Ontario Building, Ontario Street Lofts
Life Span: 1916-Present
Location: SE Corner Ontario and Kingsbury Streets
Architect: Paul Gerhardt
Chicago Tribune, June 17, 1915
An important transaction has been closed in the Kingsbury street district on the north side involving the erection of a high grade seven story warehouse building to cost about the $140,000, which has been leased to the Birmingham & Seaman company, wholesale paper dealers, for a term of twenty years for a total gross rent of approximately $400,000.
The property involved comprises 411-423 West Ontario street, north front, 160 feet, with a depth of 100 feet, between Kingsbury and Orleans streets, having switch track connections with the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul road. The property has been leased to the Birmingham & Seaman company by a syndicate headed by Winston & Co., the rent being based on a 5 per cent on a valuation of $6 a square foot for the land and 8 per cent on the cost of the building, which, as stated before, is expected to cost about $140,000, plus taxes and insurance.
Will Be of Concrete.
The building will cover 150×100 feet of ground, will be of reinforced concrete construction, with sprinkler, after plans by Architect Paul Gerhardt. The transaction was negotiated by Hampden Winston of Windston & Co. and Paul C. Loeber & Co. Frederick C. Hack attended to the legal details for the lessors and Samuel Adams for the lessees.
The Birmingham & Seaman company is one of the largest paper dealers in the country and is said to have selected the Ontario street location on account of its rail facilities and its proximity to the downtown district as being particularly well adapted to the handling, warehousing, and delivery of its goods.
This transaction is regarded as a marked recognition of the advantages offered by the near north side territory for industrial locations, as the company is said to have been investigating sites in various parts of the city during the last two years.
Chicago Tribune, October 3, 1915
The present building activity was reflected in the large number of important building projects announced during the week, many being in connection with land transfers. This goes to confirm the statement frequently made in this column that the bulk of the land purchases are made for purposes of improvement.
Winston & Co. reported an important building project in the Kingsbury street district in connection with a lease of building space. It has an added interest because it involves the removal of a large downtown concern, the J. C. Whitney company, tea importers, to the north side. They are now located at Wabash avenue and Lake street. Winston & Co. in behalf of the syndicate will erect a seven story mill constructed building on 100×175 feet at the southeast corner of Kingsbury and Ontario streets, adjoining the Milwaukee and St. Paul tracks. It has been leaesed to the Whitney company for twenty years on a 5 and 8 per cent basis on a total valuation of $240,000, making the total annual rent approximately $14,000. S. N. Crowen is the architect.
Second Deal of the Kind.
This transaction is similar to the one entered some time ago by which the same parties agreed to erect for the Birmingham & Seaman company a seven story building on Ontario street, 120 feet east of the Whitney structure. Between the two there is a vacant plot, 120x 100 feet, on which the same syndicate will erect a hevy reinforced concrete building seven stories high, to cost about $100,000.
Chicago Tribune, November 14, 1993
Normally, there’s a big difference between living in a loft condo and living in a high-rise.
But LR Development Co. is trying to bridge the gap by offering high-rise amenities such as
24-hour doorman service, indoor parking, a fitness center, hardwood floors and other top-of-the-line touches in three seven-story warehouse buildings that it’s rehabbing.
The grubby 300,000-square-foot property, at 411-451 W. Ontario St., curves hard by the heavily traveled Kennedy Expressway entrance and exit ramps that lie to the south of the connected buildings, whose common facade on Ontario faces Reza’s Restaurant. The buildings, in a former industrial area, sit on the western fringe of River North with art galleries, lofts, offices and other restaurants nearby.
A sales center opened at the loft site on Nov. 9 and a model unit is scheduled to open Nov. 27. Although the first 59 of 179 total units won’t be available for occupancy until next September, buyers already have signed contracts for 23 of them, said Bruce C. Abrams, LR Development’s president. He described it as the largest for-sale loft project in the city, a $25 million endeavor.
“Until now,” said Abrams, “purchasers have had to decide whether they wanted the building amenities and security of a high-rise or the space and character of a loft. Now they can have the best both have to offer.
“We hope to attract middle-market professionals who want to live in the city, but so far we’ve also attracted the high end of the market, people who chose to put two units together.”
The rehabbing project, dubbed the Ontario Street Lofts, is akin to turning a sow’s ear into a silk purse. The three buildings, constructed between 1908 and 1914, were used for paper storage and processing, later as a tool works and finally for document storage by First Chicago Corp., which vacated its space a year ago.
But Abrams’ LR Development, a North Side real estate firm that spe cializes in renovations of classic buildings, also has an established record of turning obsolete buildings into condominiums, including Lakeview Lofts at 3201 N. Seminary Ave. and a rooming house building at 626 W. Buckingham Pl.
Two of his most recent successful high-end condominium rehabbing efforts are the former Chandler Apartments at 33 E. Bellevue Pl. and Hugh Hefner’s former Playboy mansion at 1340 N.
State Pkwy., where units sold for $700,000 to $2.1 million.
Abrams’ plan for Ontario Street Lofts is a three-phase project, first finishing 59 units in the west building, then 54 in the center building and finally 66 in the east structure.
The first step of the rehabbing, Abrams said, is to clean the brick and limestone exterior and replace the windows to give all three buildings a finished appear-ance.
The first phase of the interior cleanup, now under way, also will include the addition of elevators, a doorman lobby and 162 indoor parking spaces. There also will be 25 outside spaces.
The units, with 29 different lay-outs, will have 10 to 14-foot ceilings, European cabinetry, dishwashers, gas ranges, refrigera-tors, washer dryer hookups, exposed common brick walls, exposed ductwork and track lighting. Units on the third through seventh floors will have wood-burning fireplaces, and the majority of the condos will have unobstructed skyline views.
On the practical side, each of the units will be self-contained, with gas forced-air furnaces, air-conditioning systems, hot water heaters, circuit breaker panels, trash chutes and high-tech soundproofing a solid foot between floors, 8 inches between units, and new insulated and laminated glass windows-which will eliminate noise between units and virtually all the noise from the Kennedy, according to Abrams.
The lofts will cost from $85,000 (only one unit at that price) to $255,000 for a two-bedroom, two-bath 1,969-square-foot condo on the fifth floor. The average price is $148,000. Monthly assessments are projected to be from $80.22 to $233.36, with all figures subject to change.
Deeded indoor parking will cost $10,000 a space, while outdoor spaces will go for $6,500 each.
- Ontario Building Site
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
1906
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