Posts Tagged new use for old fire house

New use for old Chicago firehouse (more)

This from Dennis McGuire, Jr:

Excerpts from chicagoblockclub.com:

The rehabilitation of two historical Jefferson Park buildings could help revitalize the neighborhood, and the developer is looking for tenants.

For the past eight years, developer Tim Pomaville has been working to transform the Jefferson Park firehouse at 4841 N. Lipps Ave. into a mixed-use residential development. The initial plans involved Lake Effect Brewing Company setting up its taproom on the ground floor, but years of delays and complications to buy and rezone the property prompted the brewery to pull the plug in 2022.

Ambrosia Homes, Inc. has similar plans for the Lero building at 4762 N. Milwaukee Ave. Pomaville. Both buildings are ready for commercial tenants to draw people to Jefferson Park. Ambrosia Homes unveiled plans to invest $2.4 million into the former Jefferson Park firehouse in 2018.

Built in 1906, the firehouse has been vacant for years. The city council agreed to sell the property to Ambrosia Homes in 2021 as part of its $1 land sale program. Ambrosia paid $208,000 to the city, which used the money for remediation reimbursement. Lead paint and asbestos had to be removed from the fire station.

With Lake Effect’s taproom on the ground floor, the plan was to add a third floor and building nine apartment units in the upper levels.

The property had to undergo a zoning change in 2020, and a liquor sales ban was lifted along the street in 2021. After six years of waiting, Lake Effect couldn’t weather any more delays as its lease at 4727 W. Montrose Ave. was up at the end of 2022, the owner said at the time. Instead, the brewery found a different location.

Now, Ambrosia Homes is looking for another business to take over the space. The ground floor could be split into two 4,000-square-foot units that would each be rented for about $3,700 a month. Plans for the residential portion of the building have also changed. The firehouse will likely remain two stories, and the upstairs will have four apartments.

While some potential tenants have asked about buying the firehouse, Ambrosia Homes is not looking to sell.

Named after its former owner, the building functioned as a billiard hall and amateur boxing ring in the 1920s. Over the years, the two-story bow truss building has also housed a relief center for people struggling with food insecurity, a community hall and a furniture business. The building has largely sat vacant for the past 30 years.

The Lero is a prime location just a short walk from the Jefferson Park Blue Line station and next to a cannabis dispensary called Cannabist, which revitalized two empty storefronts in 2022.

Like the Jefferson Park firehouse, the Lero’s ground floor could be split into two 5,000-square-foot units. Rent for each would be $3,800 a month, but Ambrosia Homes is willing to sell the building for $695,000.

If Ambrosia retains ownership of the Lero, they plan on building six apartments on the upper floor and are considering adding a third floor. The building has six parking spots in the back.

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New use for old Chicago firehouse (more)

This from Dennis McGuire, Jr.:

Engine 108’s old house on Lipps.

Excerpts from bookclubchicago.org:

Lake Effect Brewing Company’s planned move to a historic Jefferson Park firehouse has been scrapped, but the brewer still plans to open a taproom nearby.

Lake Effect Brewing partnered with developer Ambrosia Homes in 2016 with plans to open its first taproom and kitchen on the ground floor of a vacant firehouse at 4841 N. Lipps Ave. Last year, the city council agreed to sell the firehouse, built in 1906, to Ambrosia Homes for $1. Nine rental loft apartments were planned on the floors above. The $2.4 million development was scheduled to be completed by this summer, but the city has been slow to approve needed permits.

The location was approved for a zoning change in 2020 and a liquor sales ban was lifted along the street last year, but with the clock ticking on Lake Effect’s current space at 4727 W. Montrose Ave., the brewery owner said he  couldn’t wait any longer. The brewery’s lease is up at the end of the year, and the timeline for the firehouse project remains uncertain. After looking at several empty buildings along the Northwest Side that had the correct zoning and liquor moratorium rules, Lake Effect secured an Avondale storefront this month and plans to move operations in the next few months.

The firehouse development is still moving forward despite delays and is waiting for the city to approve small rendering changes with hopes that construction can begin later this summer. The developer will add a third floor to the firehouse for apartments, which needs to be completed before any work can begin on the ground floor.

If construction can begin later this summer, tenants could move into the apartments by summer 2023.

 

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New use for old firehouse

Excerpts from the DailyHerald.com:

Once the location for fire trucks and ambulances — and maybe even firehouse chili — the shuttered downtown Rolling Meadows fire station could be converted into a food hall that developers hope could become a destination in the Northwest suburbs.

Coaction Corp. has proposed purchasing the 64-year-old former Station 15 at 3111 Meadow Drive from the city and turning it into The Firehall, an eatery with six booths that would be leased to independent vendors and restaurants, including local craft beer brewer Leaky Keg. Other tenants could include a Thai restaurant, a charcuterie booth, a cocktail bar and a bakery/coffee shop.

Coaction has submitted preliminary floor and site plans to city hall, and on Tuesday night, the company publicly unveiled the concept during a city council committee-of-the-whole meeting.

Under the preliminary plans, restaurants would rent booth spaces ranging in size from 100 to 500 square feet on the ground floor. Tables and chairs would be throughout the hall, along with picnic tables with umbrellas for dining outside the three firehouse garage doors.

A proposed phase two calls for the opening of a cocktail bar on the second floor owned and operated by Coaction called Hosed, which would serve mixed drinks, wine and liquor; and the relocation of Leaky Keg and doubling of the dining space.

The two-story, 5,400-square-foot brick building has been on the market for nearly two years. It was decommissioned in December 2019 when the new $5.8 million, 11,925-square-foot Station 15 opened along Algonquin Road.

The online real estate ad, which lists the property for sale at $549,000, makes reference to the city’s 2019 comprehensive plan that recommends a commercial adaptive reuse of the old firehouse with a possible restaurant. In fact, the planning document includes one such example of a former firehouse-turned-brew pub: The Firehouse Grill, which is inside a restored early 1900s firehouse in Evanston.

The owners would also offer vendors a centralized catering manager as a way to gain additional revenue.

thanks Drew

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Chicago Fire Department history

This from Steve Redick:

I visited Engine 42’s old house and was shocked to see the new doors on the west side of the building and the refurbished wood on the front of the house. The inside shots look they are working on the original bay doors. Looks to me like it is gonna be a restaurant or bar, anyone know?
interior of old Chicago firehouse

Steve Redick photo

Chicago FD former firehouse of Engine 42

Steve Redick photo

Chicago FD former firehouse of Engine 42

Steve Redick photo

Chicago FD former firehouse of Engine 42

Steve Redick photo

new doors on old fire station

Steve Redick photo

interior of old Chicago firehouse

Steve Redick photo

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Elk Grove Village Fire Department news

Excerpts from the journal-topics.com:

Elk Grove Village officials are expected to close on a $407,000 real estate contract later this month to sell the former Fire Station No. 9 on Greenleaf Avenue to a warehousing, light assembly, and shipping company,  CH Global Holdings LLC of Bensenville, doing business as TI Express. The company is consolidating its operations in Mount Prospect and Bensenville, moving them to the site of the former Elk Grove Village fire station at 1655 Greenleaf Ave.

Village officials recently cut the ribbon on two new fire stations, one of which combines the operations of fire stations No. 9 and No. 8 into one location at 700 Fargo.

In May, village trustees adopted a Cook County 6B property tax incentive recommendation to TI Express. Documents say the company will bring its 12 employees to the new location, and another 20 to 25 employees are expected to be hired within the next three years. The project should also generate 10 to 20 construction jobs.

A Cook County 6B property tax incentive lowers property tax rates for 12 years. In the first 10 years, rates are dropped from 25 percent to 10 percent, in year 11 that rises to 15 percent, then 20 percent in year 12 before returning to 25 percent in year 13. Typically, a 6B requires the building be vacant for at least 24 months before being granted a 6B, however, there is an exception for substantial renovation, which TI Express said it would make in the building. 

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New use for old Chicago firehouse (more)

Updates on the redevelopment of a former CFD fire house in Jefferson Park for the Lake Effect Brewing Company

Lake Effect Brewing Company redeveloping former CFD fire house in Jefferson Park

Lake Effect Brewing Company redeveloping former CFD fire house in Jefferson Park

Lake Effect Brewing Company redeveloping former CFD fire house in Jefferson Park

historic photo of a Chicago FD firehouse in Jefferson Park

vacant Jefferson Park CFD fire house

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New use for old Chicago firehouse

Excerpts from chicago.curbed.com:

A former fire house in Beverly for Engine 121 was redesigned into a sharp, stylish factory and headquarters for bespoke hatmaker, Optimo.

After 25 years, Optimo needed to expand and recruited architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill to create a new space in a 100-year-old decommissioned firehouse at 1700 W. 95th Street. The 7,700-square-foot, two-story building houses a design team, operations, and production.

The new headquarters is highly customized for the small team, which can spend up to six weeks crafting one hat. Throughout the workspace you’ll see elegant 12-foot open steel shelves displaying handmade hats which range from $395 to $1,000. The machinery for trimming, shaping, and steaming is beautiful too and finished in matte black. Elements of glazed brick, blackened steel, walnut, and cork create an earthy but luxurious feel.

On the second floor, the new design embraces the building’s history as a fire station by inserting porthole windows in the floor where firepoles had existed. A 10-foot circular light fixture centers the room which is decorated with collections of custom tools and historic hats.

Off to the side, there is a lounge area with leather sofas, brass light fixtures, and more hats on display. The second floor can also double as an event space with a full kitchen and staging area where the original firehouse showers once stood.

thanks Dennis and Austin

renovated former Chicago firehouse

Tom Rossiter photo

renovated former Chicago firehouse

Tom Rossiter photo

renovated former Chicago firehouse

Tom Rossiter photo

renovated former Chicago firehouse

Tom Rossiter photo

renovated former Chicago firehouse

Tom Rossiter photo

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New use for old Chicago firehouse

Excerpts from nadignewspapers.com:

A redevelopment proposal for an approximately 112-year-old former firehouse in Jefferson Park calls for two floors to be added to the two-story building, with a brewery on the ground floor and nine apartments above.

“I am pleased to announce an exciting development proposal for one of the oldest remaining firehouse buildings in the city. The development would mean an expansion of local craft beer brewer Lake Effect Brewing Co. and would restore historic details to the former Jefferson Park firehouse, which sits on the southeast corner of Ainslie and Lipps. Lake Effect would be the ground-floor tenant, brewing beer on-site and offering a tasting room. The developer, Ambrosia Homes, plans to invest $2.4 million in the city-owned property, which was built in 1906,” Alderman John Arena said in his weekly newsletter.

The 45th Ward sanitation services had been located in the former fire station until a few years ago. Several developers have looked at purchasing the building from the city, but the high cost of bringing it up to building code standards reportedly turned away some potential buyers.

“The nine apartments would be two-bedroom, attracting professionals who seek easy access to the nearby Jefferson Park Transit Center. The design would retain the current building while adding two floors and re-installing some architectural elements that were previously removed.” Arena said.

Arena will hold a community meeting on the proposal at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 8, in King’s Hall in the third floor of the Copernicus Center, 5216 W. Lawrence Ave.

Chicago fire station built in 1906

thanks Dan

 

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