Updated plans have been revealed for the residential conversion of the existing building at 3601 West Cortland Street in Logan Square. Located on the corner with North Central Park Avenue, the building previously served as a substance abuse recovery center but has sat vacant in recent years after multiple redevelopment attempts.
Site context map of 3601 W Cortland St via Google Maps
Site plan of 3601 W Cortland St by Baker Barrios
The current plans are being led by the same team behind the last redevelopment attempt, that being Key Development Partners along with architecture firm Baker Barrios. The proposal encompasses the four-story building along with its adjacent surface parking lot, which would be preserved. The U-shaped structure would have its side lightwell filled in for additional unit space.
Floor plans of 3601 W Cortland St by Baker Barrios
The updated lower levels would include a small lobby, amenity space, bike storage room, fitness room, and plenty of tenant storage. The rest of the building will hold 42 residential units made up of studios and one-bedroom layouts, of which six will be affordable. The last floor will also include a new party room/tenant lounge connected to a small outdoor terrace on top of the side expansion.
Elevation of 3601 W Cortland St by Baker Barrios
Rents for the units will range from $1,600 to $2,100 per month, with residents also being able to lease one of the 34 fenced-in parking spaces next door for $150 per month, per Block Club. The plans presented to the community last weekend received minor feedback on parking and traffic. The team will now need alderwoman approval along with that of the Zoning Board of Appeals for variances.
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It will be interesting to see how many of those parking spaces people will be willing to pay extra for. I personally would have proposed a partial 3 story addition (keeping the parking below) along Cortland to max out the total FAR (they seem to be a couple thousand below), which would allow for a few 2 bedroom units.
Do you think it would be worth the cost of building a foundation and 2 floors of a parking garage for a just few more 2-bedroom units?
Supposedly, they just announced a development freeze for most of Logan Square along Armitage Ave and the surrounding area by order of the Ald. Fuentes. A real piece of work she is…
This includes approved projects that also meet the 20% affordability requirement. The next mayor needs to burn this cancer.
You’re a liar. Fuentes put a hold on any new zoning intake for the month of Sep until her office can catch up with all the requests. No one except the Building Dept. can put a stop work order on an approved build.
Do your own research, a**hole.
Developers were notified Friday 9/4/26 via email that all projects along Armitage are stopped due to “increasing concerns from community partners”
That post from the alderman is not a “development freeze for most of Logan Square along Armitage Ave and the surrounding area” “Freeze” – get a dictionary.
Just gonna ignore the other bits presented?
That’s called ignorance.
Jim is correct. An Alderman cannot freeze development. They can block zoning changes, but it is the Building Dept that issues building permits.
This is just another classic case of why Aldermanic prerogative is so harmful. No matter what the reason (too dense, too much gentrification), it’s the same issue, different reason. Going through the Alderman to get a zoning change is a broken way to do things.
So, if we tiptoe around the definition of “freeze,” and a growing list of projects don’t “conform” to the zoning while should-be-approved projects can’t get off the ground, isn’t that a form of freezing the neighborhood out of fear of gentrification?
606 Trail experienced this once before, when they “froze” development along the 3-mile stretch until their arbitrary desires said so.
Legally, no, it’s not a piece of legislation halting all progress. Economically, that world of invisible numbers is saying otherwise. But inference is a challenge amongst today’s troubled minds.
Per Alderman’s Office
“Ultimately, our office did not support the proposal at 3255 W Armitage because our Zoning Advisory Committee (ZAC), which is made up of local organizations and residents with longstanding experience engaging and working within the community, did not believe the proposal adequately responded to the housing needs of the surrounding neighborhood. The proposal included approximately 80 units, with only 20% affordability required under the City’s Affordable Requirements Ordinance (ARO) and no additional options for deeper affordability. Additionally, the proposed market-rate rents exceeded $2,000 for some of the smallest units offered. Given the displacement pressures already facing this part of the ward, we asked the development team to provide greater affordability, but they were not willing to increase what was offered.
We do not believe the choice for Armitage should be between vacant properties and development that may further contribute to residents being priced out. We want to see these sties developed and new housing and businesses added to the corridor, but in a way that allows current residents to remain in the neighborhood and benefit from that investment. Our office is continuing to think carefully about the future of Armitage and how development along the corridor can support both reinvestment and housing stability. We appreciate you reaching out and participating in the conversation.”
Projects halted or abandoned because the Alderman’s office impeded progress to the point of no longer being feasible.
3322 W. Pierce Ave: An adaptive-reuse proposal to convert a vacant church into 23 condos and apartments(with 7 dedicated affordable units) has been sitting without a decision since December 2023.
1705 N. Richmond: Another adaptive-reuse project to convert a church into an 8-unit apartment building. Proposal withdrawn.
4870–4874 W. Armitage Ave: A 12-unit residential development submitted in early 2026 marked incomplete.
3642–3652 W. North Ave: A 10-unit mixed-use building submitted in mid-2025 with no decision.
1048 N. Christiana Ave: An 8-unit residential building offering ADA accessibility and ARO affordable units, submitted in mid-2026 and unresolved.
3340-50 West North Avenue: These are contiguous empty lots at the inspection of North and Kimball (two major bus routes). In the absence of proactive upzoning (which Fuentes has actively resisted) to encourage high density TOD she instead approved a request to make them… a drive-through Dunkin Donuts.
Happy to see they’re preserving the vintage parking lot.
I think this project is being done by Baker Barrios now not OKW.
What a fine, spare building. Very glad to see such an elegant old structure preserved.
If this is in Fuentes ward no shot of it happening, she has been blocking everything on Armitage… oh, new building proposed in an empty lot that could help the housing shortage… denied!!!! someone has to do something about her
I wish our leaders would realize that simply facilitating the construction of units as fast as possible makes all units in the entire area “affordable” by increasing the supply of housing and reducing the pricing power of landlords and developers. Setting aside certain units as “affordable” just makes it more difficult to design buildings, creates delays in review and planning, discourages developers from building at all, and is overall counterproductive to their stated goal. Multiple studies, as well as centuries of economic evidence, backs up my claim. But hey, I guess the alderperson knows best, eh?