Chicago Happenings

[Aloha Mr. Learned Hand]

Press conference held today to announce Lollapalooza 2006:

Lollapalooza will double in size when it returns to Grant Park next summer on a bigger playing field that will stretch from Hutchinson Field to the Petrillo Music Shell, organizers announced Monday.

The rock festival said it will schedule 130 artists to play eight stages over three days, Aug. 4-6. Lineups will be announced beginning in March.

Rumors are Smashing Pumpkins may reunite to headline the event.

More to come...

[Replaced_Texan]

Originally posted by Aloha Mr. Learned Hand
Press conference held today to announce Lollapalooza 2006:

Lollapalooza will double in size when it returns to Grant Park next summer on a bigger playing field that will stretch from Hutchinson Field to the Petrillo Music Shell, organizers announced Monday.

The rock festival said it will schedule 130 artists to play eight stages over three days, Aug. 4-6. Lineups will be announced beginning in March.

Rumors are Smashing Pumpkins may reunite to headline the event.

More to come...

Hmm. Lollapalooza has been good to me. I may have to return to Chicago for round two.

[pony_trekker]

Originally posted by Cletus Miller
Not that this matters to Coltrane, but South of Belmont and west of the tracks, this may be true, but from Belmont to Irving Park, Ashland to Western, the gentrification is nearly complete. Teardowns on my block have recently crossed the $500k barrier. And "West Lakeview" has been almost completely supplanted by Roscoe Village and St. Ben's/North Center for those neighborhoods. Haven't heard of anyone having any problems walking around at night in the last 4 or 5 years other than the stuff you get anywhere on the northside.

South of Belmont, while I know people who live there happily with kids, I wouldn't buy yet because of (i) the still crummy neighborhood elementary school and (ii) the proximity of the Lathrop Homes. I just don't understand spending $400k+ on a condo or $800k+ for a house directly across the street from a large-ish public housing project that isn't going away. But hey, it's their money.

In any case, 2 (or 4 or whatever) on not worrying about a value crash for property on/near Racine--especially since you aren't buying the most expensive place on the block, you can count on it staying ahead of the market as a whole.

For those of us doing plaintiff's work, how do you get into the projects?

[taxwonk]

Originally posted by pony_trekker
For those of us doing plaintiff's work, how do you get into the projects?

It's harder than you think. Bush's compassionate conservatism has led to a real tightening of the standards.

[Aloha Mr. Learned Hand]

Originally posted by Replaced_Texan
Hmm. Lollapalooza has been good to me. I may have to return to Chicago for round two.

The Trib. website is reporting that the Red Hot Chili Peppers will be one of the headliners.

[Aloha Mr. Learned Hand]

More Lollapalooza info. - Anyone interested in going should consider signing up for the e-mail list at the official website soon, as they are promising some sort of special ticket offer very soon for e-mail subscribers only. RT, I'm looking in your general direction...

Also, looks like I will make it there this year.

[Replaced_Texan]

Originally posted by Aloha Mr. Learned Hand
More Lollapalooza info. - Anyone interested in going should consider signing up for the e-mail list at the official website soon, as they are promising some sort of special ticket offer very soon for e-mail subscribers only. RT, I'm looking in your general direction...

Also, looks like I will make it there this year.

I'm on their list! ACL's list has made similar noises. I think the same people are running the two festivals.

[Replaced_Texan]

Originally posted by Replaced_Texan
I'm on their list! ACL's list has made similar noises. I think the same people are running the two festivals.

Sale started today! I got two $45 tickets. No idea who will be there, but it'll be fun.

[Aloha Mr. Learned Hand]

Huge!

Chili Peppers, Kanye West, Wilco, Death Cab, Flaming Lips, Common, Sonic Youth, New Pornographers, Umphrey's, Ween, Queens of the Stone Age and dozens more...

Tickets onsale now! Got mine...


Link

[Replaced_Texan]

Originally posted by Aloha Mr. Learned Hand
Huge!

Chili Peppers, Kanye West, Wilco, Death Cab, Flaming Lips, Common, Sonic Youth, New Pornographers, Umphrey's, Ween, Queens of the Stone Age and dozens more...

Tickets onsale now! Got mine...


Link

Yay! Flaming Lips! I've never seen them before. This is good. AND the Shins. AND Ryan Adams. AND Sonic Youth.

I'm very happy about this.

[Did you just call me Coltrane?]

The folks at the site that can't be named are acting like the sky is falling re: the real estate market. I don't see that. Granted, things have begun to slow down, and cookie-cutter condos in high rises will take longer to sell, but there seems to be an agreement (on infirm) that a market correction will occur, resulting in a significant decrease in real estate prices. I expect things to plateau, but don't expect any major decreases.

Thoughts?

[Cletus Miller]

Originally posted by Did you just call me Coltrane?
[the real estate market]

Thoughts?

Short answer: I expect a plateau, too, with some slight decreases in some categories/neighborhoods.

Longer answer: The folks at TSTCBN are alarmist, but for someone with 100% financing and a non-amortizing (or, heaven forfend, a negative-amortizing) loan, even a 3-5% drop, when combined with 4-6% broker's commission and other seller's closing costs, means a $30-60k loss. That's a big problem for most people.

Also, I sure wouldn't want to own (a) in a building which isn't sold out or (b) a condo which is basically indistinguishable from a lot of others (i.e 3br/2ba in a 3 unit building somewhere on the northside) if there were any chance I would need to sell it in the next 3 (maybe 5) years. Competition from developers of these sorts of condos, who can afford to sell for less and still make money, will be a real killer.

Developers dropping prices could cause sale prices to sink. But because the developers still need to at least break even, there is a floor. For any given typical 3 unit condo building, I think that baseline is probably the acquisition cost of the land plus maybe $100/square foot (or a little less) for construction and other costs. Costs will be higher for high rises (and generally for townhouses/ single family) and lower for rehabs. Being in competition with developers for buyers is where the real risk is.

[Did you just call me Coltrane?]

Originally posted by Cletus Miller
Short answer: I expect a plateau, too, with some slight decreases in some categories/neighborhoods.

Longer answer: The folks at TSTCBN are alarmist, but for someone with 100% financing and a non-amortizing (or, heaven forfend, a negative-amortizing) loan, even a 3-5% drop, when combined with 4-6% broker's commission and other seller's closing costs, means a $30-60k loss. That's a big problem for most people.

Also, I sure wouldn't want to own (a) in a building which isn't sold out or (b) a condo which is basically indistinguishable from a lot of others (i.e 3br/2ba in a 3 unit building somewhere on the northside) if there were any chance I would need to sell it in the next 3 (maybe 5) years. Competition from developers of these sorts of condos, who can afford to sell for less and still make money, will be a real killer.

Developers dropping prices could cause sale prices to sink. But because the developers still need to at least break even, there is a floor. For any given typical 3 unit condo building, I think that baseline is probably the acquisition cost of the land plus maybe $100/square foot (or a little less) for construction and other costs. Costs will be higher for high rises (and generally for townhouses/ single family) and lower for rehabs. Being in competition with developers for buyers is where the real risk is.

Thanks for the input, Cletus.

Well, I think (hope) my newly purchased place is relatively distinguishable (3 floors, lots of storage space). The city really didn't undergo the huge price increase like the coasts did, so hopefully it will just flatten out. Also, I plan to stay 5-7 years, so who knows where the market will be then?

[baltassoc]

Originally posted by Did you just call me Coltrane?
Thanks for the input, Cletus.

Well, I think (hope) my newly purchased place is relatively distinguishable (3 floors, lots of storage space). The city really didn't undergo the huge price increase like the coasts did, so hopefully it will just flatten out. Also, I plan to stay 5-7 years, so who knows where the market will be then?

I generally agree with Cletus's comments, although I have a slightly different perspective as someone who was briefly on the north side: any place reasonably near the L on the north side in a decent neighborhood is likely to be in good shape. Chicago is a city booming in popularity and it's becoming more and more popular to live in the city itself. Everyone I talked to about where to live advocated downtown. Even the young families at my firm were moving not to the suburbs but to quieter neighborhoods in the city. Nobody wants the hour and a half commute anymore. I'm not sure the prices will continue skyrocketing in the near future, but the seem to me to be likely to stay pretty stable, as the continuing flood of people into the city offsets rising interest rates. There just isn't enough north side housing stock to be rehabed to make it go through the floor (unlike, say, Vegas).

[Did you just call me Coltrane?]

Originally posted by baltassoc
I generally agree with Cletus's comments, although I have a slightly different perspective as someone who was briefly on the north side: any place reasonably near the L on the north side in a decent neighborhood is likely to be in good shape. Chicago is a city booming in popularity and it's becoming more and more popular to live in the city itself. Everyone I talked to about where to live advocated downtown. Even the young families at my firm were moving not to the suburbs but to quieter neighborhoods in the city. Nobody wants the hour and a half commute anymore. I'm not sure the prices will continue skyrocketing in the near future, but the seem to me to be likely to stay pretty stable, as the continuing flood of people into the city offsets rising interest rates. There just isn't enough north side housing stock to be rehabed to make it go through the floor (unlike, say, Vegas).

Are you no longer in Chicago?