Urban lofts hold on to history
While New York's Soho district gave birth to the concept of the loft as living space about 25 years ago, Chicago put its own unique stamp on a similar transformation.
Christina Noelle, an urban lifestyle specialist for MCZ Urban division of MCZ Development, explains the phenomenon in "Urban Loft: How Chicago Redefined the Architecture," published by Bridge House Publishing.
"Chicago took what New York had done and made it better, putting its own spin on the loft," Noelle says.
Beginning in the early 1990s, a residential loft boom spread throughout the city, in neighborhoods such the Fulton Market River District, Lincoln Park, North Center and Buckwood.
MCZ Development, a partnership Michael Lerner and Joe Kumon started 25 years ago, was a pioneer in this boom. The firm's mission to make old buildings new again paid off: last year the company's revenues surpassed $1.6 billion.
Nothing is closer to Lerner's heart than the Chicago loft, according to Noelle.
"When I think back to the first time I went into one of the old buildings we were about to convert, what I remember most is the smell -- the mixture of timber and brick, use and history -- it was really invigorating," says Lerner. "After a steady diet of new construction, the rewards of creating something so unorthodox was really exciting."
MCZ's dozen-plus Chicago projects include the Altgeld Lofts in Lincoln Park, Ravenswood Lofts at Belmont in the North Center neighborhood, Riverbend Lofts on the near North Side; Willow Street Lofts, a.k.a. Drum Factory Lofts, in Buckwood; Randolph Place in the Loop, Eastside Lofts in the South Loop, 616 West Fulton Street Lofts in the Fulton River District and No. Ten Lofts in the West Loop.
MCZ's best conversion to date is No. Ten Lofts, 1040 W. Adams St., a transformation of a former factory and warehouse built in the 1920s on the near West Side, says Noelle.
"The red brick 1920s construction and the timber ceilings were beautiful. The building had been mixed-use, including a candy factory and book binding company, and was very large," Noelle says.
The transformation included numerous amenities, including a clubroom, theater, exercise room and business center. What made the development unique, however, were three internal courtyards. These provided accessible Zen-inspired green space for homeowners to enjoy, Noelle says.
"All the pieces and parts came together, with the different community rooms placed in different areas of the building," Noelle says.
Two units remain at No. Ten Lofts. For information, visit www.mczdevelopment.com.
Today, MCZ Development is thriving, named the No. 1 "cash cow" in Inc. magazine's 2007 "Inc. 500" list. The 17th largest privately held company in Chicago, MCZ is expanding in Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Missouri, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. While many of these forays involve new construction, MCZ continues adaptive re-use work in Florida and Virginia.