Why Isn’t Anyone Buying This Bank Owned Lincoln Park Coach House? 2616 N. Orchard
This 2-bedroom coach house at 2616 N. Orchard in Lincoln Park has been on and off the market since July 2007.
We’ve actually chattered about it twice, with the first time all the way back in April 2010. See that amusing chatter here (something about the microwave being in the sink.)
Since then, the coach house was taken back by the bank and came back on the market in April 2014 being sold “as-is.”
The listing says it needs “TLC.”
The coach house has hardwood floors and 2 fireplaces.
The refrigerator is missing in the kitchen but the cabinets and other appliances are intact (and no sign of the microwave this time.)
The living/dining area is on the first floor with the bedrooms on the second floor. There’s also a small loft area on the third floor.
It’s a rare coach house that also has a 1-car garage.
It even has central air.
This coach house originally came back on the market in April 2014 for $449,900. It has now been reduced all the way down to $374,900 but yet it is still sitting there for sale.
That is $73,100 under the 1999 sales price.
Is this a deal for the location and square footage?
Matthew Putnick at Jameson Sotheby’s has the listing. See the pictures here. (Sorry, I’ve never had a picture of this property since it sits behind the main building.)
Unit #4: 2 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 1800 square feet, 1 car garage
- Sold in September 1989 for $576,000 (?)
- Sold in October 1999 for $448,000
- Originally listed in July 2007 for $719,000
- Lis pendens filed in May 2010
- Bank owned in February 2014
- Originally listed in April 2014 for $449,900
- Reduced several times
- Currently listed for $374,900
- Assessments of $188 a month (includes water, snow removal)
- Taxes of $8203
- Central Air
- Bedroom #1: 15×13 (second floor)
- Bedroom #2: 13×10 (second floor)
- Living room: 16×14 (main floor)
- Loft: 12×9 (third floor)
Wow – it lost 600 sft and a bedroom. A buyer would really want to investigate that apparent water damage in photo 11.
This thing needs to be torn down and rebuilt, what a POS
At that price, doesn’t the owner of the front building almost *have* to buy it?
Did you see the tour insights? “The building smells of animal urine, hardwood floors are very sticky. The building leans a bit. Siding facing the courtyard is some type of wood or composite board. South side and alley side appear to be vinyl siding. The building on the front of the lot is very run down.”
It really is a mess, and it has no charms of architecture. The most annoying feature is the off-center fireplace in the living room. I would go crazy looking at it.
But STILL… it’s a SF house, sort of, in Lincoln Park with ample space. The kitchen and baths are spacious and easy to renovate. There is a lot you could do with it, and it is a good SF substitute for those who don’t like condos, but can’t afford a SF on its own lot in LP. A couple of hundred thousand dollars spent carefully would make this place very livable.
It could be just me, but it seems like the market in the prime neighborhoods is beginning to stall. Seems like there are many properties in Lincoln Park and Lakeview that are languishing for many months and through series of price reductions.
Can add that the price trajectory for this place is really incredible.
In 1989, it sold for nearly $600K. Those ugly 80s cabinets were high style then, and the near north lake front nabes from Streeterville to Lakeview were considered to be the ONLY neighborhoods worth living in. WP and Bucktown were still reeking slums that the artists and musicians were “pioneering”.
In 1999, well into the recovery from the slump of the early 90s, with Lincoln Park prices becoming stratospheric, and Lakeview pushing into the former slum north of the 3800 block, this place sells for $130K less, at $448K.
After that, the owner tries to sell it for over $700K just as the mania of the 00s crests and breaks, and ends up in foreclosure.
Now, the place can’t even fetch $400. Or maybe even $350K. I’m guessing it has serious structural issues that go way deeper than just horrible architecture and bad maintenance.
Redfin tour insight from 2 years ago:
“The building smells of animal urine, hardwood floors are very sticky. The building leans a bit. Siding facing the courtyard is some type of wood or composite board. South side and alley side appear to be vinyl siding. The building on the front of the lot is very run down. The coach house is in an association with the front building, and a unit from the front building owns a garage spot in the coach house.”
If it’s that badly off, just tear it down. It’s not like it’s some rare architectural gem or anything.
But would it be legal to build a replacement in that exact spot? I was under the impression that while coach houses and other out-buildings converted to SF homes were “grandfathered” in, that minimum lot sizes applied for all new or replacement construction.
“I was under the impression that while coach houses and other out-buildings converted to SF homes were “grandfathered” in, that minimum lot sizes applied for all new or replacement construction.”
You could do the *full* gut rehab, stripping off everything except part of the balloon frame, and basically starting from scratch. But that only makes sense (imo) if you own the front building, too.
This proves, once again, that you can’t get blood from a stone, people.