Real estate news & trends
Latest news from YoChicago
DePaul
Yesterday’s Chicago Tribune served up this heart-stopping news: DePaul University appears to be weighing a site west of Lincoln Park for a Blue Demons men’s basketball arena, signaling that a site near McCormick Place is not necessarily its slam-dunk pick. Bruce Liimatainen, chairman and chief executive of A. Finkl & Sons Co., on Tuesday said ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on April 17, 2013
Back in the early 1980s I bought two lots in the 1800 block of Maud St, not far from Adams Parkin the Ranch Triangle area of Lincoln Park. At the time, the park was largely deserted and had only sparse playground equipment. I bought my lots for $10,000 apiece from a guy who’d acquired them ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on August 3, 2012
The most desirable apartments often rent quickly from site signage without ever being posted on Craigslist or being listed with one of Chicago’s sleazy apartment rental services. You can spend an hour driving yourself crazy and risking your financial health searching Craigslist for your next apartment, or you can spend less time driving yourself around ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on August 2, 2012
Construction is underway on Montana Row in the 1500 block of West Montana St in Lincoln Park. The development will include 14 new, 3,200 square foot rowhomes with exceptional 25′ wide floor plans on 3 floors. The homes have 4 bedrooms plus an office and family room, 4 full baths, 2 powder rooms, 1,000 square ...
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Posted by sponsored post on July 19, 2012
The newly-listed 4-bedroom, 2 ½ bath condo at 2014 N Seminary is the first duplex-down in a smaller building that I’ve seen listed at or above $1 million. That’s $100,000 over the price for which it sold in May of 2009. According to the listing the unit has an “inspired floor plan” on a “quiet, ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on July 16, 2012
The tragic fire at Roy’s Furniture, which has been much in the news, took me back to the late 1970s. I bought two six-flats in the 1800 block of Halsted from Roy Warner, with plans to convert them to 3-flat condo buildings. I rehabbed and converted one but sold the other, due to the depressed ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on May 31, 2012
Every successful real estate developer I’ve ever known has distilled his experience into a few simple calculations that enable him to quickly analyze very complex deals and decide to move forward on or reject a deal. Add a gut feeling, based on a lot of knowledge, for the viability of the site, and an analyst ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on April 23, 2012
Today’s rental pick is in a building that I renovated and converted to condos back in 1979 – 1980, and is a unit that I lived in for several years. The building was known as The Cecil and it had 50 1- and 2-bedroom units when I acquired it. I gutted the building and reconfigured ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on April 22, 2012
Dennis Rodkin recently visited a Victorian home on the 2000 block of Seminary, in Lincoln Park‘s DePaul neighborhood, and recounted some of its early and more recent history: Built in 1861 as the farmhouse for a truck farm that delivered its produce into Chicago, the house still has several of its original elements. The ornate ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on February 3, 2012
North Side
The 2,400 square foot, 3-bedroom, 3 1/2 bath townhome at 1827 N Sheffield in Lincoln Park‘s DePaul neighborhood is unusual in a number of ways, not the least of which was its $449,000 list price. The home is owned in fee simple – no association, no monthly dues. It has a garage, a variety of ...
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Posted by sponsored post on February 3, 2012
This is the second in a series of videos from my recent drive around Lincoln Park with David Nadler. In the first video we looked at lakefront high-rise condos renting at what Nadler deemed bargain prices compared to managed apartment buildings in the area. In this video Nadler takes me to two higher-end properties. The ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on January 27, 2012
A prime DePaul location contributed to the successful sellout of a newly-built six-flat at 2421 N Racine Ave back in 2006 and 2007, at what now seems to be “what were they thinking” prices. Four-bedroom (two on the lower level), 3-bath duplex down units with 2 garage spaces sold for $825,000 and $842,500. Two-bedroom, 2-bath ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on January 25, 2012
The property at 2145 N Dayton St, in DePaul, closed just a few days after being listed a month ago at a $1,400,000 purchase price. It just came back on the market as a to-be-built luxury home, indicating that $1.4M was a teardown price for a 33 x 125 lot. Not everyone, it appears, is ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on January 19, 2012
The 1200 block of Lill in Lincoln Park / DePaul is a quiet, secluded location that’s just a few blocks from the Fullerton El stop. At the end of the block is Supera Park, a hub for neighborhood gatherings that’s generally packed with children. There’s a Starbucks across the street from the park and popular ...
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Posted by sponsored post on November 14, 2011
The area bounded by Armitage Ave (2000 N), Fullerton Ave (2400 N), Halsted St (800 W) and Racine Ave (1200 W) is the heart of the Sheffield Historic District (pdf), and one of the most attractive residential areas in the city. I say that with more than a little prejudice, since I lived there for ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on August 1, 2011
A hat tip to the CTA Tattler for alerting us to The Red Line Project by DePaul University journalism students. Joe Askins, before heading off to grad school, undertook YoChicago’s Red Line project, and you can see the results at our CTA Red Line playlist at YouTube. Joe shot a video at each of the ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on May 26, 2011
1237 West Fullerton is privately-operated housing for up to 590 DePaul University students, and it’s currently offering a month’s free rent. The 2011-12 rates start at $990 per month for four students sharing a tight 4-bedroom, 2-bath unit totally lacking in closet space – not even a coat closet. But hey, you’re so close to ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on April 30, 2011
You’ve probably experienced the dramatic spaces enabled by bowstring truss construction in a restaurant, garage or other commercial space. The trusses create large, open, maximally flexible space uninterrupted by columns or load-bearing walls. I’ve seen only a very few single-family homes created within bowstring truss buildings (they rarely have zoning that permits it). The home ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on February 16, 2011
It’s rare to see one of DePaul’s vintage McCormick Row Houses for sale, especially at a price in the six figures. The five-bedroom / 3.5-bath home at 836 W Belden Ave sold in 2005 for $1.32 million, and again in 2007 for $1.4 million. It’s been on and off the market since May, and is ...
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Posted by Joseph Askins on February 9, 2011
I signed a contract to sell my home, which you can see in the above video (part 1 here), the first night of the storm that paralyzed Chicago in January of 1979. The buyer’s agent called mid-afternoon to ask whether she could come to my home to present an offer. She arrived 4 or 5 ...
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Posted by Joe Zekas on February 2, 2011
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