UPTOWN — Developers have released renderings and blueprints of how they plan to redevelop the historic Agudas Achim North Shore Synagogue into a 40-unit apartment building with parking.
The synagogue at 5029 N. Kenmore Ave. served Orthodox Jews for a century before it was bought by Cedar Street for $1.25 million in May. In early October, ChicagoArchitecture.org received diagrams of the renovations which are included below.
The 40 residential units are "mostly studios and one-bedroom units, with a smattering of loft-style homes to fill the building’s cathedral-like void," according to the architecture blog.
The building will be three floors and include 21 parking spaces and a loading dock. It is 59½ feet tall and 62 feet wide, the blog said.
Last year, Preservation Chicago included the building on a list of buildings most in danger of being demolished, along with the Clarendon Park Field House, a Masonic temple in Englewood and the Finkl Steel campus in Lincoln Park.
Despite being on the National Register of Historic Places, the synagogue had been a teardown candidate because of extensive water damage, vandalism and years of deferred maintenance.
"We definitely are not going to demolish it. We think the architecture is really amazing, and we're trying to see what we can do with the interior," Alex Samoylovich, managing partner of Cedar Street, told Crain's Chicago Business at the time of the sale.
The property has been described as "the last great synagogue" and was built in 1922 with Romanesque revival, art deco and Spanish influences.
The worship center, which features a fellowship hall, offices, classrooms and a commercial kitchen, was designed by Henry Dubin and sat more than 1,750 people, according to a listing on Loopnet.com.
Take a guided tour through the building here. For all of the renderings of the project click here.
Renderings are included below:
[Space Architect and Planners]
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