This afternoon’s selection from the Yo archives is our old folder of prices and floor plans for the 33-story, 395-unit Elm Street Plaza, located at 1130 N Dearborn St in the Gold Coast. The materials date back to 1988, 12 years after the building’s completion. The rates for Elm Street Plaza’s apartments may have doubled over the past 22 years, but a lot of details about the tower remains the same — it’s still managed by the Habitat Company, and it’s still has an 80 / 20 split of market-rate and Section 8 homes. The phone number hasn’t even changed.
Elm Street Plaza’s studios, one-bedrooms, and two-bedrooms come in 12 different floor plans, ranging from 507 to approximately 1,100 square feet. (Below you can see the old and current versions of the same 10-tier floor plan, which has one bedroom and approximately 800 square feet.) In 1988, the apartments featured color-coordinated kitchens with chestnut cabinets, formica countertops, harvest gold appliances, stainless steel sinks, and vinyl flooring; color-coordinated baths with formica vanity tops and ceramic tile walls and floors; floor-to-ceiling windows, telephone jacks, and vinyl asbestos floors in the living rooms and bedrooms; individually controlled central heat and air conditioning; and a same-floor storage space. The development’s website doesn’t say a lot regarding the current level of finish.
The building was described as having a quarry tile foyer, an oak paneled lobby, three high-speed elevators, lounge areas, a laundry room, a door staff, an outdoor sundeck with heated swimming pool, a landscaped garden, covered parking, and a Treasure Island supermarket located in the greater Elm Street Plaza complex. These days, the amenities package sounds about the same, the only addition appearing to be a “complimentary fitness center.”
The breakdown of old and current prices is as follows:
Studios, 507 – 545 square feet:
- 1988: $529 – $653
- 2010: $1,155 – $1,292
One-bedrooms, 800 – 900 square feet:
- 1988: $765 – $856
- 2010: $1,460 – $1,735
Two-bedrooms, 1,100 square feet:
- 1988: $1,044 – $1,101
- 2010: $2,053 – $2,327
Deposits range from $500 to $1,000. Habitat is currently offering a half-month’s discount on one-year leases for studios and one-bedrooms and a month’s discount on year-long leases for two-bedrooms, according to the Elm Street Plaza website.
Elm Street Plaza hits the Walk Score jackpot with a perfect 100. It’s a “rider’s paradise” as well, earning a 91 thanks to the nearby Red Line station at Clark and Division streets, stops for the 36 – Broadway, 22 – Clark, and 70 – Division bus lines, and the more distant but still walkable Brown and Purple line station at Chicago and Franklin. Through 34 reviews posted between November 2001 and July 2010, the building has a rating of 3.7 out of 5 on ApartmentRatings.com, and is recommended by 59 percent of those reviewers.
