May 10, 2007

On the Market

New on the Market - McKinley Park loft

List price: $549,000

The Property: A converted coffee and tea showroom beneath an antique copper ceiling, this McKinley Park residence is that rarest of finds: a true industrial loft. "They've all disappeared," says Mario Greco, the Rubloff agent representing the seller. With its great aged factory doors, original hardwood floors, and big storefront windows, the place has the requisite funky patina-but it's also got such contemporary touches as concrete countertops and hanging glass shelves in the kitchen. The main floor is about 1,700 square feet, configured as one enormous main room with the kitchen at one end (there are also two full baths and a laundry room). The master bedroom (along with more open space) is perched on an L-shaped mezzanine, and there is a small terrace off the back of the kitchen and a grassy public playground across the alley. The 1,100-square-foot basement, unfinished and with no windows, could easily be turned into workspace or a cavernous family room. There is one indoor and one outdoor parking space.

The seller, Dan Delany, bought the space five years ago, when Bridgeport, the neighborhood that lies just east of McKinley Park, had just begun to flourish. A consultant for not-for-profits, he has been spending more time in New York lately and has decided to sell.

Price Points: To get this much space on the North Side, you would easily pay twice the price. But to buy so low, you do have to give up some things. The building is on busy Archer Avenue (with a front-door view of the above-ground Stevenson Expressway), and the surrounding neighborhood is working class. Some potential buyers might find it hard to do without the hip boutiques and cafés, but there are thriving arts communities in Bridgeport and nearby Pilsen, and good restaurants in Chinatown, on South Oakley Avenue's Italian strip, and in the South Loop. There is a grocery store and other shopping a block away; the buses, El trains, and expressways are close at hand; and you can make the trip into the Loop in less than five minutes.

Listing Agent: Mario Greco, Rubloff, (773) 687-4696

Posted at 08:57 AM in On the Market | Permalink

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