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Sheldon Good & Company conducted an auction of Motor Row Lofts units earlier today at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place.
The auction was well attended and resulted in the sale of 20 units (several at reserve) at prices ranging from $187,000 to $316,000. You can see more details on pricing from commenter neo at CribChatter.
Watch the video, above, for a Motor Row Lofts owner’s take on the auction and the development. Sheldon Good had a band (South o 80) playing before the auction and during lulls. As I walked in the band was exhibiting a sense of the occasion by playing the Rolling Stones “You can’t always get what you want.”
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
can’t always get what you want could also be acceptance of fate by the sellers.
As indicated, prices today do not include 5.5% buyers premium. Below is the original list price numbers I found from the opening sales event brochure I saved. Wow, just Wow.
Hard to find any losers among the buyers. Great building, well done facade, and you still have some of the tax freeze time left. Finishes are average imo, but these new owners have money to burn improving that. On top of that, the city has already completed the street and sidewalk repairs for the entire area.
A) Best deals IMO – #501 – the lay out feels larger than it lists; you have 3 BR spaced downstairs, and a sweet lofted area upstairs. $345 (including premium) for that is killer. The other one I liked was Unit 212 – two BR – you have a cool rear court yard built above garage that is shared with three units. If these owners were smart, they would join the area into a nice combined courtyard.
B) Catch 22 – will be interesting as the impact of comps on existing units trying to close, refinance, or sell. Could increase short sales and foreclosures.
C) Scared – If I were developer of Opera, I would be crapping my pants. This building has way better structure, location, potential. I’ve said all along, had this developer (Motor Row) been realistic in pricing from the start, he would have been out of this project 2 years ago.
D) Will also be interesting to see the impact of this auction on the Motor Row Lofts across the street (Developer is the Lithuanian guy on the run) – that building sits unfinished.
#501 – $316,000 3 BR+ den original list at opening sales event $659k
#506 – $313,000 3 BR original list at opening sales event $609k
#508 – $313,000 2 BR+ original list at opening sales event $313k
#504 – $285,000 3 BR original list at opening sales event $589k
#306 – $286,000 2 BR+ den original list at opening sales event $434k
#201 – $286,000 3 BR original list at opening sales event $472k
#503 – $247,000 2 BR original list at opening sales event $474k
#206 – $250,000 2 BR+ den original list at opening sales event $432k
#507 – $250,000 2 BR original list at opening sales event $407k
#302 – $250,000 2 BR+ den original list at opening sales event $421k
#212 – $237,000 2 BR original list at opening sales event $419k
#313 – $215,000 2 BR original list at opening sales event $419k
#315 – $206,500 2 BR original list at opening sales event $419k
#311 – $206,500 2 BR original list at opening sales event $419k
#404 – $207,000 2 BR original list at opening sales event $371k
#304 – $207,000 2 BR original list at opening sales event $364k
#303 – $187,000 1 BR+ den original list at opening sales event $313k
#317 – $187,000 1 BR original list at opening sales event $280k
Jeff,
Thanks for providing the details.
I very rarely comment on pricing but this has to be an exception: buyers got some truly great deals, especially when you factor in the property tax assessment freeze / investor tax credit.
Anyone who’s interested can see video of many of the units on this YouTube playlist.
For anyone who wants to see a breakdown, I’ve combined Jeff’s numbers with the unit info Sheldon Good and Motor Row Lofts put out prior to the auction in a single document: http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AtbN6wIddVZ9dHE3UHU0d0IyR2w2b0h3cDl4TFVSOXc&hl=en
So are all of the units at Motor Row Lofts sold now? Or are there still some lofts available for sale thru the developer?
Units are still available from the developer.