By: Ashmar Mandou
Two of Chicago’s landmarks may see a renovation, according to the recent City Council meeting. Tax Increment Financing (TIF) proposals were announced for Logan Square’s Congress Theater and Humboldt Park’s Pioneer Bank.
The historic Congress Theater mixed-use complex in Logan Square would be restored as a state-of-the-art live performance venue with ancillary residential and commercial spaces through $27M in Tax Increment Financing (TIF) assistance proposed to City Council. The $87.8M project at 2135 N. Milwaukee Ave. by BR Congress and Congress Theater NFP would reopen the building’s auditorium, which was closed in 2013 due to building code violations, as a 4,900-seat music venue. The project would also revitalize approximately 5,400 square feet of ground floor commercial space along Milwaukee and Rockwell avenues and rehabilitate 16 second- and third-floor residential units, 14 of which will be rented at affordable levels. Financing will include more than $9M in federal historic tax credits, $16M in Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) proceeds, developer equity, bank debt, and other sources. BR Congress and Congress Theater NFP are entities created by Baum Revision, a Chicago-based real estate developer. The Congress Theater complex was constructed in 1926 by Fridstein and Co. in the Classical Revival and Italian Renaissance styles. It was designated an official Chicago landmark in 2002.
The former Pioneer Bank building in Humboldt Park would be redeveloped as a commercial office building through $13M in Tax Increment Financing (TIF) assistance, if supported. The $21.2M project, led by Park Row Development, was selected in November 2021 as the winning response to a Department of Planning and Development (DPD) Request for Proposals (RFP) issued as part of the INVEST South/West planning initiative. The project will repurpose the vacant 50,000-square-foot bank building at 4000 W. North Ave. into a mix of office and community incubator workspaces. Ground floor tenants are expected to include two nonprofits: BTEC, which specializes in workforce management and career training, and Arquitectos, a networking and professional resource organization for Latino architects. Upper floors will serve as headquarters for the architecture firm JGMA, a co-developer of the project. JGMA intends to relocate 50 jobs to the site. The former Pioneer Bank Annex building at 4008 W. North Ave. is planned to be used as a community café and restaurant. Built in 1924, the Classical Revival-style Pioneer Bank building was designated as an official Chicago Landmark in 2012.
