Concord Looks to add two Floors to River North Conversion

Chicago-based Concord Capital is planning to add two stories to the top of 226 West Ontario Street as a part of its conversion of the mid-rise into an apartment complex.

Concord principal Drew Millard told Crain’s that they’ve dropped $4.1 million for the building and plan a $20 million renovation. 226 West Ontario Street currently spans 48,000 square feet, and there are 70 total apartments planned for the century-plus old building. Concord has already snagged a $16 million construction loan from First Bank Chicago, and is planning to begin the project this December.

Construction is expected to be completed by February 2028. In total, Concord paid around $85 per square foot, and rents in the building are expected to be priced at more than $4 per square foot, according to the publication.

The conversion plans smack of a topic at the top of the mind of every real estate professional this month: the structural failings of the rehabbed and extended Pfizer building in New York. However, the 226 West Ontario Street conversion is on a smaller scale, only adding two floors instead of the previously proposed 15 to the six-story building.

Other developers in the area told the outlet that the Pfizer structural integrity issues haven’t really concerned them, as it was a fairly complex process, and theirs are much simpler. Meanwhile, rents have continued to climb in the midst of a logjam in the city’s construction pipeline, and old office buildings are being converted into residential or mixed-use space across the area.

226 West Ontario Street is one of two recent plays Concord has made on historical buildings. They recently purchased a stalled River North development site at 42 to 46 East Superior Street for $4.4 million, and will be tasked with maintaining the site’s historic facades while giving the building a use.

— Hunter Cooke