Dead at 100 - 1224-1234 W Loyola Ave

As reported by Preservation Chicago and confirmed by a check of city permits, demolition is finally moving forward at 1224-1234 W Loyola Ave, directly west of the Loyola Red Line station.

Loyola University purchased the building in early 2024, sparking a small flurry of news coverage as they were very transparent that they had bought it as a distressed property with the intention to demolish it as soon as the last lease wrapped up. This caused quite an uproar, both from beloved commercial tenants like Archies Cafe, and even moreso to many of the residential tenants who lived upstairs. Many of them were long time tenants, living in the building for over a decade, some on fixed incomes who were unsure of how they would find new housing in a freshly popular neighborhood like Rogers Park. Reporting from the Chicago Reader showed that in October 2023 studio and 1 bedroom units in the building ranged from $460-$825, a price that they couldn't match on any apartment listing site, with only 1 apartment nearby found under $1.000. A modern review shows only 3 properties that come close to this criteria, all studios ranging from $700 to $870; funnily enough, two of these properties- Lakeside 6241 and The Sovereign, both in Edgewater, are owned by Loyola. 

Now, this came at a cost of course. Loyola didn't get it at a discounted price and immediately announce it's demolition because it was a well kept building- the Chicago Reader piece above notes that Jennifer Clark, director of neighborhood initiatives at Loyola University said "not one of the two dozen residential tenants she has spoken with liked living in the building.", and a review of code inspections- particularly several in 2006-2007- show a rather shocking number of violations for structural damage, and a 2024 inspection reported notable damage to the building's fire escapes. Unfortunately crappy buildings are an essential part of our broken housing system, and the loss without replacement of these buildings impacts the community all the same. In a city with a blazing hot real estate market and a terminal shortage of public housing or even homeless shelter beds, it's entirely possible former tenants here ended up on the street. 

It is also a loss for the city's architectural fabric. This was never meant to be a particularly notable building, but the first floor is chock full of architectural detail, with dotted twisting pillars and a quatrefoil sash framing each storefront. Even lauded, traditionally styled new developments like those at 4907 North Paulina in Uptown or 3746-3766 South Michigan in Bronzeville lack this finer ornamentation, and whatever Loyola eventually puts here will likely follow the "cleaner" aesthetic currently favored by colleges.

On that note, what will Loyola eventually put there? Well, nobody knows. Contemporary coverage at the time of the sale indicated that they have no plans for the site, aside from some vague allusions towards making it "green space". The surrounding area doesn't give much hope either; 

Base map credit OpenStreetMap

1234 W Loyola is nearly surrounded by other Loyola-owned empty lots, all vacant for over a decade, the project of Loyola whittling down the block beginning in the mid 1990s. It began with 1236, a brick warehouse purchased in 1987 and demolished in 1995, followed by 1235, a 3-story brick residential building pulled down in 1996. Next was 1227, a 3-story brick commercial building knocked down in 2000, and the longest lived were a series of uninspiring, midcentury residential buildings. 1201 a 5-story apartment building demolished in 2008, and finally. two neighboring dorms at 1245 and 1249 came down in 2011. The only whisper of development I can find is a mention in the July 6th, 2010 issue of the Chicago Sun-Times that they wanted to build market-rate housing at 1201, which obviously did not come to fruition. 

I won't hold my breath for new development at 1234 either, unfortunately. Even putting aside Loyola's now-established poor track record, the site lays directly next to the Loyola Red Line Station, which has been targeted for a major renovation in a potential Phase 2 of the Red-Purple Modernization (RPM) project, including a total station rebuild and track straightening. Either of these could easily carve into the edge of the property, and as they sit now all these lots would make appealing staging areas for CTA construction equipment. To be frank, I think we'll be lucky to see anything on these lots in the next decade. 

If you'd like to see more photos of this property, of the photos shown here in higher quality, I've uploaded the full set to Flickr. Also, if you're a fan of regional schlock TV dramas (I use "schlock" lovingly, don't ask me how much Chicago Med I've watched), keep an eye out! This part of the street was recently used for filming on Chicago Fire, though I'm unsure if they used 1234 specifically. (The filming permit says 1241-1201 W Loyola, so they could have been using the other extant building at 1241).