We Love Authentic Lofts: Top Floor With Roof Rights in the Annex: 727 S. Dearborn
We’ve chattered about the Donohue Annex at 727 S. Dearborn in Printers Row many times.
It is the brick and concrete side of the Donohue building with the original operational bird cage elevator (if you ever get a chance, it’s worth it to go on the South Loop Loft tour in the fall just to check out the elevator.)
This 2-bedroom is on the top floor and the listing says it has roof rights.
It also has exposed brick, the original maple floors and the large open floor plan that loft lovers live for.
The kitchen appears to have granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances.
There’s a wood burning fireplace in the bedroom.
There is no central air but there is in-unit washer/dryer. Parking is available for purchase across the street.
The unit has been on and off the market since 2008.
Will this time finally be the charm?
Maryellen Shannon at Coldwell Banker has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #910: 2 bedrooms, 1.5 baths, 2100 square feet
- Sold in July 1997 for $227,000
- Listed in 2008
- Listed in 2009
- Originally listed in April 2010 for $549,000
- Reduced
- Currently listed for $499,000
- Assessments of $1120 a month (includes heat, cable)
- Taxes of $5473
- No central air- window units only
- Washer/dryer in the unit
- Parking available
- Bedroom #1: 14×15
- Bedroom #2: 14×12
I wonder if central air conditioning could be put in?
Unless you are a true loft-lover, the list of negatives is astonishing…
1. No A/C (huge neg)
2. No parking
3. Only 1.5 baths
4. Roof rights are great, but the price should reflect that it could be built out, not that it is built out…
5. Huge assessments
6. Parking ACROSS THE STREET (and not included)
7. Not everyone’s ideal neighborhood
8. And those are just the negatives I can tell from the listing.
For $500K, I expected to be blown away by the listing. I wasn’t. At. All. Not a chance at this price.
I’m surprised this unit hasn’t sold for more than . This would cost well over a million in SoHo and have a larger list of negatives. I would also sell in less than a couple of weeks.
Apologies in advance if this has already been discussed in another thread (I unfortunately don’t have time to peruse them all). Interesting analysis on the C-S chicago condo data on Seeking Alpha:
http://seekingalpha.com/article/207049-chicago-condos-re-busting-more-march-case-shiller-analysis
Chicago Condos Re-Busting: More March Case-Shiller Analysis
One of the weaker trends from Tuesday morning’s S&P/Case-Shiller home price report was the price line coming out of the Chicago condo market.
Despite the propaganda PR spun by Chicagoland Realtors, prices are headed south and, in some sense, capture the “head fake” created by the Feds market meddling in pristine fashion.
use link for entire article and chart….
homedelete on May 27th, 2010 at 7:23 am
I’m surprised this unit hasn’t sold for more than . This would cost well over a million in SoHo and have a larger list of negatives. I would also sell in less than a couple of weeks.
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Amen to that. I haven’t been to SoHo in a while, but I don’t think it has a Target within walking distance. Based on the proximity to Target alone, this thing is probably worth more than a comp in SoHo and should be priced accordingly.
I like the unit bc it’s different from all the other 2 BDs for that price in “SoLo”. My only issue would be the noise levels when you have to put in giant window ACs to cool 2100 sq ft.
I think Jon covered just about everything that makes this place not worth 500k
“I wonder if central air conditioning could be put in?”
Other units in the Donohue have central air. Not sure about the annex but if you can put it into the Donohue I don’t see why you can’t in the annex.
homedelete & PermaBear,
First off, are you serious??? this isn’t NYC! this is the midwest housing market. i get unbelievably upset when people try to say chicago is such a huge discount to NYC. it should be! this place is way overpriced. especially if you still have to build the rooftop, let alone the neighborhood its in. look at the AREA comps, not the big city comps………….
No full second bath, no central air, no on site parking, and a monthly nut of almost $1600 in taxes and assessments means this place has a long way to fall for the “has been 2004 neighborhood of the year award”
Might be #5 for Jon, but that batsh!t assessment is enough negative for me, just on its own. . .
. . . and for the record I actually really like this building, and consider this to be the only part of the S Loop worth looking at.
But there’s gotta be something crazy with the building (even beyond heating it) for assessment to be this high; It’s over double what I’d expect.
probably did some facade work a while ago, or are planning on doing something in the near term and they’re (the association) still paying for it or saving up a down payment would be my guess
Is there a SOHO in Chicago or are you speaking about NYC?
IF it were located in SOHO here, it would be well above a mil just for the space alone.
Too bad the realtor does not know how to photograph units and doesn’t care enough about his clients to include a floorplan…that should be REQUIRED of all Chicago listings, no excuses.
In places like this (huge sq ftage) it is hard to picture the layout and would discourage a potential buyer from pursuing it any futher.
I wonder, if the monthly asses are that high, is there a special assessment…or perhaps a portion of that expense goes towards building one up? With an old building like that it would seem one would be in place.
I am probably the perfect demographic for this unit and have to say I love it. Not sure what the correct pricing is but in the conforming market I’ve not seen a true loft I like more and I’ve seen some for a lot more in the west loop that I did not.
1.5 baths is a bit of an issue, no central a/c sucks and the parking across street is annoying but the space looks great and it has nice features like that steel door leading to the bedrooms off the living room.
I’ll probably be taking a look.
…….and b4 HD or Sonies suggest i am the agent given my enthusiasm, I am not. I only list my owned properties and I do not own this (yet)
and to add to WL’s point, correct PIN numbers should also be a requirement on all listings. that’s what you buy so how can they not give?
based on recent/continuing experience in/with the building, the building has never had a special assessment. ever. they, instead, work carefully to maintain an appropriate reserve. it is a landmark building, brick, with two elevators (one is bird-cage) and thus requires a good amount of upkeep. the building/association has done tuckpointing/brick-work over the years and, i believe, is planning to do more in the coming year. they also recently re-did (because it is landmark, the original windows cannot be replaced but must be removed and revamped and replaced) all of the windows in the building. assessments cover cable and heat – which is radiator. the building also has a full-time maintenance staff. the assessment is on the higher end, but this building has already lasted for years and years and has a consistently excellent financial history.
Thanks for answering my ‘wonderings’ forrealestate…
I was meaning to say ‘reserve’ rather than ‘special assessment’, so thanks again for clarifying.
So can A/C be put in place for this unit? That much space on the top floor would be brutal in the summer months.
In terms of the building’s viability it is also worth noting that not a single unit is even in pre-foreclosure.
I’m warming upto this place…….which is prob good since it’ll be 85 degrees in there in July unless you get that A/C installed.
Apologies for the multitudinous posts but also of interest is that it rented for $2,500 in Sep 09 according to MLS. So good to see Chicago agents are still assuring their clients that condos are worth 200x the monthly gross even when assessments and taxes swallow $1,600 of that.
I am considerably less permabearish than many of the posters on CC but I can see no reason why anyone would pay $500k instead of renting it for $2,500?
on adding in A/C…
a few things are needed (for a traditional duct work system:
-enough capacity on your electrical system to handle both a compressor and the blower unit. Probably enough but it is an older building
-access/permission to install the compressor on the roof; then you need to go through the roof to connect electrical to the compressor and the compressor line to the blower. I’m assuming this won’t be an issue since you have roof rights and others have done it.
-somewhere for the drip line (off the blower) to drain into. A drain could be worked in from the bathroom stack-at least I think its possible/meets code
-duct work. It is a loft so it shouldn’t be an issue.
This place is WAY overpriced for what it is. A similar unit in Lincoln Park wouldn’t even get that much.
Pete,
2,200 sq ft top floor loft style in LP for
“This place is WAY overpriced for what it is. A similar unit in Lincoln Park wouldn’t even get that much.”
If this were Lincoln Park, this would be both units 909 and 910 separated at those pesky old steel doors, which would be replaced my more convenient MDF doors, in a brand new shiny “loft” building, with one side exposed to the EL, and both units would be listed at $429.