“The Chicago developer turning Uptown’s landmark Bridgeview Bank building into apartments has enlisted WeWork to operate co-working space on the property’s lower floors, the shared-office giant’s first location on Chicago’s North Side.
“In a rare deal by WeWork in a residential property, the New York-based company will run a 25,000-square-foot, two-story co-working space in the grand hall of the 12-story building at 4753 N. Broadway, which is being transformed by Chicago-based developer Cedar Street into 176 apartments.
“The deal highlights the evolving role co-working providers are playing in commercial real estate with more people working remotely. Companies struggling to figure out their office needs in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic have driven up demand for space offered by WeWork and its competitors, which can be leased by the month.
“The Uptown space, built out among ornate windows and recommissioned bank teller spaces in the 97-year-old building, will include 60 private offices with a total of 176 desks, as well as private phone booth offices and kitchen spaces. Some space will be dedicated for members of WeWork’s All Access program, which offers monthly subscriptions and access to hundreds of WeWork locations globally.
“Cedar Street, which has been one of the busiest apartment developers in the city, began work last year on the $58 million Bridgeview Bank redevelopment after landing $44 million in construction financing for the project.
“In addition to apartments on floors five through 12 and the WeWork space, the revamped property will include 13,500 square feet of retail space and 19,000 square feet of traditional office space. A spokeswoman for the firm said Cedar Street spent much of the past year restoring the lower floors of the building and work is now underway on the apartments, which are due to be completed by mid-2023.” (Ecker, Crain’s Chicago Business, 9/15/22)
Preservation Chicago presented strong testimony in support of the Bridgeview Bank adaptive reuse project. We played a significant role in the landmark designation of the Uptown Square Landmark District. This district provides protection to 57 properties within the Uptown Entertainment District, located along the commercial corridors of Lawrence, Broadway, and Racine.
This district provides protection to 57 properties within the Uptown Entertainment District, located along the commercial corridors of Lawrence, Broadway, and Racine. Landmark buildings now protected include the Uptown Theater, Aragon Ballroom, Riviera Theater, Essanay Studios, Green Mill, Wilson Avenue ‘L’ Station, Lawrence Hotel, People’s Church/Preston Bradley Center, and many of the beautiful historic commercial retail buildings, hotels and office buildings that make Uptown such an extraordinary neighborhood. The Landmark District also provides important economic incentives to help stimulate increased historically-sensitive investment and renovation.
In additional to strong advocacy for the Landmark District, Preservation Chicago pushed the proposal further by asking for the designation to extend beyond the façades and to include protections for the many wonderful interior lobbies and other notable spaces of the Riviera, and Aragon, the Uptown National Bank Building, and the WPA-Works Progress Administration murals in the Post Office.