LOGAN SQUARE — The 1920s-era former Logan Square Trust & Savings Bank building has been converted into “artsy” lofts, which are now available to rent for between $2,200 – $3,100 per month.
Local developer New Era Chicago carved out six apartments — four two-bedroom units and two one-bedroom units — on the upper floors and retail space on the ground floor.
In the basement is an old bank vault — similar to the one in the Wicker Park Walgreens — that is being converted into an escape room. When it opens within the next few months, it’ll be the second location for PanIQ Escape Room, which currently runs a room in the West Loop. New Era is still looking for a tenant for the 3,500-square-foot space along Milwaukee Avenue.
The luxury lofts were not the developer’s first choice for the stately bank building at 2551 N. Milwaukee Ave., which has a second entrance at 3061 W. Logan Blvd.
The building was in the running to become the future home of the iconic music club the Double Door, which was evicted from its longtime Wicker Park location in 2017.
But, much to the disappointment of property owners and New Era partners Mike Hagenson and Adam Saffro, that deal fell through after neighbors put up a fight. The Double Door is now moving to the Wilson Avenue Theater in Uptown.
“We really tried to make the Double Door deal work and everyone wanted it on our team and the Double Door’s team, and we were really hopeful and cautiously optimistic that it’d work for a lot of reasons. But we just weren’t getting the support we needed from the community,” Saffro said.
In 2017, Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd) said the Double Door owners didn’t realize that the process of moving the club would involve a zoning change — and getting neighbors living within 250 feet of the bank building on board.
At the time, Waguespack said neighbors believed the rock club would disturb the stretch of restaurants, retailers and apartment buildings near the Logan Square farmers market.
So, the plan was scrapped.
“Our first choice was the Double Door because it would have been such a perfect building for them — it has double doors,” Hagenson said. “But being able to do really artsy, unique lofts different than anything else on the market — it’s a great, great project as well.”
Hagenson and Saffro spent about a year doing renovations. The apartments are industrial and sleek with 18-foot ceilings, steel bow trusses, exposed brick and arch windows, among other details. Many of the design elements are original to the building, which was built in the early 1920s for Logan Square Trust & Savings Bank.
“Every unit is different. They’re all kind of like art projects,” Hagenson said, adding, “One of them is literally overlooking the entrance to the farmers market.”
Prior to the renovation, the space now occupied by the apartments was a “mothballed” attic being used to store medical files, Hagenson said. Logan Square Medical Institute and pharmacy called the building home from 1970 to 2016.
The apartments, which range in size from 800 to 1,300 square feet, are renting for between $2,200 and $3,100, depending on the unit.
“We’re happy with this outcome because we created really cool lofts for local residents,” Hagenson said.
Anyone interested in renting the lofts should contact New Era directly.
More photos below:
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