We recently marketed and sold 60 E Scott and represented a purchase on a home in 1344 N Dearborn in the Gold Coast neighborhood. Possibly the number one attraction of the neighborhood after Lake Michigan is the high-end boutique retail. Our clients here value the location, the architecture, their neighbors and their shopping!
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Although downtown new construction has been dead (and rightfully so), the we've seen plenty of North Side new construction projects taking shape and moving forward in 2010. Lincoln Park continues to grow and prosper, be it new construction single family homes, condos or mixed use retail. This spot at Burling and Armitage is close to the Armitage Brown Line stop, boutique shops, downtown and easy to the lake.
We've had a recent sale of a Lincoln Park three bedroom town home and another group of client's out looking this weekend for the same. I thought we'd take a look at entry level three bedroom Lincoln Park town home sales under $500,000 for the last 6 months. A town home can either be fee simple (no assessments) or be a part of a homeowners associations and classified as a condo. A ton home style home does not have neighbors above or below (but connected on the sides by another home).
In the Lincoln Park community area as defined by Chicago and our local MLS, only three town homes with at least three bedrooms closed for under $500,000 in the last six months. There are some other properties described as "town homes, but they are really duplex units with a neighbor above or below them.
Currently, five town homes with at least three bedrooms are under contract for under $500,000. The best deal being 1927 N Mohawk Unit B, a fee-simple town home for $427,711. I viewed this home and it's a great deal. It's bank owned and I could see it had a roof leak issue affecting a few areas. But the location, finishes and the fact that it is in Abraham Lincoln Elementary district easily made the cost of a tear-off roof worth it.
If you're in the market now, there are currently seven active town homes for sale. But, don't expect to be in the "real" Lincoln Park. None of the three bedroom town homes for sale under $500,000 are anywhere close to even Halsted... You are looking at the 1300 block west and further out!
The proposed Ravenswood Station development, along with the Metra station improvement project, were big news around Chicago this week. Starting with my scoop of the community meeting and posts on Monday May 3rd after the latest community meeting of course!
Here's a web round-up of some of the major stories, some with interesting reader comments:
Read past posts at The Chicago Real Estate Local with reader comments
Read the post and reader comments at Uptown Update
Watch a past video touring Ravenswood and the proposed development site.
Rental Open House Saturday, May 8th, 12PM to 3PM at 522 W Oakdale (also for sale $369,900).
*Two bed, two bath, one parking space, storage, in unit washer/dryer, walk-in closet, deck.
*$2200/month, $1,500 security deposit.
*Pet's negotiable with owner. Application required.
Click below to see unit details. Shows like a brand new home!
Viewing at open house only Saturday May 8th, 12PM to 3PM. This rents fast!
Here are some details:
Join us for the first annual First Night Ravenswood, taking place on the east side of the corridor between Wilson and Montrose, and celebrating the diverse businesses, schools and studios to be found there.
First Night Ravenswood takes place between 6:00 and 10:00 PM and will have the following schedule:
6:00 - 8:00 Lill Street Art Center open house.
6:00 - 8:00 Open Artist Studios along the corridor
6:00 - 8:00 Businesses have extended hours
6:00 - 6:45 Classical music performance at the ACM School of Music
7:00 - 8:00 Theater performance by Corpo
6:00 - 8:00 Facepainting at Beyond Design, 4515 N. Ravenswood
8:00 - 10:00 Party at Beyond Design in their outdoor courtyard
8:00 Bluegrass performance at Beyond Design
9:00 Rock band Vamplifier plays at Beyond Design
All events are free except for the party which is free for children and $5 for adults. For more information and addresses of the special events please visit the Chamber's website at www.ravenswoodchamber.com
Please come out and support the community, the chamber of commerce and the marvelously eclectic Ravenswood Corridor!
Previous Post Here
This gorgeous corner lot single family home sits at West Wellington and North Pine Grove adjacent to eclectic row houses. But you can't have it.
The Lakeview East neighborhood in Chicago (or possibly better known as East Lakeview)
is "bordered roughly by Diversey Avenue on the south to Grace Street on the north, Halsted Street on the west to Lake Michigan to the east" according to the Lakeview East Chamber of Commerce. "Lakeview East is a culturally diverse Chicago neighborhood with a great many treasures to explore." Indeed. It is also high density and high energy... but somehow squeezes pretty and peaceful tree-lined streets full of strolling residents between the lake and it's commercial corridors.
Single family homes in this neighborhood are also a treasure to hunt themselves. The single family homes (including row houses) are mostly 19th and early 20th century creations with little new construction houses to be found. Neighborhoods just west Halsted are more than "dotted" by tear down new construction over the past 15 years. It's another reason this East Lakeview neighborhood remains so unique.
Single family home sales and purchasing opportunities are fairly rare in East Lakeview.
Only five single family homes have closed in the past 12 months. The lowest priced was 624 W Briar Place for $835,000 and the highest priced was 638 W Oakdale at $1,275,000. There are only two homes under contract at 461 West Melrose asking $1,500,000 and 519 W Wellington asking $1,400,000 respectively.
Only five single family homes are currently listed for sale on our MREDLLC (our member MLS). The highest being a custom build opportunity at 543 W Cornelia asking $4,500,000 base. The least expensive is 735 W Brompton at $,199,000. Out of the 12 homes active closed or under contract, four are new construction houses from the ground up. The rest are original structures maintaining much of their classic exterior and interior features. None of the homes would be considered "modern" architecture (to my dismay).
What a difference a year makes. The Ravenswood Station mixed use development at West Lawrence Avenue and North Ravenswood is one step closer after tonight's community meeting. Much has changed from the original retail and residential plan. Most notably, the residential component (and most controversial eleven story tower) was entirely scrapped. The mood of the meeting was less contentious than last year. However, and unfortunately, many came to the meeting to oppose whatever was presented to them. These particular neighborhood folks would have scoffed at "The Mother Teresa Absolutely Quiet School for the Blind" had it been proposed.
However, I would agree the development presentation did lack details that were obviously going to be brought up by residents. Mostly, this related to traffic flow and scale of the project. Then, the presenters AGAIN brought up a Roundy's grocery store guy to "show and tell" slide after slide of pictures of store departments. Both sad and hilarious the crowd even asked for him to knock it off and get on with the question/answer period concerning the overall development.
Long story short: Magellan is the new developer and most known in Chicago for it's $4 billion Lakeshore East in the New East Side of downtown. The Ravenswood Station development will consist of two buildings taking up half of Sears parking lot. The three story retail building fronting Lawrence Avenue will feature a two story "Mariano's" full service grocery store owned and operated by Roundy's of Wisconsin. The entire third floor will be occupied by a major health club company. There is also room for one more 7000 sq ft retail store on the first level.
The rear building will be a four story parking deck and also house the Sears Auto Center. The parking structure will accommodate 400 cars for the retail and 180 additional designated spots for the Metra parking. Right now, there are only 50 designated parking spots for Metra. Huge increase! The development is seeking LEED Certification (which even one continually rude resident complained this was not enough!)
The verdict: I like the development and I'm glad it can move ahead without the residential component. If everything moves ahead, we are still looking at two years before the stores would open. There were many of the usual concerns raised about parking, traffic, delivery truck access, bike racks, etc. I was satisfied by the answers and size of the project. Look, this is a nice looking full service grocery store and fitness club building being built on an existing unsightly commercial and industrial zoned parcel of land on Lawrence Ave. The buildings are well within scale of surrounding residential and commercial buildings of the location. As one neighbor friend put it, "They are actually building something on Lawrence that won't scare people".
The next meeting and community vote on the development is scheduled for May 27th of this month. The date is on the Thursday before the Memorial Day weekend which received the groans and complaints from the audience. People were also upset that they will vote on this development without knowing the extent of the new Metra Station to be built north of Lawrence (which is a federal initiative and much needed). Many of the questions and concerns were pretty self serving in my opinion. It is hard for many neighbors that support the retail development to understand continuing complaints about increased traffic from those living along a Metra line, a major commercial artery and industrial corridor. This location is actually underused right now.
I'll be there and will ask the neighbors with their arms crossed, frowns and shouts to hold the sarcasm and be civil. This is huge progress and a major amenity for the neighborhood. Imagine walking to a full service grocer and fitness club anchoring a neighborhood that features a brand new Metra station (accommodating disabled riders and increased service capacity). Many of us can.
Federal Housing Authority backed loans (FHA loans) are a popular product among home buyers. The loans allow lower down payments and lower credit scores than conforming loans and still offer the benefit of today's low mortgage interest rates. But FHA loans can only be used in FHA approved condo buildings. There are basic criteria a building must meet to be approved.
Click HERE to view the checklist for condo association FHA approval
This year already my partner Bob and I have helped several buildings become FHA approved so our buyers and sellers could put a deal together. In other cases, we have seen buyers pass on some of our listings because the building was not FHA approved and they did not want to wait for the approval. The buyer initiated approval process can add an extra month to the length of time from acceptance to closing. There are two basic ways your condo building can become FHA approved:
Please feel free to call or email us if you are considering FHA approval for your building.We will provide reputable lenders that can answer questions and are willing to initiate the approval process. FHA has limits on how many FHA backed loans may be currently active in a building, so this caps any "over leverage" a condo association may face. We look at it as a very marketable positive to first time buyers especially when selling a condo.
522 Oakdale #2W Asking 369,900!
Open House Sunday 5/2/10 from 12P to 3P
Very attractive, nicely appointed three year old conversion unit
2 beds
2 baths
Parking
Huge Storage
Like NEW!
