We Love Authentic Lofts: 2300 W. Wabansia in Bucktown
We haven’t yet chattered about The Clocktower Lofts, at 2300 W. Wabansia, in Bucktown. The brick and timber building has 113 lofts.
These lofts aren’t new construction cookie cutter. This 2-bedroom unit is one of the top floor duplex units which have a unique wall of skylights.
Greg Vollan at @Properties has the listing. See more pictures and a virtual tour here.
Unit #309: 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, 1100 square feet, duplex
- Sold in March 2005 for $322,500
- Currently listed for $369,000
- Assessments of $274 a month
- Taxes of $4165
- Central Air
- No parking with the unit- but the listing says parking may be available in the building (i.e. there IS parking in the building- but this unit doesn’t own a spot.)
I love this building and that doesn’t seem to be an outrageous price (although expecting almost $50k appreciation since 2005 seems a bit excessive), except for the “no parking” factor. If you’re going to buy one of the better units in the building, WHY wouldn’t you get a parking space? For that reason alone, I don’t think they’ll get much more than they paid in 05.
$335/sq ft is rather optimistic for the current market.
Skylights are nice. Master bedroom open to the main living area — not so nice.
Anybody know if this building had any soundproofing added when it was converted e.g. lightweight concrete between floors? I love the look of brick and timber loft spaces but the sound transmission is terrible if not addressed.
How is this different from an 1100 sq ft 2/1 condo conversion? An open floor plan and sky lights?
In the current declining market I would say about 275, lower if its a bitch to heat the place.
I liked these units when I was considering them. I wonder if the skylights are filthy at times and what about when covered in snow? Overall, pretty unique units!
This place is rather appealing. Maybe its just that its dumping snow outside and it reminds me of a ski lodge. I’m guessing above 275, 300-320k.
I think the price per square foot is actually headed a lot lower in WP & BT but this place is unique enough I think to keep some sort of premium.
I was just wondering about how much insulation there was in that skylight roof; the windows themselves look new, but I would hope it was insulated properly.
And I hope that the white on the beams is old or a paint treatment and not fresh water damage/leakage.
I really like that skylight space (MBR?) but the rest of the loft is almost too ‘polished’ to match the roughness of the raw timber.
I don’t see how you fit a bed in the lofted “master bedroom”.
http://chicago.craigslist.org/search/apa?query=bucktown+loft+wabansia&minAsk=min&maxAsk=max&bedrooms=
2/1.5 Bucktown lofts rent for $1,800.00.
If you bought at $369k with 20% down a $295k IO mortgage a 5% is only $1,300 a month. It’s finally cheaper to rent than to own! Is this the bottom?
interesting how they staged the Master bedroom as a study. weird
Well it looks like the only place for a bed is where that chair is. And if the bed was any bigger than a twin you would have to crawl in to it from the foot.
Yeah, it looked small to me, even smaller in the virtual image on the tour. I wonder if part of having the bedroom elsewhere is the light from the window disturbing sleep; even if it faces north, it would be awful bright there in summer in the morning and it can even be bright at night w/o shades or something.
“If you bought at $369k with 20% down a $295k IO mortgage a 5% is only $1,300 a month. It’s finally cheaper to rent than to own! Is this the bottom?”
Plus assessments and taxes, HD–$621/month, about the same as rent, with true accounting for income tax benefits. So, it’s close, but not quite there yet. Tho this one would look quite appealing at the ’05 price, if you (1) would have rented an $1800/month 2 bd in BT anyway, and (2) think you’d like to live in a 2 bd in BT for ~5 years.
(Yeah, I know, HD. I know.)
If you bought at $369k with 20% down a $295k IO mortgage a 5% is only $1,300 a month. It’s finally cheaper to rent than to own! Is this the bottom?
You want to do a rent vs. own calculation using an interest-only loan? OK…
What an interesting non-cookie cutter place. I looked at other listings for the building and they are all very appealing although somewhat odd in their lay outs. Some people like unusual places to live and are willing to pay a premium for them. It;’s not all about profit-loss.
“You want to do a rent vs. own calculation using an interest-only loan? OK…”
Use anything else and invite argument from Stevo and others. It’s actually non-unreasonable.
I looked at many units in this building over the last few months. Very nice places in general. All units have indoor heated parking. The one downside to all units in this building is that the master bedrooms are right next to the front door of the unit. from what I can tell pretty good sound insulation. I just don’t like living in a building with so many other units.
Hello all. I am the listing agent for the property and am a former resident in the building. I appreciate the comments, questions and observations and offer a few clarifications.
First, it is a 2 bedroom, 1.1 bath unit and the developer stated square footage is 1,169 square feet. That is actually $316 a square foot list price without parking and compares favorably with the building which averaged $326 a square foot CLOSED price in 2008 for 10 units all with a parking space. This unit is one of only four with this floor plan in the building.
In that it is a top floor unit, noise transmission is less of an issue, but the developer did pour light weight concrete over the existing floor, then added a plywood subfloor and new hard wood. I used to live in a first floor unit and found the only noise to be a distraction coming from the impact of high heeled shoes, which was a rarity…
Also worth mentioning is that the client put it in brand new Frigidaire Pro Series Appliances, 1.25″ granite (including a full height back splash), a very high end Kindred under mount sink and Hansgrohe faucet as we went to market. Brand new with warranty cards to be sent in by the new owner.
I would estimate that 50% of the units with skylight have window treatments. This one does not, but Hunter Douglas makes ones specifically for this application. I know that it is odd to see the master bed room set up as a den, but this is how the renter did it (my client has been living out of state for a couple of years). If you replaced the green sofa with a queen size bed, you’d have room for night stands on either end. Also, as currently presented, there is an opening into the main living area. Some owners use window treatments for some privacy or infiill the space with glass block which adds sound insulation without interfering with light transmission.
Worth mentioning, there is a second set of skylights at the base of the stairs leading up to the master, so there is great light at the point furthest from the windows, eliminating the “dark corner” issues of many lofts that have windows only at one end.
Thanks again for the input. I love the “ski lodge” comment. I often call it an “urban ski lodge” during showings. They are incredibly warm, tactile spaces and the building offers some of the best true loft feeling units in the neighborhood.
Stay warm.
Sincerely
Greg
Thanks for the info Greg. It is truly a unique space with a lot of character.
Greg:
Is the parking available for purchase for $11,690 or less?
anon,
The parking space in question is held by an owner who owns two spaces. He is currently selling one space with his unit and offering the second for $28K the last time I spoke to him. There is virtually 1 to 1 parking in this building, so spaces rarely trade independently of the units, but I beleive the last one to sell went for around $22K which is a very fair price for an attached heated garage spot.
Anticipating your next question, the asking of $369,900 and assuming $24K for a parking space at 1,169 sq ft puts the total cost at $337 a square ft.
In weighing that number, please keep in mind that #1, my client is not expecting full price. #2, the slim majority of the units that sold in 2008 still have laminate counters/ white appliance kitchens while this listing has a brand new granite and stainless steel kitchen. #3 Of 113 units, there are only 4 with this floor plan and only small number are duplexed with skylights.
I hope that doesn’t come across as defensive, just wanted to anticipate some follow up questions as I will be unable to reply to any for most of the day.
One final thought is that many buyers may not need parking in this location being 2.5 blocks to the blue line and a few blocks to the Damen, Milwaukee, North and Western bus lines and not far from the Metra either (at Ashland/ Cortland).
Sincerely,
Greg
I lived in this building when it was first converted in 1995-1996. I owned the biggest unit available, at about 1300 square feet, and bought it for $179,000 (I cant remember if that included parking, but if it didnt, parking was about $10,000). I really liked the building and the layouts were unique. The ceiling in my living room was 14 feet, and 22 feet in kitchen..two skylights ran the width of our unit. The only issue was the sound. When I was in my upstairs bedroom, I could hear the shower in the room next door. And if the tv or stereo was on, forget it. Black appliances were an upgrade, and stainless steel was not on anyones radar at that time (not an option). Granite and marble were upgrades too. Also, the second “bedroom” was not really a bedoom, but an open room off the kitchen where you could put a bed, and the upstairs master is ipen to the living room and kitchen downstairs (I put up glass block for this reason).Given what I know about the building, I would not pay $335 sq ft, even though this area has obviously matured over the years. That would make my old place worth $435,000, which is ridiculous. I love the building, but I would price it out at no more than $275 sq ft. given the sound issues, the dated appliances, the open bedroom layout, and quality of the standard finishes and construction materials, and heating and air conditioning costs (also, even when I was there, some of brick needed tuckpointing in my unit). I will be interested to see what happens here.
Greg:
I don’t think you sound defensive at all. I was just curious, as you noted that all the ’08 sales included parking. Thanks!
I live in Bucktown, considered living in this building when I was looking to buy, and know several people who live there. In fact I would say I’ve spent a considerable amount of time there.
The price, minus the parking spot issue, is in line with what other units have sold for in the building. In fact, units with spots have gone for more, even in the last year.
It’s my understanding that this building is one of the hottest properties in Bucktown to buy in, and I know the units here don’t stay on the market for long. Just recently one of the units was even featured on HGTV.
I’ve got friends living both on the first floor and the third and sound between units has never truly been an issue. You might hear the occasional murmur of a TV or stereo, but really it’s rare. Most people living there are quiet and keep to themselves.
The building itself is meticulously maintained. The building engineer does a great job!!
What is the noise from the elevated train line like at this building?
For that price I’d walk down the block and buy something in the Ironwerks building on the corner of Claremont & Wabansia.
so many shills…no real comments 🙁
Jerseyguy, I’ve looked at both this building and the Ironwerks building and can say hands down that this was the better planned loft. Most of these clocktower units have a planned space for a dining table, whereas the Ironwerks fails to do that.