE COLUMBIAN’. UNOBST PROTECTED LAKE, MUSEUM CAMPUS VIEWS, LRG BALC ACCESS FRM MSTR & LIV AREAS. HIGHLY UPGRAD W/ SPLIT OPEN FLR PLAN 1231 SQFT. KIT W/ 42′ CABS, GRNTE, SS APPL. MARBLE MSTR BATH W/ SEP SHOWER.

FULL AMENITY BLDG, 24HR DRMN, EXERCISE RM, PARTY RM, DOG RUN & SUNDK GAR 40K… ALL OFFERS SUBJECT TO LEND…

Unit #2502: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths

• Sold in fall of 2007 for $477,900
• Now listed in short sale for $399,900 plus $40k for parking
• Assessments of $304 a month
• Elite Realty Advisors Inc has the listing

Unit #2505 went to foreclosure auction in mid-April 2008 and has not yet come back on the market (if no one bought it at the auction- which is likely.)

From what I can tell it appears to be taking about two to three months for properties to come onto the market from the bank.

Unit #2505: Two bedrooms, two baths, 1479 square feet, unit faces Northwest

• Sold in September 2007 for $550,500
• I believe that includes a parking space
• Foreclosure auction price of $406,320
• Not yet back on the market

I don’t have pictures of #2505 but it would be similar looking to the pictures below of Unit #3105 which is also still on the market. It’s listed at $575,000 plus $35k for parking.

Stay tuned.

511 W. Aldine is one of those elegant courtyard buildings that dot the streets of East Lakeview.

Built in 1926, this building does not disappoint with large units and original vintage features. The listing says it “light-filled European vintage”.

Unit #3F: 1 bedroom, 1 bath, diningroom, woodburning fireplace

• I couldn’t find a prior sales price
• Currently listed for $310,000 (parking space included)
• Deck
• Listing doesn’t say it has a w/d (the two bedroom listing in the building does however)
• A/C Window Units
• Assessments of $234 a month
• Brad Lippitz Real Estate Group has the listing

There are two townhouses currently on the market at 1140 W. Newport in Lakeview. These aren’t huge townhouses- but seem more like a two bedroom condo alternative.

They were built in 1990. Unit #A was the last unit to sell.

Unit #A:

• Sold in April 2004 for $350,000
• Sold in January 2008 for $383,000

Unit #C came on the market less than three weeks ago and is already under contract.

Unit #C: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1350 square feet, private attached garage, private patio

• I couldn’t find a prior sale price for this unit
• Currently listed for $394,900
• No assessments
• Koenig & Strey has the listing

Unit #B is still on the market. It has also been on the market less than three weeks. The listing says it has a private roofdeck. Unit #C doesn’t mention having the same.  You can see more on the Craigslist ad.

Unit #B: 2 bedrooms, den, 1350 square feet, private attached garage, private roof deck, patio

• Sold in January 2004 for $325,500
• Originally listed only a few weeks ago for $434,900
• Reduced to $426,900
• Reduced again
• Currently listed at $425,000
• No assessments
• Kale Realty has the listing

Chicago may be famous for its lofts, but what about the duplex loft?

Altgeld Court, at 1300 W. Altgeld in Lincoln Park, is a loft building that is all about the duplex. These are also a bit more unusual because they are not the usual timber or concrete ceilings.

Built in 1991, there are currently three duplex units on the market, including this one bedroom. 

Unit #141: 1 bedroom, 1.5 baths

• Sold in March 2003 for $298,000
• Currently listed for $349,900 (parking space included)
• Assessments of $175 a month
• Koenig & Strey has the listing

The New York Times ran an article yesterday called “Collateral Foreclosure Damage for Condo Owners” about how owners are being saddled with paying special assessments, among other burdens, to cover assessments on foreclosed condo units.

The article talks about what the condo mess is doing to owners in downtown Miami. But Chicago is also mentioned.

We’ve chattered about this topic before. Maybe some owners in buildings, like The Sterling at 345 N. LaSalle, that have seen a lot of foreclosures can tell us how their boards are dealing with the assessment issue.

Buildings with few units can suffer even if it just one owner falls into trouble. Doris Wilson, who owns a one-bedroom apartment in a building in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago, struggled to get a lender to pay $2,500 in association fees after it foreclosed on one of the seven units in her building. The bank eventually paid the money, and the association has since been able to paint its wrought-iron fence and clean the sewer system.

Still, Ms. Wilson worries that the expected sale of the foreclosed unit at about $94,000 will hurt neighbors who paid or refinanced their units for three times that price. In the short term, she dislikes asking her neighbors to pay an extra assessment of nearly $220. She dreads going to monthly condo board meetings, and she avoids some neighbors who are struggling to pay the additional fees.

“It’s personal,” she said. “Here they are going through a hard time and you have to ask them to pay.”

Marki Lemons, a Chicago real estate broker, says that investors are hesitant to buy properties with many foreclosures because of the possible problems. Some buildings with four to eight units have had so many foreclosures that their condo associations have disbanded and windows have been boarded up. In these cases, she does not even want to represent sellers, because buyers cannot get financing and will have to pay all cash. Sellers will be disappointed by those buyers’ offers. “They’ll probably give 20 cents on the dollar,” she said.

Collateral Foreclosure Damage for Condo Owners [New York Times]

I chattered about this pretty vintage unit at 7406 N. Claremont in West Ridge in mid-January 2008.

It is still on the market and has been reduced- but not by much.

7406 N. Claremont #1S:  3 bedrooms, 3 baths, duplex, 3100 square feet

• Sold in March 2002 for $302,000 
• Was listed in January 2008 for $434,900 (includes the parking)
• Reduced
• Currently listed for $414,900
• Seller will now pay assessments for six months 
• Assessments of $232 a month
• Keller Williams Lincoln Park has the listing

In January 2008 we chattered about a listing in The Cinema Lofts at 1635 W. Belmont that emphasized the new stainless steel appliances.

Here is another listing doing the same at 725 W. Sheridan in Lakeview:

BEST LAYOUT IN THE BUILDING! PRICE INCLUDES 1 DEEDED PARKING SPACE. UNIT FRESHLY PAINTED & ALL NEW CARPET. KITCHEN BOASTS NEW STAINLESS STEEL APPS, GRANITE COUNTERS, DURABLE WOOD LAMINATE FLOOR. SPACE FOR DINING TABLE.

AMAZING CLOSET SPACE EXTRA NOOK FOR OFFICE/DESK OFF HALL. W/D ALLOWED IN UNIT! PERFECT LOCATION, WALK TO RED LINE, STARBUCKS, WHOLE FOODS! CORNER, END UNIT WITH LOADS OF LIGHT! MOVE-IN CONDITION!

So I ask again: do stainless steel appliances REALLY matter?

Unit #401: 1 bedroom, 1 bath, diningroom

• I can’t find a former sales price on the unit
• Unit #201 sold in August 2007 for $215,000
• Currently listed for $215,000 (includes the parking)
• Assessments of $278 a month
• Re/Max Edge has the listing

Many people like the modern style of Helmut Jahn’s 600 N. Fairbanks. But before that building came the Mies Van Der Rohe buildings on North Lake Shore Drive.

860 N. Lake Shore Drive is one of the co-op buildings. Built in 1951, there are no washer/dryers and no central air. But who needs those things?

It’s Mies!

Unit #17L is a renovated two bedroom. If I didn’t know better I might have thought I was in 600 N. Fairbanks by looking at that kitchen, with Boesch and Subzero, and marble baths.

And I’m a sucker for this great evening shot.

Unit #17L: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1400 square feet

• I couldn’t find a prior sales price
• Originally listed for $469,000
• Reduced
• Currently listed for $399,900
• Assessments of $1729 a month– includes taxes
• Parking is rental (available for around $150 a month)
• Cathy Epstein & Associates has the listing