Mike Drew’s Structured completes all-affordable Lincoln Park condo complex

Structured Development has completed a 34-unit condominium complex in Lincoln Park, billed as the first all-affordable condo building of its size in Chicago and the first of three residential buildings planned for the area.

The Chicago-based developer has opened The Seng at 869 West Blackhawk Street, on the Near North Side, Block Club Chicago reported. A lottery drawing for the two-bedroom units starts March 16.

Each home has been set aside for residents earning up to 120 percent of the area median income. A two-bedroom condo, between 820 and 870 square feet, lists for a little more than $285,000. Three-bedroom condos, from 990 to 1,190 square feet, list for over $333,700. Four-bedroom units, from 1,150 to 1,380 square feet, list for nearly $375,000.

“Faced with rising home prices and interest rates, many working individuals and families have given up on homeownership in Chicago,” Mike Drew, co-founding principal of Structured Development, told Block Club. “But inclusionary options like the Seng allow them to purchase a newly constructed condominium well below market rates while ensuring those homes remain affordable should buyers ever decide to move.”

Buyers must be pre-approved for a traditional, FHA, or VA loan and be certified through a homeownership program administered by the Chicago Housing Trust, which began accepting applications last month. Demand appears to far outweighs the supply, as the trust has received nearly 200 inquiries and led more than 100 tours so far, a spokesperson for Structured said.

Two-bedroom applications will be accepted through March 10. Due to high demand, a lottery drawing will decide buyers March 16.

Three-bedroom condo applications will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. At least three people must be in a household to apply. Four-bedroom applications require four or more people in a household and are also accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.

Brokers Christina Glass and Jordan Euson of Compass hold the listing.

The L-shaped complex, designed by GREC Architects of Chicago, is sheathed in gray, with rust trim around large windows. Interiors have family-friendly floor plans, nine-foot ceilings, sturdy appliances, quartzite counters and two-tone kitchen cabinets.

Each unit has laundry facilities and comes with a garage parking space. The five-story complex has a rooftop terrace, bike storage and a fitness center, surrounded by a park.

The building is named after Wendelin Seng, a German immigrant who founded a furniture factory on the site in 1874, which produced furniture hardware, early sofa-sleepers and recliner chairs. Its lobby now has wall art and artifacts recovered from a 1902 time capsule found during construction.

The Seng is the first of three residential buildings of Wendelin Park, a mixed-use, mixed-income development by Structured bounded by Blackhawk, Dayton and Kingsbury streets, just northwest of the former Cabrini-Green housing project.

The $250 million project, once dubbed the Big Deahl, was approved by the City Council in 2021. It’s next to the Clybourn Corridor shopping district, near the Newcity shopping center, also developed by Structured.

— Dana Bartholomew