A demolition permit was issued on Friday, August 1 for a vintage greystone building at 3627 North Sheffield Avenue in Wrigleyville. That marks the third and final teardown to make room for a new residential development on the site that used to fill rooftops with Cubs fans peering over the right-field bleachers of Wrigley Field to watch baseball games.
The retired #23 honoring the late Ryne Sandberg flies atop the right field foul pole in front of 3627 North Sheffield Avenue next to Wrigley Field.
As were its two neighbors, 3627 North Sheffield was built around the turn of last century, making it about 125 years of age. It hosted rooftop fans as Skybox On Sheffield, and later as the Outfield Gallery, a club affiliated with the Lakeview Baseball Club at 3633 North Sheffield, which is itself in the midst of demolition.
Sunrise over 3627 North Sheffield Avenue in Wrigleyville
Photo by Daniel Schell
Outfield Gallery, 3627 North Sheffield Avenue. Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
It has been well documented what’s coming next. Wrigley Baseball Group LLC, led by developer Marc Anguiano, purchased 3633 and 3627 North Sheffield in 2012, according to Crain’s. They operated the rooftop establishments until the Cubs erected a video scoreboard behind the right field bleachers in 2015. That obstruction sapped the value of the properties for ticketing and entertaining purposes. WBG LLC then bought the building between them, at 3631 North Sheffield, which completed the set and allows them to redevelop on three contiguous lots. A plan to build a five-story, 29-unit residential project designed by DXU Architects was approved by City Council in August 2024.
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Skybox On Sheffield, 3627 North Sheffield Avenue. Photo by Daniel Schell
3631 North Sheffield was the first building of the three to be approved for demolition, with the city issuing the permit on February 25. That building is now gone. Next came 3633, which was issued its demo permit on April 23 of this year. The rooftop bleachers were taken down in early July, but most of the structure remains standing. Precision Excavation is the general contractor for all three teardowns.
Demolition progress on 3633 North Sheffield as of August 3, 2025.
There is not yet a construction permit pending in the Chicago Data Portal for the new development. A timeline for construction and residential availability has not been announced.
Rendering of 3627 North Sheffield by DXU Architects
Rendering of 3627 North Sheffield by DXU Architects
Updated rendering of 3627 North Sheffield by DXU Architects
Floor plans of 3627 North Sheffield by DXU Architects
Floor plans of 3627 North Sheffield by DXU Architects
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I hate this
Yo tambien! The ‘designers’ should be forced to reconstruct the original bldgs.
Gross. Tearing down historical walk-ups for shlock from the “Wrigley Baseball Group LLC” is a sign of how much the district has thrown its history and charm to the wolves over the last decade.
I like the rooftop! Wrigleyville rents are out of control, the neighborhood needs new larger apartments like these, and then it needs 20 more.
The existing buildings had affordable rent. The new 29 unit apartments will be high rent. There are many available lots to tear down and build on especially just south on Sheffield.
The new building has 11 affordable units + another 18 market rate apartments. More supply = cheaper rent for everyone
Josh, 6 affordable units would meet the 20% requirement. Are you sure there will be 11 here?
> “The existing buildings had affordable rent.”
Why would you say that? You don’t know that. Unless the units are rent controlled (they weren’t), there’s no way a unit 30 feet away from Wrigley Field and 50 feet away from the Red Line is affordable.
These units will make housing in Chicago cheaper because all the people who can afford a unit here won’t be competing for the less desirable units that SHOULD be affordable to the working class but currently aren’t. More housing, especially more housing near transit, makes the city better.
> There are many available lots to tear down and build on
Yeah, like this one 😇
You should share whatever you’re smoking if you are thinking that new
construction will somehow translate into anything but a loss of relatively affordable housing. I don’t know how anyone can be this clueless in a neighborhood with a well documented history of gentrification and displacement, you really must think city folk are a bunch of rubes. 🙄
New housing makes housing more abundant. More abundant housing lowers housing prices. You can’t displace without scarcity
The new construction of today will be affordable housing in 50 years.
Your comments about prices decreasing with increased supply of housing implies that landlords are playing by those rules still. If all the landlords decide to just keep their prices the same once there is this ‘increase in supply’ then prices don’t go down. There will never be a decrease in prices ever again unless it is forced by law end of story. The standard market price in Chicago for a 1 bed is never going to be back below $1800/month ever again.
They’ll have no choice if they can’t find tenants. It’s baffling how people no longer seem to understand supply and demand when it comes to housing.
Really angering. Please vote out the alderman who approved this decision.
100%. And he was also the acting interim chair for Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards at the time of the city council vote last August. A complete conflict of interest when his 3rd top donor was this exact project owner. I knew this city was corrupt, but really realized it with how alderman Lawson tried to bury this project from the community.
I hate tear downs! We need more housing! No cars! TREES!
Why is Chicago tearing down it’s architectural heritage? This is a travesty!!
Vote this Alderman out. Were those 1960’s building wall can lights refurbished from a strip mall tear down? Changing the typical cheap developer facade by adding arches is another example of putting lipstick on a very ugly pig.
I am beyond furious.
I usually think the buildings being torn down that people are up in arms about are ugly or degraded long past their prime, but I have to admit that these builds were beautiful. Regardless, I live in the neighborhood and we need more housing. Desperately. Cities change and grow; no person or group has the right to ossify an urban environment. Cities are a lived environment first and foremost; we can’t allow them to become museums.
Still so pissed about this, these homes make wrigley special so terrible
I’d say most people agree that the architecture is #3 or #4 on what makes Wrigleyville special. After Wrigley Field, the Red Line stop right next to Wrigley Field, and all the bars.
The alderman gained approval for this at an east Lakeview community meeting with less than 50 attendees. Meanwhile, I shut down the petition with over 3500 signatures opposed to this project, people wanting to save the 3 buildings. Alderman Lawson had been contacted by Preservation Chicago etc. Greed and no respect for the one block with all historic buildings surrounding the landmarked ballpark. Disgusting greed. What a disgrace.
Meanwhile, the massive empty lot at 3440 North Broadway, zoned for multifamily, is used as a spothero lot….
The empty lot is definitely an added insult. Just like DePaul tearing out unique historic buildings for a contemporary athletic center when there’s a huge surface lot a block away.
I don’t know what it is about Chicago builders but it’s as if they target some of the nicest historic structures in an area and replace it with simplified modern boxes stripped of any character when often times there’s either vacant lots or homes that are nothing special on the same block.
The Alderman should be voted out of office. Approving the destruction of historic beautiful Chicago vernacular architecture to be replaced with totally banal visual garbage is beyond shameful. Ald Lawson needs to live in this ugly piece of crap.
The vintage residential buildings along Sheffield and Waveland Avenues have long served as the charming and uniquely Chicago panoramic backdrop beyond the ivy at Wrigley. True, the recent video boards have broken up this sweeping vista into segments, but these steadfast structures have remained within view, and thus continue to contribute to the contention of most that, despite the techy modernizations, Wrigley’s singular ambience remains in tact.
Enter the demolition of these three venerable structures and the proposed clumsily pastiche that will be this development, designed by a firm whose website splash-page proudly displays a Five Guys and a Popeyes. Architectural insult AND injury!
Alderman Bennett, you should be ashamed of yourself!
I agree with all the criticisms stated here, and I’m glad there are so many of them. I had the chance to walk around Wrigleyville a few years ago before these teardowns happened. This is a travesty just about every sense.
Lame
Im sure the old buildings were taxed to death, forcing the owners to redevelop. City and state need to address the bloated pension system and lower property taxes. This will stop the enormous burden creating the high rents you all are complaining about. The Alderman had multiple community meetings on this project and it was approved by the active community members. All the complaining on this site appears to be the inactive community, too busy to attend the meetings
Terrible decision.