Horizon Begins Renovation of North Shore

CHICAGO—The old North Shore Retirement Hotel, a building for senior citizens in Evanston at 1611 Chicago Ave., sits in a very desirable area and a developer could easily choose to transform it into luxury student housing or high-end rental apartments, but Horizon Realty Group, a local developer, has opted to preserve it as a retirement community.

“Because of its location, there were many options for this parcel, and we looked at it from every angle, but in the end, we didn’t want to displace the seniors,” says Jeffrey Michael, the chief operating officer of Horizon, which bought it last year. “The building has gotten kind of tired and it has not been renovated in many years,” and even though that has caused it to lose tenants, Michael says it remains one of the few places in Evanston and the surrounding towns that provides seniors with comfortable homes they can rent, instead of purchase, a key housing need Horizon wants to continue providing.