Demolition took place this past week on a single-story concrete block building on West Grace Street in North Center. And that means we could see the start of construction work on a five-story, 62-unit residential development imminently.
Club Grace, which already has a website, gained a construction permit in February of this year, followed by a demolition permit addressed as 1801 West Grace on July 21. But it wasn’t until now that demo work got started, and it was over quickly. A fly-by on the Brown Line on Tuesday, December 16 showed no activity on the lot, but by Saturday the 20th, the modest building had been reduced to several carefully-sorted piles of debris and rubble. Bridges Excavating is in charge of the razing.
This was a *very* modest building. Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Tuesday: no sign of demo equipment
Saturday: no sign of the building. Photo by Daniel Schell
An express permit issued by the city in May called for a change of ownership. Capitol 99 LLC, an entity registered in Cornelius, NC, was replaced by NL 1801 Grace Owner LLC & Grace Propco LLC, a local establishment registered to a North Park Address. The change did not mention a new general contractor, who was named in the original permit as Moments Notice Services. We’re all quite fond of their work at 4907 North Paulina. Jonathan Splitt Architects handled design work on the project.
Club Grace rendering by Jonathan Splitt Architects
Club Grace rendering by Jonathan Splitt Architects
1805 West Grace Street first floor plan. Rendering by Jonathan Splitt Architects
1805 West Grace Street typical floor plan. Rendering by Jonathan Splitt Architects
Site context of 1805 West Grace Street, via Google Maps
Club Grace is projected to cost just under $24 million to build, with the February construction permit accounting for about half of that total, at $12.2 million for its reported cost. Details for the residences include 31 parking spaces; 20 of them will be in a garage on the ground floor, and the other 11 will be outdoors under cover. There will be storage for 62 bikes, a roof deck atop the fifth floor, and inset balconies for most units. The structure will include a basement level.
A Brown Line train heads north past the future site of Club Grace. Photo by Daniel Schell
1801 West Grace from under the L. Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Assume that structure along the left side of this photo will be removed as well. Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Nearby transit options, via Google Maps
The construction site is located next to the Trader Joe’s and Pet Supplies Plus stores at North Lincoln Avenue and Grace Street. The property is bound by Grace Street to the north, an industrial building to the south, and the Metra and CTA L tracks to the east and west, respectively. For access to those trains, the L is more convenient, with the Addison and Irving Park Brown Line platforms both within 10-minute brisk walks. Metra’s nearest UP-N access, even the trains will zip right past Club Grace’s windows, is 1.2 miles north at Ravenswood station. CTA buses including the #152 Addison, #80 Irving Park, #50 Damen, and #9 Ashland routes are within four-block walks.
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This is next to the train track and behind a Trader Joe’s. It should’ve been an automatic TOD and at least a couple more floors with a couple dozens more units.