DNA Info: Pullman's Comeback Putting Homes in Higher Demand

This is something I could only hope for interest from both potential residents and realtors in a very historic and architecturally significant neighborhood. It probably helps that select lots in this area is now a US National Monument.

Some residents hope Pullman could be the next hot neighborhood on the South Side if things continue to look up.

President Barack Obama's designation of Pullman as a national monument earlier this year, along with the new Method Soap Factory has helped put Pullman back on the map, residents and Realtors said. A new Wal-Mart and other retail stores have provided more shopping options to the neighborhood.

“I think it’s going to be the next big thing outside of Hyde Park,” said Aundrea English, 36, who has lived on the 10700 block of South Champlain for the last three years.

What attracted her to her home was simple, she said. The neighbors were friendly, and she fell in love with the make of the historic rowhomes. The solid foundation, the bricks, the “east coast feel,” all had her sold after touring her house for the first time.

“I wanted to be in something trendy, but it had to be affordable,” English said. “I can’t afford Hyde Park, I can’t afford Bronzeville. ... so this was perfect.”

The neighborhood is improving, she said. When she first moved in, there were a lot of renters, but now just about everyone owns their home. She said it makes a difference.

And with the Walmart and Methods factory mentions Ms. English is looking for something else to round things up here:

"I can’t wait to see what’s next," English said. "All we need are some live music places, and a couple of places to stay, some sit-down restaurants. Those things are coming."

Perhaps they can finally come up with a plan for the Hotel Florence. In the meanwhile what are the realtors saying:

Mike Wolski, a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker, has been selling homes in Pullman for 10 years. He said that he has seen more people taking an interest in the area's rowhouses.

“The neighborhood is one of a kind,” Wolski said, “It was built as a company town in the 1880s, and virtually almost all the original houses made in the 1880s period are still standing. Most of the houses are in good shape and people want to be a part of that. The architecture is really and truly one of a kind. There’s nothing else like it in Chicago.”

He said homes have been selling at prices between $75,000 to $140,000, depending on the condition.

On Aug. 29, Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives (CNI) and Neighborhood Housing Services (NHS) of Chicago partnered together to host an open house and block party for some newly renovated homes. Three such homes were for sale on Bolton’s block, and now only one is left.

Sale prices have gone up in North Pullman, said Brian Caron, a managing broker with AMS Realty because “newly rehabbed homes are in demand in Pullman.” Between 2011-2014, the average prices on their renovated homes has gone up, from under $70,000 to now $95,000, Caron said.

Wolski said increased list prices of these homes are a huge improvement over the foreclosure sales that the block saw in previous years.
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The excessive amount of vacant homes have attracted developers, said Conrade Carpenter, of City & Suburbs Realty, who know the homes will be in demand once they are rehabbed. That is showing up in the higher prices being paid for those properties, which are some cases as high as they were in the 1960s, said Carpenter, who grew up in the area. He said the resurgence is happening even with the stigma that the area sometimes gets because of crime.

“I have seen the changes of the neighborhood over the years, [especially] with the new development things going on and Pullman being historic," he said. "It's coming back."

Here's hoping the future of Pullman can only serve to change the future of Roseland that is to the east of Cottage Grove.