Photography: Dennis Rodkin
Noah Properties homes on Ohio Street
List Price: varies
Sale Price: varies
The Properties: This winter and spring, homebuilder Noah Properties has sold 10 single-family homes and 18 condos in Ukrainian Village—and more are on the way. Last week alone, the firm closed the sales of the last of a string of six homes on the 2000 West block of Erie on Wednesday and the first of four in the 1800 West block of Ohio on Thursday.
“It’s a great neighborhood to move to with a family,” says Anita Lisek, a principal at Noah with her husband, Bart Przyjemski. “There’s a lot of interest there.”
All 28 homes in the one condo and two single-family home groupings were under contract before construction was done, Lisek says. The condos and three homes on Ohio are yet to complete construction and close the sale contracts, but everything is sold, Lisek says. And what’s more, “everything has sold at its asking price or more,” she says.
Noah Properties homes on Erie Street
Price has something to do with all this success, according to Noah’s listing agent on many of the homes, Izabela Sloma of Sergio & Banks: “There’s a ton of buyers who want these [homes] because the prices are lower there than on the other side of Chicago Avenue,” she said. These homes are south of Chicago; on the north is the more developed part of Ukrainian Village. She estimates the homes would cost an additional $50,000 north of Chicago, and if they were a couple of skips farther north, above North Avenue in Bucktown, “they’d be a million.”
It’s a strong location, too, with restaurants and the spires and domes of the landmark St. Nicholas and Sts. Volodymyr and Olha churches, all nearby, and a straight shot down Chicago Avenue or Grand Avenue to the Blue Line or downtown.
Noah also builds in other neighborhoods, including Lake View, where they put up this $1.5 million contemporary that I wrote about last year, and North Center, where another of their condo projects sold well, according to YoChicago. But at the moment, Ukrainian Village is its hottest spot. Lisek says Przyjemski told her last week that he has bought a few more building sites, but she wouldn’t disclose specifics on where they are or when the new homes there will go up for sale.
They’re far from alone in betting on the neighborhood. Last week, Crain’s reported that the much larger Fifield Cos. plans an $18 million development of 48 luxury apartments in what Christopher Fifield described as “an emerging neighborhood.”
“We want to do more,” Lisek says. “It’s a great neighborhood.” And besides, the neighborhood has Ukrainian roots, while she and her Przyjemski are Polish. “They share a border,” she says. “We’re neighbors.”
Price Points: The earlier group of houses, completed late last year and early this year on Erie, went in the $799,000 range. The latter group, finishing now on Ohio, was initially priced around there, too, but was re-listed earlier this year at around $849,000. “The market had improved,” Sloma says. Lisek adds that the finishes there are more contemporary and more expensive, contributing to the higher asking prices. Even with the raised price (and the subtraction of rooftop decks, which the Erie houses have), all the Ohio houses were sold during construction.
The condos, also on Erie, went in the $350,000s.
Listing Agent: Izabela Sloma of Sergio & Banks, 773-317-0414; izabela@sergioandbanks.com