The Elusive “True” Lincoln Square 2-Bedroom Condo: 2238 W. Wilson
This 2-bedroom top floor unit at 2238 W. Wilson in Lincoln Square recently came on the market.
If you’ve noticed a dearth of posts about this neighborhood, you would be correct because I haven’t covered anything close to the Western Brown Line stop in Lincoln Square in years.
Inventory has completely dried up in an area that was once the hotbed of condo conversions.
That makes this 2-bedroom with deeded parking a hot commodity.
It is right in the heart of what most people consider to be “real” Lincoln Square- near the shops and restaurants on Lincoln and near the Brown Line.
The south facing unit has features buyers look for including in-unit washer/dryer but it doesn’t have central air. There are window units however.
The kitchen has maple cabinets, white appliances and a tile backsplash.
It has been listed $12,500 under the 2007 purchase price at $275,000.
Will this sell for over the list?
Robert Munds at Jameson Sotheby’s has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #3S: 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, no square footage listed
- Sold in February 2001 for $180,000
- Sold in June 2004 for $258,500
- Sold in September 2007 for $287,500
- Currently listed at $275,000
- Assessments of $300 a month
- Taxes of $3790
- No central air- window units only
- In-unit washer/dryer
- Deeded parking
- Bedroom #1: 14×12
- Bedroom #2: 11×10
- Living room: 14×14
- Kitchen: 11×8
Seems a bit pricey for what you get. I’m not sure what is normal for the area though.
If you’ve got kids, Lincoln Sq seems like a very desirable place to be. But this unit isn’t exactly family optimal. So if you’re a single person or couple, who’s making, oh, I don’t know, upwards of $100k/yr, and you’re going to spend $600/mo on fees and taxes, plus whatever the mortgage payment is (after forking over whatever you’ve saved for a down), is this the place for you? Or would you be looking for a deal somewhere hip like Btown/WP, or UVill/Pilsen, or at least somewhere “fun” like Lake View, or heck, look for something in the overbuilt SoLoop, which wouldn’t be fun, but would be close to work and might be a good longterm rental investment?
I really like Lincoln Square, except for the location (far from downtown, far from the lake). I feel the same way about Andersonville (closer to the lake, still far from downtown). Both neighborhoods have so many amenities and such great housing stock. They just don’t work for me from a commuting/recreational perspective.
I’m glad that I’m not the only one how thinks this is just “meh”. There are better deals out there.
“the white appliances, I wonder if they pre-date the 2001 conversion?”
They look extremely like the appliances in my circa 99 rental, so definitely possible.
“If you’ve got kids, Lincoln Sq seems like a very desirable place to be.”
Why? Wouldn’t Lakeview or North Center be better neighborhoods? Closer to Wrigley Field and much better schools.
Great location but not much exciting here, even considering the price.
I love Lincoln Square and have to admit the place is worth the money.
But it’s still one stupefyingly bland, boring apartment. It looks like a 60s -style ranch house.
““If you’ve got kids, Lincoln Sq seems like a very desirable place to be.”
Why?”
That’s just what nonny gathers from the dispatches from the frontier. Doesn’t pay close attention to the goings on in places so close to Elgin.
““If you’ve got kids, Lincoln Sq seems like a very desirable place to be.”
Why?”
“That’s just what nonny gathers from the dispatches from the frontier. Doesn’t pay close attention to the goings on in places so close to Elgin.”
Bc if your kids can’t get into parker or latin, maybe they can at least go to lycée. Or maybe he’s confusing with logan sq.
“Why? Wouldn’t Lakeview or North Center be better neighborhoods? Closer to Wrigley Field and much better schools”
Not so sure about proximity to Wrigley being a big draw for families. But sure, I guess certain parts of Lake View seem preferable over Lincoln Sq…but they’re more expensive. I haven’t spent much time in Lincoln Sq (went to some festival there a couple years ago and it seemed nice), but I’ve met a few families who raised/are raising kids there (in, yes, SFHs!), and they seem to love it. I know a few people who have big fancy homes in NC too, about which they seem quite happy. In any event, are the attendance area high schools for Lake View or NC much better than Lincoln Sq?
@Sabrina – you’re joking about the proximity to Wrigley thing, right?
“you’re joking about the proximity to Wrigley thing, right?”
No. We’ve had this discussion before. That if you live in the city you can walk or ride your bike with your kids to Wrigley Field versus living in the suburbs where you can’t do such things. So why not live within walking distance in Southport with its excellent schools versus Lincoln Square which is farther away and doesn’t have as good of schools?
“I guess certain parts of Lake View seem preferable over Lincoln Sq…but they’re more expensive.”
In some cases. That’s only because they’ve torn down all the “affordable” $600,000 SFHs in Lakeview to build the McMansions so now most of Lakeview is simply $1.5 million houses. Lincoln Square still has some $600,000-$800,000 houses. North Center still has some too (with better schools.)
I don’t know what the high school is for Lincoln Square. But does it matter? Everyone moves before their kids are going to high school anyway. Check out the attendance for the 7th and 8th graders at the “top” schools like Blaine and Bell versus the kindergarten. It’s pretty obvious what’s happening. So you live there 5 to 7 years before you move.
I just moved from Lakeview to the border of North Center/Lincoln Square with my family. We could absolutely never have afforded a SFH in Lakeview. We lived in the Nettelhorst boundaries and frankly didn’t think the school was all that.
Although we considered staying in Lakeview and moving up to a 3BR condo, those aren’t any bargain either. And I wasn’t a fan of a lot of the sub-neighborhoods. The area that feeds into Burley school consists of most of that planned development behind the Jewel on Ashland, and the area of Lincoln with the Kabbalah Center, the Scientology Center, the Peace School, an Army/Navy surplus store, and a bunch of rug stores. The Southport strip that feeds into Blaine seems very sterile to me – lots of chain stores.
I love, love, love the strip of Lincoln south of Lawrence. Restaurants, a movie theater, Old Town School, Sulzer library, Welles Park, and Half Acre. I think the public schools in the area are on their way up, and many people send their kids to one of the many Catholic schools in the area (Queen of Angels, St. Matthias, St. Bens) or North Park Elem, a secular private that costs half of a Latin/Parker, etc. I love the fact that not everybody is rich, too. My block has large, new SFHs, small, older SFHs, rental apartments, and rental 2-flats. In Blaine or Burley, I was afraid my kids would be the “poor” ones b/c they didn’t live in a million+ dollar house. It’s a great area to raise kids.
Re: high schools – the 7th and 8th grades of many of these school are empty for 2 reasons: 1. “middle class” families w/kids didn’t start staying in the city until the past decade, so the oldest of this group is just hitting those grades, and 2. people try and get their 7th graders into CPS Academic Centers to guarantee HS admission, so they don’t need to deal with the whole HS admission mess. I think many of the neighborhood high schools will hopefully start to turnaround, but my personal plan/hope is to get my kids into one of the Selective Enrollment High Schools.
“I love, love, love the strip of Lincoln south of Lawrence”
Ace, are you female? Sorry to ask a personal Q, but my rule of thumb is that in any male-female couple, the woman always likes lincoln sq more than the man. Wanted to confirm.
Sorry to ask a personal Q, but my rule of thumb is that in any male-female couple, the woman always likes lincoln sq more than the man.
Aw, it’s sad that the women you know prefer a neighborhood to their boyfriend/husband.
(I’m almost positive that I’ve made this very same joke here before; and I’m pretty sure it was in reference to Lincoln Square.)
More seriously, though, this is definitely true for us -back when we were talking in very general terms about where we might want to live, I mentioned how much I liked Lincoln Sq and got a very dismissive look.
Yes, DZ, I’m a woman. My husband loves the house and our block, though. I think we both like the strip equally. I mean – Half Acre, Bottles and Cans, need I say more? He probably doesn’t care as much about the library (he downloads to Kindle, whereas I get real, live books for the kids) or Old Town school (I take the younger one to class there). Interesting that you think the strip appeals more to women. With a couple we are friends with, the guy wanted to move to LS and the woman wanted to stay in Lakeview.
We used to live in Boys Town, just off of Halsted, so the weekend noise was unbearable, the bars catered to gay guys (or frat boys if you went towards Wrigley), and the restaurants weren’t really kid friendly on Halsted, so it’s not surprising that my husband loves the new place!
” The area that feeds into Burley school consists of most of that planned development behind the Jewel on Ashland”
Most soulless suburban-like area in the GZ. No CTA, it’s like an outpost of Gurnee/Grand Ave. plopped into the GZ.
“Most soulless suburban-like area in the GZ. No CTA, it’s like an outpost of Gurnee/Grand Ave. plopped into the GZ.”
yeah so glad there’s a post on a house in the area this morning 🙁
“Everyone moves before their kids are going to high school anyway. Check out the attendance for the 7th and 8th graders at the “top” schools like Blaine and Bell versus the kindergarten”
You sharing your posting name with JMM? Some people move, sure, but ‘everyone’ is not an exaggeration based in fact.
@Sabrina – so the argument for lakeview over lincoln sq is schools, not Wrigley.
Lincoln Square is very desirable. Good restaurants, transportation, housing styles. A 2-bed/ 1-bath is not targeted to a family, but great for many singles or couples.
DZ (June 27, 2013, 9:54 am)
“my rule of thumb is that in any male-female couple, the woman always likes lincoln sq more than the man.”
Datapoint of one here, but my husband likes Lincoln Square more than I do (and I do like it a lot – one of the nicer hoods in the city in my opinion).
Great amenities, including park space and the perennial family-favorite: the actual square. Old Town School of Music offers tons to do, from classes to concerts, and there is a distinct lack of chain retailers and food purveyors compared to other neighborhoods.
You’ve got a great new gym (with pool IIRC) and one hell of a butcher shop with a beer selection that would take quite a while to fully explore.
It’s safe and friendly. A stroll down Lincoln on a Saturday or Sunday in particular is hard to replicate in terms of happy and relaxed vibe.
If you hate children, this is not the neighborhood for you. I am not a huge fan of the restaurants (not terrible, just not my favorites), but LS really has a lot going for it.
Great vibes in Lincoln sq. lots of good memories. What’s that French restruant? Bistro champagne?
“Great vibes in Lincoln sq. lots of good memories. ”
Like the memory of not flooding three times in three months?
“What’s that French restruant? Bistro champagne?”
Close: no h.
“Like the memory of not flooding three times in three months? ”
I’ve put in an order for a residential lift system.
It’s been awful. We’ve had 2 rains in my rain over 4″, most of which has come down within a two hour period. The sewers can’t handle this shit.
“It’s been awful. We’ve had 2 rains in my rain over 4?, most of which has come down within a two hour period. The sewers can’t handle this shit.”
My dad’s sump pump up in McHenry actually burned out on that last rain dump when they got like 7 inches in only 3 hours. Ugh.
“My dad’s sump pump up in McHenry actually burned out on that last rain dump when they got like 7 inches in only 3 hours. Ugh.”
That band of storms that hit the NW was pretty crazy, worse than the april rain by far. The southside was completely dry, but I saw a sewer spewing up water 2 feet or so in Niles right by Lutheran General Hospital. This is unprecedented, this is not normal. The sewers in my town went for 90 years without backing up and now they’re backing at least once, and now TWICE a year. This has never happened before, it’s terribel
Ugh – any vintage touches, if they ever existed, have been ripped out, leaving a generic looking condo. Great location, though.
I moved to Lincoln Square about a year and a half ago and enjoy the regular guy vibe. My neighbors are a mix of blue collar and white collar with lots of Greeks and Mexicans and quite a few Arabs, Germans, Jews, Poles, Blacks, Koreans, Bosnians and even a few Harps.