“The redevelopment of the former Wilson Men’s Hotel building in Uptown has begun, with its new owners working to turn the former single-room occupancy building into micro-apartments. Early this month, developer City Pads started on renovations to the Wilson Men’s Hotel, 1124 W. Wilson Ave.
“The project will be called Wilson Club, and it will hold 76 micro-units and ground-floor retail. Of the 76 apartments, 15 will be considered affordable, said Clint Sabin, a spokesperson for the developer.
“Rents for the market-rate units, which will be between 250 to 400 square feet, will start at about $1,000, Sabin said.
“Some of the former residents of the Uptown Men’s Hotel were living in “deplorable” conditions due to a lack of maintenance by its previous owner, Sabin said.
“The roof was failing and was being held up by chicken wire in some cases, and half of the building’s shared bathrooms were non-functional, he said. The hotel has failed more than two dozen building inspections since the 1990s, including four consecutive inspections in 2016 and 2017, according to city records.” (Ward, 11/22/19)
Built in 1906, the building has been a hotel for at least 80 years. Rumor has it that it was a factory before that. (At nearly 33,000sf, it is big enough to have been.) In the 1920s and 1930s, it served primarily as a home for itinerant and seasonal laborers. (Uptown Update, 7/19/17)
Read the full article at Block Club Chicago
Read the full history at Uptown Update, Wilson Men’s Hotel Has Been Sold, 7/19/17