Now that the commercial building at 1950 West Lawrence Avenue in Ravenswood no longer exists, foundation work has begun for the five-story residential building that will take its place. Vista Group Realty is delivering 12 units to this site, after purchasing the property in July of last year after it had already been approved for new construction.
The five-story structure on the way will contain all 12 of its dwelling units on the four upper floors. The ground level will contain indoor parking, along with some retail space to replace what was lost with the furniture store’s demolition.
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
It has been quite a permit journey for 1950 West Lawrence. The start of construction was approved on March 21, 2023, but since then, the entire team has changed, save for architect of record Jonathan SPLITT Architects. Reinstatements were permitted to keep the project alive in 2024, with the most recent one requiring a start date no later than May 2025; that has been accomplished. Demo of the furniture store was permitted on January 6 of this year. Then on January 24, two more permits were issued, with one indicating that Vista Group has taken over as the general contractor, and the other changing their ownership designation to that of Oxford Terraces LLC.
Cleaning up the old foundation, first week of February. Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Hauling away salvaged bricks, 02/03/2025. Photo by Daniel Schell
Mulroy Demolition & Excavation of Lincolnwood, IL was the demo contractor; they got started in late January and by early February, they had the foundation cleaned out and ready to start anew.
Only the facade remaining, January 25. Photo by Daniel Schell
01/25/2025. Photo by Daniel Schell
01/25/2025. Photo by Daniel Schell
Demolition of 1950 West Lawrence, January 23. Photo by Daniel Schell
January 23, 2025. Photo by Daniel Schell
January 23, 2025. Photo by Daniel Schell
Residents of 1950 West Lawrence will live within a two-block walk of the Ravenswood Metra station and its access to UP-N trains. The north origin of the southbound, newly rerouted Route 9 Ashland Avenue bus is located next to the Metra station. One block west of their building, at the intersection of Lawrence and Damen Avenues, residents will find stops for Route 81 and 50 buses. Two blocks south, on Damen Avenue, is the Damen Brown Line elevated train platform.
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Oh no I was hoping they would keep that facade as it is (was) terra cotta.
The terracotta facade was beautiful. There should be zero parking for the amount of transit adjacent options.
It was no the best example of terra cotta, but it seems like it would have been relatively easy to incorporate it into the new structure. ARGH!