Rare New York Style Full Floor Live/Work Loft in River North: 208 W. Kinzie
If you want to know what River North lofts really looked like before the developers got ahold of them with their granite and stainless steel kitchens, check out this full floor live/work authentic loft at 208 W. Kinzie.
It is listed as commercial space.
The large freight elevator opens directly into your fourth floor unit which the listing says has the original wood floors, timber ceilings, 15 windows and brick walls.
The loft has central air but no deeded parking. Washer/dryer in the unit? (or even the building?)- I can’t tell from the listing.
But if unique is what you’re after, then this is one of the few “original” lofts left in River North.
Chuck Ginsberg at Solfire Realty has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #4: no rooms listed or square footage listed- full floor loft
- Sold in October 1997 for $152,000
- Currently listed for $499,900
- Taxes of $4215
- Central Air
- Live/Work
What makes this place NY style? And how about the pictures of:
a) a motorcycle in the hallway – not exactly what I’m looking for…
b) The work room that is cluttered with god knows what. Is that to show that this can be an office space or a repair garage, etc…
Seriously — CLEAN UP before pictures are taken. And no matter how cool or “artistic” you think you are, a photo of you on a motorcycle in the hallway will not help sell your place. It just kinda makes you look like an egotistic d-bag.
Still, could be a cool place with some work and a pretty substantial price cut.
Anyone confirm zoning re: residential use?
Mommy does the scary man on the motorcycle come with the place?
lmao those pics are hilarious that guy on the motorbike rofl
“AK49 on October 29th, 2009 at 5:15 am
What makes this place NY style? ”
It’s overpriced?
Unless this is over 4000 sq ft I’m not interested.
Anything “New York Style” in Chicago is a joke. If you want “New York Style” buy a loft in Tribeca. Otherwise you will be stuck with a propery you won’t be able to sell.
Sabrina you amaze me every week 🙂
do you get a discount on the listing price because the roof fell down on the desk in the office area?
Ahahahah!!!! The guy on the motorcycle in picture 4… wow… that’s a new one!
And clean up your place! My god!
Sabrina you are on fire lately
Wonder why this place commands 325% increase in 12 years? kitchen/bathroom look like they were original before the 1997 sale. I’ll bet this place is a beast to heat/cool with the inefficient duct work system and a boat load of windows.
“Unless this is over 4000 sq ft”
Building footprint is ~19×100. So, it’s not 4000 sf.
I seriously think the guy on the motorcycle is flicking off the camera.
Yesterday someone was complaining about the Hollywood lights around the bathroom mirror (which I hate as well). How about a string of Christmas tree lights like they have here. Tacky.
Motorcycle, grandfather clock, breakfast bar for 10, lucky bamboo, clothing rack, Christmas tree lights, messy messy desk. So random. So tragic.
Gonna go out on a limb and say I like the place. Back in the day, I would have killed for this place. I can admit I used to want a big ass loft like this with the freight elevator and I had dreams of being able to park my bike in it. I didn’t want any furniture except a leather chair and a big as entertainment system (kind of like the old memorex commercials).
Then I got married…
$152,000 was a steal in 1997. After factoring his downpayment and including taxes his monthly nut was probably slightly more than $1,000 per month. He heloc’d a little more than $50k over the years but even so, $175k @ 5% plus ~ $400 a month for taxes is still only $1,300 a month or so. For the size and location that’s a deal IMHO. However, the $500k price tag is just ridiculous.
> Then I got married…
oops!
that place looks DARK DARK DARK depressing.
I think this place is interesting. You could put some money into it and make it a large, unique home. My biggest concern: that wall of windows is only there because of the one story building to the right. If anyone ever builds there you would be screwed. You would have a massive apartment with only three windows at the very front. That would make this space essentially worthless as residential.
Not listing the square footage is a major omission. When people look at space like this, they are buying ONLY for the square footage since the furnishings are pretty much non-existent. The listing price is either too high or just right, but it all depends on how much space it includes.
Man, I can’t stand lazy realtors. You’re only getting paid about $30,000 to sell this place, would it be too much to ask for you to take some better pictures and then get out a tape measure to calculate the square footage?
It’s a narrow 20′ lot with just 107′ of depth. The building does not completely cover the lot. The floorplates are 2,000 sf max.
I saw this unit. To be honest, it definitely is a unique space, but it needs a lot of work. I wasn’t crazy about the building either. If it was priced in the 200’s I’d bite.
Nothing about this loft says ‘NY STYLE’…whatever that might mean in the relitters head.
When I think of NYC lofts I think large, open, bright and immculate spaces that are built around the owner’s lifestyle, esp if it is being used as a live/work space. Most of the upper level ones have seen have such features as movable or collapsable walls, elevated or sunken living or kitchen areas and other things that make it unique and if on the market, personalized to the new owner with little cash output.
It is hard to find truly raw spaces (this does not qualify as a raw space…filthy and grimy maybe) that can easily be built out as the owner desires in NYC or Chicago. Now this might be a deal if the price was around $225-250. One would need a good amount of capital to transform this into what it, with a ton of labor and a creative outlook could be. The market segment interested in space like this usually does not have access to a high amount of fundage required to make this place a ‘true NYC loft space’.
There’s that phrase again.
I think the “NY Style” is meant to signify an overpriced dump.
I think this place looks awesome. It is different than a lot of things that are on the market. The only thing I am mad about is that I wont be able to see the guy on the motorcyle for much longer. The MLS does not allow photos with people in it. They will eventually see this and remove it. I just hope they miss this one, because it is quite possibly the best picture I have seen on the MLS!!!
NY style is open, bright, large windows, sprinkler pipes showing, but NO big ducts. NY lofts have not had ducts like this for years…they are a Chicago feature and are big, often block light b/c they are immediately in front of windows, loud and dusty. It costs 20-50K to hide them in walls or run them under the floor. A good loft will hide the ducts. I would pay premium for a real NY style loft, with italian cabinetry, wide plank floors, huge windows, view and doorman and amenities. There are too many crappy lofts in Chicago. Owners try to advertise their dark caves (like this one) as NY style, when in reality, there are only a few NY style lofts in Chicago and they rarely come to market.
Where do we start? This should be on one of those HGTV shows about getting your space ready to sell. The realator did a really poor job explaining to the seller what needed to be done to get this nightmare to sell.
That wall of windows is likely a fire code violation. I guess it stays with the theme of parking your motorcycle in the unit. With a zero lot line my understanding is that you need to be at least 40 feet above the neighboring roof line or you are forced to install non-operable fire rated windows. This detail may slide by unnoticed but could turn into a major cost for a new owner if they ever file for permits and an inspector shows up at the location.
Will our mortgage experts out there help me understand the financing implications of a live/work space loan. I looked at a similar type deal and it was explained to me by my banker that it is much harder to finance this type of property. I would have done a commercial loan if needed but a normal mortgage would not be “considered conforming” for Freddie or Fannie. The banker explained that it makes the loan non-sellable and forces the bank that writes a loan like this to hold it forever making it hard to sell down the line. Please help me understand his thoughts with your comments???
I think Crib Chatter is waaaay too used to looking at HOMES. I don’t think anyone is going to walk into this place thinking, “I can put the nursery here” or “I hope the kitchen has a quality stainless steel dishwasher.”
The person who will eventually buy this place will not give a DAMN about traditional staging ala suburban single family homes. Criticizing this listing for not appealing to the lowest common denominator of buyer strikes me as pretty silly. This is an unconventional space, therefore it should have an unconventional listing.
Now criticizing the price or lack of parking is another matter entirely… those points are valid.
jp3, if it is truly zoned commercial, it will be difficult if not next to impossible to get conforming financing on the place. It wind up being a commercial loan or the bank that does it will in fact “portfolio” the loan.
Generally, you want to avoid places that are hard to finance as it severely reduces the marketability of the property and ultimately the value.
In the past, it was easier to do deals like these as the banks didn’t really scrutinize the minutae. However, in the current environment, it is the minutae that is killing deals – pending lawsuits on HOAs, too much commercial space, not enough units sold, not enough reserves, mechanics liens, etc. I know several developers who reconfigured their 4 unit buildings (3 condos plus 1 commercial) so that the commercial space is less than 20% versus the 25% it used to be because Fannie/Freddie no longer allow greater than 20% commercial space.