Selling 5 Months Later: 334 W. Menomonee in Old Town
We’ve chattered about this building at 334 W. Menomonee numerous times in the past. It is a 16-unit conversion in the Historic Triangle. Only a handful of units have sold in the building.
Another unit has come on the market only this time it is a re-sale of one of the larger 2-bedroom units.
It sold last May for $599,000. It is currently listed for $599,000.
Here’s the listing:
Anything but cookie cutter new construction! Beautifully designed rehab in unique historic building: Pristine kitch with Carrera white Italian marble cntr tps, custom white ktch cabs, w/ integrated single draw d/w and fridge.
BA designed w/Waterworks tile/plumbing. Walnut wd flrs throughout, high ceilings, advanced insulation and in unit W/D. Duplex down, BR’s sep. 4 max. privacy. Also avail. for rent/ask about prkg
Unit #102: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1400 square feet, duplex down
- Sold in May 2008 for $599,000
- Currently listed for $599,000
- Assessments of $258 a month
- Taxes are “new”
- No parking
- Central air
@Properties has the listing. There are no interior pictures posted yet. You can see the listing here.
All of the units had the same finishes. Here are pictures from other units:
It’s the unit to the right of the door in the posted picture. No windows on the northside, so it still wouldn’t have light at all like the pictured unit.
This is a beautiful building. It is a shame they have to sell so quickly. Hopefully things will recover with the building in time
I’m anxious to see some actual interior pics. All we’ve seen up until now is a staged unit.
“This is a beautiful building.”
I’d agree about the south-facing units. But the ones on the northside–especially those w/o *any* street exposure–are not-so-desireable. I think a fair discount is *at least* 30%, but the builder clearly didn’t agree, but I doubt they’ll sell w/o that sort of discount to the much better south units.
A shame? No, it’s ridiculous that they bought it in the first place.
How much ‘due diligence’ was not performed for someone to buy in this building in May 2008 (deed says 3/08?) I wonder if any of the erroneous sale and rental info from the developer mentioned on this site factored into the terrible decision to buy?
Prior to the 2008 purchase, this unit was first listed in 2006 for sale on the mls for $640,000; lowered to $549,000; raised to $599,000; raised to $649,000; and lowered to $629,000. It was also listed for rent in 2007, first at $2600, raised to $3300, lowered to $2900, and raised back to $3300.
The buyer of this unit has a mortgage on it with Brickyard Bank for $798,000 (ccrd document #0808049126.) The decision to purchase isn’t the only thing that makes no sense.
“The buyer of this unit has a mortgage on it with Brickyard Bank for $798,000 (ccrd document #0808049126.) The decision to purchase isn’t the only thing that makes no sense.”
Did you look at the doc? Relying on CCRD date entry is a bad idea. But if that’s teh real mortgage amount, that really looks like a straw buyer for the developer, done just to get a “sale” “closed”.
No, didn’t see the deed (moving very slowly) so I would assume it is a typo. But who really knows anymore? Stranger things have been documented here.
Besides, I believe there have been questionable loans in the press about that particular lender (snicker snicker.)
The MLS games and list and rental prices going up and down and all over the place suggest amateurish fraud. I wouldn’t be surprised if we found some eastern european sounding names on the documents for these units. Brickyard bank? Never heard of ’em.
“Brickyard bank? Never heard of ‘em.”
They’re out of Lincolnwood. I’m not sure waht G is referring to, unless he’s mixing up Brickyard with Broadway Bank.
I’d be willing to bet that Paulson doesn’t consider Brickyard Bank “too big to fail”. I’m glad I don’t have a large savings account with them.
anon, I did indeed mix them up. Broadway Bank always gets a laugh out of me (for obvious public and some not-so-public reasons,) but Brickyard Bank has had some problems with regulators. The funny thing is, Brickyard isn’t much of a mortgage lender, IIRC.
For newcomers, a suggestion. Go back and read the earlier entries about this building – the consensus = really shoddy construction.
Any have reliable information regarding which banks are truly in good financial condition? I’ve been checking on Bauer and on the.street.com’s bank screener, but wonder how reliable that information is in light of Fannie Mae /Freddie Mac bust. Very few banks in Chicago area are still receiving the “A” grade – anyone dealt with Park Ridge Community Bank, for instance? And Northern Trust is a “C”, Corus Bank is “D-“, etc.
Crains last week noted that Community Bank of Oak Park River Forest was seriously undermined by its FM/FM exposure, and named several other banks in same article.
The whole financial sector is a minefield and I wouldn’t trust the ratings agencies on their bonds either. Moody’s & S&P had A ratings on LEH right before they went BK.
I’ve commented in the past about the low quality of the wood and poor alignment of trim in some of the units. I will say I give the developer a LOT of credit for not doing generic finishes in these units. The cabinets and the tile and countertops are much more elegant and timeless than other rehabs I’ve seen around the city. However, the prices in this building have always been nuts and the units with basement space really show where the developer got greedy. They feel like dark basements covered in mid-grade carpeting that is just begging to be soaked by the next serious rainstorm.
It says the listing is with @properties yet the link leads to Prudential’s web site?
JP Morgan Chase is one of the safest banks these days and has branches and ATMs everywhere. They pay pretty low rates of interest on deposits, but if all you are looking at is safety, I would look there.
In my experience, as long as your bank is FDIC insured, you don’t need to worry. During the S&L crisis, our account with Superior Bank was seamlessly transferred to Charter One Bank. And WaMu depositors became Chase depositors recently with little disruption.
JohnG: As I have said in the past- @Properties website isn’t search friendly. It doesn’t allow you to search by address.
So when I post an @Properties property- I link to another site so that people can see the listing easily.
Similarly- several other sites only allow you to see properties if you’re registered- also a hindrance to people who simply want to see what the property looks like.
That’s why we love Sabrina!
Thanks Sabrina, that makes sense! I hate the whole registration thing, thanks for helping us avoid that.
I’m new to the site and I’m not sure who chatters about what and where these properties come from but I’m floored at the misinformation flying around about this one. Just gonna throw a few facts down, the buyer was not a straw buyer, Brickyard bank is a real bank, the mortgage amount is not 798,000, it was closed in march, the MLS info is recorded by humans so there are mistakes from time to time just like CCRD, lastly, selling a few months after a purchase can mean a number of things, not necessarily anything bad/fraudulent etc., I think the crazy market conditions are having everyone assuming the worst about everything at the moment.
Tina: I think many of the commenters above were stating that the $798,000 amount on the CCRD was probably not accurate.
Tina,
Thanks for the effort. It appears that all but one of your “facts” were already concluded above.
However, you did leave one unanswered. “selling a few months after a purchase can mean a number of things, not necessarily anything bad/fraudulent etc.” Well, what does this mean?
I know one thing, it means the seller will lose a lot of money due to their foolishness of paying $599K, let alone selling so soon. They paid that for a unit when even a tiny amount of due diligence (an MLS search) would have revealed that the developer couldn’t sell the unit previously for $549K.
How did that happen? Help us complete this tale on how to amass a six-figure loss on real estate in only a few short months.
Any updates on this building? My friend was living on the second floor. Noisy place and nice finishes but definitely done on the cheap. She said a lot of the units were sitting empty. Has anything sold, rented or generally been moving here?
Several units have been rented in this building. Finishes are all high-quality, but floor plans don’t offer great value on a price per square foot basis. Photo gallery for unit #304