Your 2-Bedroom Baroque Palace Awaits in Lakeshore East: 400 E. Randolph
This 2-bedroom in 400 E. Randolph in Lakeshore East first came on the market in August 2019.
400 E. Randolph was built in 1963 and has 955 units.
It’s a full amenity building with door staff, a library, basketball court, ping pong tables, exercise room, party room, sauna, steam room and indoor pool.
It has been on and off the market during those years.
This unit has the preferred south views from its balcony of Millennium Park, Lake Michigan, the Field Museum and the wall of high rises that face the park.
The listing describes this unit as a “Baroque palace.”
It has an oversized entrance with crystal wall sconces, ornate ceiling moldings and perimeter lighting.
There are marble floors throughout.
The living room has Venetian plaster walls with accent walls of crystals, gold leaf and crepe applique.
There’s also a decorative French-style fireplace in the living room.
The kitchen has “thick” marble counter tops, a breakfast bar and integrated appliances.
Hand cut French doors with ornate hinges and steeple finials (see the pictures) lead into the den or second bedroom which also has built-ins, including for a flat screen television.
Be sure to check out the pictures of the ceiling in the den/second bedroom.
The primary bathroom has a handmade glass mosaic wall.
The unit has central air, but no washer/dryer in the unit and parking is available to lease in the building.
Originally listed in August 2019 for $715,000, it has been reduced $97,000 to $618,000.
Will the buyer of this unique property, with favored south views, get a deal?
Ksenia Yankilaytes and Michael Emery at Corcoran have the listing. See the pictures here.
Unit #2119: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1250 square feet
- Sold in February 1999 for $89,000
- Originally listed in August 2019 for $715,000
- Re-listed in November 2020 for $699,000
- Reduced
- Currently listed at $618,000
- Assessments of $1032 a month (includes heat, a/c, doorman, cable, exercise room, pool, exterior maintenance, lawn care, scavenger, snow removal, party room, sauna)
- Taxes of $9538
- Central Air
- No washer/dryer in the unit. Coin laundry in the building.
- Leased parking available
- Decorative fireplace
- Bedroom #1: 12×17
- Bedroom #2: 11×14
- Living room: 18×16
- Dining room: 9×11
- Kitchen: 9×10
- Balcony: 6×12
“Sold in February 1999 for $89,000”
Incorrect. That was Unit 2216. last two digit of pin were flipped. 2216 sold again in Jan-01 for $132k, and in Feb-13 for $145k.
This one hasn’t had a market transfer since prior to 1986.
Baroque palaces are nice and all, but after a while one might feel b-roke using the coin laundry.
You know what all the new high rises are missing? fake fireplaces, so you can keep your tv at an inconvenient viewing height for no good reason.
The Pool area is nice
Style is unique, maybe Chicago Baroque is a better descriptor.
Seems like this building has been targeted by flippers based on whats for sale (look at the before pics of 2603, 1030 & 1829). The hold times are not good and the HOA fees are painful.
Wonder if/how many are in arrears?
“Seems like this building has been targeted by flippers based on whats for sale (look at the before pics of 2603, 1030 & 1829). The hold times are not good and the HOA fees are painful.”
All older buildings are seeing units updated. If you don’t update, you can’t sell.
And with so many Silent Generation, or Baby Boomers selling, many are selling their units “as is” so many are “deals” as long as someone fixes them up.
This building has a prime location and, if you’re south facing, prime views.
$1032 a month HOAs aren’t high for a full amenity building like this, one that is this massive, that’s nearly 60 years old, and one that literally probably has about 30 to 40 staffers.
There are a LOT of amenities to maintain. There’s also a dry cleaner and restaurant on site. Someone also mentioned there might be a bar too (near the pool?)
This 2/2 in Marina City, which was built in 1962 and is also a full service, big building, has HOAs of $952 a month so 400 E. Randolph isn’t that far off of what similar buildings are charging.
https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/300-N-State-St-60654/unit-5822/home/14100966
Older concrete needs a lot more maintenance. In a building with over 900 units (huge!) there are a lot of hallways to be cleaned and maintained.
I wonder how many people they have running the package room? They must get several thousand packages a day during the holiday season. You would need several people full-time just to log in all of those packages.
“Seems like this building has been targeted by flippers based on whats for sale (look at the before pics of 2603, 1030 & 1829).”
1829 is a good example of what I was saying.
Go look at the pictures. It had the actual original 1963 kitchen! That oven. Oh my gosh.
They sold it at a cheap price because it was sold “as-is” and they knew someone needed to gut it. And they did.
Interesting choices in finishes for the kitchen and baths. Didn’t put in the white kitchen.
That unit doesn’t have the preferred south view, however.
And it’s too bad they won’t let you put in a washer/dryer because that would really raise values in the building.
Flippers are great for these older buildings. It’s good to see some of them are actively going in.
We’re seeing a changeover in the generations in lots of the older buildings as people retire or pass on. They have to make the units acceptable to the Millennials and GenZ.
“Wonder if/how many are in arrears?”
These days, you either put it on your credit card or it comes directly out of your bank account each month.
Big buildings don’t mess around if you’re late. They fine you. If you get really far behind, they can go to court and get the ability to rent out your unit so they can fund the assessment through the rental payments. Some buildings did this during the housing bust.
There’s always a certain percentage in any large building that gets behind (usually also behind in mortgage payments, however.)
I wonder what this unit would look like painted dark?
Those ceilings are amazing. The ornate plaster work in the foyer. Wow. I’ve never seen anything like it.
Paint everything dark gray or even black.
I love it when condo owners make the space their own. After all, it’s just a square box. Lots of things that can be “done” to it as this unit shows.
I’d pay above ask to buy this unit if I could also be transported back in time to the year it was built.
All older buildings are seeing units updated. If you don’t update, you can’t sell.
I thought you said they always sell? In fact these did sell to flippers (Not a bad thing).
My comment is that they’re not moving very quickly and the carry costs (Of which the HOA is a significant portion of) have to be killing them
“Older concrete needs a lot more maintenance. In a building with over 900 units (huge!) there are a lot of hallways to be cleaned and maintained.”
More maintenance Vs what? Is this comparable to “Sophisticated Chips”?
I looked at a 2/2 here about ten years ago. The very dated halls (probably since updated) smelled like cigarettes and a nursing home. The condo had a kitchen clothes processor, but no dishwasher. It seems you could a w/d or a dishwasher.
Unit customizations are great if you like them, but I do not like this one. The combined units are really worth ones on this building. Beautiful pool
Great view but how much will it cost to get rid of that hideous “baroque” decor? Might be hard to sell.
“Great view but how much will it cost to get rid of that hideous “baroque” decor? Might be hard to sell.”
Why would you want to get rid of it?
Like I said, it could look amazing if it’s painted.
This building is by far the best value in LSE. Nothing comes close. If you have to choose a budget building between this and the Park Millennium, choose here. Lot of homeless crazies hang around Lower near PM. Also, the hotels in the area got really rowdy after the hood got their stimmy checks in 2020. I recall stabbings and shootings in what historically has been a very safe area.
Interesting about that Marina City unit (5822) someone posted. Great views, but no photos of the interior. Makes me wonder how much work it needs, and $475,000 is already a high price for Marina City, based on comparables.
“I thought you said they always sell? In fact these did sell to flippers (Not a bad thing).”
All real estate eventually sells.
I hope they have some Spanakopita at the open house.
“More maintenance Vs what? Is this comparable to “Sophisticated Chips”?”
It’s very clear some people on this blog have never lived in a high rise, or a condo building with hundreds of units.
A building with over 900 units (massive- is this the largest condo building in the city?) will have a ton of maintenance. More elevator banks, more hallways and elevator bank areas to clean each week, bigger, or multiple lobbies, more foot traffic in the common areas resulting in higher maintenance.
I feel it’s dangerous to buy in small condo buildings with lots of amenities (less than 150 units) but the massive buildings also are going to have more people to pay for all the amenities but also just lots more maintenance.
I prefer something in the middle. 300 to 400 units so that the costs of the door staff and everything else can be spread out but it’s not so massive that other costs are higher.
“My comment is that they’re not moving very quickly and the carry costs (Of which the HOA is a significant portion of) have to be killing them”
Yes, flipping is better if you can sell it quickly. One of the risks of flipping in condo buildings during a pandemic.
But the flippers are a great sign for the downtown market. They wouldn’t be bothering if they didn’t think the market was there. There are flips in several other buildings. I should cover those this week.
There are a couple of elements I’d remove/ replace to tone it down (replace sconces, remove mirror, remove some of the trim. whitewash everything). But it could be kind of fun as an in-town — I’d furnish it like a luxury hotel in Paris.
“It’s very clear some people on this blog have never lived in a high rise, or a condo building with hundreds of units.
A building with over 900 units (massive- is this the largest condo building in the city?) will have a ton of maintenance. More elevator banks, more hallways and elevator bank areas to clean each week, bigger, or multiple lobbies, more foot traffic in the common areas resulting in higher maintenance.”
What clear is you were talking out your ass (Comment about “Older Concrete”), when questioned tried to gaslight/lie (now talking about hallways?)
Again “Older concrete needs a lot more maintenance” – Vs what and what maintenance? This is a specific comment you made.
Spalling Concrete? New joint sealant? slab cracking?
“Yes, flipping is better if you can sell it quickly. One of the risks of flipping in condo buildings during a pandemic.”
Thanks Einstein, it really validates me that you can reword my comment, add no value and pass it off as some great insight
“But the flippers are a great sign for the downtown market. They wouldn’t be bothering if they didn’t think the market was there.”
This is a maybe. A non insignificant number of these folks arent very savvy and think RE only goes up (They listen to shills). This building looks to be ground zero as the flippers are getting shellac’d. The units are cheap because as you point out they havent been updated since Carter was the President. Also, you can rent a 2BR in this area for considerably less than the monthly nut w/20% down.
“Again “Older concrete needs a lot more maintenance” – Vs what and what maintenance? This is a specific comment you made.”
Yes. By year 57, you are dealing with concrete issues.
Lol.
Again, you haven’t EVER lived in one of these buildings JohnnyU. You really don’t know what you’re talking about in terms of assessments, maintenance or anything having to do with them.
Hard to do when you’ve lived in a suburban single family home for the last 30+ years. I get it. But you have no clue so why keep commenting?
“This is a maybe. A non insignificant number of these folks arent very savvy and think RE only goes up (They listen to shills). This building looks to be ground zero as the flippers are getting shellac’d.”
Lol.
Ground zero?
Nah. Plenty of flips going on in other, smaller older high rises downtown. There are over 900 units in this building and you cite to 3 flips? I’m sure there are others from the last 2 years that have sold.
Flipping in condo buildings is a whole other skill. Much more difficult. Have to deal with the management office, rules and regulations, harder to get the old finishes out, and expensive, and on and on.
No flipper would CHOOSE to deal with a 57 year old massive condo building unless they have done it before and know they can make money there.
And good for them. Hooray! These older buildings DO need the renovations. As I said, the units are turning over as generations die or move. New blood will come in. Millennials love Lakeshore East. But you have to give them something as nice as their nearby rental.
This is great news for downtown too.
“Yes. By year 57, you are dealing with concrete issues.”
Again what issues? This is your typical blather, with zero to back it up. Spalling? Re-caulking/Sealing arch precast joints? Some sort of acid rain corrosion? Please be specific.
“Again, you haven’t EVER lived in one of these buildings JohnnyU. You really don’t know what you’re talking about in terms of assessments, maintenance or anything having to do with them.”
Yeah I’ve only built them, so yeah, no. I understand the issues wrt long term maintenance. But you keep on making shit up and not answering direct questions
“Again what issues? This is your typical blather, with zero to back it up. Spalling? Re-caulking/Sealing arch precast joints? Some sort of acid rain corrosion? Please be specific.”
Everything!
There will be water damage after that length of time. For ALL buildings. Hopefully, they’ve been maintaining it. But, yes, it costs. You don’t get to live there for free while they have to do repairs.
So anyone who is on this blog whining about the assessments for an older building just really doesn’t understand what is involved and has never lived in a large condo building.
It’s getting old. Figure it out.
I’m tired of the endless whining about the assessments for full amenity high rises.
Assessments are quite solidly positioned. My building has a similar level of amenities but spread across much less units arriving at $1K for 2/2’s.
There’s SO much maintenance you don’t really think about. I’ve read through our reserve study quite a bit which highlights how much you should have ready to avoid any specials (of which we’ve had none).
The view is great (but there might be lots of noise from revving on LSD). The style is… questionable for any normal person not above like 80 years old, but hey there’s odd people out there that might like it in 2021.
I would probably live in Park Millennium instead though to be honest (also like the layout options much better).
Agree with Sabrina on the matter of this unit’s HOA.
At $0.825 a square foot, I daresay the HOA is a little on the low side for an older, full-amenity high rise with a large payroll that includes door people, garage attendants, cleaners, and the management company; and amenities like a garage (with 2 spaces for this unit no less), indoor pool, huge lobby, really lavish fitness facilities,steam rooms, and all the machinery required for high buildings, such as the installed emergency generator that Chicago codes require for all buildings over 80 ft high.
And, yes, as this is an aging building, the concrete requires constant attention just as the exterior walls and terra cotta cladding do in my building. This is one very expensive item and it is ongoing- you must attend to it yearly or a small problem will become many large, dangerous ones, as the experience of a certain Miami area condo shows.
In fact, I wonder if the HOA isn’t really a little too low, and if the building is maintaining an adequate reserve and/or budgeting the essential concrete work yearly.
The decor here tells me that it was occupied by an older lady who really would rather have had a co-op at 1325 N Astor or some such a place. A lot of money was spent putting it in place, which is really a shame because someone else will have to spend a lot of money to remove it.
About spalling and other signs of advanced deterioration- I gather from experts I’ve read and talked to, that by the time you see spalls and large cracks, the deterioration is very far advanced and you have a very, very expensive problem on your hands that you’d better address immediately.
You budget concrete inspection and work in yearly to address tiny issues before they become large, and too costly for the owners to handle easily.
See the Elysees, at 111 E Chestnut, whose 8 story garage was shut down by the city a couple of months ago because of signs of advanced concrete contamination. Nothing was said in that article about the 49 stories with 440 condos above, but there was a link to a blog operated by one of the owner/occupants, which airs a lot of that buildings dirty laundry, and its posts make fascinating reading. It appears that the concrete issues are by no means confined to the garage, but are manifesting throughout the building, and several extremely expensive repairs have already had to be made. One woman’s entire kitchen floor on the 22nd floor had to be cut away and replaced, and signs of contamination and water intrusion were found in another tier, too, making one wonder just how much corrosion has not yet been discovered. It’s scary to think of how much money may be required for full remediation, but $100K to $200K a unit, or even more, would not surprise me.
Wow, that’s terrible news about 111 E. Chestnut. I hope the Hancock doesn’t have similar issues. I know I take concrete deterioration a lot more seriously since the Florida building collapse.
No special assessment likely for condo owners at 111 E. Chestnut, the way I read it. Looks like the garage is owned by a separate entity and it will have to pay repair costs.
“No special assessment likely for condo owners at 111 E. Chestnut, the way I read it. Looks like the garage is owned by a separate entity and it will have to pay repair costs.”
Easy for the garage owner to file bankruptcy, and flush the asset (and liability).
Dan #2, yes, the garage is owned by another association, though you can be sure that many unit owners also own spaces in the garage and so share in the costs.
anon, I don’t believe it’s that easy for owners to unload their liability for an unsafe structure. Moreover, it’s difficult to believe that the 8 story garage is the only part of the 57 story structure that has serious issues, and indeed that is the case, as reading the numerous posts on an owner’s blog makes obvious.
Here is the link to that blog’s archive. The condo portion of the building seems to have pretty serious concrete contamination, and it sounds like the Board and the owners have only done “patch” remediation. To me at least, it’s naive to think that the water intrusion and corrosion are limited to just the units in which it has been discovered so far, and you have to suspect that there is a whole lot going on in that place that has not been uncovered yet.
https://www.111eastchestnut.org/archives/
Dan #2, while you shouldn’t ever be complacent, I really don’t think you have to worry about the Hancock. That is, from everything I’ve heard, an extraordinarily well-built structure, as is the Lake Point Tower and a few other famous mid-century buildings.
I’m going to age myself here, and tell you that I was a young woman living in another city when the Hancock was completed, and was hailed from coast-to-coast as a marvel of modern architecture and advanced engineering. A number of national celebrities immediately moved in, and the rents were stratospheric for the era, though I forget the exact numbers I heard.
111 E Chestnut, by contrast, was just another run-of-the-mill reinforced concrete high rise like thousands of others being thrown up during the late 70s and early 80s, an era famous for contractor corruption and short-cutting.
Thanks for the reassurance, Laura. I was in my Hancock apartment today and it seems as solid as ever!
Dan #2
I also lived in the Hancock for quite a few years and know / knew residents from the 70s. yeah the building is old, but man it is professionally run.
The one thing I wish about the Hancock and other older high rises is a temporary less than 10% increase to assessments to eventually pay for having sprinklers in the residential units. Now you can get a sprinkler that sits in a corner of the room that is less obtrusive and still covers a large area.
“The one thing I wish about the Hancock and other older high rises is a temporary less than 10% increase to assessments to eventually pay for having sprinklers in the residential units.”
Isn’t this nearly impossible with how the piping is done in the older high rises?
I guess if money is no object, but otherwise, why?
Buildings had to upgrade fire safety a decade ago. What did the Hancock do? Did it add sprinklers in the halls? I’m assuming the Hancock units have fire doors. It’s even had fires in recent years and they have been confined to a single unit, right?
Do they require owners to have a fire extinguisher in the unit?
Are candles banned?
Just curious to the lengths they go to in the building.
“Easy for the garage owner to file bankruptcy, and flush the asset (and liability).”
There is no “garage owner.” It’s a condo. There are several hundred parking spaces owned by several hundred owners.
“I hope the Hancock doesn’t have similar issues.”
The Hancock closed its garage and did the concrete repairs 2 or 3 years ago.
Sabrina says
I’m assuming the Hancock units have fire doors. It’s even had fires in recent years and they have been confined to a single unit, right?
Do they require owners to have a fire extinguisher in the unit?
Are candles banned?
==
I suspect the doors are fire doors. They were heavy heavy doors.
1 min search found this
https://abc7chicago.com/john-hancock-fire-building-frank-long/1226335/
apparently a candle started a fire and it gutted the floor – so not a single unit
this is in reference to a Nov 2015 fire
apparently a fire earlier in the year too
feb 2015
https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2015/02/27/no-injuries-in-condo-fire-at-hancock-center/
There has probably been at least one fire in every large multi-family building in the city that’s been standing for more than a couple of decades. No matter how “fire proof” the structure is, dwellings tend to be stuffed with combustibles, people are sometimes careless, and there are things like electrical defects and leaky gas lines.
What matters is how the place is built. A building built to code since 1910 or so, will have solid firewalls between floors and between the units. Every one of the 1920s vintage buildings I’ve lived in, has had a unit fire sometime or the other within its lifetime, and in no case did the fires spread beyond the units, So I was aghast when a fire at the 1950s vintage 3600 N Lake Shore Drive tower, in 1994, tore through an upper floor, destroyed 11 apartments, and killed one person. I heard that the fire was started by a cigarette. There was also a fire in a high rise tower on E Pearson, started by a candle, that actually jumped to the floor above. Neither of these fires should have been able to jump to other units in these two relatively modern Post WW2 buildings. Since Chicago fire codes are among the most stringent in the country, you have to think that there was a lot of corruption and corner-cutting in the construction of these cookie-cutter apartment blocks that were thrown up to meet the demand for middle tier rental apartments in our cities after the war.
As for sprinkler systems, I believe that the money they cost is better spent on upgrading obsolete and/or deficient electrical systems and gas lines. There’s no use spending $8,000 a unit or more, most likely much more, on these systems if your structure still has aluminum or old cloth wiring, corroded gas lines, and other building deficiencies that could cause a fire, or make one worse.
Chichow, don’t get me started on people and their damn candles, especially when the candles are combined with a few glasses of wine.
“anon, I don’t believe it’s that easy for owners to unload their liability for an unsafe structure.”
If it were a single LLC owner, with just the single asset–how could not be? It’s not like there is a law that requires a deep pocketed guarantor backstop liabilities of a property owner.
Individual owners might have a tougher time, but, again, what’s bankruptcy for?
“There is no “garage owner.” It’s a condo. There are several hundred parking spaces owned by several hundred owners.”
It appears that one entity bought 116 of them in 2017 for $4.9m (~$42k each), using a $2.4m loan. Out of about 500 total units. Estimates I had seen were around $5m, so ~$10k per space, which makes it reasonable for the association to borrow it.
Hi Laura
I agree that there very well could be “I believe that the money they cost is better spent on upgrading obsolete and/or deficient electrical systems and gas lines.”
but that stuff is going to be unit to unit dependent depending on unit renovations right?
in the below article LA pegged it at 6k per unit. so our expected costs aren’t totally out of whack.
“Los Angeles Fire Chief Ralph Terrazas recommended in 2017 that sprinklers be installed in all 55 high-rise buildings that still lacked them. At the time, the department estimated that the updates would cost about $6,000 per unit.”
https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/la-fire-revives-push-sprinklers-older-high-rises-68654814
would you agree that 6 or 8k is relatively nominal cost for the Hancock units?
It’s under contract.
I love it. I would paint everything but it could be fantastic.
No, I’m not the buyer. Lol.
Still available, now at $554,900.
And about $75k in HOA and taxes burned since it was listed.
That initial ask + CPI would be $830k–a one third price cut in real dollars, less the $75k out the door.
Would have been MUCH (MUCH!!!) better off “giving it away” for $499k in 2019.
“But the flippers are a great sign for the downtown market. They wouldn’t be bothering if they didn’t think the market was there. There are flips in several other buildings. I should cover those this week.”
You cant make it up…