Selling a New Construction Luxury Lakeview 2/2 Five Years Later: 3321 N Seminary
This 2-bedroom in this 3-flat at 3321 N. Seminary in Lakeview recently came on the market.
We chattered about this building when it was under construction in 2013.
These 3-unit luxury brick buildings were going up all over the north side as the bust eased in 2012-2014.
This one has 3 units with garage parking.
This unit is in the middle of the building, on the second floor, and has a big front balcony.
It has luxury finishes that were common in these units including coffered ceiling, built-in bookcases, crown molding and wainscoting.
The kitchen has 54 inch cabinets, luxury appliances from Subzero and Viking along with quartz counter tops and a quartz backsplash.
The listing says there’s Restoration Hardware lighting throughout.
The master bathroom has heated marble floors along with a steam and rain shower.
This building is all brick and the listing says it has concrete soundproofing between units.
It has a Nest thermostat and a security system.
The unit sold 5 years ago from the developer for $466,000, with the parking included.
It has come on the market for $83,000 more, or $549,000.
How will prices for these luxury 2/2s hold up in re-sales?
Bonnie Tripton at @Properties has the listing. See the pictures and a floor plan here.
Unit #2: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, no square footage included
- Sold in February 2013 for $466,000
- Currently listed for $549,000 (includes the parking)
- Assessments of $90 a month (includes water, scavenger, exterior maintenance)
- Taxes of $9333
- Central Air
- Washer/dryer in the unit
- Wood burning fireplace with a gas starter
- Bedroom #1: 13×12
- Bedroom #2: 12×10 (although the floor plan says 10×10)
- Living room/dining room: 17×17
- Kitchen: 10×9
- Front terrace: 20×8 (?)
The floor plan is tight and inefficient. The finishes are nice and there is hood outdoor space but I can’t see paying more than low 500s for something that would feel cramped with only two people.
*good
This place is tiny… doesn’t seem like a good value imho. Deck is nice. Finished are nice, but seems small imho
The office is the only room that has furniture of the right scale for the room size.
This looks to be about 1100 square feet not counting the balcony, which would mean it’s asking close to $500 per square foot = El ridiculoso
I hate places that don’t have room for a real dining room table.
“about 1100 square feet not counting the balcony”
Might be only 1100 sf *before deducting for the common stairs*. Seems like it would live like a smallish 1+den.
That’s a lot of money to throw done for a place where you can’t have a dinner party for six. And this location is a very long mile from LSD in traffic.
“you can’t have a dinner party for six.”
Heck, with the way that they set it up you can’t even have a sit down dinner for four. There are only three bar stools at the island. Space for the “dining room table” does not truly exist.
As we near the bubble peak I guess that we need to be respectful. I would suppose that someone could pull up that chair in the office and place it at the end of the island. That makes four settings. Then they could get two folding chairs for the other two guests to pull up to the built in counters. That gets us to six.
With that large outside space they can invite the whole family and fry the Thanksgiving turkey out on the terrace. The good news is that no one will miss a moment of the game. Except for being in the bathroom it is almost impossible to be out of view of that TV screen.
A $90 monthly assessment means this association is not saving even 1 penny for preventative maintenance. Also, this place is staged terribly for the living / dining room. They have got to figure out a way to stage a dining room table somehow. No one is going to want to spend 500+k for a place with no place to eat a meal besides a TV dinner on the couch.
The baths are beautiful but otherwise this unit encapsulates everything that is wrong with new construction: Lack of space for a dining table, lack of space for a proper office (I loath the old desk shoved in a bedroom look), absurdly huge outdoor living space relative to paltry indoor space in our climate.
An equation gets plugged into a computer. The equation is designed to maximize the developer’s return. Out springs these soul-less boxes. People occupy the premises for a a few years and think they are owed an outsize return for what is effectively a very mediocre unit. Units like this are why most people are in fact better off renting.
And those taxes suck too.
“Units like this are why most people are in fact better off renting.”
I’m at a low price point in buying and what I can afford is smaller than my one bedroom rental in Sheridan Park, so I’m not running out to buy anything. (actually my living and dining room have more space than this unit.
And with vintage buildings deconverting, does it even make sense to buy a one bedroom at all?
https://www.bisnow.com/chicago/news/multifamily/chicagos-condo-deconversion-trend-is-adding-scores-of-one-bedroom-apartments-to-neighborhoods-inventory-84413
“A $90 monthly assessment means this association is not saving even 1 penny for preventative maintenance.”
What preventative maintenance?
Lol.
Most people won’t live in one of these units for more than 5 or 6 years. And this particular seller has lasted 5 years. With new construction, why would you think you’ll have to do ANY kind of maintenance? It’s not like there’s tuckpointing yet or anything like that. Let the next owners deal with all of that.
But there must be a LOT of 3-flat owners in buildings that are 15-20 years old that are facing really interesting special assessments right about now.
I think this condo is beautiful and will appeal to buyers who don’t read this blog.
This is a lot of money for a second floor condo. When I sold a condo near here two years ago, it was a strike against my place that my only outdoor space was a balcony off my bedroom, rather than in front off the living room Seeing how much living space a front balcony eats up, I don’t think it’s a good trade off but that’s just me and not the market.
Are most people really Ok having no table to eat on at all, and just sitting on stools at a counter for every meal? Because it appears that’s the only possibility with this place, as I don’t see where one would put a table.
I do like the ceilings and built-in shelves in the LR, however. I could do without the TV over the fireplace.
Sabrina’s point about owners of small and newer condos not doing any maintenance is a big reason I don’t live in a condo anymore. Cheap and selfish short-term thinkers abound.
“I don’t see where one would put a table”
One could put a smallish table in the space behind the sectional. Especially if one had living room furniture of the appropriate scale for the space.
Still wouldn’t be able to seat six comfortably.
When I had a condo, we specifically only really considered vintage buildings as most conversions retained the dining room. Our dining room was a good 13 x 15. Dining rooms are a must imho if you plan on hosting family or occasional dinner parties. They even make great impromtu office spaces.
The open living area concept is ok, but it seems like most of these developers just use it as an excuse to make a smaller unit. Rarely see units that have a great room large enough for a true dining room set and decent sofa/chairs. I think a lot of people don’t realize how small these living areas are when they are empty. Combine that with the oversized furniture at stores like Pottery Barn, etc it is practically impossible to get a legit six person table/chairs in some of these places without bumping right up against a sofa.
Ho hum…yet another early-21st-century railroad-flat-style condo aimed at new home buyers. Main advantages are good school district (assuming they have no more than 1 kid; 2 could be difficult in that space) and of course easy access to the Red Line to get downtown or Cubbieland. Assuming you still have money for tickets after the monthly PITI payment.
The open living area concept is ok, but it seems like most of these developers just use it as an excuse to make a smaller unit. Rarely see units that have a great room large enough for a true dining room set and decent sofa/chairs
IKEA bears some of the fault here as well. The target market for a lot of these places will walk thru the showroom and see how they’ve crammed a kitchen, eating area and living room into under 500sf and think its doable. Then they have to live in it and make it function and the wheels fall off
“how they’ve crammed a kitchen, eating area and living room into under 500sf and think its doable”
Those vignettes feel very spacious when one is standing 8′ outside of the non-existent exterior wall.
It amazes me that people will spend north of a half million dollars to put a TV over the fire place. Hasn’t our society and sense of design surpassed that yet?
Note the flashy appliances, yet can’t spring the extra $800 for the drawer microwave which is made to be undercounter. The seller and buyer deserve each other.
and, it’s contingent…
What’s wrong with the tv over the fireplace?
Agree with what others have said. This place isn’t great- can’t imagine why you’d want to. Spend over half 1 million without the dining room.