The Community Development Commission has approved Tax Increment Financing (TIF) money for the redevelopment of the Armour Institute Building in Bronzeville. Located at 3300 S Federal Street, the structure is located on the edge of the Illinois Institute of Technology campus next to the Metra tracks along W 33rd Street. MCM Company and Washington Park Development Group are the developers behind the project.
Built in 1893 as the main building for the Armour Institute, the predecessor to the Illinois Institute of Technology, the historic masonry structure was designed in the Romanesque Revival style by Patton & Fisher. The property was designated as a Chicago landmark in 2004 and put on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005. Significant features include the exterior brick facade, all rooflines, and the Philip Armour memorial stained glass window.
Interior of Armour Institute Building at 3300 S Federal Street. Image by Pappageorge Haymes
Designed by Pappageorge Haymes, the redevelopment will convert the academic building into residential space. The newly renovated project will hold 102 dwellings, a mix of 82 market-rate and 20 affordable units. Residences includes 19 studios averaging 400 square feet and 83 one-bedroom apartments averaging 492 square feet.
The conversion will feature amenities including a fitness center, community rooms, bicycle storage, and a new rooftop deck. An existing boiler structure along the south side of the building will be rebuilt with alterations to provide additional dwellings and common area uses. Work will include renovation and life safety improvements throughout the building, including the addition of a new enclosed stair from basement to roof. Exterior work will include the removal of two fire escapes from the north and south facades and the repair or replacement of masonry walls of face brick, terra cotta and sandstone. Existing wood double hung windows will also be repaired and replaced as needed.
Interior of Armour Institute Building at 3300 S Federal Street. Image by Pappageorge Haymes
Developers purchased the building from Illinois Institute of Technology in 2017 and negotiated a ground lease for the land after the school stopped using it in 2007. The approximately $27 million project will be partially funded by $4.5 million in historic tax credits as well as through the $5.5 million in TIF money approved by the Community Development Commission. Construction for the renovation is expected to begin this spring.
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What a gorgeous building. I’m glad for this adaptive reuse.
Why would TIF money be spent for a nontaxgenerating development?
It will be a tax generating development seeing as the school sold the property to developers who are converting the building to residential.