Conversions are the darling of developers looking to unlock capital in today’s tight lending environment.
And three projects made headlines this week in Chicago.
Jab Real Estate made a zoning request this week to redevelop 749 West Briar Place, the former home of the Briar Street Theater, into a 66-unit mixed-use complex with ground-floor retail and a five-story addition.
The project would retain the original theater structure but add three residential levels on top, plus a second building on the adjacent parking lot, after the Blue Man Group ended its 27-year Chicago run in January.
Designed by Moth Architects, the proposal includes 1,200 square feet of retail at the corner of Briar and Halsted, 14 car parking spaces and 66 bike spaces. The building’s mix would lean heavily toward smaller units: 45 one-bedrooms, 19 two-bedrooms and two three-bedrooms.
Plans also include a fitness center on the second floor and a top-floor community room with a roof deck facing the southeast corner. Eight lofted units will occupy the ground floor, with seven two-bedrooms and one three-bedroom layout.
On the city’s Southwest Side, Chicago-based Bridge Industrial is under contract to buy Ford City Mall with a $150 million plan to demolish the 960,000-square-foot shopping center and replace it with a four-building logistics complex spanning 913,000 square feet
Namdar Realty Group, a New York-based firm known for buying distressed malls, owns the property, at 7601 South Cicero Avenue in the West Lawn neighborhood. It paid $16.6 million for the 66-acre property in 2019. More than half the mall is now vacant; only one major anchor tenant, JCPenney, remains.
Bridge’s plans include 92 loading docks, 923 parking spaces and a truck route directed east toward Kostner Avenue to minimize impact on the adjacent residential neighborhood.
Also this week, WindWave Real Estate and Path Construction secured a full building permit for their $64 million plan to convert six floors of the mostly vacant 111 West Illinois Street into 153 apartments. The former Salesforce hub was acquired by WindWave and Path in a discounted deal last month, marking one of the largest River North office trades of the past year.
The project spans roughly 144,000 square feet across floors five through 10 and will include a new residential lobby, a coworking lounge carved out of a former WeWork space, a pet spa, a 2,600-square-foot rooftop terrace and a fitness center.
Floorplans will range from studios to three-bedrooms. No affordable units are planned; the $64 million conversion estimate comes to $418,000 per apartment unit.
Amid the conversion hubbub, change was brewing at City Hall.
Alderman Walter Burnett is stepping down from the Chicago City Council to pursue leadership of the Chicago Housing Authority. With the powerful Zoning Committee once again without a chair, the city is bracing for another political deadlock.
Mayor Brandon Johnson’s last effort to fill the post dragged on for 10 months, paralyzed by competing demands from the Black and Latino caucuses and internal friction among City Council progressives. Johnson ultimately turned to Burnett in 2023 only after his initial pick, Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez, failed to get votes despite personal lobbying from the mayor.
That leaves Johnson to navigate a zero-sum power equation: both the Latino and Black caucuses want the seat. Each sees it as a high-stakes lever for their communities.
Black Caucus member Alderman Greg Mitchell has begun gauging support from colleagues. Meanwhile, Latino Caucus Chair Alderman Andre Vasquez is reminding colleagues that Johnson previously promised the role would go to a Latino member, a pledge many still expect him to honor.