Buyers’ Market in the Chicago area
Housing downturn means today’s shoppers pay less for bigger homes and lots
Ad Categories: Real Estate
The Remains of the Heyday
In the wake of the bust that followed the glory days of the condo boom, a number of projects ground to a halt. One of the most striking is this unfinished structure at 2609 West Belmont Avenue, where gaping windows, rusting steel, and scattered construction materials give the impression of a six-story-tall ghost town.
Art of the Deal — Lincoln Park
List Price: $5.7 million
Sale Price: $4 million
The Property: This contemporary home, designed to accommodate an art collection, was on the market for more than three years before finally selling on February 12th. The new owners, it turns out, are also art collectors and had been looking for a showcase for their own growing collection. What’s more, the new…
A Graystone Revival in West Wrigleyville
List Price: $2.495 million
The Property: Just about all that remains of this 115-year-old graystone is its rusticated stone façade. From there back—and from there up—the developer Jody Libman and his company, Trianon, have crafted an entirely new, though historically sensitive home. “You can’t build something that looks like this anymore,” Libman says. “Look how it
Sportscaster Tom Waddle Buys House at Below Half Price
The former Chicago Bears wide receiver Tom Waddle, now a sports anchor at Fox Chicago, ESPN 1000, and other media, bought a new 12-room house in an estate section of Lake Forest on February 12th. The $3.25 million that Waddle and his wife, Cara, paid was just 48 percent of the $6.7 million that the home’s builder, Lynch Construction, initially asked for the place in October 2008.
A Park Ridge Turkey Finally Flies
List Price: $949,000
Sale Price: $857,500
The Property: The Park Ridge family who bought this new house that had stood unsold for nearly three years got the place for about half of what the builder had originally wanted. “There’s a lot that the builder put in that I don’t think he would have done if he’d known he would sell in the…
Oak Park Prairie House at Below 2006 Price
List Price: $749,000
The Property: This charming stucco Prairie-style house, built in 1906 in what is now Oak Park’s Ridgeland Historic District, has four bedrooms, many vintage details, and a rentable coach house, the income from which could defray the new owners’ mortgage expenses.
Orren Pickell Cuts Lot Prices; Meet the New Owner of Scott Turow’s House
This week, hoping to stimulate construction of new high-end homes, Orren Pickell Designers & Builders lopped 25 percent off the prices of its vacant lots in Lake Bluff, Bannockburn, Long Grove, and Highland Park. Also included in the markdown is the colossal 99-year-old Landsowne mansion in Lake Bluff.
All in the Crown Family — Winnetka
List Price: N/A Sale Price: $1 million
The Property: In December, Lester Crown, the 84-year-old patriarch of one of Chicago’s wealthiest families, sold his interest in a secluded Winnetka mansion to his son, Steven.
This Side of Paradise — St. Charles
List Price: $1.695 million
The Property: Back in 1984, when Pete and Barbara Rosi went looking for a tranquil country residence in Kane County, they fell in love with a hillside home outside St. Charles that had been built in 1932 as a getaway for a Chicago family. Situated 58 feet above its own private lake, and with tall oaks hanging overhead, the house was their ideal.