We Love Wide Open Artists Lofts: 400 N. Racine In West Town
This 2-bedroom loft at 400 N. Racine in West Town just came on the market (or is this the West Loop? It’s north of the railroad tracks so I’m calling it West Town.)
It’s not the small packaged and staged type of loft we normally see.
At 2650 square feet it has a wide open floor plan (few walls!) with coated concrete and wood floors and 13 1/2 foot ceilings.
It has an industrial stainless steel kitchen with stainless steel counter tops on the island.
The loft has the amenities buyers look for including central air, washer/dryer in the unit and gated parking.
It’s listed $69,000 over the 2005 price at $449,000.
Will this unique space get the premium?
Quin O’Brien at 4 Sale Realty has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #106: 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, 2650 square feet
- Sold in April 1996 for $162,500
- Sold in March 2005 for $380,000
- Currently listed at $449,000
- Assessments of $265 a month
- Taxes of $5267
- Central Air
- Washer/Dryer in the unit
- Gated parking included
- Bedroom #1: 16×13
- Bedroom #2: 16×13
No.
Metra Tracks in your front yard.
Municipal Dump Truck transfer station across the tracks from your front yard.
What is that? Looks like barracks.
“Metra Tracks in your front yard.
Municipal Dump Truck transfer station across the tracks from your front yard.”
This is the street view from the Kedzie side: http://goo.gl/maps/m6HjL
I love lofts, but not every former industrial building needed to be converted to condos.
How is the address on the building silver in Sabrina’s pic and red in the listing pic? The building loks 100x better in Sabrina’s pic.
“This is the street view from the Kedzie side: http://goo.gl/maps/m6HjL”
LOL! Wow, now THAT is a depressing sight…
I was in this place once, at the home of someone who lived and worked in this development, and I love the place. The only bad thing are the tiny windows. Otherwise, the place feels like a large, luxury apartment, very quiet and comfortable.
The nabe is not bad- quieter than you might think. It feels fairly safe and clean. These were developed as work-live lofts and I don’t believe that the industrial character of the area is a deterrent to the prospective buyer of a place like this. If anything, it’s a charm. The person I met was a professional photographer who lived and kept his shop there, if memory serves.
Even so, I think that the seller is getting ahead of himself asking a substantial premium over the 2005 peak. The market hasn’t recovered THAT much yet, and with much tighter credit standards than what prevailed in 2005, it isn’t likely to.
It’s Kinzie, not Kedzie.
“It’s listed $69,000 over the 2005 price at $449,000.”
FWIW, it does say it was completely remodeled.
“not every former industrial building”
This was purpose built residential, no?
“Municipal Dump Truck transfer station”
Where? Not doubting, but not seeing either.
I don’t think that 1 bathroom works for a place that is 2650 square feet.
For that price there better be some outdoor space, a decent view, and a second full bath. I’m not seeing any of that. Looks like a fun place to throw a party, but beyond that it’s a certain kind of bachelor pad for a certain kind of bachelor.
“I don’t think that 1 bathroom works for a place that is 2650 square feet.”
Totally. And it’s a small-ish bathroom (considering size of the unit) at that. Need at least another half bath somewhere.
I think the lot out back has been functioning in this capacity.
“Need at least another half bath somewhere.”
Sandwiched between 2 sets of Metra/Amtrack tracks just seems like a poor place for residential. Talk about external obsolescence…
Urban, gritty, expensive.
“external obsolescence…”
This is a less than desirable location that will never have a neighborhood feel. Not a good place to raise children, I suppose, despite the large size.
“How is the address on the building silver in Sabrina’s pic and red in the listing pic? The building loks 100x better in Sabrina’s pic.”
It also looks like they had the cinder block facade painted. Untreated cinder block can be a huge problem for a building. The listing pic shows discolored yellowing blocks which usually indicates water has penetrated for quite a while. I am not sure how this affects the life of the block/structure.
I will be shocked if this goes for anywhere near asking price. It really does look like a barracks as Vlajos pointed out.
Also, nothing says lack of space/building amenities like putting a bicycle in one of the bedrooms. Yuck.
“Not a good place to raise children, I suppose, despite the large size.”
I am pretty sure the buyers of this place will not give a flying fuck about raising children in this unit
This place was never meant for family and kids. It was meant to be a work-live deal and the target market was, I remember, the lone graphic artist or photographer or whatever. It was meant to house all your work as well as your life, thus one bathroom. Come right down to it, it was targeted to a very small market.
Actually this was targeted towards a warehouse client; and only 100 years later was it converted to condos!
“Actually this was targeted towards a warehouse client; and only 100 years later was it converted to condos!”
So, this is apparently our test property for split-face block–looks pretty good for a 100 year building.
“This place was never meant for family and kids. It was meant to be a work-live deal and the target market was, I remember, the lone graphic artist or photographer or whatever. It was meant to house all your work as well as your life, thus one bathroom. Come right down to it, it was targeted to a very small market.”
I would think even as a work-live place, you would want your private bathroom and then a bathroom that your guests/clients could use. I wouldn’t want to be photographing people and when they have to go to the bathroom letting them use my toothbrush to clean their shoes or snoop in my medicine cabinet to see what meds I am taking….
“I would think even as a work-live place, you would want your private bathroom and then a bathroom that your guests/clients could use.”
I’d say *especially* in a live-work space. would allow for a genuinely private ‘live’ area.
“It’s Kinzie, not Kedzie.”
lol. Yeah, my mistake! Bit of a difference between those two streets.
“This was purpose built residential, no?”
Looks like it was built in 1990, so I guess not a conversion (split-face should’ve gave that away).
This still begs the question: why develop this lot sandwiched between tracks for residential (or live/work)? Weren’t there plenty of other buildings/lots in the area at the time (and still today) that would’ve been much more suitable for such development?
Obviously, enough people liked the location and space to have bought units. However, I just don’t see the price premium for this compared to something that’s a little further south and east.
“400 N. Racine in West Town … (or is this the West Loop? It’s north of the railroad tracks so I’m calling it West Town.)”
sigh. I think you’re right. And all these years I’ve been thinking of this locale (south of Grand, north of Lake, east of Ogden, west of Halsted) as “River West” — a generous term, no doubt, but you’d use it too if it helped. West Town. you got me.
This place is F’ing awesome, a bit pricey considering but @350k is 100% what a loft should be. (minus the sea blue and faded yellow pallet)
“Not a good place to raise children, I suppose, despite the large size.”
What about the children? Won’t somebody please think about the children!
How can you call a place a “loft” when from the inside it appears to be 50% below grade?
I would dare say this falls on the northwest tip of Fulton Market, but you can’t go wrong with labeling it West Town. The RE photography really falls short of capturing the spatial qualities of this place. Not that it’s terrible (no open toilet seat shots thankfully!), but it could’ve been so much better. I would be ashamed of it if I were the owner and this is what it was being marketed like.
Definitely a great place for entertaining/gallery showings, but it needs a second crapper. especially at this price point.
I also hope this building has an elevator. God forbid if the owner ever has to walk up to the second floor! I mean those ceilings are 13.5 ft high, so you know the stairwells will be extra steep because of that!!!
Oh, dear. Methinks this place is too witty for me, where opposite logic prevails. Where all the floors are easy-clean concrete, except the kitchen floor which is raised on wood. A library ladder attached to the wall for watering a dreary array of ordinary plants, not dusting color-coordinated books. One commode with two bedrooms, demanding an ask of $500,000. Gratefully, the one removable piece of wit: a 50-gallon oil drum for refuse.
Just looked at the street view – ugh! How pleasant to look at dumpsters lined up alongside a railroad track.
This development doesn’t really look like it was designed to be residential. It would work better as the location for a small business. I could see a web start-up company with lots of 20-somethings having its office here. It could be pretty hip.
Violet: “Gratefully, the one removable piece of wit: a 50-gallon oil drum for refuse.”
Why? That’s your half bathroom right there!
This is the Kinzie Industrial Corridor.
http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/dcd/supp_info/tif/kinzie_industrialcorridortif.html
This location is where the true non-conformist lives. Not the angry hipster-conformists, that think they are non-conformists (like skeptic’s Logan Sq. types). The person who this appeals to is someone who really gets to live free, checked-out of all the chicago identifiable “hoods” and all that BS. This non-location location is actually pretty quiet, even with the tracks. So, you’re in the middle of nowhere, with solitude, no BS attitudes like Logan Sq. or LP, and look at where you are and what your radius is: You’re smack-dab in the middle of the third largest city in America. The true non-conformist, who enjoys peace from BS, can find this location to be perfect.
It’s an odd location and unusual place. I drive by this place often and always wondered what was inside. There is a dog run just south of the tracks. it is located across from the garbage transfer building. The stink from that place on a warm summer day is terrible. A commercial building was recently converted. The place looks great but I’d bet they are in for a giant shocker this spring. Yeeeech!
Reminds me of an acquaintance who purchased an office building in Hillside right across from the garbage dump. His employees hated it so much that he now uses the building to store his car collection. Who would have guessed that you need a sniff test before buying.
Hope they are under contract before it gets too warm. On the plus side I guess the small windows are actually a plus!
Jp3…that hillside office shouldn’t be too bad now that they capped the dump it off. Used to be awful though!
This is located in a great area. I almost bought a place on Elizabeth street which is directly behind this building and shares the same parking lot entrance. The area is not a noisy as you think except during the M-F rush hour of Metra trains. It’s a nice quiet pocket that doesn’t get a lot of vehicle traffic. Fulton street restaurants are within walking distance plus there are great places on Grand, Hubbard, and other parts of West Town that are easily accessible. This is right in the middle of the edge of the West Loop and West Town. Now for the building, its pretty ugly from the outside with its cinder block construction. Also whats with the teeny tiny windows, this is supposed to be a loft.
Can’t believe this place sold for 430k
That is absurd!
The bubble isare officially back! Break out the champagne!