The City of Chicago issued a demolition permit on February 18 for 4943 North Damen Avenue, a single-story masonry commercial building in the Ravenswood neighborhood. Once that building out of the way, construction can begin on the forthcoming residential replacement for the site, for which a new permit is still pending in the Chicago Data Portal.
Rendering of 4943 North Damen Avenue by Red Architects
Site plan of 4943 North Damen Avenue by Red Architects
Typical floor plans and roof plan for 4943 North Damen Avenue by Red Architects
The Northbrook, IL entity of 926 Oak Inc. applied for a construction permit on January 29. They plan to erect a five-story, 16-unit building on the site with an attached 16-car garage. The permit indicates 16 spaces for bicycles, although available floor plans don’t show their location. The first floor will contain one large commercial space fronting Damen Avenue, and a roof deck will top the fifth floor. Red Architects is named as the architect of record, and Archway Builders of Northbrook is the general contractor.
47th Ward Alderman Matt Martin signed off on the development back in September. City Council approved the plans last month.
4943 North Damen Avenue. Photo by Daiel Schell
Archway Builders and Red Architects teamed up for the building next door at 4939 North Damen. They got a permit on the last day of November 2022 to build 12 condominiums in a four-story building with ground-floor retail and a 12-car garage. Those have been completed, and a recent real estate listing for Unit 203 indicates it as the only remaining unsold condo in the building. That permit came with a $2 million reported cost; it is not yet known what the reported cost of the 4943 permit will be.
The demolition of 4943 North Damen is unrelated to a structure fire immediately north at 4949-4953. An April 2025 fire damaged businesses in that building, but a renovation permit was issued in January to make repairs.
Site context of 4943 North Damen Avenue, via Google Maps
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Excellent. Nice density upgrade