Vetro Developer Cuts Prices (Again) on 6 Units: 611 S. Wells in the South Loop
The developer at The Vetro, at 611 S. Wells, in the South Loop has cut prices (again) in a “developer close out” to try and sell 6 of the remaining available units. It appears the cuts are only on the bigger and pricer units.
The ad for the price cuts list five 2 bedrooms + den/2.5 bath corner units and one 3 bedroom/3 bath corner penthouse.
For the penthouse, the price has been reduced another $41,000.
Unit #3004: 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, 2000 square feet
- Was listed in April 2009 (right after the auction) for $580,000 (parking included)- assessments of $764 a month
- Reduced
- Currently listed for $539,000 (parking included)
Of the 5 corner 2 bedrooms + den units, it looks like the reductions are in the 03 and 07 tiers.
03-tier: 2 bedrooms, plus den, 2.5 baths, 1667 square feet, Northwest and east exposures
- Priced in April 2009 (right after the auction) from $400,000 for the 10th floor to $435,000 on the 20th floor (were listed in the low $500,000-range with parking extra in 2008)
- Parking included
- Assessments run from $582 to $641 a month
- Reduced
- Currently priced from $399,900 on the 10th floor to $382,000 on the 13th floor
07-tier: 2 bedrooms, den, 2.5 baths, 1525 square feet, Southeast and West exposure
- Priced in April 2009 (right after the auction) from $371,000 on the 9th floor to $413,000 on the 27th floor (were listed in the mid-$400,000s with parking extra in 2008)
- Parking included
- Assessments run from $454 to $513 a month
- Reduced
- Currently priced from $362,000 on the 13th floor to $415,000 on the 28th floor
Are these reductions even much of a reduction?
Baird and Warner is still handling sales.
You can see pictures of one of the other penthouse units, Unit #3102, to give you an idea as to what the penthouses are like, and which is under contract, here.
How is 3004 a penthouse when there’s a listing for 3102?
I wonder what 3102 (2BR/3Bath, asking $615,000) is under contract for given that 3004 (3/3) is now at $539,000. There’s a contract you may want to consider breaching…
Are these bank owned units? I ask because the developer is bankrupt and filed chapter 7.
“How is 3004 a penthouse when there’s a listing for 3102?”
Vetro is funny in that they consider the top two floors penthouses–just like my uncle’s stack of magazines.
These really aren’t special deals and its worth noting that Baird & Warner has been intentionally keeping the remaining Vetro units off the MLS to give a sense of lower inventory. Yet they still do open houses for them every Saturday.
These aren’t special deals but its surprising B&W is actively marketing them, as via keeping them off the MLS I suspected they weren’t interested in selling them.
LOL. These prices are higher $/sf than the auction prices for HIGHER floors with the same floorplan.
Unit No. Bed Bath Sqft Min bid Orig listing Price Price/sf Sequence
2603 2.5 3 1,667 $360,000 $567,900 $429,000 $257 3.0
2503 2.5 3 1,667 $360,000 $567,900 $421,000 $253 4.0
2403 2.5 3 1,667 $360,000 $555,900 $420,000 $252 5.0
2303 2.5 3 1,667 $360,000 $553,900 $419,000 $251 6.0
2203 2.5 3 1,667 $360,000 $551,900 $412,000 $247 7.0
1703 is priced at $432k = $259.15/sf
Let’s assume for a minute that I can get past the dark purple hallways on alternating floors…The building is right next to the train station and when the trains idle (which I assume is all the time) you can hear and feel the rumbling. In the 07 unit I was in (wraps around the south end of the building with east and west exposures as well) the rumbling was ever present throughout the entire unit. I hear they are looking for a Guantanamo replacement…won’t need to waterboard here.
Bridget, I believe the developer filed for personal bankruptcy. The units are actually sold by T R HARRISON HOLDINGS which is not bankrupt…(yet?).
1703 has someone living in it. And ccrd.info confirms it sold for $410,000. … $245.95/s.f.
As for the train, the “rumble” or hum puts me to sleep. The train “dinging” when it entered or exited the station took a little getting used to but now I don’t notice it.
“the rumbling was ever present ”
I think this is dependent on how high a floor you are on. I looked at an 08 unit (corner with south and east exposures) and you could hear the idling trains with the sliding doors to the balcony open but could hear/feel nothing with the doors closed.
We were in 1607 and the vibrating was pretty noticeable even with the doors closed. The strange thing was that the west side of one 07 unit was actually louder than the east side. Some kind of resonant effect. But different people…
I think the terrace units are mondo cool (7th floor), but I may have to rent one to see whether this vibration is an issue. As far as I know all but one of the studios or one bedrooms on the 7th floor are owned by investors renting them out.
I’ve been to all the corner units on the 30th and 31st floors and the hum/rumble/racket from the trains was noticeable throughout the units – unacceptable by the east-facing side. How metra is allowed to idle those diesels for hours on end, in the middle of a residential district, is beyond me.
The same thing seems to happen all over the country: I once lived about half a mile from a train station, and some nights the low-frequency rumble would rattle my (very old) windows all night.
“How metra is allowed to idle those diesels for hours on end, in the middle of a residential district, is beyond me.”
Well Bubba the trains were there long before the residents were. That used to be an industrial area.
The real question is why a developer would plant a residential building right next to a train station. Maybe that’s why they went bankrupt.
I wonder why they let them idle though. sure there is a good reason but seems like it would save fuel cost by turning them off.
gary, maybe b/c wells street tower did it and it went ok? if it works once it’s gotta be a good ideal, all in!
The developers need to just throw the towel in and convert the remaining unsold units to rentals. If they did not sell during the first auction, why would they sell now?
Poorly constructed, walls of paper and low grade finishes..yuck..
Still cannot get over those waste of space balconies.
“walls of paper”
Where do you come up with this stuff? Last I checked the walls were concrete and it doesn’t look poorly constructed to me. I was not aware of the idling noise issues, though. Not so much fun.
“If they did not sell during the first auction, why would they sell now?”
The bank is hoping and praying. I’d bet a few have sold since the auction and there are only a few units left from the bank. Converting to rentals now would make little sense as its very late in the game for this development.
Any ideas as to why this building did not sell most of the units when it was first released? I know you are a huge fan of this development so I won’t take your questioning of my comments too seriously. And since you are such a big fan, why did you not attend the auction and pick up one of these places for yourself? Or shortly after?
“Any ideas as to why this building did not sell most of the units when it was first released?”
When it came to market + price?
Or is that too glib for you?
Not at all anon…
Actually the ? was directed at Bob as he has always been a real strong supporter of this place. Pre-construction pricing was prior to the burst of the bubble right?
“And since you are such a big fan, why did you not attend the auction and pick up one of these places for yourself? Or shortly after?”
Uhh I’ve always liked the building I don’t remember saying too many things about the valuation of this place. I think the most bullish comments I made are those that bought at auction prices aren’t likely to lose a bunch of money.
Funny story when I first joined CC in early 2008 I was interested in buying here but the regulars convinced me otherwise.
I still might end up renting here though. Homeownership is not for Bob until the government exits the market and we have a two year track record of price stability.
“Any ideas as to why this building did not sell most of the units when it was first released?”
Price + market. I think you’re going to find _any condo building_ that started closings in 2008 with 100+ units is going to be in a heap of trouble.
“until the government exits the market ”
Not going to happen. When was the last time we had a government contraction? You may as well take advantage of it while they are still giving away free money.
“Any ideas as to why this building did not sell most of the units when it was first released?”
I think Bob answers this question.
Bob likes the place.
Bob rents.
“Not at all anon…
Actually the ? was directed at Bob ”
That’s why I picked out the question you posed which was susceptible to a general answer and ignored the others..
“Not going to happen. When was the last time we had a government contraction? You may as well take advantage of it while they are still giving away free money.”
Well I didn’t mean 100% exit. Fannie and Freddie will still be around after awhile, in some form or another.
But I highly doubt the tax credit will be, or these record low interest rates (via the Fed purchasing treasuries). Both are set to expire in the first half of next year. You can argue the tax credit will be extended but it would be a very tough case for the Fed to expand its timeframe for buying down interest rates as that is costing hundreds of billions of dollars.
Also I will argue the FHA buttressing the lower end of the market isn’t sustainable as well and they will eventually have to cut back.
I don’t know when interest rates are going to spike but its my belief they will at some point (or the US has a currency crisis). Not being able to predict the future perfectly but able to get a better place from renting I’ll do that.
Westloopelo: “If they did not sell during the first auction, why would they sell now?”
The few remaining units were not offered at the auction. Only 40 units were advertised at auction. And they added 5 units during the auction. And those all sold. The remaining units tend to be larger units on higher floors…and more expensive.
And there are 232 units, so most of the units sold before the auction. (ie. approx. 130 units).