Totally Redone Vintage 3-Bedroom in 3500 N. Lake Shore Drive in Lakeview
This 3-bedroom in the Cornelia Apartments at 3500 N. Lake Shore Drive in Lakeview came on the market in April 2021.
Believe it or not, I don’t think I have a picture of this building. It’s often difficult to get a good picture of these big vintage buildings, but I’ll have to get one.
Built in 1927, the Cornelia Apartments were designed by Robert DeGolyer and has just 64 units.
It’s a co-op.
It has door staff, an exercise room and a common deck. There’s no parking.
The listing for this unit says it has been “totally redone from top to bottom.”
It has features of many of the 1920s apartments including a big 20×7 foyer and formal dining room.
It has dark wood herringbone floors.
The living room has a decorative fireplace, built-in bookcases and views of the Lake and harbor.
The unit has a “luxe designer chef kitchen” with white cabinets and a white subway tile backsplash with Subzero, Bosch, Wolf and Miele appliances.
There’s a butler’s pantry with sink, dishwasher and wine fridge.
The primary bedroom has a custom wardrobe and an en suite bath with a big shower, double vanity, heated towel bar and subway tile.
The second and third bedrooms are also en suite with the third bedroom being off the kitchen.
The bathrooms have Restoration Hardware fixtures.
The unit has an in-ceiling home audio system in all rooms.
It has a full height storage cage.
The unit has the features buyers look for including space pac a/c, washer/dryer in the unit and there’s leased parking available nearby for $239 a month.
Because it’s a co-op, taxes are included in the HOA. The listing breaks it down as the following:
- Condo: $1355.41
- Taxes: $548.42
- Reserves: $370.28
- Cable: $79
- Electric: $115.22
- Total Assessment: $2468.33
Listed in April 2021 for $750,000, it has been reduced to $699,000.
Does this vintage unit have it all for modern living?
Ken Jungwirth at @Properties has the listing. See the pictures and floor plan here.
Unit #4D: 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, 2450 square feet
- It’s a co-op so it’s hard to get prior sales
- Originally listed in April 2021 for $750,000
- Reduced
- Currently listed at $699,000
- Assessments of $2468.33
- Taxes are included in the assessments but are $6581 a year
- Space pac cooling
- Washer/dryer in the unit
- Leased parking for $239 a month
- Decorative fireplace
- Bedroom #1: 20×13
- Bedroom #2: 21×13
- Bedroom #3: 14×8
- Living room: 26×15
- Dining room: 21×15
- Kitchen: 14×9
- Laundry: 6×6
- Pantry: 12×8
- Foyer: 20×7
I thought cable/internet was like $200/mo?
Renovation looks very nice but there’s some odd choices made
Don’t understand renovating and not making the FP operational. Would def help sales this time of year
No bathroom access that doesn’t require one to go thru a bedroom
Adding 2’ to the 3rd Br would have been huge
Low floor so the view pics are misleading.
Generally not a fan of dark stained floors, but these look pretty good.
This place has been lovingly maintained and appropriately updated in accordance with the age and style of the building. It’s awful that such responsible homeowners are likely going to see a financial loss when they sell. Bought for $639K in 2015, put some money into the place, put it on the market in April, reduced a couple times, and have been sitting firmly at $699K for months (probably their estimated break even point). Eventually they’ll cut their losses and move on. This is such a common story in Chicago.
“Don’t understand renovating and not making the FP operational. Would def help sales this time of year
No bathroom access that doesn’t require one to go thru a bedroom”
You’re talking about some really significant updates here. I can’t fault the owner for not redoing the floor plan. And it’s got to be super difficult, if not impossible, to work with an HOA on bringing the fireplace ventilation up to date in such an old multi-unit building.
“I don’t think I have a picture of this building”
Most recent prior post has a pic:
https://cribchatter.com/?p=25694
Same pic used half a dozen or more times previously.
TO THE UNIT:
Agree with KK that moving the walls would have been money thrown in a hole, and that work on the fireplace would have been lighting that money on fire.
“probably their estimated break even point”
Do we know what, if anything, the current owners did to update the place? 2010=$150k, 2015=$635k indicates that they bought it mostly as we see it here.
If no real updates, then we’re talking about selling with covering transaction costs, and maybe eating the building mortgage share, which ain’t great, but also reflects 6 years of depreciation of the improvements, and the challenges inherent in a co-op outside of Manhattan.
Cable & Internet is $80 in my building (decent deal with nearly 300 units).
The layout style is so dated imo. The two bedrooms are huge with ensuites. The living & dining room are also quite large (although I personally see a separate dining room as a waste in a highrise).
The 3rd bedroom is a joke, way too narrow. I would put a desk in there and a murphy bed for guests. The wining hall to the isolated kitchen is quite odd (as are the other long hallways).
“You’re talking about some really significant updates here. I can’t fault the owner for not redoing the floor plan. And it’s got to be super difficult, if not impossible, to work with an HOA on bringing the fireplace ventilation up to date in such an old multi-unit building.”
I dont see where moving the wall 2′ would be a huge undertaking.
Adding a ventless FP is pretty straight forward (Assuming there’s gas)
Adding a powder room would be a significant challenge, but going thru bedrooms is a PITA
“Same pic used half a dozen or more times previously.”
Cribchatter does not have a picture of this building, as I said.
“I thought cable/internet was like $200/mo?”
There’s this amazing concept of having buying power when you buy en masse, as a group.
As Rob commented, his 300 unit building pays $80 for cable/Internet. That probably includes all the movie channels, 5G, tivo/dvr etc.
Do single family homeowners pay only $80 to get it all? Not in my world.
I know of a 350 unit building downtown that has negotiated to get their cable/internet for just $40 a month because the cable providers want the sheer volume.
“I dont see where moving the wall 2? would be a huge undertaking.”
If it’s concrete or plaster?
Yikes.
“The 3rd bedroom is a joke, way too narrow.”
This would have been the “maid’s room” for the original household in 1927. Staff would have stayed there. Close to the kitchen, which is also tucked away because you didn’t want it to be seen.
“That probably includes … 5G”
WTAF??
“There’s this amazing concept of having buying power when you buy en masse, as a group.
As Rob commented, his 300 unit building pays $80 for cable/Internet. That probably includes all the movie channels, 5G, tivo/dvr etc.
Do single family homeowners pay only $80 to get it all? Not in my world.”
You were the one that stated it was around $200/mo
5G? ReallY
Good job Smolette
“You were the one that stated it was around $200/mo”
Yep. If you’re getting your own. Not in a big high rise.
Beautiful building and the D tier is one of the best in it, but I’d want to be high enough to have a real lake view. Also, assessments at 3500 are very high and there’s no parking.
Units tend to sell very slowly here. I’ve seen others on the market for well over a year. The inconvenience and expense of living in this building means it’s a very hard sell. Anyone buying here should keep that in mind unless they plan on remaining the rest of their lives or selling well below what they paid for.
Anyone getting annoyed by the small “third bedroom” quite obviously knows very little about 1920s vintage lakefront buildings.
As Sabrina says, these are maid’s rooms, not normal-sized bedrooms. They were designed to be small, and aren’t a “joke.” I actually find them cozy and would put a couch and a desk in there and make it a nice little office. There’s typically a small bathroom along with them (also designed for the maid) and in some buildings people have been able to convert these into laundry rooms.
Those tiny 3rd bedrooms originally intended for housekeepers would make ideal WFH spaces in this new Zoom era. Separate from the rest of the living space, with easy access to the coffee in the kitchen. Often there’s even a separate entrance to the maid’s room / kitchen area for those who are super intentional about separating the work day from life — head out the back for some fresh air / errands at the end of the day, and re-emerge at the main entrance to the home.
There should be some other way to labels these types of units where the 3rd bedroom is clearly a former maid’s quarters and not comparable to the 2nd bedroom. If a family were looking for a unit with rooms for more than 1 kid, these types of units (which aren’t uncommon in vintage) would be an issue.
Also, it’s odd how there is no bathroom for guests without going through a bedroom!