Robert Darrow, @properties

Archive for the ‘Guides’ Category

During conversation with a client over the Holiday Weekend, the topic of Old Chicago Firehouses came up.  And not for the first time.  In the past, a handful of buyer clients have mentioned their dream of snapping up a historic old property such as an Old Chicago Firehouse to lovingly renovate and turn into their dream two-story loft. 

Often with a fire pole.  Your Guide does not understand the fascination with fire poles.  At my age, I am more fascinated with elevators (or firemen.)  There only so many years of stair climbing left in my knees. 

In the past, in the course of trying to burst these dreams as gently as possible, I have done some preliminary research on Chicago Firehouses.  Generally, they have not been as prevalent as my clients would like.  The City of Chicago is not frequently motivated to dispose of real estate.  In Chicago’s past, fire protection duties were provided by private contractors.  Upon the call of “Fire!” competing fire companies would all race to the scene of a disaster and the first company on scene was in charge of putting out the fire.  

But those days are long gone.  Most of the private fire protection companies were taken over by the City of Chicago before the middle of the last century.  Overlapping firehouses were sold off many decades ago.  Though many firehouses in Chicago are in desperate need of a renovation, the City usually keeps the fire house in the same location.

This makes the fabled Old Chicago Fire House a bit of a legend.  Even when one of these old Fire Houses was found, it often commanded the value of the land PLUS a generous premium because of the novel nature of the property.  In years past, the best price we could find was $350,000, and could easily command much more.

This example in Ravenswood, along Ravenswood Street, was listed for $1,275,000 back in 2006.  Already renovated, the building features a wine cellar, two bedrooms, two baths, and of course an amazing first floor perfect for entertaining with wide-open vistas.

More typical, this example on the border between Old Town and Lincoln Park featured 7 rooms, 3 beds and 2 baths.  A rooftop family room, wide open space on the first floor and a roof deck made this firehouse a great place for entertaining.  Not quite as traditional in style (a bit ugly?) the building sold for $552,000 in 2005.

But most surprisingly, when rummaging through the local MLS data today, I found the Old Chicago Fire House deal of the decade:  $90,000 for this building located at 3700 West Huron on Chicago’s West Side.  Not converted into a home, this building was used as a church for the past 37 years.  The first floor is still open raw space.  Upstairs, a 3 bedroom, 2 bath apartment is cobbled together, but not in any sort of livable condition.

So for you buyers out there that are still chasing the dream, and your Unicorn isn’t in your stable yet, give Your Guide a call!  We might be able to make one of those dreams come true.

A couple weeks ago Your Guide went on a walking tour of Boystown with YoChicago’s Joe Askins.  On one of our side street detours, we stumbled upon a great example of a renovated and rejuvinated Four Plus One (4+1) that is a testament to creative thinking.  Typically, the Four Plus One is one of Chicago’s most maligned architectural styles.

With good reason.

Built in the 1950’s and 1960’s, they’re hideously ugly, cramped and dark.  Saving graces to the buildings include modern amenities such as air conditioning, decent kitchens, better closets than in comparable vintage buildings, and parking.

Check out the previous article on the subject here: http://www.yourwindycityguide.com/?p=1218

Your guide is launching a specialty website for Townhomes here in Chicago in the hopes of becoming the Townhome King of Chicago.  And no, it seems I can’t be www.townhomeking.com – some other dude beat me to it.  But nonetheless, we perservere and are proud to launch (with a few bugs):

www.townhomeshop.com

www.townhomeshopchicago.com!

It’s 95% there.  And the remainder should be up and running within a week.

And so in honor of Townhomes, let’s launch Townhome week (or at least several days) with some Townhome topics near and dear to my heart.

Attractive to buyers moving in both directions

Today, townhomes are attractive to a variety of residents in Chicago and are a popular choice for buyers. Townhomes offer the benefit of being popular for both “move-up” and “downsizing” buyers. Established townhome communities often have residents from both ends of the spectrum as residents.

Empty nesters can be found down-sizing into townhomes when they find they no longer need the space of their suburban family home. Maintenance free living often appeals to residents making this lifestyle choice. The luxury of handing off maintenance chores, snow shoveling, and landscaping is alluring to downsizing buyers.

Young couples often select a townhome as an affordable alternative to a single family home in the Suburbs. Hip urban dwellers are often not yet ready to make the move out to the sleepy confines of far-flung regions of Chicagoland. Yet young couples who are combining households do find the need for additional space, storage for expanding family belongings, and parking for twice as many cars as when they were single and fancy-free. With the steady improvement in Chicago’s public school system, neighborhoods with solid schools are exploding with families who remain longer and with older children than seen in decades. A popular joke among Realtors is that you can save “a quarter-million per kid” by selecting a townhome within a great school’s boundaries compared to enrolling in one of Chicago’s expensive private schools.

Even in tawny neighborhoods like the Gold Coast and Lincoln Park, townhome living is a cost effective alternative to a single family house. In neighborhoods where the cost of a luxury house can easily exceed $1.5-million, townhomes exist to bridge the gap between condo living and the high cost of a stand-alone house. Lincoln Park’s newest community – Hartland Park – features some townhomes that boast five bedrooms, five full plus two half baths, and pricing that can crest $1-million.

Efficient floor plans

In every neighborhood – from budget to primo – a townhome is invariably a cost effective alternative to a single family home. In some neighborhoods, the townhomes offer greater living space than the houses that surround them even though the townhomes occupy less space. Efficiency of the floor plan is the key to this benefit.

Examples of this scenario can be found where newer townhomes fill in around vintage houses from the 1920’s and 1930’s. A typical Chicago frame Victorian features around 800 square feet per floor for a total of 1,600 square feet of living space above ground. Some of these homes have bedrooms located off the living room and the dining room. If there are bedrooms on a second floor, those rooms are often under a peaked roofline with limited headroom. They would have had only one bath at the time of construction. A newer bathroom will always add cost to the purchase price of the house. At some point, most basements were also converted to living space providing an additional 600 to 800 square feet. But most modest house basements don’t have full-height ceilings, so the space is not as useful.

Conversely, modern townhomes neighboring these houses often feature spacious rooms and modern layouts sprawling over three of even four floors. In a modern townhouse, a garage is often attached alleviating the need to trudge across a yard to the house during Chicago’s notoriously frigid winters. If a garage is attached, the third bed – or den – is located on the first floor. The main living space in a modern townhome is most often upstairs one level affording some privacy, and generous room sizes. Bedrooms are located one more floor up, and the newest designs often feature an attached master bath to the bedroom along with a convenient hallway bath for the second bed and for guests.

The latest amenity to be added to the townhome genre is a fourth floor family room with walk out deck on the rooftop. Sizes range from modest to spacious, and nearly all offer easy access to outdoor space with roof deck and panoramic views.

Ownership

Townhomes are typically owned in one of three ways.

Fee Simple

In a fee simple townhome, you own the land beneath and the sky above your townhome. There should be a party wall agreement between you and your neighbors that spells out how to care for the part of your townhome that touches your neighbor’s. There will also be an easement allowing access for everyone to use a sidewalk and a parking space. This form of ownership is most closely like owning a house, and carries similar responsibilities. You will care for the inside and the outside of the home, including the windows, the roof and mechanical systems. You will also care for landscaping and you will probably shovel your own snow. It’s likely you won’t have to pay any assessments. If you and your neighbors decide to hire someone to come and shovel the sidewalks or mow the lawn, you might draw up a simple agreement to share these expenses. You will have home owners insurance that covers the structure in addition to the contents and liability.

Fee Simple with Home Owners Association (HOA)

Some townhome communities offer the benefits of Fee Simple ownership, but are formed with an HOA to formalize the sharing of common expenses and to put in place an association to care for the property and any common areas. You’ll probably own your home as if it were a house along with the land it sits on. But there will be an assessment to cover common expenses such as landscaping, water and sewer, trash removal, and perhaps even a manager if the property is large enough. Assessments will be lower in a Fee Simple HOA townhome because you will have your own insurance and the Association won’t take care of the actual structure. You will care for the inside and the outside of the home, including the windows, the roof and mechanical systems.

Condominium

Condominium ownership differs from Fee Simple ownership in that you will own the unit in which you reside, but the land and other common areas are owned by everyone in the association. An important distinction about condominiums is that the building exterior and the party walls are common property rather than individually owned. In a condominium the Condo Association takes care of the exterior maintenance, the roof, sometimes the windows, in addition to paying for the common utilities like water, sewer, trash, snow removal and landscaping. This is very convenient for the residents as the association takes care of the building and the common systems. But it’s more expensive. The association also pays for insurance on the structure against damage or destruction from fire, or water, or other unforeseen circumstance. The association also carries liability insurance for residents and guests on the common areas.

Some townhomes are built in such a way that one part of a townhome sits on top of another townhome with some overlap. Others feature typical townhome floor plans but have one common garage beneath that resembles an underground garage. In buildings such as these, it’s nearly impossible to set up a fee-simple arrangement because clear lot dimensions and descriptions can’t be determined. These buildings will nearly always be condominium townhomes.

Your guide is launching a specialty website for Townhomes here in Chicago in the hopes of becoming the Townhome King of Chicago.  And no, it seems I can’t be www.townhomeking.com – some other dude beat me to it.  But nonetheless, we perservere and are proud to launch (with a few bugs):

www.townhomeshop.com

www.townhomeshopchicago.com!

It’s 95% there.  And the remainder should be up and running within a week.

And so in honor of Townhomes, let’s launch Townhome week (or at least several days) with some Townhome topics near and dear to my heart.

Townhome differentiation

Townhomes throughout Chicagoland fall into four easily recognizable categories. We will strive to label townhomes here at www.townhomeshop.com with the same convention.

Value

Value oriented townhomes still offer the great floor plans that you’ll find in the nicer townhomes. The fits and finishes will simply be more basic and the homes themselves will be located in less expensive areas. Some aspects of construction are not as sturdy or solid as townhomes built for sale from the start. Therefore, residents may notice more noise, and higher utility costs in value range townhomes. . Finishes will be basic with laminate countertops, plain appliances, wall to wall carpeting and standard bathroom flooring and tile. Parking will most likely be outdoors in an open parking lot.

There really aren’t that many value range townhomes in Chicago, but are much more prevalent in the Suburbs. Many were rental communities up until recently, and barely warranted mentioning but as many have been converted into condominiums, they are described here.

Standard

Standard townhomes are often found on outlying neighborhoods of Chicago that have only recently gained popularity. Examples include Ravenswood, Old Irving Park or Uptown. Standard townhomes also enjoy the benefits of more modern floor plans such as generous room sizes, eat-in kitchens, some basements and off-street parking. These townhomes will probably only have one bathroom for the bedrooms, perhaps an extra half bath on the living-room level as a guest bath, and outdoor rather than garage parking. Finishes will be basic with laminate countertops, plain appliances, wall to wall carpeting and standard bathroom flooring and tile. Lucky shoppers might find some hardwood floors.

Near Luxury

Near Luxury townhomes will span the age range discussed earlier throughout Chicago. In the vintage row-homes, differentiation between levels of quality will have much to do with whether the row-home has been renovated recently or not, and whether modern amenities and contemporary finishes have been installed.

More modern examples of Near Luxury townhomes will be located in more desirable neighborhoods. Many would have been considered Luxury quality when new, but with the passage of time may be out-of-fashion. They will certainly afford modern floor plans with spacious rooms and good closet space. The inclusion of a master bedroom with attached bath is more prevalent in Near Luxury townhomes, but not always. It is also more likely that garage parking will be available, but not always.

Luxury

Luxury townhomes will most frequently be constructed within the last ten years offering very desirable floor plans, gracious square footage and modern fits and finishes. A few may be vintage and those that are will have been renovated quite recently to include appropriate finishes, the additional bathrooms needed in a luxury home as modern utilities such as central heat and air conditioning.

Luxury townhomes are most appropriate in neighborhoods where it’s considered luxurious to live. Though some luxury townhomes can be found in outlying neighborhoods, they are mostly found in premium locales. Often Luxury townhome communities will feature some amenities such as a park, a playground, pool, tennis courts or clubhouse.

These floor plans will nearly always feature an attached garage, a third bedroom or den and multiple bathrooms including a master bedroom-bathroom suite. Décor will be modern with wood floors in appropriate finish and luxurious carpeting where installed. Kitchens in luxury townhomes will nearly always be finished with attractive cabinetry, granite or other luxury material counter-tops and up-to-date appliances.

Ultra Luxury

Ultra Luxury townhomes carry the theme of luxury to the extreme. Of course, these will be located in premium neighborhoods. The floor plans will be even more heavenly than Luxury Townhomes with extra spaces such as Media Rooms, Butler Pantries, extra garage spaces, and indoor/outdoor rooms. Some Ultra Luxury Townhomes have elevators, dumb-waiters and servants quarters. Finishes will be extraordinary. Gourmet kitchens will feature the most luxurious finishes, extra prep-sinks, multiple dishwashers, handcrafted cabinetry of the finest hardwoods, and extremely high-end appliances.

Ultra Luxury townhome communities may also offer some amenities such as a park, a playground, pool, tennis courts or clubhouse.

Your guide is launching a specialty website for Townhomes here in Chicago in the hopes of becoming the Townhome King of Chicago.  And no, it seems I can’t be www.townhomeking.com – some other dude beat me to it.  But nonetheless, we perservere and are proud to launch (with a few bugs):

www.townhomeshop.com

www.townhomeshopchicago.com!

It’s 95% there.  And the remainder should be up and running within a week.

And so in honor of Townhomes, let’s launch Townhome week (or at least several days) with some Townhome topics near and dear to my heart.

History of townhomes in Chicago

Townhomes in Chicago are as varied as the neighborhoods in which they reside. They serve as modest homes at affordable prices as well as luxury status symbols at swanky addresses.

Chicago Row Homes – which for the purposes of our discussion are included within the definition of townhomes – have a history that dates back to the late 1890’s in Chicago.  Beautiful examples of elegant Chicago row homes can be found on the near south side, in Old Town and in Lincoln Park. Then, as now, the row homes were conceived to offer “a little bit more” for “a little less.” Elegant row homes popped up in small pockets all over Chicago through the 1920’s. Offering nearly the same amount of space as a single-family home in the same neighborhood, the row homes were affordable alternatives to buying a whole house and nicer than renting an apartment.

Popularity of row homes and townhomes took a break for half-a-century in Chicago. Construction of townhomes picked up again in earnest in the 1960’s with “Mid-Century Modern” homes being constructed in desirable locations in slightly off-beat neighborhoods such as Old Town and Lakeview. In the 1960’s, neighborhoods such as Lakeview, and the fill-in neighborhood to the west of the Gold Coast were nowhere near as desirable as they are today. Yet East Lakeview’s location near the waterfront, and the yet-established Old Town proximity to Downtown inspired a few developers to take a chance on building a few townhouses near already established clusters of high-rises.

During the 1970’s, builders began filling in other neighborhoods from the far south to the far north reaches of Chicago with affordable townhomes that offered additional amenities from the standard rental units that were typically found in the same areas. While a typical rental had limited closet space, very small bedrooms and separate galley kitchens, the new modern floor plans offered spacious bedrooms, kitchens with modern appliances and table space, central heating and air conditioning, often a basement for storage – or built out as recreational space – and parking.

Your guide had not had much interaction with the “Classic 4 + 1″ here in Chicago in quite some time as the property lends itself to the rental industry more than as condominium homes.  But as the Lakeview neighborhood has become ever more popular to live in, the conversion of these buildings into condominiums has become more common.

Dreaded for their ugly curb appeal, the buildings were commonly constructed during the 1950′s, 1960′s and tapered off in the 1970′s.  The building style was designed to maximize revenue – namely rent – while still providing a bare minimum of modern amenities – namely parking.

The construction style was designed without regard to style, and in fact seems to reflect the “modern” style of architecture.  Just badly.

The whole point of a 4 + 1 is designed to provide four floors of living (the “four”) on top of a partially sunken level of parking, a small lobby and the elevator (the “plus one”).  4 + 1′s seem to line the side streets most prevalently in East Lakeview where there must have been land available to develop during the near infancy of the neighborhood.  East Lakeview was not exactly the cool and stable neighborhood that it is today back in the 1960′s and 1970′s.  These apartments were clearly designed as affordable and densely packed housing.

The 4 + 1 takes up about as much space as a traditional Vintage Courtyard from the 1920′s.  The last major housing push must have been during the 1920′s as East Lakeview has as many Courtyard Buildings as 4 + 1′s, and there appears not to be very much architecture in between the major growth spurts of these two styles of building.

Although sitting on about as much land as a typical Vintage Courtyard, the 4 + 1 can have as many as double the number of apartments of a courtyard on the same piece of land.  Typically, though, they have about 1/3 more units.  But in addition to the increase in units is the parking – which, of course, is available for additional rent.

In the satellite photo above, the arrows point to typical examples of each style.  The vintage courtyard on top and the 4 + 1 below.  The photo highlights the second defining characteristic of each most clearly.

In the vintage courtyard, of course, the apartments are arranged around the courtyard.  Each apartment stretches from front to back all the way.  In other words, the front of the apartment faces the courtyard, and the back of the apartment has a back porch, a back door and back windows facing out onto the neighboring property or alley.  These buildings were constructed before the invention of Air Conditioning, and had to have cross-ventilation.  They were also built before residential elevators were common, and therefore had to be accessible by stair.

In the 4 + 1, you see the typical “I” shape.  These also often have a “Figure 8″ shape if they are larger than the examples in this photo.

With the elevator, there is only one entryway, and a hallway snakes throughout the center of the building.  Apartments line both sides of the hallway.  Most of the units are not on corners.  There is no cross ventilation.  These units are designed to be closed most of the time with the heat or the air conditioning turned on.

It’s odd to think that basic apartments like these would have modern amenities like elevators, parking or air conditioning.  But these features allowed for the increased density of units in the building.

As Lakeview became a more popular neighborhood with nightlife, the Chicago Cubs, the shops on Broadway, and the bars on Halsted and Clark Streets, developers began converting 4 + 1′s into condominiums.  During the condo craze of the late 1990′s and early 2000′s, a developer could renovate the lobby, hallways and install new fits and finishes in the units and have a successful sell-out of the building.

But as prices rose, and the market slowed, buyers began turning up their noses at the funky curb appeal of the buildings.  It has now become more normal for the conversion of these ugly ducklings to incorporate a re-design of the exterior of the buildings as well. 

The photo above and the photo to the left are both of renovated old 4 + 1′s that converted to condo’s in the last 2 to 3 years.  In the photo above, you can see that an architect unified the entire structure with a new facade that emphasized contemporary new windows and horizontal design – kind of a new interpretation of the Prairie School of architecture.  To get the job done, the developer enlarged the small windows, re-faced the building in a sleek new skin, and added horizontal details such as the awning between 3rd and 4th floors and a matching awning over the lobby and garage entrance.

The other photo shows one building.  The developer in this case decided to de-emphasize the horizontal aspect of the architecture by re-skinning the building in two different architectural facades.  The building now looks like two buildings of differing styles, but in reality, it is all one building. 

In these two examples, the interior floor plans remain the same as they were before with rather small studios, one bedrooms and a few two beds.  What they offer are all the latest fits and finishes such as wood floors, granite & stainless kitchens, and some feature very stylish bathrooms.

Notwithstanding these great examples for buyers with money to plunk down on condo’s, renters with a hankering for hideous curb appeal, dark & dank lobbies and hallways and fits & finishes out of a bad time warp are still plentiful all over East Lakeview.  Enjoy!  Or Beware!  Depending on your perspective.

Your guide just realized that he had posted a review of Cafe Blossom on Yelp! but neglected to include the info on this wonderful Sushi Restaurant on the Blog.  For shame – especially since I consider myself such a Lakeview-ian.

Cafe Blossom (Sakura is Blossom in Japanese) is our favorite Friday Night spot.  That might say too much about me rather than Cafe Blossom, however.

Cafe Blossom is located on Barry, a couple doors west of Broadway.  Now with the insane parking prices, you might even be able to find parking.  But it’s better to walk or ride bikes.

Everyone on Yelp is pretty much right on, but here’s the deal:

The freshest sushi in the neighborhood.  Always consistent.  Never had anything old, funky or not ready for prime-time.  I think we have probably eaten here close to 100 times, and never had a bad experience or a bad bite of food.

And it’s the best price in Chicago.  Period.

Sure, you can go down to Randolph Street and get bigger pieces of sushi that are just as fresh.  But at 4 x the price.

Two people eat for $44.  Four people eat for $100.  And that’s stuffed to the gills; not a couple pieces of fish and half a roll.  I’m talking about STUFFED.

I like the small restaurant ambience.  And I like bringing my own bottle of wine.  And the al-fresco season is coming!  The size of the restaurant doubles in Summertime with the addition of six tables outside on the sidewalk.  Heck, in Summer, you might not even need to call for a reservation.

So it’s perfect.  Please don’t go on Friday night?  It’s hard enough as it is to get a table!

I have been working with a delightful couple looking for a new home in the Lakeview neighborhood.  We met each other over a year ago while hosting open houses in my listings at Wellington Park.  These folks returned time and again – viewing most of the units that came available during the past year.

As they are getting closer and closer to making a decision, one wish kept coming up:  a desire for more storage space.  Townhomes in Chicago tend to have wall closets rather than walk-ins, limited space for extra stuff in the garage, and very few spare closets for linens and random extra storage.  In Wellington Park, a lot of residents keep their second car outside as we have large driveways.  And then use the extra room inside the 2 car garage to store more stuff.

So my customers wondered if it was possible to locate something with more storage, and their minds wandered to properties that offer basements.  What immediately springs to mind are single family homes.

And we also realized that “Duplex” floor plans also offered some additional room space and/or storage.

Here’s where you have to think carefully about trade off’s in Chicago.  In and around West Lakeview, single family homes can be clustered into three types:

1.  Old homes that a family has remained in for a very long time.  These homes usually date to the 1930′s.  The floor plans are functionally obsolete as they only have one bathroom, very limited closets, and frequently no air conditioning.  Often times they have not been updated, so the decor and fits/finishes are 1970′s or older.

The homes of that era also feature shallow basements (not a lot of head room) and less than 1,800 square feet above ground.  Typically, each floor was 800 square feet.  And often, the second floor is smaller as the roof line cuts into the second floor space.

These are mostly tear-down’s.

As the price of these homes is primarily for land value, the prices escalated to a high of $550,000 in 2007.  They have since settled back to $450,000 with the real estate downturn, but townhomes in the neighborhood are mirroring these movements.

2.  Old homes like those above, but were renovated in the 1980′s or 1990′s.  It made financial sense in the 1980′s and 1990′s to buy these old homes and modernize them.  The land was worth less than $100,000 back then, and the house barely added another $25,000 to the cost.  You could renovate for $25,000 to $50,000 and get a nice house for well under $300,000 throughout those decades. 

These homes often have added a second bathroom (perhaps even a third in the basement.)  Most of the time, though, you still don’t get a master bath suite.  Though these homes technically are “modern” with central heat and air, kitchens with full appliances, and the additional baths, the decorating is often “dated.”  Think “Miami Vice” for the color palate and you won’t be too far off. 

The square footage is slightly improved because during the renovation, it was typical for a homeowner to “dormer” the second floor to add headroom to the smaller bedroom and the bathroom.

But these homes still are short on square footage compared to the modern townhomes that have sprung up in the same neighborhood.  A Wellington Park townhome features 2,000 square feet of living space (not counting the garage) and some models are significantly larger.

Prices for homes like this tend to fall mostly in the range $750,000 to $850,000 depending on whether the house is on a very desirable street or a less desirable (perhaps busy) road, and the quality and style of the renovation.

3.  Mansions. 

The modernization of the old small homes slowed or stopped during the 1990′s until now because land values crept up making it less desirable to buy one of these and fix it up instead of traveling to a neighborhood farther afield and getting a house with a more modern floor plan and more space for less money.

During the early 2000′s, the West Lakeview neighborhood exploded in popularity when an entire industrial corridor was removed and relocated.  The new land accommodated some sharp new developments; each a little more expensive than the last.  The newest included some single family homes sprinkled throughout.  Prices for the houses drifted up over $800,000, then over $900,000 and finally over $1-million. 

The “modest” mansions feature 4,000 square feet of living space, modern floor plans, and every comfort imaginable.  The “luxury” and “ultra” mansions feature even more space, and the very best materials money can buy.  Electronics packages, heated garages, green design features are all common as you approach the $2-million mark.

4.  Duplex floor plans.  Developers in recent years have expanded upon the traditional three-flat floor plan with a modern twist.  Newer three-flat style condominiums usually feature a first floor unit that duplexes down into the lower level affording an additional bedroom, an additional bath and often a family room.  Upstairs, the second and third floor units are two or three bedrooms.  Some of the top floor units are duplex-up style, but just as many are not.

These duplex floor plans usually offer more square footage than a townhome in a similar price range as the space for the home does not count the space occupied by parking.  Parking is behind the building – in a garage or outdoor spot. 

But because of the standard size of a Chicago lot – 25 feet wide – these condo’s typically offer only one parking space per condo.

Since the last chapter of this story has not been written yet, I am curious to see how it all turns out.  But to run through the circular conundrum again, I wonder which of these seemingly exclusive paradoxes will win out:

1.  The client likes townhouses.  But thought it might be nice to have some extra storage. Therefore…

2.  We explored houses.  They have extra storage in the basement.  But the floor plans are dysfunctional and the decorating is from another era.   Therefore…

3.  We explored duplex floor plans.  The offer an extra family room, modern floor plans, and some additional storage in a downstairs/basement.  But the thing that attracted us to townhomes in the first place is missing.  Namely – the two car garage.  Therefore…

Back to number one!

Stay tuned – I’ll keep you up to date!

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