“A demolition permit has been issued for the six-story masonry structure at 168 N. Clinton. Located in West Loop Gate, the building is sited near the intersection of W. Lake St and N. Clinton St and is flanked by two surface parking lots to its north and south. The demolition permit filing lists Thomas Duda as the applicant and owner of the property.
“Standing six stories tall, the brick and timber loft office building was reportedly built back in 1889 and is listed on the 1906 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map as the Wheeling Corrugating Company Warehouse.
“At the time of writing, no formal redevelopment plans for the site have been announced. The site is zoned DX-7, so a large-scale development could be possible, especially if combined with the adjacent surface parking lots. No zoning applications have been filed, no new construction permits have been filed, and no public announcements have been made at this time.” (Kugler, Urbanize Chicago, 1/24/26)
Preservation Chicago strongly opposes this demolition. This building would have made an ideal adaptive reuse of residential. Despite its size, age, and location 168 N. Clinton has no protections against demolition. Its demolition permit did not trigger a 90-day delay. There is nothing to prevent this building from being demolished for a surface parking lot or land banking. In fact, owners are incentivized to demolish buildings to reduce property taxes because the taxes on a surface lot are much lower than a building.
This demolition exposes significant flaws in Chicago’s planning and development process. Immediate steps should be taken to ensure that buildings of this size and age (perhaps 50 years) have a period of delay (perhaps 180) after a demolition permit is applied for to allow the public, elected officials, and city planners to have their priorities considered as part of the process. Additionally, the prevent land banking, demolition permits should only be issued simultaneously with new construction permits.