CHICAGO—Cedar Street Co., has just purchased the Bush Temple of Music at 800 N. Clark St. on the Near North Side for $12.5 million and plans to transform the historic structure into a multifamily and retail development called FLATS No. 800. This is the Chicago-based holding company's eighth property in the city, but the first on the Near North Side. Associated Bank provided $7.5 million in acquisition financing.
Built in 1901, the Bush Temple was originally home to the Bush and Gerts Piano Co. and designed by architect J.E.O. Pridmore. Cedar Street plans a gut renovation and stabilization of the property and create a fully-furnished building for tenants and about 13,000-square-feet of commercial retail space in the ground lobby.
“We love working with historic assets,” Alex Samoylovich, Cedar's managing partner, tells GlobeSt.com. “And we're specialists in adaptive reuse" that "maintain a focus on creating spaces with character and soul. This property's rich history and unique architecture embodies that spirit and allows us to expand our love for community to the Near North Side.”
The company plans to construct between 90 and 100 "micro-units," each with about 350- to 450-square-feet, and attract young professionals seeking affordable living space just minutes from downtown. "They spend a lot of time at work and outside the home at other activities," Samoylovich adds, and many would prefer having access to a host of community amenities rather than extra personal living space. Tenants will most likely pay between $900 and $1200 per month.
He envisions transforming the building into a real community for its residents. "We will look for lifestyle tenants," for the commercial space such as a yoga studio, bike shop, lounges, and a cafe. It will also feature a state-of the-art fitness facility, free Wi-Fi, electronic entry system with key FOB access to units and main door, video surveillance security systems, 24-hour door staff, on-site office staffed full-time and a garden with barbecues.
In the past 6 years, Cedar Street has stabilized over $500 million of distressed multifamily, hospitality, office, and retail real estate. It has developed more than 1,500 micro-units in neighborhoods like Uptown and Edgewater, says Samoylovich. "We're probably the largest micro-unit developer in Chicago, probably the Midwest."
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Brian J. Rogal
Brian J. Rogal is a Chicago-based freelance writer with years of experience as an investigative reporter and editor, most notably at The Chicago Reporter, where he concentrated on housing issues. He also has written extensively on alternative energy and the payments card industry for national trade publications.
