Local developers turn West Side lofts into apartments
Rendering of 2620 W. Washington Blvd
(Crain's) - Two Chicago developers are planning to convert a six-story loft building on the West Side into a 68-unit apartment building.
A joint venture of Bold Development LLC and LK Growth LLC bought the 1920s-era building at 2620 W. Washington Blvd. late last month for $3.7 million from Mansion View Development Corp., which had hoped to add four floors and convert the building into condominiums.
The roughly $10-million development will be called Bold L&H Lofts, so-named because the building was originally used by the stove company L&H Stove Co., says Steve Olsher, a principal with Bold.
Mr. Olsher, who co-founded the failed e-commerce site Liquor.com Inc. before becoming a developer, says interior renovation work has recently begun at 2620 W. Washington. He hopes to have the building ready for tenants to move in by next spring.
In addition to the apartments, the building will have 3,400 square feet of commercial space and 68 indoor parking spaces.
"It's a developing area just west of the United Center, where you can get a lot of very cool space for very cheap," says Mr. Olsher.
Bold and LK are in the process of having the building designated as a city landmark, which will make the project eligible for tax credits. The building was designed by German-born architect Paul Gerhardt Sr., who also designed Lane Tech High School.
Mr. Olsher says the hardest part thus far has been financing, saying he took the deal to about 60 lenders before securing an $8.15-million loan from J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.
"That was a struggle," says Mr. Olsher. "There was a time when a lender would do everything in their power not to say no. Now they do everything in their power not to say yes."
