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It might not be the most glamorous condo conversion in the city, but a look at the before and after photos side-by-side shows just how far this six-flat at 1135 W Chicago Ave in West Town has come. All the scaffolding that enshrouded the building during the summer and through much of the fall has been removed, revealing the masonry of the new facade. Windows have been installed in the past few weeks, along with those Juliet-style metal railings.
Looking at it next to the older photo, the renovated building looks thoroughly sanitized, and all of the character from the crumbling old facade has been stripped from it. When it’s finished, I’ll bet it will be much more comfortable to live in, though.
All six homes in the building are listed on the MLS. All of the homes have three bedrooms and two or three baths, and Lydia Cardelli from Koenig & Strey GMAC Real Estate told me over the summer that they each have between 1,400 and 1,500 square feet of living space. Prices range from the $410s to the $430s, and parking costs an extra $25,000.
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• Rate and review 1135 West Chicago
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{ 10 comments }
If they’re going to completely destroy the character of the building, I almost prefer that they start from scratch (even though I suppose that creates a lot of waste).
I work nearby and watched this one. The took down every brick and piece of limestone and put up all new brick and concrete. What a shame. This is what I call a façadectomy.
I agree, if that was the plan why not just go and buy a piece of land and leave the historic buildings for a good developer.
On another note, this property is also right by the highway. I am sure that they are going to put an off-premise advertising sign with lights on the fourth floor because they bricked this area in. They will probably wait until the building sells out first.
They basically destroyed every architectural feature that made the building charming. Now it’s just a dull brick box. Yuck.
This happens a lot; right on Halsted next to the brown line maybe four years ago and it’s happening at Ridge and Glenwood (though I haven’t checked on it of late, it was a cool little Moorish/Mission commercial building).
Sometimes, though, it comes out really well, like the Art Deco stuff in Old Town by A. Rebori.
Even if it turns out as nice, it’s still new construction and they destryoed the historic features of the building. The could have just build from the ground up on another site.
Not only did they destroy it’s soul, those bars over the windows are hideous.
Hey, they look exactly the same! *puts glasses on* Oh.
I guess it’s cheaper for them than building a whole new building – too bad they couldn’t take advantage of historic rehab tax credits. They even filled in the light well on the side for that few extra square feet!
I still think it would have been cheaper to restore the old fascade..
The developer there did my new construction, and believe me, he has no interest in doing classic restoration, which would of probably helped him sell some units quicker. I’m still interested to know how they plan to accomodate 6 parking spaces, since the new pad in back can only fit 4, and I think the lot to the west of the building is not owned by them.
Highway has no downside, it’s the city, who cares. Good windows and insulation, you won’t hear anything that is bothersome.
Yeah I don’t think the highway is a big deal. I am not sure I would like to live right by the fire station though.
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