Mavrek, Acres Moving Fast on Chicago Office Conversion

Another Loop office tower is on its way to becoming housing.

Mavrek Development and Acres Commercial Realty cleared another hurdle by securing an interior demolition permit for the conversion of 65 East Wacker Place, Urbanize Chicago reported.

The permit clears the way for the $51 million redevelopment of the vintage 1928 office building into 252 apartments, an increase from the 200-unit plan Mavrek proposed in August 2024 after taking over the site from Intersection Realty Group, which had acquired it in 2022 with an earlier, smaller conversion plan.

Mavrek’s updated scope includes 105 studios, 105 one-bedrooms and 42 two-bedrooms, with an emphasis on in-unit workspaces and no on-site parking. The project will also meet the city’s affordable housing requirements with 51 affordable units, priced at an average of 60 percent area median income. Ground-floor commercial space, currently home to Morton’s Steakhouse, will remain.

Designed by Pappageorge Haymes Partners, the 24-story building’s overhaul will include a rooftop deck, coworking lounge and fitness center. Construction is expected to wrap by the summer of 2026.

The project follows Acres’ acquisition of the building via deed-in-lieu of foreclosure, after Intersection dropped its plans amid financial difficulties. Mavrek stepped in with backing from Acres and quickly increased the residential scope.

The move adds momentum to Chicago’s broader downtown conversion wave, driven by remote-work-induced vacancy and growing demand for centrally located rental housing. The Loop and LaSalle Street corridors, once office-dominated, are seeing more developers pitch adaptive reuse as the path forward.

Mavrek’s deal at 65 East Wacker joins a list of recent conversion plays in the core, including plans from F&F Realty and Commonwealth Development Partners.

The 252-unit plan makes it one of the most substantial conversion efforts underway in Chicago, along with plans from an investor group led by Tom Liravongsa to convert the Pittsfield Building’s offices into 214 residential units and Campari Group leading the city’s first publicly subsidized conversion at 79 West Monroe for 117 units with Chicago developer R2.

Mavrek is also active in Lakeview, where it’s planning an 11-story apartment building at 925 West Belmont and recently delivered the Saint Grand high-rise in Streeterville with GW Properties, Luxury Living Chicago Realty and Double Eagle Development.

— Judah Duke