South Loop Brick Loft Reduces Again: 1528 S. Wabash
We last chattered about this 2-bedroom brick loft at 1528 S. Wabash in the South Loop in February.
See our prior chatter and pictures here.
It is still on the market and has now been reduced by $38,000.
This is a rare loft in that the walls to the bedrooms actually go to the ceiling, affording some privacy. It also appears that there are windows in both bedrooms (also rare in most lofts.)
Is this loft a deal now?
Elizabeth Sheeran of Ideal Location Chicago Real Estate has the listing. See more pictures here.
Unit#608: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, no square footage listed
- Sold in January 2004 for $268,000
- Originally listed in October 2008 for $299,900 (parking is extra)
- Reduced
- Was listed in February 2009 for $284,900 (parking is $34,000 extra)
- Reduced several times
- Currently listed for $261,900 (parking is $28,000 extra)
- Assessments of $412 a month (includes heat, gas and cable)
- Taxes of $3327
- Washer/Dryer in the unit
- Central Air
- Bedroom #1: 14×12
- Bedroom #2: 12×11
- Living room: 14×18
- Kitchen: 14×9
“Is this loft a deal now?”
290k for a 2/2 with a monthly expense nut of $689 before mortgage. No, no deal now.
Its funny how irrelevant the taxes and assessments seemed to be to the counting on appreciation crowd. Now that appreciation is out of the picture these things become liabilities, to be deducted from a sale price to make it more attractive.
Oh yeah and while this might be a nice looking loft on the inside, that building is hideous.
Those assesements are pretty reasonable if you see that they include heat, cable and gas.
I agree the assessments don’t seem that bad with the includes and for under $300k do you expect to live in an architectural wonder?
This is a small building, so they will never be able to have a doorman, good ammenities, full service building…these types of buildings that don’t have a lot of units and therefore don’t have the money pool to offer the full services, are going to have a tougher time convincing people to turn to high rise living in this real estate climate.
This is a good deal for the right buyer. It depends on what one is looking for. Some people do not want to live in new construction mega unit high rise buildings. For those looking for a vintage true loft feel-not manufactured to “look” like a loft, this is a nice way to go. People who go out to look for a building with all the amenities would not look at this unit anyway. My experience with full amenity buildings is that the assessments are higher as you pay for more common stuff. Not sure how this compares in this market..just a thought.
$412 is steep in my opinion. I have a 1br (900sqft) with 12 ft ceilings, duct work, etc and my most expensive gas bill this winter was $118 in Feb. $480 TOTAL gas bill from Dec-May
Gas bill for May-Oct = $50/month or less ($40 for may 09)
drewcswj,
I am curious where you currently live if you don’t think those assessments are that high.
I’m a realtor with an iPhone!
I like how they are trying to separately sell the parking space. I can already see the offers coming in: $250,000… including parking.
They think they are entitled to 22k appreciation merely for signing their name and living here the past five years. I guess it takes time for the entitlement attitude to drop back to reality these days.
Yeah the nerve of these people having their starting offer include an an appreciation of 8% over 5 years, how could they!
The real problem is that they are located in a massively oversupplied submarket with a lot of distressed properties. No way they can turn a profit in that environment.
I’m still trying to get $45 a share for my Washington Mutual stock. I’m entitled, you know.
Nobody mentioned the baby’s crib in the lower left hand corner of picture 8.
Also nobody mentioned the 100% financing with a HELOC of $40k after that. This seller is underwater and bringing money to da table.
HD, what does it matter if there is a crib in the room in pic 8? Against breeders now? 🙂
And also, why would the current owners’ financial situation matter to a buyer? If they are getting out of a situation that “may” have gone bad, is that not a good thing instead of having them walking away in foreclosure? If they have the $$ to bring with them to closing…good for them.
True, the lack of amenities for a building of this size is not a big deal at all. Having lived in both over amenitied (word? lol) places and buildings with no amenities at all I prefer the latter. And no, that assessment is not at all high.
“Some people do not want to live in new construction mega unit construction high rise buildings.”
Count me in on that group…at least here in Chicago where the units I have visited appear cheap and poorly constructed. Now give me the opportunity to own a penthouse unit in most ANY NYC high rise and I would be all over it, esp if it is a ‘stararchitect’ building. A family member is currently in negos for a unit at HL23 by Neil Denari in Manhattan. Although I will not be living there, I am real excited for them and hope their offer is accepted and the deal goes through. AMAZING building!
On a final note Bob, once you become an owner you too will value and appreciate that feeling of entitlement that comes with ownership, esp after this spectacular market meltdown. Just think of all the praise that will be heaped upon you for having the sense to wait it out and to buy wisely! When that happens I’ll buy you all the $1 canned beers you can drink…
I think the assessment is actually kind of low. Cable ~ $50, gas ~$50, so about $312 a month. That’s pretty much what a 1BR/1BA assessment goes for.
It’s not a deal, but $270K seems about right including parking.
those assessments arent too bad at all. i dont like the layout of these places though with the duplex lofted bedroom feel to them. id imagine that the bedroom gets insanely hot in the wintertime and i prefer to sleep in the cold!
Posted a comment in the wrong area, but this building is surrounded by train tracks. Google map it.
The developer’s son was renting out a unit here since they couldn’t sell all the units.