“A permit issued by the City of Chicago will allow an addition to be built at the rear of a vintage greystone rental building at 1539 North Wells Street in Old Town. An application was filed for the project on April 1 of this year, with permission granted on July 18 that included a reported construction cost of an even $1 million. The developer is named as 1539 N Wells LLC.
“A listing of the property with Essex Realty Group indicates the existing four-story building, built in 1896 per real estate records, contains four occupied apartments, and the new permit allows four more units to be added in a five-story addition. Designs for the new building were created by 2rz Architecture. Product Construction Corp of Barrington is listed as the general contractor.
“All four of the new units will be four-bedroom rental apartments, with renderings showing each featuring a private balcony facing the alley. There will be four parking spaces, two of which will be covered, and storage for three bicycles. The parking spaces will be accessed from the dead-end alley egressed from LaSalle Street.” (Schell, Chicago YIMBY, 7/25/25)
Preservation Chicago applauds the developer for incorporating the historic building into the new construction. This maintains the historic material, scale, and streetscape, while investing in a new, higher density residential building.
Read the full story at Chicago YIMBY
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