The Cheapest 1-Bedroom in CMK’s 1720 S. Michigan in the South Loop
It’s been over a year since we chattered about CMK’s South Loop modern high rise at 1720 S. Michigan.
When I first started this blog in 2007, it was among the first new construction buildings I covered and flippers were still in the game trying to flip their units which had just closed.
See the October 2007 chatter here.
This 1-bedroom unit on the 18th floor has been on the market for several weeks. It is currently the cheapest 1-bedroom for sale in the building.
1720 S. Michigan is enormous, in terms of the number of units. It totals 498 units.
This 1-bedroom is one of the smaller 1-bedroom units.
But it still has hardwood floors, central air, an in-unit washer/dryer, and stainless steel appliances and granite counter tops in the kitchen.
The price also includes the parking.
It is currently listed for $78,000 under the 2007 purchase price.
Is this a deal?
Victoria Watzlawick at Exit Platinum Realty has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #1813: 1 bedroom, 1 bath
- Sold in October 2007 for $243,000 (included the parking)
- Currently listed for $165,000 (including the parking)
- Assessments of $300 a month (includes heat and air conditioning)
- Taxes of $2772
- Central Air
- Washer/Dryer in the unit
- Bedroom: 11×11
- Living room: 16×10
- Kitchen: 13×7
I wonder what will happen to the buyers of 235 West Van Buren. They are the current crop of purchasers who will be the next generation of those being CMK’d.
That looks like a studio that they added some walls to and called a one BR. Although I wouldn’t want it, with the tax credit the price seems reasonable for a single person who would plan to live there for a long time. What are the odds they could have it under contract by the end of this month, though?
Drops like this are probably only the tip of the iceberg for the South Loop.
Man I walked past 235 W. Van Buren the other day, that building is huge! Its also sorta like the monolith from ‘2001 a Space Odyssey’
As for this? Meh, it doesn’t cash flow and buying a 1br as a first time homebuyer is kinda dumb… Probably a ton just like this in the lower south loop as well… I doubt this sells, but who knows, it only takes one
235 is the capstone CMK project. Their MO during the boom was to shove as many small units as possible into the smallest land parcel.
The bedrooms in most of these buildings are laughable as often they qualify as a bedroom per Chicago city code by not having the wall go all the way up so some natural light can permeate through. But that also allows noise from all over the apartment and smells from the kitchen, which is often on the other side of the non-full height bedroom wall.
Most of their buildings should’ve been apartments, as evidenced by the massive amount of foreclosures and problems in 1720 & 1620 S Michigan. It really is a rush for the exits, especially in 1620 which is a little older.
What looks like a deal relative to buyers that bought during the boom might not be given the problems with foreclosures in the building and their impact on assessments.
Thankfully the CMK building I live in has not had those issues since it was priced reasonably well for the hood when it first came out (pretty much south loop prices, in river north) and the building was completed in 2005 instead of these abominations in the south loop.
Same Floorplans though in all these buildings, which for the 1 bedrooms kinda suck.
off-topic, sorry…
But listing claims 5 of 6 sold within 90 days in this new conversion in East Village. At least the cabinets are different! And it is a nice old building, tho it seems to be have been stripped of any vintage features.
http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/1118-N-Wolcott-Ave-60622/home/14105829
unusable kitchen and no windows in the bedroom? These types of units are the most god awful things ever… if there was anything good to come out of the real estate bubble bursting, hopefully it’ll be the end of these glorified dorm rooms.
Looks like the last room I rented at the LivInn Suites.
“What looks like a deal relative to buyers that bought during the boom might not be given the problems with foreclosures in the building and their impact on assessments.”
1720 didn’t raise assessments, they’re running a good surplus with a healthy reserve. CMK just recently sold all their units here, so I don’t think it’s in such a bad shape.
Not that I understand why anyone would wanna live in these claustrophobic 1 bedrooms, but people do…
I saw about a dozen units at 235 and cannot figure out how they are asking so much $ for them. I do like the location but the finishes are pretty standard grade. I would rather live in 600N Fairbanks considering the pricing isn’t too far apart.
Also, the assessments at 235 seemed really high considering they have zero, none, nadda, zilch amentities.
“I would rather live in 600N Fairbanks considering the pricing isn’t too far apart.”
Really?? I’d love to snatch up a unit at 600 N Fairbanks at 235 prices.
wondering what the square footage is here…
Looks like a rectangle with a wall in the middle, BR on the back of the kitchen. Something like 650 sq. ft., just measuring the perimeter? That’s in the $250/sq. ft. range.
Not charming, not a bit quirky, just really kinda depressing.
I think they are 700-800 sqft in our building so take what you got and add 50-60sqft for the balcony.
Also, I think everyone here would love to live in 600 N Fairbanks @ 235 W. VanBuren prices too… what a dumbass comment
Lots of pontificating here from people who’ve apparently never set foot in the building or the units – and who feel vastly superior to the people who opted to buy here.
The units have a very different feel to them than you get from looking at the floor plans.
CMK has a pretty strong track record of building quality product that the market wants – though apparently not what some of the perpetual renters at CribChatter want.
Disclosure: CMK’s a client of ours.
i lived in this building when it was first built as a renter…i had a 750 sq foot one bedroom with the silliest layout every imagined…about 200 sq. feet were wasted on a long hallway and a ‘den’ that was next to the bathroom door. when you got to the living room there were litereally maybe 3 feet from the kitchen counter to the end of the room. my couch and tv were literally in the living room .
nothing great about this building, other than the garage was spacious and there was a bar/restaurant next door. good luck with public transit and walking around at night in this end of the south loop. i hated living here!
joe, what the heck are you talking about? cmk buildings are as ‘run of the mill’ as it can get…sure, they’re better than american invsco properties, but please, a ‘different feel’? i dont think so.
and a product that the market wants? right. thats why investors are bleeding through every orifice on their units in this building.
1620 is just as bad.
The 1BR layouts in 235 are pretty silly as well with a long hallway and a shoebox for a living room/dining area on top of a smaller than avg bedroom with no windows. But hey, to each their own. Some may like it, some won’t.
Wow. Quite a price drop. But at the end of the day, you are practically living in Bronzeville/IIT area. It is discounted, but could go lower. Who knows. This building will likely have a lot of future foreclosures/short sales in the building if prices dropped that much.
riz,
What am I talking about?
What I said: you get a different feeling for the space when you’re in it than you get from the floor plans.
Sounds like Riz was saying that the feeling when you’re in it is even worse than the pictures . . .
chi_dad,
I think we’re all left to guess at what riz was saying.
I wonder whether riz has actually been in the units. Riz doesn’t say.
Too bad that Chicago overbuilt, over converted everything. I have seen the layout of the unit that Riz lived in. Why would anyone waste their money on a crappy condo like that.
Also, Re: 1118 N. Wolcott. Nice use of 3W (west) instead of 3R (rear).
Joe:
Riz says he lived in the building as a renter.
Too late at night – missed riz’ earliest post!
Joe,
from your post it seemed that you were implying that the layouts were better in person when you say ‘different feel’. – this is what i was referring to when i asked , ‘what are you talking about’.
i lived in a unit in this building for 1 year. i had no other options as i had 1 week to find an apartment and it was a reasonable price at the time ( 1225/month with parking, i believe), it was a huge mistake.
the neighborhood isn’t CMK’s fault, so we’ll leave the negatives of living in this end of the south loop out of the equation…
it was just all the strangely utilized space. what am i supposed to do with a 200 sq foot hallway , giant bathroom, a bedroom with no window, and a living room/kitchen ‘combo’ so small i can almost spread my arms out and touch wall to wall?
my unit wasn’t the only one with the silly layouts. I believe just about EVERY 1 bedroom in this building ( and in 1620 ) lacked a real kitchen or living room, but just a hybrid of both. the smaller 1 bedrooms had kitchens that almost opened up right in front of the bathroom. when i moved out the developer was asking 200k for my unit, without parking – some flippers were asking more! i don’t know what these people were smoking back in the fall of 07′.
ps – i had a west facing units, and most of the units on that side of the building got plenty of noise from the el that ran a block or two behind the building. views were decent though.
in any case, i don’t live too far from here now, i’m up at the museum park development. i’ve swung by the building recently and there are improvements – theres a grocery store right in the building, so that’s a plus. also a laundry place, i think, which is good, and a dentist just down the street. other than that i’d avoid anywhere south of 16th street like the plague.
PS – an attending physician instructor of mine bought a unit in 235 van buren – same crap layouts for a premium price. but then again, the location is just off of beautiful congress parkway. ( sarcasm. )
*correction, fall of 08′, my memory is fading with age. 😉
When a listing has 8 photos, and only 3 are of the actual interior, it tells you something. Oh, wait, make that only 2 of the interior, because one of them is an “out your window” shot.
The larger units may have some “different feel” to them, but seriously, THIS particular unit can’t “feel” much more than like a shoe box with a wall down the middle.
“CMK has a pretty strong track record of building quality product that the market wants”
Bwahahaha good one Joe. Keep us updated how those owners fare at 1620, 1720, and even 235WVB.
“though apparently not what some of the perpetual renters at CribChatter want.”
If absorbing an 80k capital loss over three years to live in what should’ve been a one bedroom APARTMENT count me in that category, Joe. You see to be of the old paradigm that owning is a status symbol. For the owners of CMK properties it seems to me to be more of a scarlet letter.
“This building will likely have a lot of future foreclosures/short sales in the building if prices dropped that much.”
Dave M, as this is very common with CMK properties, where they shoved as many units with a poor floorplan as possible into the smallest lot, we call this on Cribchatter “being CMK’d”.
Sonies, “Meh, it doesn’t cash flow and buying a 1br as a first time homebuyer is kinda dumb”
What a first time homebuyer should buy according to you? Why is it dumb?
“Why is it dumb?”
Sonies is on record saying its dumb as people outgrow these places fairly quickly and that one bedroom apartments are much more suitable to the single, pre-family lifestyle.
At CC, 1,000s of CMK buyers are fools while a handful of CCers dispense ultimate wisdom about CMK’s product. All of those buyers had a broad array of product to choose from – and chose CMK’s.
If you’re serious about understanding the real estate market you’ll try to grasp what motivated those 1,000s of buyers to action instead of mocking their choices. Markets are made by the people in them, not by cat-calling bystanders.
Joe Zekas,
At CC, where open discussion is encouraged, the naysayers regarding real estate valuations were proven right in hindsight. It was easy enough to see.
At your website, where dissenters are banned, there is no such availability of dissenting opinions from those who have an opinion other than “Now has never been a better time to buy”.
Sounds like Riz was renting unit 17, the 1 bedrooms suck in general, but 17 is by far the worst… (no balcony and a much smaller living/dining than the others, see floorplans: http://www.1720michigan.com)
Not really getting the 1720 hate. It’s sold out and doing well. There’s tons of other buildings in the area nowhere near selling out and being a complete disaster. If you’re really looking for a shoebox in the area I’d say 1720 is your best bet.
It’s also silly to say CMK sucks because all the units are underwater when every single condo that was built in the entire city at the same time is underwater too…
“Not really getting the 1720 hate. It’s sold out and doing well.”
Apparently its not doing that well. Comparables for this floorplan are now down 33% from the purchase price, which is significantly more than the Case-Shiller condo index. Or am I missing something?
“It’s also silly to say CMK sucks because all the units are underwater when every single condo that was built in the entire city at the same time is underwater too…”
But that’s not true, Bob 2, now is it? Seems like you are big on claims but small on facts.
Joe Zekas on April 13th, 2010 at 7:51 pm
“Lots of pontificating here from people who’ve apparently never set foot in the building or the units – and who feel vastly superior to the people who opted to buy here.”
For the record, I feel vastly superior to all the bagholders (not just the CMK’d bagholders) who bought cookie cutter condos a few years ago who told me how big of an idiot I was for not leveraging myself up and buying as well.
“Apparently its not doing that well. Comparables for this floorplan are now down 33% from the purchase price, which is significantly more than the Case-Shiller condo index. Or am I missing something?”
uh, I even said everything’s underwater, shouldn’t that have tipped you off that with “doing well” I mean that it’s sold out and that the building itself is in good financial health?
by your definition everything sucks cuz it’s been losing money. Not sure what your point is.
“But that’s not true, Bob 2, now is it?”
since you quote cs you should probably know that it’s pretty much true. I’m sure you could cherry pick one or two condos from 07/08 that are actually selling for more right now, but who gives a shit.
I live here bought new in 2007 had standard punchlist problems, all resolved. Assessments went up an avg of $10 whole dollars in 2009 and $Zero yes ZERO for 2010. We have a very healty reserve. New extra street lighting went up throughout hood. Streets repaved and old buildings knocked down. We are getting a new park behind the building. As far as a secure area, it’s become safer as the Harold Ickes have been torn down and it’s residents have been shipped off to other parts of the city (sorry), also the Mission on State has been relocated to Canal. All in all it’s a condo in the city near Grant Park and the Loop. We all have different tastes.
Not only do I feel vastly superior, I am vastly superior to all the bag holders. My household has managed to save quite literally tens of thousands of dollars during the bubble years because we rented. That money would have otherwise been spent in interest, or, given to the bank as cash at closing to compensate for the difference between the sales price and the mortgage.
The only people I am not vastly superior to are those who bought during the bubble, heloc’s the hell out of it, paid off their student loans, and then defaulted on the mortgage, lived rent free for years, and now rent. They’re actually smarter than me. If I had the foresight to do that I’d be sitting on even more cash than I have now AND I would have my student loans paid off. Oh hindsight is 20/20.
“#PermaBear on April 14th, 2010 at 8:14 am
Joe Zekas on April 13th, 2010 at 7:51 pm
“Lots of pontificating here from people who’ve apparently never set foot in the building or the units – and who feel vastly superior to the people who opted to buy here.”
For the record, I feel vastly superior to all the bagholders (not just the CMK’d bagholders) who bought cookie cutter condos a few years ago who told me how big of an idiot I was for not leveraging myself up and buying as well.”
Moreover, during this time period while I rented, I managed to pay off a significant amount of debt (car, student loans and credit cards). The money I used to pay off that debt (and save) is directly related to the significant price difference between buying and renting a comparable unit. And believe me, my building has comps. I rent while others are for sale so the cash money in my pocket is directly comparable.
homedelete on April 14th, 2010 at 8:37 am
“The only people I am not vastly superior to are those who bought during the bubble, heloc’s the hell out of it, paid off their student loans, and then defaulted on the mortgage, lived rent free for years, and now rent. They’re actually smarter than me. If I had the foresight to do that I’d be sitting on even more cash than I have now AND I would have my student loans paid off. Oh hindsight is 20/20.”
Excellent point, but how many of those people actually paid off student loans? I thought they primarily bought Beamers and furniture with the HELOC money. The real kick in the pants is that these clowns aren’t even getting 1099’d for the debt they are flushing down the toilet, so me, being the sucker I am, am stuck footing more than my fair share of the country’s tax bill, too.
Yeah, most HELOC’s in my opinion paid off the following in roughly this order: credit cards, home upgrades, furniture, vacations, new cars, 2nd homes, investment homes, businesses, nickel & dime, and for one of my clients, he used his HELOC to pay the principal on this 1st mortgage. SMART.
“and for one of my clients, he used his HELOC to pay the principal on this 1st mortgage. SMART.”
Bahahahahha
I like ths building. It’s nothing fancy, obviously. I wouldn’t mind owning a one bedroom. I’m not going to live my life as though I might one day get married and might one day have kids. I could live in a place like this for 30 years, then retire early. I would rather retire early and have a tiny place, than have a larger place and work myself to death.
Also, this building has a dog run. Perfect.
I live in this building… and yes intially when the building went online the units had a few issues which were quickly fixed. Also, the neighborhood has changed a lot since 2007.. there are now two grocery stores in the area.. one of them right in the building. The CTA bus stops right in front of the building, in addition to that you are only a short walk away from Grant park and Lake Michigan. As someone already pointed out .. the assessments have barely increased in the last two years. Also, I lived in Lakeview before I moved here … and some of you might like the cramped lifestyle there, but I did not care for the crowded sidewalks and crazy drivers… and thats the reason I moved to the South loop where there is more space and you dont have to push and shove when all you want to do is take a relaxed walk. Also, I really don’t know why people are complaining about crime in the area.. i’ve lived here for 2 years now and have experienced ZERO crime … infact I saw more fights and muggings in the wrigleyville/lakeview area. Overall I like the South Loop and I think it has a lot of potential… the market is down everywhere folks .. lets not assess a buildings worth by a few units that have dropped in price because once the market picks up .. and it will… things will turn around pretty quickly.
worst building in the south loop. friend owns one – says she may walk away – will never get her money back out of it. she showed me the bld. web site for owners and there are some real putz’s living in the bilding – they argue and trash talk and ridicule each other -what a group of losers. there is no lobby, no work out,no storage, small tight garage with teen drivers racing through trying to kill anyone in their way.
1720 SOUTH MICHIGAN – no lobby no style – just looked at 4 units for sale- no extras. most units do not even have a living room or dining room just large kitchen with room for one couch.
all units have the same finishes – concrete walls were never finished.