UPTOWN — Pensacola Place may be getting a face-lift, but its roughly 30 affordable housing units will remain, according to an official with Waterton Associates, the Chicago apartment landlord that recently bought the 264-unit Uptown building.
Waterton reportedly bought the 18-story tower at 4334 N. Hazel St. for almost $66 million recently, according to Crain's.
A major renovation is now in store for Pensacola Place, as Waterton plans to improve the building's common area and amenities, including the fourth-floor outdoor deck and the area alongside the building's outdoor swimming pool by removing an existing tennis court and adding cabanas, fire pits and other features, Crain's reports.
It's also planning to overhaul the building's amenity floor by adding a new workout facility, laundry room and business center. Plus, there's an opportunity to build more apartment units.
"It's one of those properties you can really transform," Stern told Crain's.
Reached by phone Tuesday, Stern told DNAinfo Chicago that the transformation doesn't include hiking up rents for the roughly 30 affordable housing units within the building.
"Those will remain affordable," he said. "They can stay there as long as they want."
Ald. James Cappleman (46th), whose ward includes Pensacola Place, has said that it's "important to protect the affordable housing" in the area.
"There are a number of units where residents pay one third of their income to live there," Cappleman has said, referring to Pensacola Place. "Even though the building is going through a rehab, the residents will not have any change in the amount of rent they pay."
Right now, rents range from $1,249 a month for a studio to $1,800 for a two-bedroom unit, Crain's reports. The renovation and possible expansion may lead to higher rents for the other non-affordable housing units.
Built in 1981, Pensacola Place was designed by Stanley Tigerman and has a Jewel Osco on its ground floor.
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
