WEST TOWN
FROM $289,900
TO $359,900

The developer who put up a row of nine four-story buildings in the 2800 block of West Chicago Avenue abandoned the project after selling the condos in five of the buildings. The remaining four—two on each end of the row—sat unfinished until Peter Allen, who has built several condo projects on Chicago’s North and Northwest sides, bought them at a steep discount from the foreclosing bank last summer.

“They were enclosed before [Andrius Augunas, the original developer] left, so there wasn’t major damage,” Allen says. “But there was enough left undone inside that I could do them the way I wanted.” He changed the location of some fireplaces, bumped up the level of finishes, and installed steam showers in some master baths.

At presstime, Allen had put a dozen condos back on the market in February, at prices 15 to 20 percent below what earlier buyers paid. “They’re happy that somebody is here finishing this,” Allen says. “It’s better for their [property] values than unfinished buildings.”

Fourth-floor end units with elevator access and private rooftops are now priced at $359,900; Allen and his real-estate agents, Mike Vesole and Beata Gaska of @Properties, say that the original developer got $425,900 for at least one of those. Second- or third-floor walkups with secured outdoor parking start at $289,900. All of the units are ready for immediate occupancy.

Send tips about home sales to dennis@rodkin.com.

Photography: Courtesy of @Properties/Mike Vesole Group