I’m always on the hunt for authentic lofts. None of this “soft-loft” new construction stuff. There are four units currently available in a cool building loft building called The Map Factory Lofts, at 5235 N. Ravenswood, in Andersonville. Three are listed on the MLS and one is FSBO on Craigslist. These aren’t the usual 700 square foot one […]
Some of the church conversions are better than others. I never understand it when a developer takes such a cool structure and strips out all of the unique elements. This church conversion at 1658 W. Superior in West Town was one of the conversions where many of the original elements were kept- from the brick to the […]
Chicago has an enormous amount of churches but as the congregations dwindle, many religious orders are left to contemplate: what to do with a church that isn’t wanted anymore? Years ago, Chicago figured out the answer: convert them into housing. The latest such project is in the McKinley Park area a few blocks from the […]
Printer’s Row has many of Chicago’s original loft buildings and some of the city’s most “authentic” lofts. The Mergenthaler Lofts at 531 S. Plymouth is one of those buildings. Originally built in 1886, it was converted into apartments in 1979 and then into condominiums. There are only 20 units in the building. Some parking […]
Recently, I chattered about a loft building that is south of the Stevenson Expressway at 50 E. 26th Street and some people wondered who would live that far south. Just about a block away is the new loft conversion, The Opera Lofts, at 2545 S. Dearborn. The building is the old storage facility for the […]
The boundaries of the “South Loop” keep expanding as construction and conversions continue. It used to be that Cermak Road was the cut-off. And then it the Stevenson Expressway. But now- new developments are going up even south of the expressway. 50 E. 26th actually isn’t new. It was an old warehouse converted into duplex […]
Fulton House at 345 N. Canal is one of those rare buildings that no one seems to know much about yet it has a prominent location right on the river next to River Bend. Built in 1903 as a cold storage warehouse, it was converted into apartments in 1979-81. It was converted into condominiums in the 1990s. […]
Motor Row, the landmark historic district in the South Loop which runs roughly from 1400 S. Michigan to 2500 S. Michigan (with some blocks of South Wabash and South Indiana also thrown in), has been touted as the next “hot” neighborhood. The area gets its names from the number of former automobile showrooms that line the […]
There is a lot of new construction in Printers Row right now with The Vetro, Burnham Pointe, Library Towers and Printers Corner all starting occupancy now and in 2008. There is something to be said for buying “new” with all the bells and whistles. But you can live next door to some of these buildings, say, […]