“A development site in a busy pocket of the Gold Coast where plans for a residential high-rise fizzled out is on the market.

“Calmwater Capital has hired Greenstone Partners to sell the 7,912-square-foot site at 12-16 W. Maple St., according to the Chicago-based brokerage firm. The offering comes almost five years after the California-based lender seized the property through a deed in lieu of foreclosure.

“The site, next to Gold Coast mainstay Maple & Ash steakhouse, has been the subject of multiple development proposals over the last several years. Developers and Maple & Ash co-owners David Pisor and Jim Lasky bought the site, which holds a four-story retail building, for $13.1 million in 2017. They pitched an ultra-luxe 22-story condo development on the site that would total just 12 units. That project never came to fruition; neither did another developer’s 2022 proposal for a 34-story condo tower on the site. (Herzog, Crain’s Chicago Business, 7/31/25)

“After standing for more than 130 years along Maple Street, a four-story greystone in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood is officially no more. Crews demolished the historic structure for an upcoming 22-story development, approved by the Chicago Plan Commission in September, 2019.

“The old stone building at 16 W. Maple was built in the 1880s as a single-family residence, according to Preservation Chicago. It featured burnt red terracotta ornamentation, including a pair of detailed exterior columns and a decorative lion’s head medallion embedded in the pediment. The structure most recently housed the Merlo on Maple restaurant.

“The old building held an orange designation in the Chicago Historic Resources Survey, which required it to serve a 90-day demolition hold after its owners applied for permits to tear the property down. The city-mandated delay expired in August, and the demolition permit was granted in late September, according to Chicago Cityscape.

“Preservationists have long advocated for protecting downtown Chicago’s rapidly dwindling supply of historic (albeit non-landmarked) 19th-century buildings. In March, the Chicago Commission on Landmarks started the process of approving a new historic district that would protect 16 post-fire mansions and row homes on the city’s Near North Side. The Queen Anne greystone at 16 W. Maple, however, was not among those properties.” (Koziarz, Curbed Chicago, 10/29/19)

The pointless demolition of 16 W. Maple Street is a case study supporting the concept of only releasing demolition permits on the same day as construction permits. If this best practice was implemented in Chicago, 16 W. Maple would likely still be standing today. This beautiful building from 1886 had been used by small businesses with residences above for 130 years before being demolished in 2019.

Six years later, the site remains vacant as the developers lost the site to foreclosure and new construction never happened. We acknowledge that development is inherently risky. Therefore orange-rated and historic buildings should only be demolished after the new construction is confirmed to be moving forward. Coupling the timing of demolition permits and construction permits would have a negligible impact on most new development projects and prevent the unnecessary loss of significant buildings due to unintentional failed development efforts and intentional land-banking.

Preservation Chicago had worked with urgency to save this building from demolition. We had been in regular contact with 2nd Ward Alderman Brian Hopkins, the Alderman’s office, and the developer David Pisor. After the demolition delay expired and the demolition permit issued, our last hope was the retention of the 3-story facade which could be incorporated into the base of the new construction tower. It could have served as a highly beautiful entrance and maintain a pedestrian-oriented scale at street-level.

Read the full story at Crain’s Chicago Business and Curbed Chicago

• Gold Coast development site hits the market, Rachel Herzog, Crain’s Chicago Business, 7/31/25
• Historic Queen Anne greystone bites the dust for new 22-story Gold Coast tower; Built as a single-family residence, the old structure recently housed a restaurant, Jay Koziarz, Curbed Chicago, 10/29/19
• Why is Demolition Always the Answer? Architecture and History of Chicagoland, Rachel Freundt, 4/10/24