This 2-Bedroom Gold Coast Townhouse Has Seen It All During This Housing Bust: 820 N. Dearborn
Talk about a microcosm of the market.
This 2-bedroom townhouse at 820 N. Dearborn in the Gold Coast has gone from a foreclosure in 2009, to being rehabbed in 2010, to being rented out in 2011 and now it is listed for sale once again.
We’ve actually chattered about it several times over the years- when it was both bank owned and after the rehab.
See our last chatter about it, in March 2011, here.
At that time, it was listed at $530,000 and several of you thought it would sell for just under $499,000 (or within 10% or so of that price.)
In August 2011, it was reduced even further, and was listed at $499,900, before being withdrawn from the market. It looks like it was put up for rent at $3700 a month. (I don’t know what it ultimately rented for- but if someone has the info from the MLS, for instance, please share.)
A year later, it has come back to test the market again and is priced at $500,000.
If you recall, the kitchen has been renovated with cherry cabinets, stainless steel appliances and granite counter tops.
The bathrooms have marble floors.
The top floor space is now a family room (with a full-sized bath and wet bar) with a private deck and skylights.
The two bedrooms are on the second floor.
It has one car parking and a parking pad.
There are four units in the complex.
Will this seller be rewarded for his patience (by renting it out) with a sale in 2012?
Todd Mackay at Dream Town has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #B: 2 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 1800 square feet, 1 car parking plus second space in parking pad
- Sold in January 1996 for $230,000
- Sold in June 2005 for $477,500
- Sold in May 2007 for $750,000
- Lis pendens in April 2008
- Bank owned as of May 2009
- Originally listed in June 2009 for $589,900
- Reduced
- Was listed in July 2009 for $539,900
- Sold in November 2009 for $415,000
- Originally listed in June 2010 for $550,000
- Reduced
- Was listed in March 2011 for $530,000
- Reduced
- Was listed in August 2011 for $499,900
- Withdrawn
- On the rental market in August 2011 for $3700 a month
- Has come back on the market in August 2012 at $500,000
- (Looks like it was also listed on Craigslist in July 2012 for $4000 a month)
- Assessments of $146 a month
- Taxes now $7932 (they were $10,291 in March 2011)
- Central Air
- Skylights
- Bedroom #1: 16×13 (second floor)
- Bedroom #2: 12×11 (second floor)
- Kitchen: 8×9
- Family room: 16×13 (third floor)
Its seems like you’ve been trying to describe current state of the condo market with some pretty weird examples over the last couple of days (Billy Corgan’s place, weird Sheridan townhouse, this).
It’s like describing what a mammal is by using a Platypus as an example.
While I like a lot of things about this place (think they did a nice job staging with the microsuede furniture and cool multicolor patchwork carpet, also like the floor to ceiling mirrors on the closet doors since finding full length mirrors can be a pain), I just don’t understand why there is a full bath on the top floor. Is anyone ever going to shower up there and then walk back down to the bedroom? Doesn’t make sense to me, but I dunno. Maybe people in the city will tolerate this layout. This would not be tolerated in the burbs.
This seems like a good deal to me. Great location… I would take this over a condo of that same price any day.
“This would not be tolerated in the burbs.”
Ha! On the inside, this place looks like a lot of houses all over the suburbs look, just in a weird layout in a location where there is just about nothing like it.
No, this is not a microcosm of the market.
I think they should have leveled this and built a new SFH or condos. The outside is hideous and the inside is charmless. This location can command a higher price with the right layout and finishes. It needed to be a tear down or gut. What is on the side of it. Can it be widened with a zoning variance?
I expect it would be quite difficult and expensive to buy all of the units in this complex and tear down the building. It will likely survive as is.
Doesn’t do it for me. Just weird look on the outside.
“It’s like describing what a mammal is by using a Platypus as an example.” love this!
“Its seems like you’ve been trying to describe current state of the condo market with some pretty weird examples over the last couple of days (Billy Corgan’s place, weird Sheridan townhouse, this).”
I said earlier in this week- that because everyone is on vacation I was going to cover properties we’ve chattered about many times before. Therefore, I’ve been posting about many properties we’ve chattered about before- some of which have been on and off the market for years.
“I said earlier in this week- that because everyone is on vacation I was going to cover properties we’ve chattered about many times before”
Anything in the works for a 2550 post?
“I said earlier in this week- that because everyone is on vacation I was going to cover properties we’ve chattered about many times before.”
That’s the hilarious thing about Americans: they all think they’re going to get ahead yet they all behave in a similar fashion. At least a bee in a swarm knows his station in life and doesn’t have any fantasies about improving it.
Now off to enjoy a great commute, because this week and week 52 are the weeks the sheep graze elsewhere.
“Now off to enjoy a great commute”
Straight into the thunderstorms.
“Anything in the works for a 2550 post?”
Yes- I’ve been watching the building. Closings have started, but so far there are no flips. Everything listed is from the developer and there are NO interior pictures. So we can’t see what kind of finishes they put in the building etc.
A few weeks ago, a 2/2 rental briefly came on the market but it was listed on the MLS for only a second before being withdrawn. It DID have the interior pics.
Eventually there will be rentals or the developer will figure out that they should put some real pictures of the units on the MLS. But until that happens, I’m not going to do a post on the building since there’s nothing much to talk about until we can see the product.
If anyone sees a “real” listing pop up, let me know.
2550 looks nice… i drove by it the other day. the only thing is that they are asking $700+ sq ft. That’s NYC prices. I personally like the location better than Trump because you’re living in a residential area. Nice to be by trees etc. but still only a short cab ride away from downtown. But then again I’m TOTALLY not the target audience. Can’t afford anything in that range! 🙂 If I was some money-drenched business man I would go for it. Nice place to have a family too – Zoo, park, farmer’s market, clark street low-key restaurants, Peggy N. Nature Museum, lake front, lots of family stuff.
“Nice place to have a family too – Zoo, park, farmer’s market, clark street low-key restaurants, Peggy N. Nature Museum, lake front, lots of family stuff.”
That’s the minority view here on CC, but to each his or her own.
Have we elcted a fiscal conservative government yet??
no?
then I am not investing
taxes too high
corruption too high
etc etc
Sab
I love going back over previous listings
backtesting is a great way to see whats up
“backtesting is a great way to see whats up”
Totally agree, we need a post-Labor Day Crib Chatter Challenge to see who can pick off some sale prices and time frames.
“2550 looks nice… i drove by it the other day. the only thing is that they are asking $700+ sq ft. That’s NYC prices. I personally like the location better than Trump because you’re living in a residential area.”
I asked an agent today how many have closed in the building and she told me that it’s only about 2 dozen (she didn’t count the exact amount.) I’m surprised by this. That’s not many considering closings have been happening for several weeks now. But it’s a developing story. We’ll know more in the next month or two.
It DOES look nice. Trump isn’t its competition. It IS a family building, as you said. There are trees and quiet. I doubt many sports stars will be living there.
‘I asked an agent today how many have closed in the building and she told me that it’s only about 2 dozen (she didn’t count the exact amount.) I’m surprised by this.’
They had an open house there (2550) a couple of Sundays ago, it was by Rubloff, and I thought I’d have a look. Several well off looking people were in the lobby wanting to do the same thing. We all had to fill out an information clip board and were told to wait for the next agent (this took about 20 minutes), and they would take us up in small groups. The agent shows up and says without an appointment none of us would be able to look at *any* of the apartments, as there were actual people living there now and they didn’t want to disturb them… but she’d happily show us the party room and grounds. Seriously? That’s how you sell a building… a CONDO building? What, the hall walls are so paper thin that the sound of ‘wealthy’ potential buyers would cause that much disruption? Guess the owners should think twice about holding a civilized cocktail party… the neighbors, what about the neighbors? All the people, except one couple left. Now there’s a way to work for your commission check. Well done Rubloff!
“The agent shows up and says without an appointment none of us would be able to look at *any* of the apartments, as there were actual people living there now and they didn’t want to disturb them.”
This is what I don’t understand (from a marketing perspective.) Units are now closing in the building. There are a TON that are still available. Wouldn’t the first thing you’d do is throw together a model unit and get those pictures up on the MLS (at the very least?) Everyone wants to see the finishes. We want to see the actual unit (NOT the work out room, the courtyard, the pool- as these are the pictures currently on the MLS.)
How hard could it be in a luxury building?
Let the looky-loos look at the pictures (then they won’t bother to go to an open house.)
By the way- an agent sent me two rentals that are currently in the building.
Unit #803: 2/2.5 about 1450 square feet. West facing. Kitchen is SubZero, Miele etc. Big master bathroom.
Here are the room sizes:
Living room: 15×19
Kitchen: 10×14
Bedroom: 12×14
Bedroom: 12×14
There’s no dining space. It seems, from the pics, that most of the square footage is in the large kitchen and big walk-in master bath (and probably the closets- although those aren’t in the pictures.)
Rent: $5,000 a month plus $300 for parking.
It’s already under contract. Unit #903 also just came on the market. Same layout. Same rent at $5,000 a month. Slightly different kitchen finishes.
These are the smaller, cheaper units (and west facing.) How many $5,000 and up rentals can the Lincoln Park market handle? The bigger units will be commanding much higher rents.
Those are shocking rents. What’s the right metric for talking about residential rental rates and size? Maybe annual rent / sqft since that’s common in commercial real estate (although this won’t be comparable since rates expressed in that way are often triple net, but whatever).
Using that metric, these units are listed for rent at about $44 / sqft / year. And these are the cheaper, west-facing units. I’d be shocked if there is that much that is near that in Chicago. My rentals (which are totally different, but just as a comparison) are generally in the low to mid teens or so. And these are the cheaper, west-facing units.
I haven’t read much about this building, where can I read about the rental and condo portions or get more info on it?
Finally, I personally don’t put much stock in early contracts at properties like this. Many are probably very low earnest money and many are probably insider deals. Contracts like these are used to create a frenzy of activity. Closings are much better data.
“What’s the right metric for talking about residential rental rates and size?”
Generally reported as $/sf on a monthly basis. The ARC-monitored buildings have gotten up to an average of something like $2.40. Those two are $3.44. I think the market, arms-length, floor for a non-dumpy place is around $1.
‘Contracts like these are used to create a frenzy of activity. Closings are much better data.’
Well the building wasn’t creating much frenzy the day I was there, unless you count the WTF look on the potential buyers faces as they left the building without seeing the product. Maybe their marketing strategy is to keep it SO mysterious that people will eventually cave into the mysterious allure that’s beyond control, and write a check. Maybe that works in NY?
The *one* sure thing about higher end Chicago buyers, is that you never know who you’re dealing with as Chicagoans (midwesterners) tend to hold their cards very close to their chest, and that casual looking guy who doesn’t drop a hint of who he is (unlike NY’rs or especially in Miami), could very well be the heir of some industrial fortune or a CEO of some company you’ve never heard of. Similar situation in LA where I live in the winter… that wazzz-up looking couple could very well be major hip-hop producers from Tel Aviv who pay cash (according to the very entertaining stories from an LA broker friend of mine). This isn’t an all cash co-op building whose owners don’t want strangers in the hall or anywhere near their Hirst collection – it’s a massively large and massively EMPTY condo building that isn’t doing a good job of creating buzz nor sales.
Funny story about high end real estate. I was in NYC the other week. Wife and I were having breakfast at spot in Soho. At the table across from us, there is a young couple and they clearly are on a first or second date. The girl is talking about what she does for a living and says she is a part time model. She goes on talking about how she works open houses for Realtors. Realtors hire her and other girls for open houses at luxury condo buildings. She said her job is basically to take potential buyers up from lobby to the unit for sale and just hang out passing out brochures and the like.
So the agents essentially are targeting Patrick Bateman Wall Street types and using sexy models at open houses as bait to create an illusion of the lifestyle they will be living in the building.
Maybe Rubloff could round up a few chicks from a Bears game and do a mock tailgate out front. CEO of Vienna…. sold!