On Friday this incredible Chicago mansion hit the market with a list price of approximately $7.78 MM. However, by Saturday afternoon it had been taken Temporarily Off The Market but the virtual tour is still out there and I’ve embedded it below. Aside from the fact that the home is absolutely spectacular what makes this particularly intriguing is that they don’t disclose the address. It shows up as 999 N Confidential Ave and they placed it on the map on Throop St, just south of Chicago Avenue, in West Town. The use of the 999 Confidential address is a typical technique when they don’t want to disclose the address.
However, someone on Cribchatter identified the property as 516 N Armour, Chicago, IL 60642, a little southwest of where it’s pinned on the map in the MLS. It appears to be owned by Paul Berlin, owner of Executive Planning, a life insurance/ estate planning business.
You know…my wife thought I’d be better off in financial planning than real estate. I guess she was right but don’t tell her I said that.
Here is what we know about the home:
- Designed by Vari Architects, it was built in 2011
- It’s on a 50 x 180 ft lot directly across from the James Otis School
- The home is approximately 10,000 square feet on three levels
- 5 bedrooms
- 5 full baths, 2 half baths
- Home theater, game room, exercise room, library, and bar
- Killer outdoor space landscaped by Spiegelberg with a lap pool
- 2 fireplaces
- 3 car garage
- Top of the line finishes throughout
- Property taxes are only $18,500 based upon an assessed market value of barely over $1 MM. And Joseph Berrios doesn’t think he has a problem? He has the lot size right and the square footage of the home right, though he only shows 2 full baths, and his office thinks it’s only worth $1 MM?
Now, I’m not quite sure what the deal is with the Rolls Royce parked in front of the home. I assume it does not come with the house, though I would imagine that if you really wanted it included that could be arranged. It does hide the fire hydrant, though if you shoot the photo straight on like in the nighttime version you can crop it out. Or perhaps it’s just supposed to show that this house is for someone who would drive a Rolls. You know…aspirational. Of course, if you can afford an almost $8 MM home I would imagine that you are done aspiring. But you never know.
So the question is how much can this home sell for? Consider that in the last 10 years 94 homes have sold above $4 MM in Chicago and of those only 2 have sold outside Lincoln Park and the Near North Side. Those two were both in Bucktown on Wolcott and they both sold below $5 MM, though they were both on double lots (this is essentially a triple lot) and under 8,000 square feet. But those homes were in Bucktown and this home is in an area where the median household income is only $66,000 and where you can get a condo in the low $200s.
What do you think is going to happen?
#ExpensiveHomes #ChicagoExpensiveHomes
Gary Lucido is the President of Lucid Realty, the Chicago area’s full service discount real estate brokerage. If you want to keep up to date on the Chicago real estate market, get an insider’s view of the seamy underbelly of the real estate industry, or you just think he’s the next Kurt Vonnegut you can Subscribe to Getting Real by Email using the form below. Please be sure to verify your email address when you receive the verification notice.