White Eagle Site set for $150M Apartment Remake

A longtime anchor of Chicagoland’s Polish-American community is poised for redevelopment, as a local builder lines up a roughly $150 million apartment project to replace the shuttered White Eagle banquet hall.

Noah Properties plans to raze the restaurant at 6839 North Milwaukee Avenue in Niles and build a 354-unit residential complex across seven acres, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. The White Eagle, which operated on the site since 1967 and hosted generations of weddings, fundraisers and visiting dignitaries, closed earlier this month.

Bart Przyjemski, president of Schiller Park-based Noah Properties, said demolition could begin in January, kicking off a three-phase build expected to wrap up in late 2027. Plans call for clusters of townhouses and four mid-rise buildings designed by Chicago’s Jonathan Splitt Architects, along with a public park, rooftop terraces and a pool.

In a nod to the site’s legacy, Przyjemski plans to carve out about 6,000 square feet of retail space along Milwaukee Avenue for a future restaurant, though the concept and operator remain undecided.

The developer has zoning approvals in hand but is seeking tax-increment financing to make the numbers work. Village officials are reviewing the request, which would divert future property taxes to help cover project costs.

An initial analysis found the development includes “a substantial amount of eligible expenses,” village spokesman Mitch Johnson told the outlet, adding that the public benefits are also significant. Any TIF package would still require Village Board approval.

Przyjemski said the subsidy is needed to address unusually poor soil conditions tied to prior excavation for the Deep Tunnel flood control project. Foundations will have to extend roughly 26 feet deep, he told the outlet, driving up construction costs.

Demand, however, appears strong. Noah recently completed Novu, a 180-unit rental project a few blocks north at 6633 North Milwaukee, which Przyjemski said is about 60 percent leased. Records show he bought the White Eagle property earlier this month for $5.7 million, financing the purchase with a $3.99 million loan from Genesis Capital.

The White Eagle, with capacity for 1,500 guests, welcomed figures ranging from Pope John Paul II to former President Jimmy Carter. Mayor George Alpogianis acknowledged the emotional weight of its closure but said redevelopment is part of the village’s evolution.

The project is expected to draw young families and improve the Milwaukee Avenue streetscape with landscaping, wider sidewalks and buried power lines. Traffic concerns remain, though officials said a new signal could be added.

One last historical question lingers: Beneath the banquet hall’s exterior cladding may be a century-old facade from the Silver Leaf Tavern. The developer is required to see if it can be salvaged and displayed — a small link to the past amid a major remake.

— Eric Weilbacher