RIVER WEST — A developer wants to convert a vintage River West loft building to apartments, piggybacking on other construction nearby.
The city's Zoning Board of Appeals on Friday will consider the 48-unit project at 925 W. Chicago Ave., a onetime tannery that most recently was home to offices and a Proline Golf store.
A venture of Chicago developer Rockwell Partners paid $4.25 million last year for the building, aiming to capitalize on rising apartment rents in the quickly changing neighborhood. The site is near the Chicago Blue Line stop, and a much larger, 363-unit apartment building is underway at the former Gonnella bakery a block away.
"We believe it to be an upcoming neighborhood," said Jason Fishleder, a Rockwell Partners principal. "Location is the major attraction."
The developer needs the zoning board to sign off on a two-story addition to the three-story loft. Once built, the project would include one- and two-bedroom apartments, including some two-floor units. Rockwell seeks a coffee shop or similar retailer to replace the shuttered Proline on the ground floor, Fishleder said. What the developer will charge in rent has yet to be determined.
Rockwell plans to begin construction in October and open the building next year should it receive city approval, Fishleder said.
The zoning board will also consider Friday a 43-unit conversion of a South Loop loft building at 2101 S. Wabash Ave., formerly home to L'Oreal.
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