Property Tax Appeals Workshop — January 17th

Jan 16, 2012 by Sandra

Cook County Commissioner John Fritchey (D-12th), in conjunction with Board of Review Commissioner Michael Cabonargi, will host a property tax appeals workshop for property owners in North and West Townships. Property owners can find their township on the upper-right corner of their property tax bill.
The workshop is part of an ongoing series of workshops to assist those who want to appeal their property taxes with the Cook County Board of Review. Future workshops will be done by township as they open for appeals.
DATE: Tuesday, January 17, 2012
TIME: 6:30 P.M.
WHERE: Chicago International Charter School (gymnasium), 2235 N. Hamilton
“Now more than ever, property owners should make sure that they are not paying more in property taxes than they need to,” said Commissioner Fritchey. “This workshop will help them in that process.”
Staff will explain the appeals process and assist North and West Township property owners in filing their appeals on site. Attendees are asked to bring a copy of their most recent property tax bill.

Housing Inventory Snapshot – Year Ended December 31, 2011

Jan 2, 2012 by Sandra

Housing Inventory Snapshot		Year Ended December 2011
	Average List Price	*Median List Price	DOM – # Units
Park West   Active Listings
Single Family under $1M	604,500	$605,500	95 | 2
Single Family over $1M	4,278,500	$3,150,000	224 | 10
Condo/Townhome under $600K	261,256	$247,000	200  | 92
Condo/Townhome over $600K	2,529,817	$1,491,440	414 | 18

 

Housing Inventory Snapshot		Year Ended December 2011
	Average List Price	Median List Price	DOM – # Units
Lincoln Park   Active Listings
Single Family under $1M	$795,586	$849,500		287 | 21
Single Family over $1M	$2,724,033	$2,250,000		296 | 101
Condo/Townhome under $600K	$339,303	$324,900		204 | 360
Condo/Townhome over $600K	$1,229,119	$795,000		240 | 85

 

 

Housing Inventory Snapshot		Year Ended December 2011
	Average List Price	Average Sale Price	DOM – # Units
Park West  Sold
Single Family under $1M	997,833	883,333		180 | 3
Single Family over $1M	$2,155,000	1,931,250		404 | 8
Condo/Townhome under $600K	$298,972	$284,645		150 | 134
Condo/Townhome over $600K	$782,523	$733,308		222 | 13

 

 

Housing Inventory Snapshot		Year Ended December 2011
	Average List Price	Average Sale Price	DOM – # Units
Lincoln Park  Sold
Single Family under $1M	$819,780	$753,831		125 | 43
Single Family over $1M	$2,024,867	$1,849,652		241 | 101
Condo/Townhome under $600K	$356,508	$337,569		159  | 552
Condo/Townhome over $600K	$805,436	$762,998		158 | 124

 

 

I hope you will find the following snapshot of local Real Estate inventory interesting. The table represents aggregated values based on MLS data for the specified date.  Data is from Midwest Real Estate Data LLC.

DOM = Average Days on Market

*Median List Price calculation is based on past 3 months.

Childrens Memorial Redevelopment Meeting December 14th

Dec 20, 2011 by Sandra

Submitted by guest blogger Patricia Joseph

Park West members joined with neighbors from other community associations to review and comment on the conceptual plans for the Children’s Memorial Hospital site at a Town Hall Meeting on December 14, 2011 at the Hospital’s Bigler Auditorium.

Alderman Smith kicked off the presentation, stressing that the neighborhood is behind a development that will serve as a crossroads for the community and be award winning in its design. This was the second community communications meeting, covering the “conceptual plan” for the CMH property.  With the Hospital moving to its new digs in June, 2012, the pressure is on to come up with a plan for the site so that work can begin late in 2012.

Dan McCaffery, Chairman and CEO of McCaffery Interests, and Joe Antunovich of Antunovich Associates, presented the plan that focused on two floors of retail from Belden to Fullerton on Lincoln Avenue.  The emphasis was on creating a lively street level presence with residential space above the retail rising to between 16 and 20 stories.

An interior courtyard accessed from Lincoln was also part of the plan as it is envisioned today.

The intent is to retain and repurpose the vintage buildings along Lincoln, opening up the boiler building, laundry and the terra cotta building that currently houses the White Elephant Shop on Lincoln, to new retail space.  Other vintage buildings that are part of the complex, the Wilson Jones building on Orchard south of Fullerton and Nellie Black on corner of Fullerton and Orchard would be developed separately.

Green roofs, a public meeting space, and rooftop gardens are other amenities included in the plan.

While this presentation covered the ideas and concepts that might be ideal for the community and redevelopment of the site, it was stressed that lining up commitments from retailers and financing was key to moving forward with this idea.

A PDF of the presentation is posted on the Alderman’s website http://ward43.org and/or you can access segments of the meeting on the Alderman’s YouTube channel.

The Wrigley Mansion is For Sale

Sep 9, 2011 by Sandra

The Wrigley Mansion is for sale and can be yours for $9,500,000.  Some basic information on the home follows.

Address: 2466 N. Lakeview Ave.
Year Built: 1896
Architect: Richard E. Schmidt
Date Designated a Chicago Landmark: August 10, 1979
Last purchased: April 2004
Purchase Amount: $6,000,000
Liz Pendens Foreclosure: Filed May 11, 2011

 

The home is technically the Theuer-Wrigley Mansion according to the post on the City of Chicago’s site.   The home was originally built by  Joseph Theuer and later sold to William Wrigley Jr.  Today most refer to it as the Wrigley Mansion.  Joe Zekas of YoChicago has posted lovely photos and a video of the interior.

The photo above was taken by Allen Hess.

 

 

 

 

Children’s Memorial Hospital Development – Town Hall Meeting

Sep 6, 2011 by Sandra

Alderman Michele Smith  is holding  a Town Hall Meeting

What will happen when Children’s moves?

 

Children’s Memorial Hospital Development

September 14, 2011

6:30 p.m.

Bigler Auditorium at Children’s Memorial Hospital

2300 Children’s Plaza

I’ve promised that the development process for the Children’s Memorial site will be transparent and data driven.  That means we need to understand the impact Children’s has on the neighborhood today so we can compare it to the impact of any future proposal.

I’ve asked Children’s Memorial and the new developer, McCaffrey Interests, to bring this information to you:

• Impact of the hospital on our community today
• Impact on revenue for local businesses that we patronize
• Current “base line” traffic data
• Review of community input to date from HOK, which held three community meetings in 2009
• Introduction of McCaffery Interests, the developer of the site, and their work both locally and nationally
• My requirements for community feedback on the site’s development plans as they unfold
• Timeline for consideration of the development plans
• Your thoughts on future development plans

We look forward to seeing you on September 14th!

 

Please note: NO DEVELOPMENT PLAN will be presented – this meeting is a review of work to date, and important information for the community.

Park West Mansion in Foreclosure

Aug 23, 2011 by Sandra

This home was a labor of love and no detail was overlooked.  The developer built the home for himself and his family utilizing old world craftsmen.  When the real estate market took a turn for the worse the owner tried to avoid foreclosure by listing the property…originally at $6,250,000 in January 2009.  Intermittent price reductions were taken…very sizable reductions as you can see from the photo on the left.

Today the  home is owned by the bank and offered at $2,750,000.  The article in Curbed Chicago states that the square footage from the original listing has been reduced from 8,650 square feet to 4,985 which is what is reflected on the tax rolls.  Could the difference be outdoor space and garage?

More information and photos can be found here.