The Chance to Redevelop a Fire Station: 1123 W. Roosevelt in University Village
The city is selling this historic firehouse, Engine Company 18 Fire Station, at 1123 W. Roosevelt Road in University Village.
From the listing:
The Department of Community Development of the City of Chicago has issued a Request For Proposals for the purchase and redevelopment of a historic, two-story, two-bay fire station located in the Near West Side community area. The building is in good condition and is suitable for conversion to a variety of uses.
The RFP requires that the building be adapted to a new use, and preference will be given to those proposals that include retention and restoration of the building’s facade. The property is zoned Planned Development 896.
It has 7,470 square feet.
Will someone save this structure?
Contact Robert Wolf at the City of Chicago for more information. See the listing and outside picture here.
1123 W. Roosevelt Road: Engine Company No. 18 Fire Station
- Currently listed for $300,000
- Square footage of 7,470
The proper term for this neighborhood is “Maxwell Street” or “Jew Town”. But of course it needs to be sanitized for real estate purposes.
Ghostbusters!
The old “Maxwell Street/Jew Town” is gone, as are the high-rise projects that were next to this fire station. The area has already been sanitized, trust me. I went to high school across the street from this building in the late 90s, when one could buy socks and porn tapes on the #8 Halsted bus headed south.
“one could buy socks and porn tapes on the #8 Halsted bus headed south.”
LOL!!!!
I saw that guy about 5 years ago at North ave & Sheffield. I bought some socks because they were cheap
“Ghostbusters!”
dang you beat me to it screw you!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Do you think you can get the historic restoration tax freeze on this place?
Always dreamed about reno’ng an old firehouse into a SFH. Not quite what I had in mind. I’ve only seen a few: single wide, older building, and on a corner, side street.
That opertunity will probably never matieralize for me.
As for thsi place. I don’t think with its size, super-busy street location, and position within a mixed-income/subsidized development (Roosevelt Square-south of Roosevelt), that it will go SFH.
Maybe a set of townhome facing the side; office space; somesort of community space if an NFP/NGO can buy it.
Not to switch topics, because it’s related, but does anyone know the current status/plans for the old firehouse in River North at 226 W. Illinois, NE corner of Illinois and Franklin (next to Brownline tracks).
I’ve often admired this and thought it would make a really cool SFH, other than being next to the eL tracks…which, based on comments I’ve read in the past, may mean many of you wouldn’t ever consider it.
How much would it cost to convert it to a SFH with standard finish not going crazy?
Wondering how well insulated this place is b/c tall ceilings and 7000 sqft is a ton of space to heat and cool.
“Not to switch topics, because it’s related, but does anyone know the current status/plans for the old firehouse in River North at 226 W. Illinois, NE corner of Illinois and Franklin (next to Brownline tracks).”
This place makes me sad. I walk by it all the time. The woodwork around the windows on the front is beautiful and it’s just rotting away. I can’t imagine anyone wanting to spend the money to convert it for living since it’s so close to the train, but it would make a great bar.
This isn’t Maxwell Street – it’s across from Ignatius College Prep!
I can’t find the article at the moment but not that long ago there was talk of an apartment building on the lot next door to that fire station on Illinois and that they were going to keep the fire station (even though I believe it is not historically protected.)
I can’t remember how long ago this was- maybe before the recession got really bad a year ago.
Wasn’t this suppose to be a fire museum at one time?
I remember when they were demolishing the high rise projects next to this fire station. I have some great photos of that demolition. You could see the St. Ignatius tower (at one time the highest structure in Chicago), the half demolished high rise, and the Sears Tower all in a row.
I wish I could post that picture here for all of you to see. Probably one of my best photos.
I am very interested in converting an old firehouse into a SFH, or perhaps a two unit residential building, and have been for a number of years. I have toured at least ten such buildings before, but most required total demolition, except for the facade, so I passed on all of them. Since it has not received landmark status, it would be easier to convert it into residential with perhaps a small restaurant or gallery space on the main level.
I think this would warrant a visit to Chicago to see if it would be worth the $$ and time needed to bring it to what I would like it to be.
Anderson Cooper recently (well the process took over a year) purchased an old firehouse in The Village near NYU after months of serious back and forths with the city and pesky preservationists. http://ny.curbed.com/search.php?blogs=4%2C1%2C9&query=Anderson+Cooper+Firehouse+
It is still unclear to the public what his intentions for the building are, but I was lucky enough to be in attendance at a gathering where his architect was speaking about HIS plans for moving forward with the 8000 sq ft property. According to him, they are considering a first floor gallery with his private residence on the floors above. I would love to utilize some of his ideas on this place!
From the pictures alone, it seems as though it might be in pretty good condition. The price is putting it in a serious consideration bracket as I would guess, to do it ‘right’ would cost in the neighborhood of $750k-$1.5 mil. Of course that price would depend on any structural issues it might have and the lengths I would go to personalize it to meet my standards. Since I would use it as a residence (with space for a guest house area) the possibilities are endless.
If anyone here could provide any personal observations regarding the building itself….I am very well aware of the area as we rehabbed a townhouse not far from here…I would appreciate that input.
In the past I have converted a church, a school and a couple of prewar factories. While all posed some serious challenges, the end products were pretty spectacular.
My current residence, which I will never sell, begin life as a seafood warehouse and went through a number of incarnations before I finally landed it in an auction. It required a total gut rehab and much custom work to bring it back to it’s former glory. At present it is a 4 unit residential building to which I added a 4 car garage. All in all it was one tough project and many times I considered throwing in the towel. After nearly 15 years of living in it, I am glad I saw the project through completion.
Seems like a road trip back to Chi is in order!!
Again, any info on this building would be appreciated.
Westloop: building abuts busy Roosevelt Road. Also, adjoining new construction housing development (one big development of various mult-family units) is relatively cheaply built (politically connected developer), not selling (or aging already) too well, and has Section 8 tenants who like to “hang out”. It’s a curious mix of tenants and owners, and not yet a “success”, similar to Cabrini-Green redevelopment on Near North Side. Roosevelt Road is a busy four-lane road which will receive most relocated Eisenhower Expressway traffic for the next two years during highway reconstruction, which begins April 1. For groceries, new CVS at Roosevelt/Racine will stock packaged junk food, but otherwise all shopping needs a car. Not yet a million-dollar location, even for an urban dude, and not likely to ever reach that point.
This is the firehouse I want to turn into a SFH. (See link) It’s what I consider to be the “classic” Chicago Firehouse. It’s on Ridge (a busy street), but backs up to a side street as well, plus it has a huge sideyard. But, it has asbestos and I’m sure other issues and I’m not sure the city is going to sell it. (The google streetview still shows it as active, but it has not been for over a year.)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=glenwood+and+ridge+60660&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=61.540818,134.912109&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=N+Ridge+Ave+%26+N+Glenwood+Ave,+Chicago,+Cook,+Illinois+60660&ll=41.986835,-87.663852&spn=0,359.995883&t=h&z=19&layer=c&cbll=41.985939,-87.663853&panoid=EVT990qn63tD6UbKv300cg&cbp=12,224.9,,0,5
Backside of the firehouse on the side street.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=glenwood+and+ridge+60660&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=61.540818,134.912109&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=N+Ridge+Ave+%26+N+Glenwood+Ave,+Chicago,+Cook,+Illinois+60660&ll=41.985506,-87.664335&spn=0,359.995883&t=h&z=19&layer=c&cbll=41.985506,-87.664221&panoid=OeZrDR6GrPddLx6pfxE53A&cbp=12,5.18,,0,5
“I can’t find the article at the moment but not that long ago there was talk of an apartment building on the lot next door to that fire station on Illinois and that they were going to keep the fire station (even though I believe it is not historically protected.)”
The firehouse at 228 w Illinois was approved for protection by the Landmarks Commission.
http://egov.cityofchicago.org:80/city/webportal/jsp/content/showNewsItem.jsp?contentOID=536961423&Failed_Reason=Invalid+timestamp,+engine+has+been+restarted&contenTypeName=1006&com.broadvision.session.new=Yes&Failed_Page=%2fwebportal%2fjsp%2fcontent%2fshowNewsItem.jsp&print=true
Last week my sister sold her place in the adjacent building next door and her unit was on the 2nd floor, east end, which overlooked this firehouse. She lived there for about 4 years…. I would resonate Architect’s comments above. That area of what I like to call the South-West Loop is a dead zone. Does not feel urban. Your neighbors are section 8 tenants / student rentals / or people like my sister who bought in the wrong place at the wrong time and want to get out.
GB,
There are others with designs on that firehouse as well.
Thanks Architect and PDubbs for your speedy replies and your insights.
The townhouse we redid was one of my first (first?) in Chicago and was directly down the street on Racine. That was 2+ years ago and from what I recall, the area was full of college kids and little else. Interesting to know now of the other tenants of the area.
I did see some promise in the surrounding streets and was thinking it was coming along as had been planned….sorry to hear that is not the case.
Still though for what it is, IF it had been in an area that was showing some positive urban growth, I think I would have been willing to invest in it. Don’t think my investment would be appreciated by those who currently reside in the area though…my search for a firehouse continues….
So what exactly is the status of that firehouse? I know it is a lengthy, drawnout process to convert a landmarked property and I am curious as to what will become of it.
The firehouse AC purchased here in NYC was a two+ year battle, and still even after the purchase, there are a ton of procedures he and his builders have to go through before they even think of starting a renovation.
The church property we renovated years ago was a project that lasted over three years…in the end it was quite a building but to get to that end point involved many, many meetings and a ton of fees, permits, butt kissing. And of course that was long before any talk of purchase was started.
I really don’t understand the hoops one has to jump through to begin a restoration of a landmarked property. I totally get why it has to be done, but if someone is willing and able to go through the reno process shouldn’t it be an easier task? It is not like the economy is at a solid place right now, so it would seem if one has the resources to do such a renovation the process could be streamlined somewhat.
Much as I’d like it to be otherwise, I concur that this simply isn’t a good location for an SFH conversion in the $1m range – it’s on too busy an arterial street, and the proximity to Section 8 housing will always have a deleterious effect on the value and enjoyment of the place. Pleasant Taylor Street is nearby, and being on Roosevelt across from St. Ignatius means that safety probably wouldn’t be an issue in its immediate surroundings, but still, it’s hard to envision anything other than a multi-family loft conversion (maybe 4-6 units) or possibly some publicly-subsidized office space for community or religious organizations.
Overall, the area’s pretty safe (12th District isn’t undermanned like many police districts, and there’s the UIC Police as well), but every so often some teens from ABLA will decide to do some strong-arm robberies in the surrounding area, and they generally don’t bother with threats before they start beating their victims. Then they’ll eventually get caught and the crime pattern dies down for until the offenders get out of prison/juvie.
GB – happened to drive past the Ridge firehouse the other day and it recalled for me this thread.
Anything further on that building?
How did you determine it has asbestos?
It’s a neat looking building, got me curious.
-OutsideIn
I just read it’s going to be turned into an art studio for ceramics.