Condominiums in Edgewater - Part 3

By: LeRoy Blommaert

In Part 1 in the series on condominiums in Edgewater, we focused on “firsts.” In Part 2 we took a more statistical approach, with a decade-by-decade analysis. In this Part 3 we continue the statistical approach, but instead look at Edgewater condos by type of building, built or converted and then separately by neighborhood. The following charts, which include information through 2004, give both types of statistical information. We will also compare Edgewater with Rogers Park.

By Type of Building

With the important exception of the two-flat apartment building (which is the most numerous apartment building type in Edgewater) and a very few four-flat buildings, almost all the apartment buildings built in Edgewater before 1920 are three stories in height, not counting basements. Consequently, almost all such apartment buildings are built in increments of three apartment units, the three-flat and the six-flat being the most numerous. But there are nine-flat buildings and larger buildings as well, with the court yard building allowing considerably more apartments.

In Table 1, the type refers to the number of units in the building as originally constructed – not to the number of units after conversion, which may be greater. For example, in a number of cases six-flat buildings have been converted to eight unit buildings, primarily by the creation of basement apartments. The same is true for the larger buildings – nine-flats become 10 or 11 unit buildings because of the creation of one or two basement condo units.

Of the 250 three-story walk-up buildings, 26 are on corners and six are courtyard buildings (It should be noted that some courtyard buildings are also on a corner).

It is clear that the six-flat has been the overwhelming favorite type of building for conversion to condominium. It would not at all be surprising if the majority of six-flat buildings have been converted to condominium. Seventy-eight percent of the six-flats remained as six-flats after conversion.

By Neighborhood

How many condominium buildings there are in a particular neighborhood depended until the current decade on the number of buildings suitable for conversion. Thus, it is no surprise that the Lakewood-Balmoral neighborhood, with its high percentage of single family and two-flats, would have the fewest condominium buildings. In fact, it has but one. The Central Edgewater neighborhoods between Clark and Broadway (minus Lakewood-Balmoral) have the most condo buildings because they have the most buildings suitable for conversion.

For a map that shows the boundaries of these neighborhoods, visit this website: www.EdgewaterExperts.com

Note that in Table 2, “North Central” includes NEON and ENN on the map; and “North West” includes NENA and NEW.

It is interesting that the average number of units per building for most of the central and west Edgewater neighborhoods are remarkably similar. For nine of the eleven neighborhoods, the average number of units range between 7.5 and 10.5. The north central neighborhood has the most condominium buildings – 46 – while Edgewater Beach has the highest number of units – 538 (not counting Sheridan Road, of course). What is remarkable is that there are over 200 more units in the 5415 Sheridan condo building than there are in this neighborhood with the highest number of condo units. There are also more condo units in this one building than in the three west Edgewater neighborhoods combined!

Comparison with Rogers Park

So how does condominium development in Edgewater compare with that in Rogers Park? Surprisingly, Rogers Park has had more condominium declarations than Edgewater and, thus, more buildings converted to or built as condominiums. The difference is not that great: the number for Rogers Park is 359 and the number for Edgewater is 331. As one would expect when the comparison is between condominium units rather than buildings in the two communities, it isn’t even close. Edgewater “wins” 9,847 to 4,794. The “win” is due, of course, to the Edgewater’s Sheridan Road high rise community, which is almost 100% condominium. However, if one were to remove the Edgewater Sheridan road condominiums from the comparison, it would be Rogers Park, rather than Edgewater, that would have the higher number of condominium units: 4,794 to 3,127. (For this comparison the east side of Ridge avenue was used as the western boundary of Rogers Park).

As information becomes available for 2005 and subsequent years, we will provide short updates in the on-going saga of condo development in Edgewater.

Table 1

Table 2