“A pair of buildings have faced each other for a century at 47th Street and Ashland Avenue — during the heyday of the Back of the Yards neighborhood and subsequent downturn — now face change.
“On the southwest corner sits a former Goldblatt Bros. department store that was built in stages between 1915 and 1933. The structure is a classic Chicago neighborhood department store building: one block long, four stories high and wrapped in white terra cotta. Attached to the corner is a razor sign three stories tall that used to say, ‘Goldblatt’s.’
“Once a stately pair of bookends for a thriving commercial corridor that served the working-class population living just southwest of the Union Stockyards when it was one of Chicago’s major employers, both buildings started the 21st century vacant. In fact, the bank building’s upper floors have been empty for about 50 years.
“Back of the Yards and its residents ‘deserve better,’ Scott Henry, a principal at Celadon Partners, told WBEZ’s Reset. The firm, whose other principal is Aron Weisner, is spearheading a $180 million plan along four blocks of 47th Street that by 2027 will flank these buildings with new construction to their east and west.
“They’ll fill the structures with about 210 units of affordable rentals, mostly for people 55 and up, plus a health care center, a bakery, a coffee shop and other ground-floor commercial uses. The Rainbow store will remain, its exterior rehabbed to bring back the historical arched shop windows ornamented with carved flowers, dragons and crowns.
“Much of the funding, a mix of investment streams including historic preservation tax credits and TIF money, is already ‘closed capital,’ Weisner said.
“Celadon has a track record. Among the historical buildings they’ve converted to affordable housing are a closed CPS school in West Pullman and a vacant Baptist retirement home in Maywood. Their new construction includes a 50-unit, six-story building on Lawrence Avenue in Albany Park.
“Former Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s Invest South/West program is what brought them back to take on the other buildings. Celadon and Blackwood Group went in together on a proposal now called United Yards, which would run from Justine Street west to Paulina Street along the south side of 47th Street.
“The southwest corner has been a commercial corner since 1894, when Julius Oppenheimer and Simeon Lederer built a brick department store there. After it burned down in 1914, Oppenheimer brought in Alfred Aslchuler to design a new one.
“Across the street on the southeast corner, Depositors State Bank built an elegant new four-story building in 1924. The architect, W. Gibbons Uffendell, had the year before completed the Stony Island State Savings Bank, a Greek temple that artist Theaster Gates rehabbed and reopened in 2015 as the Stony Island Arts Bank.
“Rehab of the bank building on the southeast corner won’t start for at least a year, and Henry said it was not safe to take Reset inside. He said ‘it’s a time capsule,’ still with a lot of the furniture and finishes that were there when the last user moved out about half a century ago.
“Ornate columns like those on the building’s exterior are also inside, and they will ‘absolutely’ be kept as features in some of the apartments, he said.
“The capstone to all this is the old Goldblatt’s razor sign. The developers have an artist working on redoing it to say, ‘Back of the Yards.’ (Rodkin and Blomquist, WBEZ Chicago, 9/16/24)
Read or hear the full story at WBEZ Chicago
- What’s That Building? The institution is beloved not only as a venue, but also as a place to learn to create music, Dennis Rodkin and Haley Blomquist, WBEZ Chicago, 9/16/24
- Massive Back Of The Yards Project Gets $5 Million In TIF Funding; The money will support the $58 million United Yards project, bringing affordable housing, retail and a federally qualified health care center to 47th Street, Madison Savedra, Block Club Chicago, 4/20/23
- Back of the Yards project adapts historic buildings for housing, health center, coffee roaster United Yards, at 47th and Ashland, plans to offer 100 units of affordable housing, an entrepreneur hub and 60,000 square feet of retail and community space, Michael Loria, Chicago Sun-Times, 3/14/23
- Further Details Revealed For United Yards Development In Back Of The Yards, Ian Achong, Chicago YIMBY, 1/18/22
- $58M Development to Bring Retail, Affordable Housing to Back of the Yards, Acacia Hernandez, WTTW Chicago, 3/30/23
- United Yards breaks ground; The multi-phase project will include affordable housing, retail, and more, Lukas Kugler, Urbanize Chicago, 4/6/23
- Oppenheimer-Goldblatt Brothers Department Store Building Chicago Landmark Designation Report, March 7, 2013