Crib Chatter

For those architectural buffs out there, even if you’re not rich, it’s possible to still live in an architecturally significant building in Chicago.  Take 880 N. Lake Shore Drive.  Even if you haven’t been on an architecture tour yourself, this building (and its sister at 900 N. Lake Shore Drive) are hard to miss. 

Built in 1951 with 159 units, the building was ultramodern for the time- with floor to ceiling windows in every unit.

Unit# 20G is a 1 bedroom, 1 bath on the market for $285,000.  The listing says it has been recently renovated.

Check out the blue slate floor. 

The kitchen has also maintained the modern, simplistic look. 

Check out the non-wall that separates the bedroom from the livingroom (which you can see in the left side of the picture.)  It allows separation but also natural light.

Finally, this owner extends the wood and natural elements into the renovated bathroom.

It’s the total Mies experience.  The building does not have washer/dryers in the units, but parking is available for rent.  Assessments run $572 a month.

The listing says the unit is going to be on HGTV’s Small Space, Big Style on November 1st.  @Properties has the listing.

Compare that to some other similar units also on the market in the building, such as Unit# 12H, a 1 bedroom, 1 bath listed at $229,000.  You can see how the renovation makes the unit feel completely different.

Jayne Alofs at Koenig & Strey has this listing.

Units continue to be listed at Avenue East, at 160 E. Illinois in Streeterville, as closings continue in the building.

Currently, there are 20 units for sale, out of 130 units in the building, or 15% of the building.  At least half of those are still from the developer.  The others are flips.  Any idea if some buyers are reneging on closing?  There are a number of two bedroom units available from the developer- which seems odd to me as those are usually pretty popular with buyers (especially flippers.) 

The cheapest unit for sale:

Unit #1503: studio with probably about 600 square feet

• Currently listed for $349,000 plus $50,000 for the parking
• Listing says it’s a 1 bedroom, 1 bath and that “dining room can easily be converted into a bedroom.”  Really?  It’s a studio, then.  (But there does appear to be a closet in the “dining room.”
• Dawn Venit at Coldwell Banker has the listing.

Here is the floorplan (sorry that it’s small and hard to read)  The dining room/bedroom is 10 x 12:

For $50,000 more you actually can get a “real” 1 bedroom, 1 bath:

Unit #1604: 1 bedroom, 1 bath, 805 square feet

• Currently listed for $399,000 plus $50,000 for parking‘
• Dream Town Realty has the listing

I don’t yet have the original pricing on these units.  But their re-sale prices are pretty darn steep.  Unit #1604 is also available with a “lease to purchase” option at $2250 a month.

Crain’s is reporting that Chicago area home prices dropped only 0.2% in August compared with July according to the S&P/Case Shiller Home Price Index.  This is better than the 0.7% fall in the top 20 major metropolitan markets during the same time period.

The worst market was Tampa with a 10% drop.  Detroit was #2 with a 9.3% drop.  Seattle actually saw a 6% gain.

The Chicago area saw a 1.3% drop in the last year compared to a 4.4% drop in the 20 top metropolitan markets. From Crain’s:

“There is really no positive news in today’s report,” Mr. Shiller, chief economist for MacroMarkets LLC, which collaborates with S&P on the index, said in a statement. “At both the national and metro-area levels, the fall in home prices is showing no real signs of a slowdown or turnaround.”

Chicago seems to be faring better, so far, than many of its large city competitors in this downturn.

Another week, another foreclosure at 33 W. Ontario, otherwise known as Millennium  Centre, in River North. 

This week, I can’t tell for certain which unit it is because the auction record only says Unit #41.  It doesn’t list a unit letter (i.e. A, B, C etc.)  The auction amount is $323,550 in case anyone is interested.

Also going up for auction:

1151 W. Washington Blvd. Unit #123:  Otherwise known as “Block X” in the West Loop

• Sold in November 2000 for $300,000
• Auction price of $385,131

740 N. Milwaukee, Unit #401: 2 bedroom, 2 bath

• Last sold in February 2006 for $404,500
• Auction price of $387,812
• New development known as City Lights with 45 units in the River West area
• Pictures from the developer, DeStefano, below

CMK opened up the sales center for its latest building at 235 W Van Buren, in the shadow of the Sears Tower in the Loop, only a mere two or three months ago and already the building is under construction and about 60% sold.

How’d they do that?

CMK marketed it very wisely.  The 47 story building has so many floorplans I can’t keep track.  It will have around 700 units when completed.  Many of them are smaller 700 square foot one bedrooms.

Their website says prices start at $179,000 but that is for the smallest unit imagineable and from what I understand they already sold a lot of the cheapest units.

But in this slowing market, it begs the question- who is buying?

Corporate America, apparently.  A tipster reported that the sales center is saying that nearby companies bought out entire floors in the building.  It makes financial sense for them.  Why put their employees who are coming in from out of town offices in hotels?  It’s cheaper to buy a block of units, furnish them, and use it as corporate housing.

What remains to be seen is how many “regular” buyers are purchasing in the building.  Now that the corporations have done their buying, who will buy the other 300 units?

The building will be CMK’s usual style of modern with lots of exposed concrete and abundant windows.

Skybridge, the tallest building in the West Loop at Halsted and Washington, has won architectural awards since its launch in 2003.  You can read about the building’s innovative design at their website.

Despite all of the alcolades, the building still is not sold out, four years after closings started in the building. In an ad for the building, it says there are still 7 units available from the developer (out of 237 in the building). They are competing with nearly 20 other re-sale units for sale.

The views from this building are pretty incredible on the east side-with the entire loop spread before you. You do have to contend with the Kennedy Expressway right below your windows however (also on the east side.)

A couple of the one bedroom sellers seem to be struggling to maintain values (there are apparently two addresses for the building- I don’t know why):

Unit #1009 at 1 N. Halsted: 1 bedroom, 1.5 baths, 950 square feet

• Last sold in December 2004 for $293,000
• Currently listed for $289,000 plus $35,000 for parking
• The picture below is of unit #1009
• Tony Hanas at Coldwell Banker has the listing

Unit #1306 at 737 W. Washington: 1 bedroom, 1.5 baths, 1040 square feet

• Last sold in December 2006 for $314,500
• Currently listed for $310,000 plus $35,000 for parking

The one bedrooms might not be indicative of the appreciation in the building (for various reasons.) 

One of the two bedrooms is in what sounds like pre-foreclosure:

ELEGANT-IMPRESSIVE EXTRA LARGE 2BDRM/2.1BTHS W/AMAZING CITY VIEWS-SOUTHWEST ALL THE WAY TO NORTHEAST-IN AWARD WINNING SKYBRIDGE-2 CAR GARAGE PARKING INCLUDED. PROPERTY BEING FORECLOSED. PRICED TO SELL QUICKLY. HURRY AND MAKE OFFER!!!

Unit #1607 at 737 W. Washington: 2 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 2187 square feet

• Last sold in May 2006 for $1 million
• Currently listed for $600,000 including 2 parking spaces
• Century 21 McMullen has the listing

Is this a “deal”?  Below are pictures of the kitchen and the bath:

Seems the finishes in the building can vary greatly depending on the unit.

Skybridge appears to still be struggling.  Anyone else with any insider info?

It used to be, even ten years ago, that there was no way people wanted to live on the Chicago River.  With that smell and pollution?  Get outta here.

Now the river is “hot.”  From the South Branch, to downtown with all of its townhouses and condo towers with their riverwalks, to the North Branch and the kayakers, the river is being “rediscovered.”

This is great for Chicago.  The river is an untapped resource.

Now that’s it’s hot, how much would you pay for direct access to it?

Apparently, at least one realtor in Ravenswood believes you’ll pay over a million for a non-descript bungalow house. 

4520 N. Virginia: 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 1800 square feet, 2 car garage

• Currently listed for $1.250 million
• Deborah-Hess Flocco at New Chicago Real Estate has the listing

The house has 66 feet of river frontage.  Rare indeed.

But what about the house?  It looks like it could use some work.  Here is the back deck that is on the river:

Ho-hum.  Does that look like you’re really enjoying the water to you?  Me neither.

Look at the rest of the backyard:

Right.  Not very impressive.  Neither is the front yard.  Not much curb appeal- even though the home is one of those classic larger bungalows.

Yeah- it needs some work on the landscaping.  The Craigslist ad doesn’t show any pictures of the kitchen or baths (and neither does the MLS listing.) 

Would you pay over $1 million for only 1800 square feet in an older Chicago bungalow that likely hasn’t been renovated?  That’s the question.  How much is the river frontage really worth?

Let’s say you’ve decided, with the slowing housing market, that now would be a good time to buy your dream condo. After all, there are a lot of condos available and some developers are offering incentives. But you don’t know anything about all of the buildings out there so you get yourself a buyer’s agent to help you along the way.  You’re relying on “Chuck” – your agent- to steer you in the right direction.

Chuck takes you to three new developments in the South Loop, all of which are the types of buildings you are definitely interested in.  Chuck tells you that Building #2, the modern glass skyscraper, is being built by a “great developer” and that the units are a “deal” compared to the other two buildings.

Based on Chuck’s enthusiasm (he is after all, the expert, and that’s why you hired him), you decide to buy a condo in Building #2.

Everyone is happy, right? Chuck gets a sale, the developer gets rid of a unit and you get your dream condo.

What if you knew that in addition to the normal buyer’s agent fee (which is normally about 2.5% to 3% of the overall agent’s fee of 5% to 6% on a property), the developer had given your agent an “incentive”- maybe much as another 1% or 2% of the purchase price- just to get you to come into the door and buy.

Is this a conflict of interest?

What if Chuck was taking you only to the developments where he was certain to make an extra $2500 or $10,000 out of the deal? (But hadn’t told you.)

Would you feel cheated?

New West Realty is one of the developers that isn’t shy about revealing its broker incentives.  They are offering $2500 extra on top of the normal commissions and say so.  Said New West Realty in an ad in the Gazette newspaper in September:

“By giving away outrageous buyer incentives to move inventory, you can’t help sending the unspoken message that you’re desperate, and that can reflect poorly on buyer attitudes about your product,” Amy Settich, VP of sales and marketing, said. “We are offering the values and locations people desire…our incentive program clearly demonstrates New West sees the broker community as a valued part of the sales process.”

New West is handling University Station lofts and Eastgate Village in Bronzeville (among other developments.) Should these kind of “incentives” be disclosed to the buyers? Wouldn’t you want to know if your agent was getting extra money on the side from a developer just to get you to buy at a certain development?

Who doesn’t like a good loft?  Did you ever notice that in the movies and on tv shows the sophisticated characters always live in neat bi-level lofts with spiral staircases?  You can find that in many parts of Chicago.  And you don’t necessarily have to be in Printers Row, the West Loop or Bucktown to find some interesting authentic loft buildings.

Take the Postcard Lofts at 1733 W. Irving Park Rd. in the North Center  area.  The building was built in 1900 and originally housed a company that printed out colorful postcards for places around the world (hence, the name.)  It’s an older conversion from the 1990s and some of the finishes reflect that.

But that also means the developer did some funky layouts and the units are bigger than what you’d find in a loft conversion today.

I am especially fond of this three story corner unit.

Unit #222: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2379 square feet

• Was listed for $599,000
• Currently listed for $549,000
• Been on the market since at least last winter (per the snow in the streets in the photos)
• Last sold in July 1998 for $262,000
• Three stories with the possibility of a fourth (according to the listing)
• Parking included?  (there is a parking space)
• Assessments of $554 a month (which seems really reasonable given the amount of space- but the listing says 6 months paid assessment)

One of the bathrooms is in the old bank vault (you can see the steel door in the pictures).  But otherwise, the whole “bank vault” thing is kind of a disappointment (not as cool as you would think.)  Inside the bathroom it just looks like, well, a bathroom.

Still, if you do a virtual tour on this property, it seems to have a wacky layout (which authentic loft lovers should like).  It also has great windows in the livingroom.

Yes- the kitchen is out of date (gasp- no granite and white appliances and sink) which is probably what is keeping this unit from selling.

That- and the price is expensive for the neighborhood and the building.  A 2 bedroom, 2 bath one level 1500 square foot unit with the parking included just went under contract in the building.  It was listed for $399,000.  Unit #222 appears to be the most expensive unit in the building (that has ever sold.)

There are 67 units in the building.

Jennifer Vogel at Century 21 Sussex & Reilly has the listing (and there is a  virtual tour on the site.)

What incentives have you seen developers giving out to move their product?  It used to be upgraded granite and kitchen cabinets.  But apparently that isn’t enough anymore as granite and nicer cabinets have become “standard” finishes.

Here is one agent trying to sell a garden unit in Lincoln Square on Craigslist and giving out a 5 day, 4 night cruise for 2 along with the deal.

4922 N. Rockwell 88% SOLD! LAST UNIT LEFT! SELLER SAYS SELL!!

**$10k BELOW IDENTICAL UNIT THAT JUST SOLD!!**

BEST garden level condo in Lincoln Square! GREAT investment! LIVE IN IT OR RENT IT OUT!

!!5 day/4 night CRUISE for 2 (to Mexico, Bahamas or West Caribbean) with purchase of this property. Or if you retain me as your agent!!

It’s listed for $189,000.

Steve Acoba at Keller Williams has the listing.

Do these incentives really make you want to buy a condo?  Or is it just a sign of desperation that is now a turn-off to buyers?