Cedar Street cleared to start 16-story resi complex next to Bush Temple

UPDATE, July 17, 11:55 a.m.: Cedar Street Companies secured a permit to start digging the foundation for its 16-story addition to the Bush Temple of Music, which would add another 129 micro-apartments next to the converted landmark.

The foundation and superstructure phase of construction is projected to cost around $7.5 million. The building, designed by architect Hartshorne Plunkard, is set to include just 13 parking spaces and 8,500 square feet of commercial space when it’s completed in late 2019.

Cedar Street secured a $48.5 million loan for the project from AXA Equitable.

The developer last year opened 101 studio and one-bedroom apartments inside the rehabbed 117-year-old piano factory at 800 North Clark Street, right after razing two low-lying brick buildings just north of the landmark to make way for the new construction.

Earlier this month, Crain’s reported that a Florida-based investor bought out the development’s previous backers in a $93 million deal for a 75 percent stake in the property.

Cedar Street has made a practice of buying up vacant or dilapidated buildings around the city and filling them with high-end apartments measuring 400 square feet or less, especially in Uptown, where the developer is set to deliver 710 new apartment units with a rehab and new construction at Broadway and Argyle Street.

The company is also planning 260 apartments inside a former Salvation Army building on the Near West Side.

This story has been updated to include information about the loan for the project.