Browse through the available listings for River City in the South Loop, and you'll find some of the bleakest, most run-down apartments in the downtown area — except for this one. The bright and colorful 2,300-square-foot unit is spread out over three floors, and it has an updated kitchen, a sauna, and big roof deck with a full-size outdoor refrigerator. Judging from the info available on Redfin, the median sale price in the building for the past year has been about $86,000, and the average has been a bit higher, at about $91,000. And these aren't just studios and one-bedrooms; for example, a 3BD, 2.5BA sold for $125,500 last year, and a 2BD, 2BA went for $97,900. In contrast, this snappy-looking 2BD, 2.5BA, is priced at $750,000. For that price, you could buy a half-dozen run-down condos in the same building.
The S-shaped, Bertrand Goldberg-designed development has had its share of problems over the years. American Invsco (which is now being sued by an Ohio investor) began converting the 448-unit building into condos in the late '90s. The condos originally hit the market at prices ranging from the $400s to the $800s, but most of them ended up selling for much less than that, and several were ultimate auctioned off about four years ago. Most recently, the building suffered a severe flood over the summer, forcing residents to evacuate. Not surprisingly, taxes and assessments in the building are very high.
· Listing: 800 S Wells St #1301 [Redfin]