WICKER PARK — A boarded-up industrial building that has been an eyesore for several years could be renovated into a 6-unit luxury condo building with a retail storefront along an increasingly busy stretch of Milwaukee Avenue in Wicker Park.
Earlier this month, members of the Wicker Park Committee's Preservation and Development subcommittee voted unanimously to change the zoning of a brick, three-story 14,400 square-foot building at 1665-67 N. Milwaukee Ave. from manufacturing to a retail and residential development.
The zoning recommendation, which includes the addition of a fourth floor, to be set back from the street, will come before the group's general membership meeting on April 2.
The plan will also require the support of the city's Zoning Committee and if approved, construction on the renovation of the building would begin this summer, said Nick Ftikas, a lawyer for the project.
The building, which was constructed in 1918, was purchased for $875,000 in June 2012, by Marc Realty Residential (MRR) Acquisition LLC, according to county records.
Though an original plan was to transform the existing 14,400-square-foot industrial building into a 12-unit apartment building, concerns over parking from members of the Bucktown Neighborhood Organization, another local neighborhood group, prompted the owners to build condos rather than apartments, said Andy Ahitow, president of Chicago Apartment Finders.
On Wednesday, Ahitow said the building will offer four two-bedroom, two-bathroom condos, and two four-bedroom, three-bathroom condos.
The condos will be located on the building's second through fourth floors while the ground level will be reserved for a retail storefront, according to renderings.
Ahitow said the condos's 3,000 square-feet duplex units, located on the top two floors, will be "high-end" and list for over $1 million, while the two-bedroom units will be 1100 square-foot each and be on the second floor.
Thee development will offer six parking spaces, or a one-to-one ratio per condo unit, Ahitow said.
The new development will revitalize a stretch of street that will see a new 36-unit apartment building at 1647-57 N. Milwaukee Ave., to replace a shuttered one-story restaurant, a parking lot and a car wash just south of the building.
Formed in 2009, Marc Realty Residential is a partnership between executives from Marc Realty and Chicago Apartment Finders, who purchase "distressed and other residential properties, refurbishing them to condo quality and offering units at very competitive prices," according to their website.
Elsewhere in Wicker Park, Marc Realty recently redeveloped an old envelope factory at 2040 W. North Ave. The Bucktown Athletic Club, which opened earlier this month, occupies the building's first two floors.
Chicago Apartments Finders plans to rent out eight one- and two-bedroom apartments on the floors above the gym, Ahitow said.
Editor's note: This story contains corrected information from a previous version.
