Will the Downtown Market Recover in 2021? A Penthouse Loft at 130 S. Canal
This 2-bedroom duplex up penthouse in The Metropolitan Place at 130 S. Canal in the West Loop (or is this West Loop Gate?) came on the market in August 2020.
Built in 1950, Metropolitan Place was converted into loft condos in 1999. It has 212 lofts and an attached, heated parking garage.
The building has a doorman and an exercise room.
This loft is one of the rare penthouse units in the building which also has a 400 square foot south facing terrace that stretches the length of the first floor of the loft.
It has newly refinished hardwood floors on the main level along with floor to ceiling windows with motorized blinds.
The first floor has the kitchen, living and dining rooms along with a half bath.
The listing says the kitchen has been “completely remodeled” and now has custom navy cabinets, quartz countertops, a custom backsplash, wine refrigerator, built-in microwave drawer and stainless steel appliances.
The loft has designer solid core doors.
Both bedrooms are on the second level and both are en suite.
The primary bedroom has a granite and marble bathroom with double vanity. It also has 2 walk-in-closets.
There’s a built-in custom library with a desk in the second bedroom.
The loft has central air, side-by-side washer/dryer and a heated garage parking space is available for $30,000.
Originally listed in August 2020 for $800,000, it has been reduced to $720,000 (plus the parking).
Will the downtown condo market turn around in 2021?
Christine Hancock at @Properties has the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #9R: 2 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 1836 square feet, duplex up, penthouse
- Sold in November 2000 for $455,000
- Sold in April 2004 for $448,000
- Sold in April 2012 for $450,000
- Originally listed in August 2020 for $800,000
- Reduced
- Currently listed at $720,000 (plus $30,000 for garage parking)
- Assessments of $1239 a month (includes doorman, cable, exercise room, exterior maintenance, lawn care, scavenger, snow removal, Internet)
- Taxes of $11,134
- Central Air
- Side-by-side washer/dryer in the unit
- Fireplace
- Bedroom #1: 16×15 (second floor)
- Bedroom #2: 14×12 (second floor)
- Living/dining room: 24×19 (main floor)
- Kitchen: 16×10 (main floor)
- Foyer: 8×7 (main floor)
- Laundry room: 8×6 (main floor)
- Terrace: 43×10 (main floor)
So, after taxes, assessments and insurance a cash buyer pays over $2200 / mo and a buyer who merely puts 20% down (maybe more because I have skepticism about what this appraises for), parts with $144K for….a while most likely and pays $5K a month to live here….which will go up over time and keep pace with rentals since taxes and assessments and insurance will all go up over time.
I feel like renting is way better….in fact right now the Alta Roosevelt appears to have a 3bed 3-bath unit for $4K/mo . . . so this kind of doesn’t make sense unless you REALLY need to be right near union station for some reason…
You can’t be buying to live somewhere for 2 or 3 years. You have to be buying to live there 10 to 20.
You can even rent a duplex 2-bed 2.5 bath at the recently constructed “The Cooper” for $2800/Mo….which is what I would do if I needed this space and needed to be in this area. Take that huge chunk of change you save in the form of a down payment and invest it.
Anyone have (or know someone) one of these ranges with a recirculating downdraft vent? Does it work even as well as a microhood? I would think that it would NOT, given the limitations of downdraft.
Speaking of–I know that most of the separate downdraft vents can be set up to recirculate rather than exhaust to outside–do we have any feeling for how often people in Chicago set the up for recirc?
No one buys these places and actually lives in them for 10-20 years which is why they are better off renting. I am with you – – if you are confident you will keep it and not buying the maximum price you can afford then by all means buy…but folks seem to think that they need to max out their budget when they buy these places…and then they HAVE to sell in order to move to a new home…a position I would never put myself in but maybe I am weird. It’s a renters market right now. So many concessions offered – – I am guessing prior to the pandemic that the projected rents at The Cooper, Alta etc. were all quite a bit higher, so yeah the rent will go up as the market recovers but at least you have the flexibility to move…in fact I think rental increases will be capped by the fact that the target market can move rather than suffering a rent hike and this means landlords are going to have to gradually increase rents back to pre-pandemic levels…so you could probably spend your two to four years in a newly constructed rental with private outdoor space and around when you would be itching to move anyways, you simply don’t renew your lease and off you go rather than having to wait for a buyer who doesn’t mind your icky carpet in the home office/2nd bed to come along.
Terrace is great. Nice kitchen reno. Location is meh.
man that lobby needs a serious rehab
yikes
Personally, I’d rather rent a band new luxury 2/2 for $4-5k a month and keep that downpayment invested in the market.
It’s quite possibly the most illogical place to own a condo. Weren’t there plans to put massive apartment towers around here too? I bet they were cancelled but if those ever come to fruition, bye-bye blue skies.
The ONLY thing this property would be good for is an AirBNB rental and assuming the office market ever returns to normal, it would probably cash flow pretty well.
“Will the downtown condo market turn around in 2021?”
Are you trolling now? Weren’t you just posting on the other thread how the market is sizzling and specifically that apartments were/are converting to condos? Let’s look at the thread…..
“Again, this is a multi-year bull housing market we’re entering into. This is just the first inning.
By the way, developers WILL soon decide to start building for sale units (condos/townhouses) and NOT rental buildings.
A rental building in the West Loop just filed to change the units to condos. It will be the first of many.”
“man that lobby needs a serious rehab”
That’s among the more expensive things a building can rehab, other than elevators. Most are reluctant to spend the money to do it.
But things change over the decades with regards to what the lobby should look like (and do). Lots of buildings just having a hard time finding enough space for a package room.
“It’s quite possibly the most illogical place to own a condo. Weren’t there plans to put massive apartment towers around here too? I bet they were cancelled but if those ever come to fruition, bye-bye blue skies.”
Plenty of condos nearby.
Union Station just down the street. Maybe you are thinking about the hotel they are going to build on top of that building?
New food hall is going into Union Station as well.
Can easily walk to the West Loop restaurants from this location.
20 years ago, this area was empty on the weekends. Not so much anymore. Great H Mart supermarket just a few blocks away as well.
Don’t forget that the State of Illinois just bought 555 W. Monroe, and I think is starting to move in during the spring. That’s going to help stabilize the neighborhood and may keep some of the commuter-based retail alive in the long run. I certainly hope so, since we own one of those condos a few blocks away.
Agreed about H-Mart; it makes up for not having a Trader Joe’s take over the Walmart space (a Porsche dealer is taking that space over), and as long as the bridges aren’t covered with snow, the whole West Loop and Fulton Market is a relatively short walk away.
I also wouldn’t underestimate the value of being in an area that’s full of main streets and pretty well plowed out of necessity in the winter either…still hopeful that if the population is there, the amenities will eventually come even after the COVID environment starts to recede…
“You have to be buying to live there 10 to 20.”
———————-
As any HAWT market will attest.
Sabrina, would you please listen to yourself? You’re already on record as saying that a decent hotel can “make” a city (Detroit).
If one sweats during the persuasion, he his wrong.
Sabrina, YOU. ARE. SWEATING.
” That’s going to help stabilize the neighborhood ”
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A Sabrina sock puppet. 555 West Monroe is East of 194 and just West of the river. Look at the most conservative definitions of “West Loop” and tell me that this location either isn’t in it (per the r.e. shills) already or — for the past 5 years — hasn’t been within a c-hair of being developed alongside West Loop.
This are is in no more need of “stabilizing” than the Rock of Gibraltar is.
Go rent a room, Sabrina, in Detroit.
“Agreed about H-Mart; it makes up for not having a Trader Joe’s take over the Walmart space”
The H-Mart rocks. The Mariano’s is close enough too.
Take heart. Trader Joe’s rarely opens new stores. It was amazing that they decided to go into Hyde Park (big coup for them).
“555 West Monroe is East of 194 and just West of the river. Look at the most conservative definitions of “West Loop” and tell me that this location either isn’t in it (per the r.e. shills) already or — for the past 5 years — hasn’t been within a c-hair of being developed alongside West Loop.”
Huh?
Johnc, I know you left the city a few decades ago, but “West Loop Gater” is correct in calling himself that if he lives west of the Chicago River and East of the Kennedy as this neighborhood has been called “West Loop Gate” for about 15 years or more now.
We’ve chattered about this “new” name several times over the years, especially as the Old Post Office was being rehabbed as it is such a big part of the development of a neighborhood there.
We’ve also chattered about how any properties west of the River ARE, actually, in the West Loop (but they’re trying to get the West Loop Gate name to stick and then keep “west loop” for west of the highway).
Either way, you are wrong.
You should apologize to West Loop Gater for your rude comment.
“We’ve also chattered about how any properties west of the River ARE, actually, in the West Loop (but they’re trying to get the West Loop Gate name to stick and then keep “west loop” for west of the highway).
Either way, you are wrong.
You should apologize to West Loop Gater for your rude comment.”
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Sez the woman who wants us to believe that Bucktown goes South of Armitage.
Repeating the lie doesn’t make it so. Just ask Trump. The property is not West Loop.
“Trader Joe’s rarely opens new stores.”
Dunno that averaging about one a month is “rare”.
“Dunno that averaging about one a month is “rare”.”
Its just a number
“Dunno that averaging about one a month is “rare”.”
Nationwide?
The country is big anon(tfo). Very, very big.
“Repeating the lie doesn’t make it so. Just ask Trump. The property is not West Loop.”
It’s West Loop Gate, which is what he (and I) said. They’ve been trying to distinguish it from the West Loop for the last 15 years.
Hence his name, West Loop Gater.
Like I said johnc, you should apologize. He’s right about the neighborhood. You are wrong and being rude.
“It’s West Loop Gate”
——————
Just like there’s a “West Bucktown.”
West Loop Gate Estates @ Bucktown by the Lake ™
None of you can steal it now
““Dunno that averaging about one a month is “rare”.”
Nationwide?
The country is big anon(tfo). Very, very big.”
This is a perfect example of why you are a clown.
TJ isn’t looking at moving into the majority of the US, they are only looking at larger population centers, excluding much of the US land mass
I dont think you could be more intellectually dishonest if you tried
Yes, TJ’s rarely opens a store within walking distance of one’s house.
Indeed, once they do open one, they probably will *never* open another one. And once in forever is, indeed, “rare”.
So your point is technically right, but stoopid.
Hi, thanks for the thoughts Sabrina. And I’m no sock puppet – I’ve posted on and off on this group since we moved to Park Alexandria in 2015 from Streeterville. I use the West Loop Gate term because we live in a hi-rise and in good conscience we’re just different than Greektown or the whole WL residential west of Halsted. I think of West Loop more as cultural affinity – especially if you have kids – than where we actually live. But until or if more population comes, it beats “dead zone no man’s land on the weekend”. LOL. Even with H-Mart.
Pre COVID “West Loop Gate” was certainly a unique neighborhood; you could walk to WL/Fulton Market, head to Michigan Av. and Millennium Park, or do what we used to do and walk to River North or our old area when we wanted to do shopping or entertainment.
Not being overwhelmed by tourists, being underdeveloped for the amount of retail space available, and a quick walk to Metra to go to Ravinia or drive on the Kennedy to head to the burbs were great selling points. And one hell of a better purchase for us with a 2200 SF 3 BDR than what we would have gotten in our old Streeterville area, which was Navy Pier tourist central. Not to mention a dog park and some green space on our mezzanine.
The stabilizing thing is a big deal, especially since the State of Illinois isn’t going to have the same WFH imperatives that a typical corporate office might, and they’re looking to move in sooner rather than later. And that means businesses that might cater to their approximately 9000 workers and the folks that need to do business with the Secretary or State, IDOT, IDOR etc. Quite honestly without something like this, our area is at risk of becoming a depressed zone of panhandlers and homeless drifting between the train stations. That certainly won’t help WL property values if the walk to work is less appealing.
One more thing – we actually DID buy for 10 to 20 years, betting that we’d appreciate more as the area filled in between Halsted, the very southern end of River North, and South Loop. And if you invest to stay, you have to roll with the punches and think five years out, which Sabrina has said here a few times I think.
Obviously 2020 was a setback, which was why I was brutally honest about the killing of the commuter-dependent retail depressing the area (latest casualties are the Starbucks, men’s store, and Fed Ex on Clinton and Adams). But even so, the demographics of the area are still relatively unique for Chicago. I looked up the Census data just now, and the 2019 update had 60661 as something like a median income of $120K, median age around 31, and about 30% Asian.
Some older data for 60661, and the 60606 zip of the 130 S. Canal building:
https://www.zipdatamaps.com/60661
Note that west of the River is also Skinner’s district. Not something to sneeze at, even if you have to walk 10-15 minutes to feel like you actually live in an area with families.
Today must be my day…just heard that the development of more towers Monroe & Jefferson is back from the dead. Now it’s 1050+ apartments in towers of 47 and 40 stories on the corners of Jefferson and Des Plaines. And 30K SF of retail.
That’s one hell of a lot of empty space to fill unless there’s really some thought that the area is a draw for WFH Millennial types that don’t want to own, or FXW parents or something. At least we’ll get more coffee options, I suppose.
https://myemail.constantcontact.com/42nd-Ward-Development-News—New-Residential-Proposal-at-601-West-Monroe-Street-and-Update-on-525-South-Wabash-Avenue.html?soid=1102200958373&aid=2HBzk-V-3zA&fbclid=IwAR2vT07q9OzpduGzmqjePexfMS3D94Sq9izQf0WapIIokth7pjZM-HSJ9-E
“Today must be my day…just heard that the development of more towers Monroe & Jefferson is back from the dead. Now it’s 1050+ apartments in towers of 47 and 40 stories on the corners of Jefferson and Des Plaines. And 30K SF of retail.”
It’s a huge development. I hope it happens.
Oh, by the way johnc, look at that. The Chicago press is calling this area “West Loop”- not even “West Loop Gate.”
Where’s your apology to West Loop Gater? Cat got your tongue?
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/commercial-real-estate/developer-plans-more-1000-apartments-west-loop
“Oh, by the way johnc, look at that. The Chicago press is calling this area “West Loop”- not even “West Loop Gate.” ”
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Taking one’s story from a developer’s press release doesn’t change the facts, Sabrina. One can’t bootstrap fantasy into reality.
It’s not West Loop, and I don’t have a cat.
“ Where’s your apology to West Loop Gater? Cat got your tongue?”
Really?
The H Mart is pretty cool, even though it has a funky asian market smell. Good place to pick up live lobsters and Shabushabu rib-eye which I use in philly cheesesteaks. The meat can be expensive $19.99 per lb. but the marinated thin ribeye on the buffet thing is only $6.99 last time I was there. Don’t get that. PS Don’t forget, the bar at the Jewel on DesPlaines near K2 is one of the best kept secrets in Chicago. Cheap prices, $1 shot specials, Elvis shows and cheap food from the Jewel hot food deli. 😉
“Really?”
Yes. He was rude and he was wrong.
Clearly and obviously wrong.
He needs to apologize.
“It’s not West Loop, and I don’t have a cat.”
So you’re going to continue to be a jerk.
Of COURSE you are.
Why would I expect anything less from someone who hasn’t lived in Chicago since 1985 and comes on this site and berates people about the neighborhoods they actually live in in this century.
You’re a joke johnc. At least contribute SOMETHING to this site. I don’t know what it would be, but you must have SOME ideas about Chicago’s real estate that are worth something.
Maybe.
“ Yes. He was rude and he was wrong.
Clearly and obviously wrong.
He needs to apologize.”
You should follow your own advice.
“Why would I expect anything less from someone who hasn’t lived in Chicago since 1985 ”
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What makes you think I haven’t lived in Chicago since 1985?
“What makes you think I haven’t lived in Chicago since 1985?”
You said so.
“You said so.”
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Only in your fervid imagination. Go check my postings. You’ll find I posted about living in Bucktown (it stops on the North side of Armitage) in the 90s.
I have also posted that developers don’t get to expand boundaries, including the “West Loop.”
“ Only in your fervid imagination. Go check my postings. You’ll find I posted about living in Bucktown (it stops on the North side of Armitage) in the 90s.
I have also posted that developers don’t get to expand boundaries, including the “West Loop.””
I’d blame the DT’s
I think she owes you an apology for being rude and wrong.
“I think she owes you an apology for being rude and wrong.”
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So very, very, wrong.
“I have also posted that developers don’t get to expand boundaries, including the “West Loop.””
johnc, who hasn’t lived in Chicago since…the 1990s???
This neighborhood has ALWAYS been the West Loop. They tried to turn it into “West Loop Gate” (you know, the “gateway” to the West Loop) about 15 years ago. But “West Loop Gate” has never really caught on, even though some real estate agents still call it that.
Neighborhoods change over time.
But the neighborhood west of the Chicago River is known as the West Loop in that area near Union Station.
You are wrong and you were rude to West Loop Gater who lives in that neighborhood and actually knows something about it.
“Neighborhoods change over time. ”
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The character of a neighborhood changes, not its boundaries, no matter how many times you click your heels and wish it were so.
“johnc, who hasn’t lived in Chicago since…the 1990s???”
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Wrong again, by the way.
“This neighborhood has ALWAYS been the West Loop.”
GTFO!! That’s like saying Roscoe Village has always been Roscoe Village.
This was Skid Row for most of the 20th century.
“April 1, 1969 – The Chicago Urban Renewal Board approves the sale of a six-block site for $21,202,214 in the near west side area, known as “Skid Row.” Of the four bidders involved, the Madison-Canal Development Company, led by a team from Holiday Inns, is the successful bidder on the 16-acre site, bounded by Washington Boulevard, Clinton and Monroe Streets, and the Kennedy Expressway.”
http://www.connectingthewindycity.com/2019/04/april-1-1969-chicago-skid-row-property.html