Real estate firm buys 9 buildings on Elaine Place in Chicago's East Lakeview community, may add units

Real estate investment and development firm Concord Capital has acquired nine apartment buildings on Elaine Place, a single-block residential street in Chicago's East Lakeview community.

The purchase may lead to more residential units on the block.

In a news release this week, Concord Capital reported that it had acquired nine buildings in the 3400 block of North Elaine Place, which is the only block of Elaine Place. The short street runs from Cornelia Avenue south to Roscoe Street, about halfway between Halsted Street and Broadway.

Concord Capital bought the nine buildings — which amount to most of the buildings on the block, but not all — from CLK Properties for $61.5 million in an off-market transaction. The sale closed Aug. 12, Concord Capital said.

The oldest building in the group dates from 1894, the newest from 1959. The portfolio of buildings was about 95% occupied when the sale closed, Concord Capital said.

In an email, Concord Capital principal Drew Millard wrote that the firm is planning to add garden units to the buildings and make light updates to the units. Since the apartments are already in excellent condition, Concord Capital will wait to make their updates until tenants either move out or renew their leases.

There is available floor area ratio on the block to allow for up to 306 units, according to Concord Capital. The portfolio Concord Capital purchased has 182 units.

This could be accomplished with the addition of the garden units, and a possible new building on the current site of a parking lot, the Real Deal reported. Millard wrote that there are no plans for the parking lot at this time, but it could be an option for building upon once the garden units are added and the existing units are updated.

CLK Properties bought the Elaine Place properties for $50.5 million in 2015, according to published reports. The property was owned before that by ASB's Allegiance Fund and Marc Realty/Chicago Apartment Finders, reports said.

Chicago Apartment Finders in turn bought the property from Milton Zale.

For many years, each end of Elaine Place was famous for its sculptures by artist John Kearney made from old steel car bumpers — two giraffes, one on each side of Elaine Place at Roscoe Street, and a nanny goat at Cornelia Avenue.

The sculptures were first installed in 1978. In the process of selling the buildings on Elaine Place, Zale had the sculptures removed in 2012 after Chicago Apartment Finders said they didn't want to pay the insurance on them, as people liked to climb them.

In the years since, a succession of other art installations have been placed on the concrete pedestals where Kearney's sculptures used to stand.

Elaine Place is located steps from the Northalsted LGBTQ+ nightlife district and also not far from Wrigley Field and Belmont Harbor.

High-profile development plans dot Lakeview community

The transaction on Elaine Place, while not involving the construction of any new buildings itself for now, comes as a number of development projects take off in the Lakeview area.

On Belmont Avenue, the Belmora, now under construction at 925 W. Belmont Ave., is set to feature 46 luxury apartments. It replaced a two-story brown brick building, which housed The Gallery Bookstore, Belmont Army Vintage, and other businesses. 

Next door, the building that used to house the flagship Ann Sather restaurant, at 909 W. Belmont Ave., was recently torn down for a second 46-unit phase of the Belmora development. The Ann Sather flagship has moved to West Town, but a new Lakeview Ann Sather location will soon open in the former Stella's Diner space at 3042 N. Broadway, replacing a location at Broadway and Roscoe Street.

Farther west at 1040 W. Belmont Ave., a plan has been approved for a five-story, 28-unit residential building with storefronts on the ground floor. It would replace a single-story building that houses a Giordano's pizzeria.

Farther west still,  a new mixed-use development with 40 residential units on the upper floors is planned for the site of Stage 773, formerly the Theatre Building, at 1225 W. Belmont Ave., which has also been torn down.

At 3233 N. Sheffield Ave., plans have been approved for a five-story, 92-unit building on the former site of the Torstenson Glass Co. plant, which is to be demolished.

At Halsted Street and Briar Place, work is already in progress to redevelop the former Briar Street Theatre, which was vacated by "Blue Man Group" at the start of 2025 after nearly three decades. Plans for the site call for a mixed-use development with housing units in a new addition on top, joined by a new building on the footprint of the parking lot.

At the northwest corner of Diversey Parkway and Sheridan Road, a plan calls for a 28-story building with 355 apartments, 10,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space, and a 50,000-square-foot fitness club on the fourth floor. To make way for the building, demolition is set to begin after Labor Day at the Ida and Norman H. Stone Medical Center, formerly the headquarters for the Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North America.

On Sheffield Avenue right across from Wrigley Field, work is under way on a five-story building with 29 residential units. This controversial development followed the demolition of three historic residential buildings — a graystone at 3631 N. Sheffield Ave. that was famous for the billboard on its roof, the former Lakeview Baseball Club next door at 3633 N. Sheffield Ave., and the former Outfield Gallery club at 3627 N. Sheffield Ave.

On Halsted Street, two hotel developments are planned right in the heart of the Northalsted nightlife district.

In March of last year, the Chicago City Council approved a project now named the Backbeat Hotel, a 50-room independent boutique hotel to be constructed at 3255 N. Halsted St. and to open in 2028. The hotel will be constructed at the southeast corner of Halsted Street and Aldine Avenue on the site of the building that used to house Yoshi's Café, which has sat vacant since the restaurant closed in December 2021 and will be torn down.

This past winter, Tryst Hospitality also announced plans for a new hotel at 3350-3352 N. Halsted St. The site is currently occupied by the former D.S. Tequila, which closed in November 2023 after 14 years in business.

Tryst Hospitality, which has owned the property since 2024, plans to open a five-story, 21-room boutique hotel with a new restaurant and nightclub and an enclosed rooftop with a pool and bar.