After years of collecting dust at a key Rogers Park corner, the long-vacant Werner Bros. storage building may finally be heading for a serious comeback. A proposal now moving through the city process would splice an eight-story mixed-use building onto the preserved 1921 warehouse, creating roughly 80 affordable apartments and about 5,000 square feet of ground-floor retail just steps from the Howard Red Line station. The development team and city staff say the goal is to lock in long-term affordability while keeping neighborhood retail on Howard Street in play.
In documents submitted to the Chicago Plan Commission, developers Housing For All LLC and Visionary Ventures outline a plan by Cordogan Clark & Associates that keeps the Werner Bros. facade while gutting the interior to make way for 20 apartments, then adds an attached eight-story building with another 60 affordable units, according to Chicago YIMBY. The new construction is shown as brick clad with cast-stone details and a narrow recessed connector between the old and new structures. The package also calls for about 28 parking spaces, some in the existing lot to the north, and ground-floor retail space totaling around 5,000 square feet.
Funding and timeline
Getting the deal to pencil out required a heavy dose of public financing. State and federal low-income housing tax credits and bond allocations were crucial to moving the project forward. According to the Illinois Housing Development Authority's FY2025 report, "The Werner" is listed among projects that scored 4% and 9% LIHTC awards plus tax-exempt bond financing in March 2025. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that those awards were a turning point for what it pegged as a roughly $56 million project, and that the developers are targeting a summer 2026 construction start with a build time of just over a year. Those financing milestones helped prompt the team to seek Plan Commission review this spring.
Design and preservation
Preservationists have had this corner circled for a while. Preservation Chicago put the Werner Brothers warehouse on its 2023 "Most Endangered" list, citing its ornate terra-cotta facade and long uncertainty over its future, according to Preservation Chicago. The latest plans respond by keeping that street-facing masonry largely intact while reworking the interior for housing.
Renderings from Cordogan Clark, summarized in the project's release, show a contextual infill approach with a modest setback between the historic warehouse and its new neighbor and detailing meant to complement rather than overshadow the original structure, as outlined on Archinect. The result is pitched as a blend of preservation and density: old-school terra cotta in front, new brick backdrop behind.
Neighborhood impact and next steps
Alderwoman Maria Hadden's office has framed the proposal as a way to bring in more family-sized affordable units without pushing out long-term residents, while also jumpstarting reinvestment along Howard Street, according to the 49th Ward's project page. The developers say they intend to work with existing retailers and set aside some ground-floor space for affordable commercial rents through construction and beyond, Urbanize Chicago reports. Before any shovels hit the ground, the plan will need to clear the city's Planned Development public-review process.
Formal plans were filed for Chicago Plan Commission review this April. If the commission signs off and the City Council follows suit, the development team had previously floated a summer 2026 groundbreaking and mid-2027 move-ins, timelines that still hinge on final approvals and financing, as reported by Chicago YIMBY. For Rogers Park residents, the project will test whether the neighborhood can add deeply affordable, transit-oriented housing while holding on to both a historic facade and the small businesses that line the block.
