The 5-Bedroom Vintage Hyde Park Rowhouse: 1229 E. 56th
This 5-bedroom vintage rowhouse at 1229 E. 56th Street in Hyde Park has been on the market since March 2010.
It has not yet had any price reductions.
Yes, this is mayoral candidate Carol Moseley Braun’s house, which has been reported on in the press.
Built in 1916, it has some original vintage features including leaded glass windows and moldings.
It has 3 fireplaces, including one in the master bedroom.
At 3130 square feet, it is on a 35×150 lot.
There is no garage, but the listing says there is room in the backyard to add one.
The kitchen has white appliances and otherwise has not been updated. There are no pictures of the bathrooms.
3 out of the 5 bedrooms are on the second floor and the other 2 are on the third floor.
It is the fourth most expensive property on the market in Hyde Park.
What will sell this rowhouse?
(And please try to refrain from political comments. We’re here to discuss the real estate.)
Diane Silverman at Urban Search has the listing. See the pictures here.
1229 E. 56th Street: 5 bedrooms, 4.5 baths, 3130 square feet
- Sold prior to 1989
- Sold in December 2006 for $1.7 million
- Originally listed in March 2010 for $1.9 million
- Currently still listed at $1.9 million
- Taxes of $11,769
- Central Air
- No parking- but space in the back for a garage
- Bedroom #1: 16×22 (second floor)
- Bedroom #2: 11×15 (second floor)
- Bedroom #3: 15×10 (second floor)
- Bedroom #4: 11×13 (third floor)
- Bedroom #5: 9×20 (third floor)
“Built in 1916, it has some original vintage features including leaded glass windows and moldings.”
from the pictures it looks to have all its original features (not in a good way).
well after seeing part of the tax returns you can see why the price hasnt budged.
has a wealth of elegant architectural features
They should have included some pictures of them.
$1.9 million truly seems ridiculous. Lincoln Park has a number of much larger, nice homes in the $2.0 to 2.3 million range, not too far above the asking price. For that matter, this Old Town Triangle home (repeatedly blogged about on CC) is larger, much nicer, and just sold for $1.572m, http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/1722-N-North-Park-Ave-60614/home/13345480. In addition, Hyde Park has a few much larger homes for around the same price, or cheaper. Also, last time I checked, housing prices haven’t appreciated 12% from Dec 2006 to the present.
Given all that, I’m predicting this sells for around $1.1 million … if she sells it. More likely, the bank forecloses and she does a deed-in-lieu and it sells for $800-900 at some point a year or two down the road.
Looking at another row house just down the street at 1201 E 56th St. that sold last July for $1.3M, this place seems grossly over-priced. The other sale also seems to have been in a better state of architectural preservation. I think this will be a hard sell at much over $1.1.
She’s packing up and moving to Bridgeport…
Ha! I called the ball on 1722 back in October of 2009 (http://cribchatter.com/?p=7501#comment-53512). Where’s Old Towner now?
But enough with the self congratulation, Calderon is right – while this is a great property, I just can’t see anyone buying it at this price unless, of course, Braun gets elected. If that happens, I can see this easily going for $1.9 – some city contractor will buy it to earn some clout. After all, this still is Chicago.
“Given all that, I’m predicting this sells for around $1.1 million … if she sells it. More likely, the bank forecloses and she does a deed-in-lieu and it sells for $800-900 at some point a year or two down the road.”
Exactly.
I’m not super familiar with politics…but as far as the house goes – nearly 2 million, FOR THAT?!
I’m definitely a fan of vintage…but look at that kitchen – it’s straight out of the 80’s. I’d think i would get a better kitchen…or at least nicer appliances , at this pricetag..
“I just can’t see anyone buying it at this price unless, of course, Braun gets elected. If that happens, I can see this easily going for $1.9 – some city contractor will buy it to earn some clout. After all, this still is Chicago.”
That it isn’t currently under contract means that *no one* thinks she has a chance of winning.
its not any more ridiculous than some LP listings; I would argue its comp should be a row house in LP near to Depaul, (which isn’t even as good a university, in similar condition.
Her 2009 income wasn’t much more than the property tax bill. No wonder she didn’t want to disclose her tax filing…it clearly shows she is—or soon will be—desperate to sell.
That asking price is absurd and I’m shocked the agent was willing to waste their time with this listing…I’m guessing the agent is friends with Braun and listed it out of obligation.
Her mayoral style will be as out of this world as her real estate pricing.
“#anon (tfo) on January 5th, 2011 at 3:04 pm
“I just can’t see anyone buying it at this price unless, of course, Braun gets elected. If that happens, I can see this easily going for $1.9 – some city contractor will buy it to earn some clout. After all, this still is Chicago.”
That it isn’t currently under contract means that *no one* thinks she has a chance of winning.”
“look at that kitchen – it’s straight out of the 80’s.”
Those ovens are straight out of the mid-60s. They probably refaced teh cabs and got new counters in teh 80s.
“Depaul, (which isn’t even as good a university,”
I don’t think the target market for this place is U of C students.
revassal,
there is NO comp between this neighborhood and lincoln park, even the area around DePaul. I don’t think resale value has a linear correlation with the quality of colleges the home is located near, so that’s kind of a weird point.
“I would argue its comp should be a row house in LP near to Depaul, (which isn’t even as good a university, in similar condition.”
The quality of the neighboring university plays no role in determining comps. In some cases, there are no acceptable comps and a property will be very difficult to finance. I ran into this problem with a frame rowhouse for sale in Hyde Park about a year ago…no sufficient comps and, as a result, no loan approval.
Other than location and gross square footage what exactly makes them think this is worth over $1 million? Because I sure don’t see it.
In revassal’s defense, U of C law and med school professors might be prospective buyers of this place.
perhaps the most overpriced place crib chatter has listed in months…and that’s saying something.
$600+/SF for a place in need of quite drastic renovations?
delusional. but then you find out who the owner is and suddenly it makes sense.
How does it comp to this:
http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/1201-E-56th-St-60637/home/13945563
I was in a 5 or 6 bedroom home that is located right around the corner on Woodlawn last December. In fact it is in the overhead photo of this home. It was an amazing home that needed some updating but I liked the layout and could tell that it was a home that was built in a different era. The ceilings were really high. The mouldings and trim were awesome. Period details seemed appropriate. The kitchen was modern and tasteful. It was a very nice property.
The neighborhood does not meet my needs but i have found it to be safe, pleasant, and tree lined. HP is not a bad place. While I can see how that home might have fetched $1.9M it is not clear how they will get there with this home.
Hope she wins the mayoral race so that she can sell it. Does anyone have Rezko’s prison cell phone number? I bet that he could get it done by Friday.
i see insane potential in this place, INSANE. but for a 1.9m price tag where does the physical structure, land, and potential each truly cost?
i mean its hard to quantify a price when it STILL doesnt have a garage or a kitchen.
As someone who used to live a couple blocks down from this place and lived in Hyde Park for nearly a decade, I must say this property is part of one of the nicest blocks in all of Hyde Park. These rowhomes have a beautiful English charm to them that you don’t find in Chicago very often. The price is absolutely absurd, but I always wanted one of these “little” places between Woodlawn and Kimbark. This exterior/facade always struck me as a little out of place though (read: not nearly as pretty/nice as the others) and the interiors don’t help to change my opinion. For this price (or not too much more) I think you could probably nab one of the single family homes along Woodlawn between 55th and 58th.
Rahm has already won.
The election is mere formality.
Let me get this straight… $600+ PSF for that?
Well, it is Chicago, stranger things have happened.
I like that Rahm was in Thailand celebrating over the holidays. Wonder who was with him on the trip. I’d bet that a few key “campaign supporters” and “hangers on” just happened to be staying at the Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, or the Peninsula and “bumped into him” at the pool.
LMFAO! I don’t say this often if ever, but holy crap this has got to be the most overpriced property EVER featured on crib chatter! Holy cow!
Perhaps this is the house of Todd Henderson? (lol look him up)
“Perhaps this is the house of Todd Henderson? ”
Dude, as noted, it’s CMB’s.
I wonder if she’s marketing it to the sons/nieces/nephews/daughters of deceased Nigerian Generals/Princes/Ministers–seems like a decent way to launder some 419 scam money (or stolen petrodollars).
Nice appearance but dimly lit.
Sorry, back to the house. Cool fireplace. Silly price.
“How does it comp to this:
http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/1201-E-56th-St-60637/home/13945563”
Perfect, that is if the seller of 1229 is determined not to be taken seriously.
Present us wth a guliani or bloomerg type candidate and they would win. Nobody stepped up to the plate.
Btw…. there are bathroom pics if you look at the VT/ floorplan. More work needed in the bathrooms……
Kind of like the family room in the basement….except for the fact that you need to walk through an unfinished basement to get there….
“Present us wth a guliani or bloomerg type candidate and they would win. ”
Giuliani = PatFitz? Scott Lassar? Valukas? Webb? Sullivan? Thompson?
Bloomberg = Ken Griffin?
Ain’t no one around Chicago who’s a reasonable analog of either of them.
Assuming I knew absolutely nothing about the political views of this homeowner, this listing alone would disqualify her.
This really is the most overpriced home I’ve ever seen in my 2+ years of reading cribchatter. Asking for appreciation on a 1.7 million bubble buy, without even upgrading the half-century old stoves, is insane.
BTW – I do love this area, but there was also widespread local media coverage about her being injured and mugged right outside this very home a few years ago.
It just blows my mind to even attempt to list at this price.
There have been more overtly overpriced properties on CC. This is the best one lately. Its obviously tied to the UC set but I dunno what the target is for this…thing.
err..target market
Not to use this as a comparable but I used to live near here, renting a studio some years back.
These days entry level condos near here are cheap, dirt cheap in fact.
This is a 2/1 foreclosure that was a nice building a few years ago (probably still is) about .7 miles from here. MLS 07668373 is a 2/1 foreclosure for 36k. You can claim that .7 miles is a huge distance but in reality that area along 61st across from the park is as close to campus and closer to certain schools than that thing. This foreclosure is a block from the law school.
If two bedroom foreclosures this close to the law school aren’t selling at $36k, this listing is pretty funny.
“In revassal’s defense, U of C law and med school professors might be prospective buyers of this place.”
uhhh – they don’t make that much money – remember that story about the UC law prof and his doctor wife?
I lived on 58th and Kenwood for a long time and have to say that the neighborhood itself is pretty nice. Also, condos and houses are REALLY expensive because this is pretty much the “golden rectangle” (the most coveted area for professionals). Given that, I think 1.9 is WAY over priced for this – but who knows, stranger things have happened.
!!!!
What a dazzling gourmet kitchen!
Cabinets of the finest Indonesian Teak!
Solid butcher block countertops made from arctic Siberian Pine!
Indian Maharaja Elephant Ivory-plated custom appliances (this ain’t your grandma’s General Electric!)!
I also find the one bathroom photo stunning.
I’m sorry, but $1.9 million? For Hyde Park? For THIS? It’s big, but it ain’t beautiful, inside nor out.
“i see insane potential in this place, INSANE. but for a 1.9m price tag where does the physical structure, land, and potential each truly cost?”
Never pay for potential… once setting that aside you need to chop the price in half.
serious… 200 a sqft is probably generous for this place
and yeah i saw it was CMBs place after I posted… perhaps she is trying to sell this thing…. its fucking golden!
I suspect that Braun’s house is encumbered by home-equity loan debt, which has benchmarked her improbable asking price. Since Hyde Park is insufficiently “hot” for the well-heeled home-buyer, this is house is likely to become another foreclosure. It’s a “good bones” house probably in need of a full building systems renovation. The electrical and plumbing services are probably original conduit and piping.
I’ve noticed a distinct up-tick however in home prices in Kenwood, which was the Hyde Park backwater of large houses at relatively affordable pricing. Recall Obama’s neighbors’ significant profit realization when they sold their home last year.
The house is encumbered with $2 million in mortgages I believe. Just the person we want in charge of our city finances.
For this price in Hyde Park, I expect elegance. This home has none.
Nice area, I lived in HP for six years in the early 00’s. Got mugged at gunpoint on the next block over, at 56th near Kenwood, in 2005, around 8pm. But that’s ok, because “Diversity is our strength”!
Okay, so it’s totally, totally different and not really location comparable, but is there *anyone* (not trying to curry favor with CMB) who would pay $1.9 for this when this:
http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/4824-S-Woodlawn-Ave-60615/home/13951799
is available for $1.6?
“is available for $1.6”
Maybe Todd Henderson should move up. Now that is a house befitting a U of C law prof. (I know.) The list has come down quite a bit.
anon: that place is sublime.
“that place is sublime.”
I assume the single kitchen pic means the other appliances are old. I’d want to upgrade that, swap the showers for frameless and get rid of the terra cotta tiles, but I love the miami vice w/o the miami look of it. The rare place that screams 1981, but doesn’t suffer horribly for being so loud about it.
Thanks anon. High end from the eighties has aged really well. What an amazing house.
More on it:
http://www.chicagomag.com/Radar/Deal-Estate/July-2010/Hiding-in-Plain-Sight-in-Kenwood/
Sold!
http://chicago.curbed.com/archives/2012/10/16/carol-moseley-braun-sells-professors-row-home-for-12m.php