Avenue East, 160 E Illinois St, seemed to have a steady stream of homes coming back on the market last year, and saw about one sale a month during 2010.
Yesterday afternoon I looked up all the info I could find on the tower’s current listings, and found that everything with a sales history was going at a loss, and in all but a couple of cases, those losses are pretty significant — anywhere from 21% to 41% off original sale prices in 2007 (and in one case, a price from 2009).
It’s worth noting that these homes aren’t all lingering without takers; three of the seven homes I looked at are under contract, awaiting the resolution of contingencies.
The discounted resales include:
- Unit #1803: Studio with 722 square feet; sold for $372,500, listed for $249,000 (short sale). Taxes, $4,297; assessments, $406. On the market 288 days.
- Unit #1805: One-bedroom / 1.5-bath with 1,071 square feet; sold for $482,400, listed for $282,900. Taxes, $6,594. On the market 34 days; under contract.
- Unit #1205: One-bedroom / 1.5-bath with 1,071 square feet; sold for $453,000, listed for $290,000 (short sale). Taxes, $6,315; assessments, $576. On the market 191 days; under contract.
- Unit #1905: One-bedroom / 1.5-bath with 1,071 square feet; sold for $380,000, listed for $301,200. Assessments, $595. On the market one day.
- Unit #1506: Two-bedroom / two-bath with 1,400 square feet; sold for $670,500, listed for $499,900 (short sale). Taxes, $9,008; assessments, $746. On the market 419 days; under contract.
- Unit #1602: Two-bedroom / two-bath with 1,294 square feet; sold for $625,000, listed for $599,000. Taxes, $5,489; assessments, $704. On the market 14 days.
- Unit #806: Three-bedroom / 2.5-bath with 2,142 square feet; sold for $1.08 million, listed for $995,000. Taxes, $12,103; assessments, $1,107. On the market 132 days.
In 2009, Mark Boyer stopped by Avenue East to get a look at the building’s model and amenities, and brought back this video:
Well I see one problem… unit 1803, 700sq. ft. 1 bedroom (this page says studio, but MLS says 1-bed), originally sold for $372k plus 400/month assesments?!? Even at the very hight of the market, that’s unbelievable! What were they thinking?
The current asking price is still too high for a 700sq ft with $400 assesments; At this point even just 200k for a small 1-bedroom might be too high.
Thanks for the correction.
I don’t think 700 sq ft is a “small” one bedroom. More of a mid-sized unit.
As to whether it’s a studio or one-bedroom, yes, the listing calls #1803 says its a one-bedroom / one-bath with northern views; no square footage is listed.
However, Avenue East’s website is still active, and while it no longer has links to every tier’s floor plan, the plans are still accessible if you can figure out the site’s address structure. The 03 tier for floors 15 through 22 is characterized as a 722 square-foot studio with northern views. Assuming that the listing and the floor plan match (and I’m going to, because every other listing has square footage and bed / bath counts that match the square footage and bed / bath counts from Avenue East’s floor plans perfectly), I’d say that the seller is trying to pass off that 10′-3″ x 12′-3″ “dining alcove” as a bedroom.
I’d guess that most people would use this “dining alcove” as a sleeping area.
It has the main closet in the unit, has a window, and could easily be sectioned off. May already have been, for all we know.