Vince Vaughn’s condo in Chicago went back on the market on Sunday at a much reduced price – a mere $13.9 MM. As a point of reference he paid $12 MM for it in 2006 but who knows how much he put into it since buying it. It’s also currently tied with another nearby condo for the title of most expensive condo listed in the city.
It’s a 3 level penthouse on the top floors of the Palmolive building at 159 E Walton Place. This is the original Playboy Building and in fact Vince’s office used to be Hugh Hefner’s office. If those walls could talk!
The whole history of this listing is a bit weird in my opinion – very convoluted. It was first privately “marketed” for $24.7 MM in 2011. That didn’t go anywhere. Surprise, surprise! So then they listed it in the MLS in June 2012 for $18.4 MM but there were no photos. How can that be a good idea?
Three months later they cut the price to $16.75 MM but that didn’t get any traction so they pulled it off the market in February 2013 and, because it was obviously the listing agent’s fault, he switched real estate agents, cut the price to $14.9 MM and, because it had worked so well previously, tried to market it privately again. Of course, if the fact that it wasn’t selling was the first real estate agent’s fault then why was the price lowered?
I guess they gave up on the whole “pocket listing” idea because now it’s back on the market at an even lower price. Well, I could have told them that the pocket listing concept is a dud.
At least now we have some photos but this listing is still weird. See the slide show below. Where is the kitchen? Where are the bathrooms? It makes us wonder if they are horribly outdated or something (I find that hard to believe).
One thing you will notice in these huge properties is that they have more rooms than they have names or purposes for them. So you end up with lots of hallway space, foyer type rooms, second family rooms, and sitting rooms. A few captions on the photos would help by the way.
Here are a few stats on the property:
- 12,000 square feet
- 5 bedrooms
- 4 full baths, 4 half baths
- 2 fireplaces
- 3 valet parking spaces
- Monthly assessments are $12,155 but it does include heating and air conditioning so you’ll save there
- Property taxes are way reduced at $49,277 because of a landmark tax benefit that will not transfer to the new buyer. If the county valued this property at $13.9 MM the property taxes would be $264,000.
Here is the description and notes from the MLS:
Lux 12,000 SQFT PH occupies top 3 floors of the historic Palmolive. Soaring ceiling heights, sweeping 360 degree lakefront & skyline vws. Perfect space for formal & informal entertaining &. Gracious master suite w/ abundant storage, 4 addtl BRs, 5.4 BAs, e-i kit w/great room, screening room, billards room, card room, den, 2 office spaces, indoor/outdoor space w/2nd kit & private terraces. 3 Valet pkg spaces incl in $ALL BUYERS MUST SUBMIT BANK REFERENCE, PRE-QUALIFICATION, AND SIGN NDA BEFORE SHOWINGS WILL BE SCHEDULED. LANDMARK TAX CREDIT DOES NOT TRANSFER. FL35 PIN 17032130201002. SEE “ADDITIONAL INFORMATION” FOR FLOOR PLAN.
#VinceVaughn #LuxuryHomes #Expensivecondos
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