A stark choice is before you: drop $15K/month on a sixth-floor, 4,600-square-foot Oprah-owned co-op at 199 E Lake Shore Drive, or, buy a virtually identical fifth-floor unit for $2.99M, down $1.36M since September 2010. The gutted and renovated unit has a little more personality than Oprah's place, too. For starters, there's the wood-paneled foyer and library. Also, notice the cool built-ins like the bench at the bowed-out living room window, the library shelving, and the den's cabinetry. Other notables include a 2,000-bottle wine room (no more living bottle-to-bottle), a solarium, and two terraces (again, besting Oprah). Oprah's spot does win out in one department (if you wanna get real petty), and that's sight lines. Her sixth-floor perch puts her just above the tree line, whereas summertime beach views for the other unit are pretty well obscured. Now, this being a co-op, assessments appear sky-high ($8,763) but go well beyond building amenities to include things like parking and real estate taxes. So, what'll it be then?
·Listing: 199 E Lake Shore Dr. #5E [Prudential Rubloff]
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