A historic building in Evanston that hasn’t traded in over 100 years is hitting the market.
The Cradle Society, an Evanston-based adoption agency founded in 1923, is selling its 38,000-square-foot building at 2049 Ridge Avenue that served as a nursery and administrative space. The agency relocated its nursery services to the Maryville Nursery in Irving Park last March, while maintaining its office space in Evanston, The Evanston Roundtable reported at the time.
A buyer of the property could be among the first to test out Evanston’s new adaptive re-use ordinance that increases density and eliminates parking requirements for certain projects.
“It was capped at 11 units before … so uncapping it allows you to triple or quadruple the units on-site,” said Colliers’ agent Tyler Hague, who is representing the seller.
The increased density could come from repurposing the building or replacing some portion of the existing parking lot with additional units, Hague said.
Still, any developer interested in the property will need some expertise in historic renovations because the building’s designation as an Evanston Landmark limits changes to the exterior.
Hague said he thinks it will draw a buyer based locally or in the Midwest who is familiar with Chicago’s North Shore. Given the property’s size, he said a redevelopment plan could be easier to fund than a larger site.
“We are seeing really good demand for similar properties as this, and I think the problem is that it’s hard to capitalize large-scale development today,” he said. “But for these smaller boutique deals, there’s a lot of liquidity.”
The layout and location of the property just under a mile from Northwestern University could make it conducive to student housing. Other options could be a hospitality or market-rate multifamily project, Hague said.
“I think it’s pretty versatile, it will either be hospitality or multifamily,” he said. “Given its proximity to Northwestern, it’s probably inevitable there will be at least a few students living in it, even if it’s market-rate housing.’
More broadly, the North Shore’s luxury residential market has experienced a surge in demand since the pandemic.
The two most expensive homes ever sold in Illinois were both in Winnetka and fetched more than $30 million apiece last year, reaching prices rarely seen in the Midwest.
Hague said the property probably isn’t suitable for a sprawling single-family project, but could benefit from the need for more housing in the suburbs.
In November, Evanston City Council narrowly approved plans for a 29-story, 419-unit apartment building at 605 Davis Street, a project that will eclipse Orrington Plaza as the suburb’s tallest building.
“Rents on the North Shore are exceptionally high and continuing to grow,” Hague said. “Its hard to find good sites like this that allow density, and you’re not going to have constituents bringing their torches and pitchforks out.”