RIVER NORTH — The developer set to buy a vintage row home sandwiched between new condominiums in River North has pulled out of the deal, leaving a chance the 128-year-old house could stay.
The developer under contract to buy the row home at 154 W. Superior St. dropped its plans after realizing the lot below the home was too small for what it wanted to build, listing agent Peter Tortorello of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Koenig Rubloff Realty said.
The developer planned to raze the home and replace it with a 12 or 13-story tower, Tortorello said Wednesday.
"The elevator would have taken up too much space," he said.
RELATED: This 128-Year-Old Row House Squeezed Between Condos Will Be Demolished
The 1,862-square-foot house, built in 1888, is the last one standing on a River North block now populated by new condominium towers.
The property is owned by the estate of a man who refused to sell during his neighborhood's pre-recession construction boom, leaving the home scrunched between two condo towers built in 2006: the 14-story Superior at LaSalle, 150 W. Superior, and a nine-story building at 156 W. Superior.
The man died in December, and the developer went under contract to buy the home last month while it was listed for about $1.28 million. The home was relisted Tuesday for $965,000.
The 19th century house with wooden doors and limestone ornaments is in "pretty rough condition" and would require major renovations to last with a new owner, Tortorello said. No new bidders had emerged as of Wednesday afternoon.
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