Developer Proposes South Loop Apartments

A Chicago developer is testing the city’s appetite for new housing in the South Loop, proposing a 19-story apartment building.

A venture led by Vahooman Mirkhaef filed a zoning application to build a 237-unit residential building at 557–571 West Polk Street. The proposal would replace a two-story office building that currently serves as the headquarters of Environmental Group Services, Mirkhaef’s environmental consulting firm, Crain’s reported.

Details on construction costs and timing were not disclosed, but the plan would add to a sparse downtown pipeline. Financing challenges over the past few years have sidelined many large projects, even as rents have rebounded sharply.

Just three large-scale apartment developments totaling fewer than 600 units are slated to be completed downtown in 2026, according to Integra Realty Resources. That shortage has helped push rents up more than 8 percent, year over year, in the third quarter of 2025, the firm said.

Some new building permits for apartments near the city’s core are starting to take shape, however. Across the water in River North, a full building permit was issued last week for ZSD’s mixed-use development at 310 West Huron Street, paving the way for construction to begin on a 149-unit residential project with ground-floor retail. The site, which stretches along Huron Street from Franklin Street to Orleans Street, is currently occupied by a parking lot.

Mirkhaef’s venture has owned the Polk Street property since 2003, according to the zoning filing. The original purchase price does not appear in Cook County property records. Mirkhaef did not respond to requests for comment from the publication.

The proposal includes 102 off-street parking spaces and would fall under Chicago’s Affordable Requirements Ordinance. Plans call for 12 affordable units to be built on site and another 12 elsewhere in the 28th Ward, with an in-lieu fee covering the remaining obligation.

Mirkhaef is also a controversial figure in local real estate and business circles. He previously operated Cub Terminal, a suburban logistics depot, and in 2021 pleaded guilty to paying bribes to former state Sen. Martin Sandoval to aid that business, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. In 2024, federal prosecutors declined to oppose his appeal to overturn the conviction.

— Eric Weilbacher