“Initial details have been revealed for the upcoming residential conversion of the existing office building at 209 West Jackson Boulevard in The Loop. Also known as the McKinlock Building, the structure sits on the corner with South Wells Street and has suffered a similar fate as many surrounding buildings, with low office occupancy rates post-pandemic.
“Built in 1898, the 12-story building has maintained its original office use since opening and has undergone a few renovations since its completion, most recently in 2019. Reaching 185 feet in height, the structure contains 143,000 square feet of office space, including ground-floor commercial space. However, these days it is roughly 30 percent leased.” (Achong, Chicago YIMBY, 6/11/26)
“A development team plans to turn a mostly vacant vintage Loop office building into about 180 apartments, adding a large-scale project to the wave of conversion proposals set to reshape downtown Chicago.
“Chicago-based Mavrek Development is poised to enter into a joint venture with Acres Capital for a project that would turn the 12-story property at 209 W. Jackson Blvd. into residences, Acres CEO Mark Fogel said.
“The plans add to the growing number of office-to-residential conversions in the pipeline in downtown Chicago amid the waning demand for workspace. Meanwhile, apartment rents are rising as challenges in the debt and equity markets over the past few years have made it harder to get shovels in the ground for bigger projects.
“‘We felt like it was a good opportunity in the Chicago market to create some value. The Chicago market has not seen a lot of multifamily deliveries in the past few years, so it’s a tight market, and we saw that the rental rates continue to increase dramatically every year,’ Fogel said.
“The project, which has estimated total development costs of about $90 million, is targeted for completion in early 2029. The financing structure will likely include federal historic preservation tax credits, similar to another Acres-Mavrek collaboration underway in the Loop at 65 E. Wacker Place. That 252-unit project is expected to welcome its first residents in August.
“While a slate of city-backed projects around the LaSalle Street corridor will bring hundreds of apartments to the financial district in the coming years, the conversions at 65 E. Wacker Place and 209 W. Jackson Blvd. are among the first privately-funded, large-scale conversions to emerge, along with the conversion of Salesforce’s former office at 111 W. Illinois St. Smaller conversion proposals have also popped up around downtown, including plans to turn the Pontiac Building in Printer’s Row into 74 apartments.” (Herzog, Crain’s Chicago Business, 6/1/26)
Read the full story at Crain’s Chicago Business and Chicago YIMBY
- Details Revealed For 209 West Jackson Street In The Loop, Ian Achong, Chicago YIMBY, 6/11/26
- Another vintage Loop office building teed up for residential conversion, Rachel Herzog, Crain’s Chicago Business, 6/1/26
- 209 West Jackson Shows Chicago’s Office Conversion Wave Is Entering Its Next Phase, Travis Barrington, Propmodo, 6/8/26