A Chicago developer paid almost $10 million for a shuttered Sears store in Ravenswood, and plans to invest another $20 million converting it to apartments and retail.
Springbank Real Estate Group on Dec. 14 bought the building at 1900 W. Lawrence Ave. for $9.5 million, Springbank CEO David Trandel said.
The seller was Hoffman Estates-based Sears Holdings, which closed its department store in the 89-year-old building last summer.
The approximately 105,000-square-foot building at Lawrence and Wolcott avenues is known for its distinctive tower that rises more than 70 feet in a North Side residential neighborhood of low-slung buildings.
“We’re really excited about creating something the neighborhood can be proud of,” Trandel said. “It’s great when you can save these buildings and turn them into something modern.”
Springbank will begin asbestos removal and interior demolition by late January, with plans to open to residents by summer 2018, Trandel said. The project will cost about $30 million, including the purchase of the property, he said.
Springbank has a tentative deal with liquor-store chain Binny’s Beverage Depot to lease about 30,000 of the structure’s 33,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space, Trandel said.
Because the building is within 100 feet of a school, James B. McPherson Elementary, the deal will require approval of the school, neighborhood groups and the state, Trandel said. If there is not full support for Binny’s, the developer will seek another anchor tenant for the retail space, he said.
Sears representatives could not immediately be reached for comment.
Springbank plans to split the second floor, which has 22-foot ceilings, into one floor of parking and another level of apartments. Above apartments on the third and fourth floors, there will be an outdoor roof deck and an enclosed area for amenities such as a fitness center, Trandel said. Four duplex units will be built in the tower, bringing the building’s total to about 50 units, he said.
The developer’s plans to buy and convert the building were previously reported by DNAinfo.
Springbank was represented in the acquisition by broker Kevin Boyd, a senior vice president in the Chicago office of Dallas-based SRS Real Estate Partners.
Springbank’s other residential and retail projects include Arlington Downs, the redevelopment of a former Sheraton hotel in Arlington Heights, and the conversion of a former funeral home at Southport, Lincoln and Wellington avenues in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood.