When Your View is Blocked By New Construction: 300 W. Grand in River North
For many years, an empty parking lot stood to the north of the brick and timber loft building at 300 W. Grand in River North.
It took the housing boom of the last decade before a developer decided to build on it. The new highrise, The Silver, at 303 W. Ohio, was the result.
This 2-bedroom bank owned unit recently came on the market. On the fourth floor, it’s windows look directly into the parking structure of The Silver.
In fact, if you look at the pictures, it appears that headlights from parked cars next door would shine directly into your unit.
The unit has hardwood floors, lots of exposed brick and timber ceilings. The kitchen has white cabinets, white appliances and granite counter tops.
The loft does have parking but it is in the building next door (300 W. Grand has some parking in the building but a bunch of owners originally parked on a lot to the west of the building. A high rise was built there and owners who parked in that lot got deeded parking in that building.)
This unit was on the market less than 2 weeks before going under contract.
Is the sizzle back on in the market?
Lou Soteras at Re/Max Vision has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #412: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1 parking space next door
- Sold in August 1999 for $238,000
- Lis pendens in August 2008
- Bank owned in October 2009
- Originally listed in January 2010 for $299,000 (parking included)
- Under Contract
- Assessments of $380 a month
- Taxes of $2901
- Central Air
- Washer/Dryer in the unit
This is quite an interesting purchase.
Speaking of the Silver Tower, does anyone know how sales and prices are going there. I’m assuming that they are going to have to eventually lower prices just like 757 Orleans and 565 Quincy did.
ouch… probably make a good rental with that view, but no sense in owning. I think that is worse than living on a busy street.
holy obstructed view, Batman….Almost spit up my morning coffee when i saw that pic.
I agree with Mike.
Perhaps they bought site unseen?
I like all the brick, it’s like living in a gangway, charming. Reminds me of walking to Resurrection school in 8th grade and ducking in a gangway on Quincy for a smoke.
Is it even possible that this thing is under contract for more than it sold in 99 when the view wasn’t obstructed? Hard to believe. This issue of the obliterated view is perhaps the thorniest issue in this city. There are very few units that have protected views.
The Silver Tower did release new, lower pricing somewhat recently. I don’t have any details though.
It’s too bad about this building. I lived there as a renter on the 6th floor several years ago. It was amazing. The views were wonderful. The area is great. However, the Silver Tower ruined the north side of this building and its value. On that side of the building, you’re better off keeping the curtains closed. Not to mention the noise of cars starting at all hours. That being said, the building’s location will always be great and it’s now a more affordale living opportunity for someone (on the north side). Go to the pizza place in the building for calzones and great deep dish. And has anyone noticed that those two rug stores right there have been “going out of business” for about 8 years?!?!
Snap up the deals before they’re all gone….you’ll be kicking yourself later if you don’t.
Parking next store?
chichow: My thoughts exactly.
On the bright side if the parking spot next door means in Silver Tower, it would be great if you could get the spot right off your balcony. Perhaps install a pedway or a zip line right to your couch.
“Perhaps install a pedway or a zip line right to your couch.”
WIN!!
Meh….classic case of the potential problems with building and buying high density development in a dense urban environment.
If people didn’t want their views blocked, then they should have bought the view.
What does…
“Offer Must Be Written On 4.0 Contract”
…mean?
LOL nothing like sitting in your living room watching TV and having headlights from the parking garage next door beaming into your room… wow that’s terrible. There’s a reason this place sold so cheap, its a rental!
I also hate ‘the silver’ because if it never existed I’d have one of the best views of the city, in the city. I still have a fantastic view, but if it weren’t there it would be better. Hopefully nobody will buy the loft buildings and parking lot in my view for a long ass time.
Hey wait was this the building that used to house Karma?
Real Estate contracts are boiler plates with fill in the blanks and there are versions that are typically used.
How did tbat sell for anything close to $299 in this market? That bank got the best Christmas present ever! Perhaps Jay Leno bought the unit. He loves looking at cars.
$299k is 2.2%/yr ahead of the 99 price.
CPI-adjusted, the 99 price is $309k in ’09.
Even if the offer is full ask, it’s below the 99 price in real dollars. And it gained garage parking in the interim.
The reference to the 4.0 contract is odd. Unless I’m missing something it’s a reference to the multi-board contract, which is on version 5.0. 4.0 was the previous version.
there are a lot of babes on the sliver tower website, if they all really live there it could be possible that it improved this buildings views, and sonies.
I know it’s a long shot.
Yeah anon(tfo) but most real estate is headed below nominal 99 pricing. The trib today put IL on the same par as CA NV AZ when it comes to foreclosure. But wait! I thought we were at the bottom?
HD – Why don’t you get to work? Maybe you would be able to get out of that apratment with a little more dedication 🙂
Whats with all the Contemporaine places opening up?
“there are a lot of babes on the sliver tower website, if they all really live there it could be possible that it improved this buildings views, and sonies.”
Don’t know if they live there, but based on my view from a high floor of 330, not many people, babes or otherwise, live in The Silver. We will be there this weekend so I’ll see if there are more lights on.
it just keeps getting weirder and weirder; i feel like I have multiple personalities or two alter-egos or something.
“#homedelete on January 14th, 2010 at 10:15 am
Yeah anon(tfo) but most real estate is headed below nominal 99 pricing. The trib today put IL on the same par as CA NV AZ when it comes to foreclosure. But wait! I thought we were at the bottom?
#
steve Heitman on January 14th, 2010 at 10:18 am
HD – Why don’t you get to work? Maybe you would be able to get out of that apratment with a little more dedication 🙂
#
homedeIete on January 14th, 2010 at 10:31 am
dems fightin woids. heitman.”
i love the fake HD, fake Steve Heitman banter.
“most real estate is headed below nominal 99 pricing”
Evidence? Outside of Detroit, what’s even close?
We do this every time. I say that “below REAL 99 pricing” is quite a reasonable projection, you say “at least 23% below real 99 pricing”, ie, $100 in ’99 = $130 in ’10, so $100 in ’10 = $77 in ’99.
The early ’09 “bottom” (called by Gary and others) was within a few hundred dollars of inflation adjusted ’99 pricing, based on CS index (which misses the majority of what we discuss here). I can see an overshoot (indeed, I’d be surprised if there weren’t), but really doubt it will be 20%+ plus any further inflation b/t now and the overshoot bottom.
It’s going to take bit longer to get there, but no worries, we will. Party like it’s 1999.
What’s going to happen when all of these foreclosures hit the market?
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-thu-brf1-foreclosures-0114-jan14,0,5809863.story
“Illinois among leaders in 2009 foreclosures
January 14, 2010
Illinois, along with California, Florida and Arizona, shared the dubious distinction last year of accounting for more than half of the nation’s foreclosure activity, according to data scheduled to be released Thursday.
A total of 131,132 Illinois homes, or one in every 40, received a foreclosure filing last year, an increase of almost 32 percent over 2008, according to RealtyTrac, a Web site that tracks foreclosures.
During the fourth quarter alone, foreclosure activity in Illinois was up almost 29 percent from the third quarter.
Nationally, 3.9 million foreclosure filings were reported on more than 2.8 million properties last year, representing a 21 percent increase in properties affected over 2008 and 120 percent over 2007. That equates to 2.21 percent of all U.S. homes, or one in 45, receiving at least one foreclosure filing during the year.
The top 10 states for foreclosure activity last year were Nevada, Arizona, Florida, California, Utah, Idaho, Georgia, Michigan, Illinois and Colorado.
Foreclosure filings can include default notices, notices of foreclosure auctions and bank repossessions. ”
“I can see an overshoot (indeed, I’d be surprised if there weren’t), but really doubt it will be 20%+ plus any further inflation b/t now and the overshoot bottom.”
“During the fourth quarter alone, foreclosure activity in Illinois was up almost 29 percent from the third quarter.”
So, can you tell us why that happened? I bet you can. It’s a bogus stat, unless the context is provided. Q3 was artificially low, while Q4 was artificially high.
Q3 was artificially low all across the country because the banks held off on foreclosure while trying to implement HAMP. Now that HAMP is failing miserably the foreclosures are starting back up.
“Q3 was artificially low all across the country ”
C’mon, HD, you being willfully ignorant? The Illinois state moratorium prevented a large number of FCs from being filed in Q2 and Q3, creating a backlog not related to HAMP. Many (many) of the delayed FCs then got filed in Q4. So, full year 09 increases are relevant, but the Q2Q nubmers are artificially lumpy.
If it comes up in Q4-10 (as a decrease in FCs being a sign of improvement), I’ll be sure to point out the fallacy then, too.
Still not many light on at The Silver this weekend. The Trump Tower, however, seems much more occupied based on the lights in the upper part of the building.