Unique Duplex Penthouse in Jackson Towers: 5555 S. Everett in Hyde Park
The Jackson Towers is a 1926 vintage high rise located at 5555 S. Everett, across the street from the Museum of Science & Industry, in Hyde Park.
The penthouse units aren’t your ordinary penthouses.
Unit #14-15A has 20 foot ceilings and stunning windows with views of the lake and the museum. The fireplace is now gas, but the listing says it can be converted to wood burning.
This unit has central air and a washer/dryer. The only thing that appears to be missing is a deeded parking space.
There will apparently be an open house in two weeks. If anyone goes, please report in.
Donna Schwan at MetroPro Realty has the listing. See more pictures here.
Unit #14-15A: 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2 half baths, 2800 square feet, duplex
- Sold in August 1997 for $425,000
- Currently listed for $795,000
- Assessments of $1920 a month (includes heat, water, gas)
- Taxes of $5300
- Central Air
- Washer/Dryer in the unit
- New windows
- Gas fireplace
- No parking
Those assessments are crazy! That’s equivalent to a monthly payment for a $360,000 mortgage at 5%. So I say, add the $360k to the price. Anyone think this is a $1.125M home?
If you want this style of living then it probably is with in the relm.
I’d love to see a floor plan of this place
With regard to parking I don’t know about this part of Hyde Park, but generally street parking is not that hard once you get away from the highrises on the lake around 51st-53rd street.
Its not like LV or LP where street parking is tough and requires a residential permit.
I like the place and I like Hyde Park, but those assessments are not for the faint of heart.
I just saw pics of another unit for sale in the same building and it’s equally, if not more, amazing. Same deal with the assessment though.
Street parking is never fun, but it is possible in that area. And those are some brutal, brutal assessments.
But that’s a beautiful building I’ve always been curious about. Great location close to the park, lake & museum. Please report back from the open house if you go.
The assessments for places like this are the norm, unfortunately this is still Chicago and not NYC so I am questioning if there will be any acceptance or even offers on it for awhile.
I really like the look of this unit and the building…reminds me of my grandparents place on the UES. Very grand, the rooms are huge by Chicago standards, so it appears to be an acceptable asking price.
If I have time I would love to take a look at this place just out of curiousity…even though I am not too keen on living south of downtown.
I have friends who live in an equivalent co-op building a couple blocks from here and their assessments are far lower (and include taxes) and they have a garage space.
It costs a lot to keep six elevators running and brickwork maintained.
Great area of Hyde Park, right on the lake, museums and parks… Its a 2400sqft penthouse so it could go for 1.15 million (if there were no assessments) The no parking really kills it though!
Great place. Great views.
adding $360K to selling price due to assessments is not a well thought out idea, though. But if it was, the question might be will this place be worth MORE than $1.15 million in 30 years? my answer is yes w/ the inflation that’s about to come…
I’d guess someone would pay near ask, maybe close at 750K…
ChiGuy,
I admit the analysis is rough and sloppy, but if you want to get into the details, I don’t the $1.15M number in 30 years is the right measure either. After all, do we expect assessments to stay put for those 30 years? I don’t see that, but rather expect an inflation-like incline, at best. And as you point out, inflation is coming…
Assessments for large buildings in Hyde Park are the norm. I lived in this building about 6 years ago and they were working on the facade at the time, so there may not be any special assessments for a while. I know other people who live in highrise condos in Hyde Park that pay upwards of $2k for assessments per month. Smaller, three flat buildings sometimes have assessments as high as $500 per month.
With assessments that high, the taxes are usually included. If not, that’s extremely steep.
If you guys are talking about 30 years down the road, don’t forget the time value of money….
All in all a simple, back of the envelope calculation would take into account expected increases in assessment fee (I would say avg of the last five or ten years is just fine) and then use a discount rate of about 5% or so for the time value of money. In the end – probably a wash, with the higher chance the associate fee increases are larger than 5%.
I second the call for a floor plan. Beyond that – how’s the neighborhood to live in? I dig the museum but don’t know that I’d spend a lot of time there.
The beach across the street from the museum is a huge selling feature. I regularly lay out there reading and conversing with the hordes of U of C students that decamp there.
But $2000 assessment?
I read that at least 4 times before I accepted I might be actually reading it correctly. NEVER!
Do you really think those 300 dollar assessments on new condo’s will stay that way for long? Buildings with low assessments, even new ones, usually don’t do maintenance that is required and will have to levy a lot of special assessments to do routine work (such as facade examinations, which are required by the city) which could have been covered by assessments at a proper level.
If you don’t think new buildings don’t need work, take a look at the dump at Montrose and Broadway across from the Wilson Yards with all the chicken wire holding up the failing brick – on a less than ten year old building too.
That said, I think JT’s assessments are way too high. The plans, btw, are in the book “Chicago Apartments: A Century of Lakefront Luxury”…
I’ve been in this same apartment several times, as I know the owner. It really has the “wow” factor when you walk in to the place. There is a lot of room and the flow of the place actually works quite nicely. That said, it feels a bit dated when you start looking at finishes. However, a reasonable facelift would make this place a swank pad for someone who loves living in Hyde Park.
sweet living room.
I grew up in Hyde Park and had a close friend who had a duplex apt in the Jackson Towers building. We had a ball playing there. It was a very good building — elevator operators in those days, and also, cars were garaged in one of several places and the doorman would phone the garage to have your car brought over. Also look at 5000 East End and the Powhatan for comparable amenities (they are co-ops, however).
Wow! This place is a knockout! If you have the dough of course. That view! Its incredibly unique. I think I’m in love….