Sales update: Nine "as-is" homes remain at Granville Gardens in Edgewater

Posted 7/20/2009 by Joseph Askins

A less-is-more approach has worked well for the developer of Granville Gardens, a converted courtyard building at 1215 W Granville Ave in Edgewater. After two years of marketing, just nine of the building’s 40 homes are still for sale, says Coldwell Banker agent Mike Thomas.

Lee Street Development’s “soft conversion” retained all of the building’s original floor plans and bypassed the usual granite-and-stainless-steel finishes found in many upgraded homes. In fact, in mid-2007, developer Michael Lee described the renovation process as little more than, “When renters move out, maid services come in and clean,” meaning that buyers walked into a home with original finishes like stained wood windows, subway tile, hardwood floors and crown molding, per plan.

Four of the nine available units are on the building’s garden level; the other five are located throughout its above-ground floors. The homes range in price from the $120s to the $150s, with assessments covering heat, water, scavenger, and common insurance coming out to between $150 and $175 a month. The development qualifies for FHA-backed mortgages, Thomas says.

Granville Gardens lacks deeded parking, but buyers who prefer to use public transportation will have easy access to Broadway’s bus lines and the Red Line’s Granville station, both located immediately east of the development. The homes are just two blocks south of the Loyola University campus, four blocks west of the lakeside Berger Park, and three blocks north of Lincoln Park’s Hollywood Beach.