We Love Authentic Lofts: 720 S. Dearborn in Printers Row
Could you live without any walls?
This is the second loft in 720 S. Dearborn in Printers Row in the last six months that has no “real” walls.
The first, Unit #703, I chattered about last October.
Unit #703: 2 bedrooms, 1.5 baths, 1700 square feet
- Was listed in October 2007 for $475,000
- Assessments of $841 a month
I can’t find any sales information for this unit so it appears it didn’t sell.
Unit #603: 1 bedroom, 1.5 baths, 1300 square feet
- Sold in October 2002 for $239,000
- Currently listed for $324,900
- Assessments of $639 a month
- In-unit w/d
- There is a separate stand-up shower in the full bath (along with the claw bathtub)
- No parking in the building
- Schwind Realty & Development has the listing
Those both look pretty cool, especially the 2 bedroom.
What a great place.
Very nice. Too bad they don’t have parking.
yes, I love both of these. Given no walls and no parking (and no outdoor space and no fireplace), though, I wouldn’t pay more than $200 a square foot. And yes, I’ve considered the fact that they have been renovated.
I’ve been convinced by comments on this site that it is really, really hard to sell a true, hard loft like these. I’m hoping 703 will come back on the market listed with a more reasonable asking price.
no walls just means you have to be creative with furniture placement…like placing wardrobes & bookcases back to back to create a bedroom wall.
My question is about the assessments in these buildings…why would the apt. have $841/mo assessments when other buildings in the area charge hundreds less. forget the asking price & price per sq ft (which are high – personally i’d say an appropriate asking price is $350k) its the assessments that make these places hard to sell:
Lets say you bought the place for $475k and put down 20% which almost nobody does(approx $95k) – your basic monthly 30 year fixed mortgage payment would be around $2,100 or so and when you add in taxes/insurance/assessments you would realistically be looking at a monthly payment of around $3k/month + parking (if you buy it)
I’d bet money that the assessment charge is the biggest reason why the unit’s still for sale
Sarah:
“which almost nobody does(approx $95k) ”
Which almost nobody did. Going forward its going to be very difficult to get financing at anything more than 90% LTV with great credit or 80% LTV with good credit.
The assessment is a contributing reason why its still for sale. One of the main reasons is that $3k/month can get you a much nicer place with parking.
The other is that places like this have very limited appeal. It may seem hip on a website but who with a family is going to want to live with no walls? Both sellers are scr*wed big time because buyers are scarce enough these days without further relegating your potential market to niche status.
No walls. I just wonder, do people living in these places have families? Do these families ever visit them in this uber cool, no wall loft? It must be just me but spending close to 1/2 mil for a dorm like sleeping arrangement is somehow not appealing. But then I am getting old and don’t hang out with the cool crowd anymore.
sartre – lofts (in my experiance) seem to appeal to young(er) singles and couples…but you could make it work with kids i guess. personally i have always LOVED them – having a big open space like that with so many options…its perfect…much better then a plain white box condo IMO 🙂
Bob – what i meant by “nobody does” is like you said – “nobody did” and in the future very few people will be able too…that is why condos between 400-999k are a hard sell…
also saying that people can get a nicer place is all relative – i think older, exposed brick, giant windows, beams…the whole deal is WAY nicer then most new construction but i def. agree about parking…
the place is overpriced all around….
The place is beautiful, even if the one-room living does not appeal to me.
Wonder what the utility bills and/or assessments are for this space?
My guess is the high assessments are because the heating is part of them–and lofts (esp. the older conversions) are notorious for bleeding heat.
As for who would want to live in them, yes, def. singles or couples. When I first started thinking about buying, I thought, “I have to get a minimum of a two bedroom, because what do I do when guests visit?” Then I calculated the additional cost of a second bedroom for just this purpose, and realized I could just put visitors up in a very fancy hotel room nearby, and still save tons of money. Both the guests and I would be happier with such an arrangement even if I *did* have a second bedroom, true? So now I’m open to one bedrooms, and even (especially!) these huge, beautiful, open studios. 🙂
Lots of floors to wash!
Just to sweep. You shouldn’t wash hard wood floors more than a couple of times a year. And as for the sweeping, that’s what Roombas are for!
Sarah, I think the mentality of lets get married, buy a loft and sell in couple of years when we have kids is about to change big time. Unless someone is willing to buy this and hold for 6-7 years, its a losing proposition. Which means forget about raising family for that period. As far as condo vs loft debate, its a matter of taste.
morgan said: “there is no parking.” why are midwesterners so concerned about parking across the street and walking a few yards into the buildng?
@paulj:
*There is no parking*–across the street or anywhere else for miles around. It’s in the middle of downtown Chicago.
Agreed – many our fellow Chicagoans seem to have a fear of using their feet other than to work the gas pedal.
Also confusing – “…which means forget about raising family for that period.”
I’m confident that one could raise a young child while living in a condo and the child would turn out fine. Having been raised in an apartment myself, Sartre’s logic escapes me.
There IS parking in that neighborhood. There is one big public garage that everyone uses on Plymouth nearly across the street.
There is also parking available to buy, sometimes, in 801 S. Plymouth for around $50,000.
Yes Dave but I’m willing to bet the apartment you were raised in had walls. Do you really want that toddler waking up and crying from every little noise in the apartment?
This unit is definitely not family friendly.
Ah, point taken. Bet you could build a pretty big jungle gym in there though.
Dave, contrary to popular belief I didn’t grow up in a mansion either :-). However I am sure my parents were thankful for the privacy afforded by the walls. Especially when their little brat became quite curious as to what mommy and daddy were upto at all times.
Unit 904 just came on the market on 3/15/11. It’s a 1/1.5 with 1,350 square feet listed for $264,900. Monthly assessments of 697, yearly taxes of 3,175. No interior pics on the listing though so I am suspicious.
Unit 901 came on the market in it’s latest listing on August 15th. It’s a 2/2 at $171/sf for 239k. Does not appear to be a distressed listing.
Err that listing is a 2/1.5 & 1,400 sqft.