Crib Chatter

Crain’s is reporting that the Illinois Association of Realtors said that Chicago area sales dropped 20.1% in August compared to August 2006.

• Sales in August 2007 were 9,736
• Sales in August 2006 were 12,192

Prices also dropped.  According to the Case-Schiller index, the Chicago region fell 0.9% for the 12 months through July 2007.

Chicago was towards the bottom of the pack of the metro areas that saw price declines in the last 12 months.  The leader was Detroit, with a 9.7% decline, and then Tampa with a 8.8% decline.

Inventory in the city of Chicago and the surrounding suburbs remains stubbornly high going into the historically slower fall selling season. 

Looking for something outside of the white box high rise?

Look no further than 155 W. Burton, the Carl Street Studios.  Only 16 units, the complex was built in 1922 with unique duplex and triplex units, many with interesting terraces and rooftop decks.  The complex has a lovely interior courtyard.  The units have a cool vintage feel, with leaded glass and colored staircases. 

Unit #15: 2 bedroom, 2 baths,  1600 square feet, large private rooftop terrace

• Currently listed at $699,000
• Previously sold in November 2005 for $635,000

There is no parking available.  Assessments are $791 a month. 

Cara Buffa at Sudler Sotheby’s has the listing.

A few weeks ago I talked about a loft in the West Loop that was advertised on Craigslist as “pre-foreclosure.”

It was a 1700 square foot 2 bedroom, 2 bath authentic loft at the Heartbreak Lofts at 17 N. Loomis.

Unit #2K: 2 bedroom, 2 baths, 1700 square feet

• Previously sold for $378,000 in January 2006
• Was originally listed for $399,000
• Lowered in the last few weeks to $350,000

It is now listed as going to foreclosure auction this week.

• Auction price of $301,870

$300,000 for a two bedroom, two bath in the West Loop?  Not a bad deal even with a kitchen and baths that need to be remodeled. 

Stay tuned.

You don’t see many units come available in Benjamin Marshall’s classic building at 1550 N. State Parkway – which is actually on Lincoln Park in the Gold Coast.  There are only 28 units in the building.  Only three units have sold in the last three years.  A 6,000 square foot duplex is for sale for $3.999 million.

Even more rare is to have a one bedroom for sale.

Unit #504: 1 bedroom, 1 bath, 1100 square feet

• Currently listed for $525,000

True vintage lovers may overlook the drawbacks such as no parking (leased nearby) and no in-unit laundry.  (Although it appears you may be able to install the washer/dryer.)  Assessments are also pricey at $1016 a month.

The listing says it has four exposures and true to the old vintage style it actually has a separate fullsized dining room.

Prudential Preferred has the listing.

[Editor’s Update: Some readers have informed me that this unit HAS sold recently.  I missed these prior sales due to the different spellings of the address.  Sorry! 

• Previously sold for $255,000 in February 2006
• Previously sold for $490,000 in February 2007

I’m assuming that seller #1 renovated the unit and flipped it to seller #2 in February of this year.  

So this unit should have also been listed as a Flipper Alert!  Still beautiful, but expensive, vintage.]

 Yes, foreclosures are happening even in the ritzier downtown Chicago locations.  But some buildings are seeing more of them than others.

In my unscientific observation, the #1 building in Chicago for foreclosures to date has been The Sterling at 345 N. LaSalle in River North.  Located near the Chicago River just down the street from Trump Tower Chicago, it was originally constructed to be an apartment building.   American Invsco bought the building in 2001 as it was just finishing construction and converted it into condominiums in 2002. There are 389 units ranging from studios to large penthouse units. There is no parking available for purchase but you can rent it in the attached public parking garage for about $200 a month.

Several times a month, units at The Sterling have been popping up on the foreclosure auction lists. I talked with one agent handling a bank owned unit in early spring and he said at that time that there were probably “20 to 30” units under foreclosure.

And that was then.

The building’s problems can be traced to the sheer number of investors who bought in the building- especially under American Invsco’s “2-2-2” deal. That deal gave buyers two years of free assessments, two years of taxes paid and two years of guaranteed rental income for the unit.

According to an agent I talked to, many of the investor owners weren’t prepared to suddenly pay the assessments, taxes and a higher mortgage payment when their ARM adjusted.

Here is a Junior 1 bedroom on Craigslist in pre-foreclosure for $220,000.

Another unit just went on the auction block:

Unit #4303: 2 bedroom, 2 bath, 1350 square feet

• Previously sold in December 2003 for $616,400
• Auction price of $493,100

The 03 tier has consistently sold for the upper $500,000s to upper $600,000s since 2002.  What does the foreclosure do to the comps?  It depends on what it sells at auction and for what price.  But, suffice it to say, it’s not good for those other owners.

Past sales:

• Unit #4803 sold for $670,000 in April 2005
• Unit #4703 sold for $595,000 in March 2007

Good luck to Unit #4103, currently on the market for $580,500.  The pictures above are of Unit 4103. 

(By the way, on a side note, the listing describes #4103 as “highly upgraded.”  But that bathroom doesn’t look “upgraded” to me.  The kitchen, as seen in the pictures, was an upgrade package offered from the developer to larger units located on the upper floors.  But it wasn’t exactly top of the line cabinets, faucets or granite.  No Waterworks here.  The developer didn’t offer an upgrade package for any of the bathrooms- so everyone got the standard apartment rental bathrooms.)

Rizzo Realty Group has the #4103 listing.

The foreclosures seem to have trickled a bit in the building lately.  Maybe the worst is over. 

Or maybe not.

It seems that even some developers know that we are heading into the slow sales time of the year.  Melrose Partners, which is rehabbing 334 W. Menomonee in Old Town with top of the line finishes has units for sale OR for rent in the 18 unit building.

It is a gorgeous renovation of a three story brick building into two bedroom, 1 bedroom and studio units on historic Menomonee.  You rarely see new product in the heart of the Old Town Triangle.  The developer is putting in top of the line finishes, including Waterworks faucets and sinks.

Slow sales could be the result of the higher price points.  The larger corner two bedroom, two bath unit on the second floor, Unit #201, (see pictures above) is listed for $729,000.  There is no parking available with the building (and we all know how nasty Old Town is to park- with or without the permits).  The developer is offering to pay for a year’s parking at Piper’s Alley.

The larger 900+ square foot one bedrooms are selling for $499,000, a much higher price point than was recently asked at Crilly Court, the historic conversion a few blocks away that took place last year that bordered Wells, Crilly, Eugenie and St. Paul.  For instance, the building has a studio listed at $279,000 whereas you could buy a one bedroom at Crilly Court (albeit only 700 square feet) for around the same price.  The finishes at Crilly weren’t as luxurious but they weren’t horrible either.

Five of the units are currently available for rent, including Unit 201.  You could buy #201 for $729,000 or you could rent it for only $3300.

The larger one bedrooms are available for rent at $2400 a month.

Renting one of these units would be a pretty good deal (even without the parking.)  They are very classy units.  Problem for this developer is, they’re trying to sell a really expensive product in a declining housing market.  When it was “hot”- you might pay $500,000 for one bedroom in Old Town.  But now?

Jennifer Ames of Coldwell Banker has the listings.

Amid much fanfare, including Mayor Daley himself, the first Starbucks in the Bronzeville neighborhood opened last week at 35th and State, near the former home of the infamous Stateway Gardens public housing projects, which have been torn down.  A new mix-use housing development is going in in its place.  (Photo above taken by John Scanlon, at the Chi-Town Daily News.)

From the Chi-Town Daily News:

Mayor Richard M. Daley said the development will help to eliminate borders between public housing and the rest of the community.

“We cannot isolate the poor,” Daley said.

Bronzeville represents an unlikely location for Starbucks, known for blanketing upscale areas with stores.

The new store is the result of a partnership between Starbucks and basketball great Earvin “Magic” Johnson, who are working together to develop neighborhoods neglected by retail business.

Where Starbucks has gone in, much improvement in the neighborhood has followed. Residents of Wicker Park and Bucktown might argue that the “change” has been for the worse (as they have notoriously boycotted the Starbucks at the Damen El stop). But other neighborhoods are desperate for Starbucks to come. Beverly, on the South side, recently saw its first Starbucks open and the Alderwoman said it had taken her 10 years to lure the coffee king to the south side of the city (despite the average income in that area being the second highest in the city.)

Starbucks is such a lure, that developers vie for the right to have one in their new construction high rise buildings.

Clearly, the Mayor and others are hoping that this new Starbucks will pick up development in the neighborhood and encourage other businesses to follow. From the Chi-Town article:

Alderman Pat Dowell said the opening “sends a powerful message” to other retailers that Bronzeville is again open for business.

Bronzeville has a lot of unique housing stock, including the landmark “gap” district on Prairie, Calumet and Giles between 31st and 35th.  Historic rowhouses can be bought for under $500,000.

Will Starbucks transform the neighborhood?  Some pictures from the neighborhood of homes/condos currently for sale under $500,000 (the picture on the right is a single family home with 3 bedrooms, 2 bath on the market for $375,000 at 3430 S. Prairie):

There’s just something about a historic home.  New construction can’t even come close.

One was recently listed on Alta Vista Terrace, the historic street in Lakeview that was built from 1900 to 1904 to look like London row homes.  From the City’s website on Chicago Landmark Districts:

This street represents one of the last real estate developments of Samuel Eberly Gross, a highly colorful realtor responsible for the construction of thousands of houses in the Chicago area. Sometimes called “A Street of Forty Doors,” Alta Vista Terrace displays a lively variety of architectural styles and detail, yet every townhouse on one side is duplicated with only minor variations at the diagonally opposite end of the block. The distinctly human scale creates a unity and harmony rarely found elsewhere in the city.

3842 N. Alta Vista Terrace: 4 bedroom, 2 bath rowhouse

• Currently listed at $565,000

The listing states that it is an estate sale and sold “as is” and needs a complete renovation.  No pictures of the interior are available so it must be pretty bad.  However, it is on the west side of the street and apparently has room in the backyard for parking (whereas the east side does not.)

There have been five sales the past two years ranging from $595,000 to $749,000.  @Properties has the listing.

It isn’t just condos that are ending up in foreclosure.  North Center has seen rapid price appreciation in recent years- going from affordable to ritzy- with single family homes easily selling for over a million dollars.

One homeowner hasn’t been as lucky and now, according to the public foreclosure records, faces foreclosure on a recently renovated Victorian.

4111 N Oakley Avenue: 3 bedroom, 3 .5 bath, 2 car garage, full basement

• Sold in 2001 for $310,000
• Sold in 2003 for $675,000
• Currently listed at $724,900
• Auction price of $583,932

There is a lot of single family home inventory in North Center.  The $700,000+ market is a tough one to crack right now. 

The listing says the owner is a licensed Illinois realtor.  I guess even the professionals make mistakes when buying properties.

Is $583,000 a bargain on this house?  There are several other homes in North Center in the upper $500,000 range also for sale.  I don’t know how they stack up on location, amenities, size etc.  If anyone knows- please comment.

Stay tuned to see if someone snatches it on the courthouse steps.

The Heritage, at 130 N. Garland Ct., near Millenium Park, has been a resounding success since it started closings in 2004.

The building was actually quite affordable originally, with one bedrooms in the high $200,000s and two bedroom, two bath units that faced the lake from the mid-$400,000s.  Some of the units with the park and lake views have nearly doubled in price.

But now comes a penthouse listing at $4.4 million.

Unit #5701: 4 bedrooms, 4.5 baths, 4668 square feet, 4 cars parking.  The kitchen and baths have been upgraded from the standard Heritage finishes.

This is a new price point for the building and for the Millenium Park area.

Has that area really risen in prestige to warrant this price level?  You could live at the stunning Benjamin Marshall 209 E Lake Shore Drive, near Oprah Winfrey, with views of the lake, 4 bedrooms, 4.5 baths, two car parking, and 5500 square feet for $4.89 million.  (See pictures below.)

We’ll see how long it sits on the market.