A permit has been issued by the City of Chicago to transform an 1890s masonry three-unit residence a block west of Wrigley Field into a 15-unit building. With that issuance on June 3, 3651 North Wilton Avenue in Wrigleyville can now add a fourth floor atop the existing building and erect a four-story addition in the side yard to the south as it expands with the additional 12 residences. Filed as new construction rather than a renovation or alteration, the permit comes through with a reported cost of $9.5 million.
3651 North Wilton Avenue. Photo by Daniel Schell
The side yard gets a four-story addition with a basement. Photo by Daniel Schell
The existing building has a basement, and the new addition will have one as well. An open metal stairway will be built on the back of the building connecting decks at each level, and a six-foot fence will enclose the property. A garage on the site was approved for demolition in October 2025, and will be replaced with a new brick structure with a rooftop deck. Though the permit does not specify the number of parking spaces it will contain, an application for a variation approved by the Zoning Board of Appeals refers to a five-car garage.
From the alley, post-garage demolition. Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
The entity of 3651 N Wilton LLC, registered in Elk Grove Village, purchased the building for $2,050,000 in October of last year, per real estate records. They’ve enlisted Mario Cruz of LAM Architects in Ukrainian Village as the architect of record. AVIAF Development, which the permits shows at the same Elk Grove Village address as the developer, is designated as the general contractor. real estate records show the LLC purchasing the property for $2,050,000 in October of last year. They had applied for the addition permit a month earlier. Within a month of the purchase they had received permission to tear down a detached garage at the rear of the lot. Brophy Excavation performed the work at a reported cost of $5,4000.
This garage has already been demolished. Image via Google Street View
A Street View image from July 2018. The greenery covering the building pointed to its “Sold As Is” status
Site context of 3651 North Wilton Avenue, via Google Maps
The project appeared before the Zoning Board of Appeals back in December to address a number of applications, all of which were approved. They included:
– an application for a variation to reduce the north side setback from
the required 4′ to zero, (south side setback to 3′), combined side
setback from 10′ to 3′, rear setback from 36.06′ to 22′, for a
proposed four-story addition
– an application for a variation to relocate the 540 square feet of rear
yard open space to a garage roof deck of a proposed five car
attached garage
-an application for a variation to exceed the 2.0 floor area ratio by an
amount not to exceed 15% of the floor area in existence for 50
years. The floor area shall be increased by 733 square feet for a
proposed four-story addition
– an application for variation to reduce the on-site required parking
from fifteen spaces to five spaces
It is not yet clear if the new 15-unit project will be rentals or condos, though rental apartments seems likely given three three-to-one parking ration. There has also been indication as to a completion date.
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I wonder if they are going to pull the crown up and slide in the new floor and then mirror the new building. Or do some kind of blue glass modern slap on?
“…pull the crown up and slide in the new floor”? You gotta be kidd’n!
great to save a “good building”. Will the developer see to it that the additions are respectful to the existing architecture……
This is the type of development I want to see more of! More of this and less of deconverting or demolishing 2 or 3 flats for single family homes
I hope it’s a sleek 21st century box that clearly doesn’t fit with the existing building lol